SR-301-001-01 (10)
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F:\HumanServices\Share\ADMINISTRATION\Staff Reports\SBMH STAFF REPORT.doc
Council Meeting: June 28, 2005
JUN 2 8 Z005
Santa Monica, CA
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Contract with WestEd to Provide for an External Evaluation of City Funded
School-Based Mental Health and Support Services
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate
and execute a contract with WestEd, commencing July 1, 2005 for an amount not to
exceed $65,000, to provide for an external evaluation of City-funded, school-based
mental health and support services.
BACKGROUND
For well over two decades, the City of Santa Monica's Community and Cultural Services
(CCS) Department (Human Services Division) has provided funding through its
Community Development (CD) Program to public and private organizations to improve
the quality of life for Santa Monica residents. A major funding area of the CD Program
is for programs supporting children, teens, and families, and specifically for the funding
of school-based mental health and support services in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
School District (SMMUSD). In FY 2004-05, CD funds total $579,470 to support 10
programs delivered by six non-profit organizations (Dispute Resolution Services, EI
Nido Family Centers, Family Service of Santa Monica, Jewish Family Service, Saint
John's Child and Family Development Center, and Wise America Reads). These
community agencies place staff at SMMUSD Title I elementary schools, the two middle
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JUN 2 8 2005
schools, Santa Monica High School, and Olympic Continuation to facilitate access to
mental health and supportive services, especially for underserved and hard to reach
students and families.
Since 1991, the City has conducted community needs assessments to identify issues
and needs of Santa Monica youth. Beginning with the 1991 Kids in Santa Monica report
and continuing through the 2003 Community Voices, community residents, including
youth, have identified the need for mental health services on school campuses and a
need for delinquency prevention and education programs. In FY 2003-04, CCS
identified the need to "assess the effectiveness of school-based social services and
develop recommendations for changes in service delivery." Recently the City co-hosted
two community workshops on gang violence. These workshops, held in February and
April of 2005, brought together a number of stakeholders - parents, clergy, educators,
youth workers, business leaders and social service providers - to dialogue on ways that
the community can work together to reduce youth violence. An emerging theme from
both community workshops is a need to integrate and improve coordination within
current resources aimed at youth and their families. Funding for an evaluation to
accomplish this has been identified in the current year budget.
The intent of this evaluation will be to:
. Determine factors that contribute to the successful delivery of school-based
mental health and support services;
. Determine the impact of the current system of school-based mental health and
support services;
. Identify current strengths of the existing program(s) and impediments to the
delivery of current school-based mental health and support services, and offer
recommendations to address the current impediments; and
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· Provide data and information that will help in developing future funding decisions
relating to the delivery of school-based mental health and support services.
DISCUSSION
In March 2005, the City released a Request for Proposal (RFP). The proposal was sent
to twelve potential evaluators/evaluation teams and to the UCLA Mental Health Project
Center for Mental Health in Schools, which posted the RFP announcement on their
vvebsite. In addition, the RFP was noticed on the City of Santa Monica website. Three
proposals were submitted in late April. Eight individuals including City staff,
representatives from Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and Los Angeles
Unified School District reviewed the proposals. The final selection process included
written comments by proposal reviewers, verbal feedback from reviewers, and
interviews with each of the candidates.
WestEd best met the RFP criteria as the preferred evaluator/evaluation team based on
its reputation, qualifications of its principal investigators and experience in evaluating
school-based prevention and mental health programs. In 1996, WestEd was formed as
a merger of two of the 20 regional educational laboratories created in 1966 to conduct
research and provide training to improve education. WestEd strengths include their
ability to conduct a formative evaluation that includes surveys, individual and group
interviews, and quantitative data review and analysis. In addition, staff reviewed two
sample evaluation reports from WestEd, which demonstrated their ability to conduct
evaluations within a school district setting and among collaborative agencies, and to
formulate recommendations based on findings.
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BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
Funds for the WestEd contract are available in the FY 04-05 budget at account number
012627.555210.
RECOMMENDATION
This report recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate
and execute a contract with WestEd not to exceed $65,000 effective July 1, 2005.
Prepared By:
Barbara Stinchfield, Community and Cultural Services Director
Julie Rusk, Human Services Manager
Stacy Rowe, Human Services Administrator
Julie Taren, Senior Administrative Analyst
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