Title
a. Approve and authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign the Second Amended and Restated Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement with the Fourth Amended Bylaws, effective June 28, 2019 until terminated, with the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System; and
b. Approve and authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign a governance Memorandum of Understanding, effective June 28, 2019 until terminated, with the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign the Second Amended and Restated Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement with the Fourth Amended Bylaws, effective June 28, 2019 until terminated, with the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System; and
b. Approve and authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign a governance Memorandum of Understanding, effective June 28, 2019 until terminated, with the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The State-wide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) is operated through a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement (JPA) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Due to changes of the partners to the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System (CalACES) and consolidation of the SAWS, it is requested that both the JPA and operational MOU be amended effective June 28, 2019.
On July 29, 2011, the State of California presented to the Food and Nutrition Service, Center for Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Survey & Certification, its plans for reducing the complexity of the eligibility system configuration in California. Those plans included taking the necessary steps to consolidate the existing SAWS Consortia from three to one system. This merged the Los Angeles (LA) County, the C-IV Systems (jointly known as CalACES) and the CalWIN System into one state system known as CalSAWS.
Then in September 2011, AB 16 passed. AB 16 called for “the migration of the 39 C-IV Counties into a single system jointly designed by the 39 counties plus Los Angeles County”. This automated welfare system is now known as CalACES and the amended MOU incorporated LA County as part of CalACES.
The County’s participation in the original JPA and MOU for the design, development, implementation, and on-going operation and maintenance of the C-IV automated welfare system was originally approved by your Board on April 10, 2007 and amended on April 27, 2010 and on July 18, 2017 for these system and County mergers.
This MOU delineates the areas of the agreement between CalACES and the counties with regards to the System Agreement and other areas of mutual interest in the fulfillment of the CalACES purpose and delineates the areas of understanding and agreement between the Consortium and the Members regarding matters related to the administration and fulfillment of the Consortiums purpose. The MOU also defines the terms and conditions of CalACES’s purpose to oversee the design, development, implementation, operation, maintenance, and migration of the members to the automated welfare system.
On November 7, 2018, the CalACES Consortium presented the updated JPA Agreement and MOU documents for review and feedback. The updated documents were both amended to add the 18 additional CalWIN Counties as new members to the CalACES Consortia, and to officially change the name of the Consortium to CalSAWS. The Consortium held CalSAWS Governance education sessions in November and December of 2018 during which the Legal Counsel for the Consortium explained the changes and provided the counties with an opportunity to ask questions and comment on the updated language. The finalized documents are attached for review and approval.
The amended JPA and Bylaws outline the agreement for the 58 member counties that make up CalACES as it relates to the general provisions regarding purpose, creation and operation of CalACES. The JPA Bylaws dictate the governance of the meetings of the Board of Directors and the Member Representatives of CalACES and will be voted on for adoption after the amended and restated JPA is executed by the Consortium. The purpose of the amended JPA is to document the new C-IV Consortium regional representation governance model that incorporates the 58 member counties. The Department is recommending approval of the JPA and MOU to establish CalSAWS, a 58-county consortium.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Contracts/Purchasing has reviewed and approved both the JPA Agreement with amended bylaws and the MOU. The Auditor-Controller has approved both the JPA Agreement with amended bylaws and the MOU. County Counsel has reviewed and approved both the JPA Agreement with amended bylaws and the MOU as to legal form. The C-IV JPA Board and General Membership has approved these documents.
FINANCING:
The execution of the Second Amended and Restated JPA with the Fourth Amended Bylaws and the updated MOU does not change the financial arrangement of the County with the Consortium. C-IV JPA expenditures are based on Federal and State approved funding requests for specific cost categories. These funding requests are approved by the C-IV JPA Board for submission 15 months prior to the start of the fiscal year for which expenditures would occur. If there were no Federal or State funding to Monterey County for specific cost categories, Monterey County would still have the option of either accepting the financial liability or withdrawing from the JPA at the end of the applicable Fiscal Year, thereby avoiding liability under the proposed JPA budget for the following year.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
The MOU and JPA correlate to the Administration and Health & Human Services Strategic Initiatives adopted by the Board of Supervisors by allowing the Department to participate in CalACES as part of the 58-county consortium and more efficiently serve welfare recipients by reducing the complexity of the eligibility systems.
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Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
__Economic Development
X Administration
X Health & Human Services
__Infrastructure
__Public Safety
Prepared by: Jo Ellen De La Cruz, MA II x7009
Approved by: Henry Espinosa, Acting Director, x4430
Attachments: Amended JPA Agreement; Amended JPA Bylaws; MOU
Attachment on file with the Clerk of the Board