Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution authorizes the Community Development Division to conduct an RFP process to allocate $115,000 to one or more agencies, subject to Common Council approval, for senior case management and/or senior activity programming to Madison’s South East Asian senior population. The 2019 Adopted Operating Budget includes $115,000 for mental health case management and community programming for Southeast Asian elders and individuals with mental health needs. No additional City appropriation is required. The Community Development Division anticipates issuing a competitive request for proposals for Senior Services in 2020.
Title
ALTERNATE - Directing the Community Development Division to conduct an RFP process to allocate to one or more agencies, subject to Council approval, the $115,000 authorized in the 2019 Operating Budget for senior case management and/or senior activity programming to Madison’s South East Asian senior population.
Body
WHEREAS, the South East Asian population in Madison includes a significant number of elders experiencing the effects of traumas inflicted in service to the United States and, as a result, needs access to mental health services and other support that can be provided through partnerships and collaborations with mental health providers; and,
WHEREAS, in 2018, the City of Madison provided $15,175 to Journey Mental Health Center’s Kajsiab House program for South East Asian Seniors which offered case management services that were coordinated with mental health services provided by Journey Mental Health; and,
WHEREAS, following Journey Mental Health’s decision to discontinue its Kajsiab House programming in November 2018, the Mayor proposed and the Common Council approved as part of the City’s 2019 Operating Budget, a $100,000 increase in funding for Senior Services for the purpose of supporting services for South East Asian seniors previously provided through Journey Mental Health’s Kajsiab House program, which included mental health treatment, senior case management, and senior activities programming; and,
WHEREAS, the services envisioned to be supported with the new funds authorized in the 2019 Operating Budget fall under the purview of the City’s framework for Senior Adult Services, which are scheduled next to be the subject of a funding process in 2020; and,
WHEREAS in 2015, informed by Forward Community Investments’ CDD Funding Process Study report, the Committee on Aging, the Community Services Committee and the Common Council approved a Senior Adult Services framework that identified case management and senior activities programming as among the service strategies for which City funds would be made available; and,
WHEREAS, the current standards for senior case management services are laid out in Area Agency on Aging Client Centered Case Management Standards, which describe a process that begins with a psychosocial and functional assessment of client needs in areas including, for example, mental health, housing, eligibility for financial and health care benefits, access to culturally appropriate and language accessible senior activities, issues related to language barriers, in-home and/or family care, and daily living activities; leading to development of an individualized case management plan for appropriate wrap-around services; and,
WHEREAS, the framework for Senior Activity Programs adopted by the City’s Committee on Aging outlines a range of activities in the following three topic areas: Avoiding Disease and Disability, Engagement with Life, and Maintaining High Cognitive and Physical Function and calls for programming that is language accessible, culturally responsive and trauma-informed; and,
WHEREAS, that framework and the contracts with agencies awarded City funds through the most recent Request for Proposals (RFP) process for Senior Adult Services have outlined quality expectations for City-funded senior adult programming; and,
WHEREAS, since adoption of the City’s 2019 Operating Budget, multiple organizations have expressed interest in providing the case management and senior activities programming to the South East Asian senior population previously provided through Journey Mental Health’s Kajsiab House program.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council directs the Community Development Division to conduct an RFP process to allocate to one or more agencies, subject to Council approval, the $115,000 authorized in the 2019 Operating Budget for senior case management and/or senior activity programming to Madison’s South East Asian senior population; and,
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that, in conducting the RFP process, the Community Development Division shall strive to:
• ensure that all programs and services offered funding can demonstrate relationships or experience working with Southeast Asian (specifically Cambodian and Hmong) elders and communities, a partnership with a provider of mental health and psychiatric services, and experience with and knowledge of culturally and linguistically appropriate senior case management and senior activity services to ensure services build trust with clients and are relevant to their needs;
• leverage other resources, including County-administered mental health funding, that are available to serve this population; and
• apply the previously described Case Management and Senior Activities standards that have been used with other City-funded senior service providers.