DDES Memo Series 2007-09
To: Listserv
For: Area Administrators/Assistant Area Administrators
Bureau Directors/Section Chiefs
County Departments of Community Programs Directors
County Departments of
Developmental Disabilities Services Directors
County Departments of Human
Services Directors
County Departments of Social Services Directors
County Mental Health Coordinators
Tribal Chairpersons/Human Services
Facilitators
From: John Easterday, Interim Administrator
Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Subject: Mental Health Block Grant Community AIDS Formula Allocation
Document Summary
This memo outlines the reporting requirements for the Mental Health
Block Grant for CY 2006 and expenditure requirements for the use of CY
2008 MHBG funds. Counties are required to comply with the HSRS reporting
requirements including the Consumer Status Data Set. A DHFS priority is to
serve persons with a serious mental illness whom are homeless. For CY 2008
a new category, Comprehensive Community Serves (CCS) has been added to the
list. Comprehensive Community Se4rvices (CCS) certified counties may
utilize block grants funds under the CCS category. Return the County
Reporting Form no later than August 1, 2007. Reports are form
fillable. You should disregard any previous DDES memos relating to the
Mental Health Block Grant reporting requirements.
Background
The Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS) is
annually awarded a Mental Health Block Grant (MHBG) (CFDA# 93.958) from
the federal Center for Mental Health Services within the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration. The DMHSAS, as required by
State statutes 20.435(7)(o) and 46.40(2m)(b), obligates up to $2,513,400
of the MHBG to all counties within the state through a Community Aids
Formula Allocation. The formula allocation is based on each county's
population, Medicaid caseload, and per capita income. This memo describes
the county reporting requirements for the 2006 Community Aids Formula
Allocation and the county expenditure requirements for the upcoming 2008
Community Aids Formula Allocation.
Community Aids Formula Allocation Reporting for 2006
The MHBG award carries reporting requirements on how the funding is
spent. As a result, the DDES requires counties to report on how much of
their formula allocation was spent and for what purposes. The requirements
for spending the 2006 MHBG funds were described in DDES Memo
2004-10.
Counties' deadline for reporting expenditures and outcomes for the 2006
Community Aids Formula Allocation is August 1, 2007. Use the County
Reporting Form in Attachment 1 to record county expenditures in the eight
allowable expenditure categories and record the associated outcomes for
those expenditures on page 2 of the form. Return copies of the County
Reporting Form to your Area Administrator and the Division of Mental
Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS) as specified at the end of
the form.
Community Aids Formula Allocation Expenditures for 2007
The DMHSAS received $7,538,575 in CMHBG funding. Counties' allocations
for CY 2007 must be spent by December 31, 2007 and the associated
expenditure reports are due to the Community Aids Reporting System (CARS)
within 90 days of the expenditure deadline. Please check your current
expenditure level to ensure your county is on track to spend its formula
allocation by December 31, 2007. If you have questions, call the Central
Office Contact person listed at the end of this memo.
Community Aids Formula Allocation Amounts for 2008
The DDES will receive a projected $7,538,575 in 2007 MHBG funds from
the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Of the projected $7,538,575
in 2007 MHBG funds, $2,513,400 will again be allocated to county programs
using the Community Aids Formula. Attachment 2 lists the projected formula
allocation for each county Department of Community Programs/Human Services
for Calendar Year (CY) 2008.
The federal and state requirements associated with the expenditure of
the MHBG Community Aids Formula Allocation funds are described in detail
in Attachment 3. Some of these requirements include:
- Funds must be used for activities associated with community mental
health services,
- Funds must be used for services to adults with serious mental
illness (SMI) or children with severe emotional disorders (SED)
- The Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS)
has identified nine program areas to which counties can apply these
funds including Community Support Programs (CSP), Supported Housing,
Jail Diversion, Crisis Intervention, Family and Consumer Peer Support
and Self-Help, Services for Children and Adolescents with SED,
Programs for Persons with Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Problems,
Community Mental Health Data Set Development, and Comprehensive
Community Services.
In addition to reporting CY 2006 expenditures, counties must use the
County Reporting Form (Attachment
1) to submit a plan for the expenditure
of their CY 2008 Community Aids Formula Allocation by August 1, 2007.
The plan should follow the requirements described in this memo.
Priority for Serving Individuals Who are Homeless
In CY 2005, a new priority for DMHSAS and DHFS was begun to improve
efforts to serve persons with a serious mental illness who are homeless
either through immediate action or priority placement on a wait list.
Counties are requested to prioritize the reporting of persons who are
homeless and have a serious mental illness through the Human Services
Reporting System (HSRS). The primary objective of prioritizing persons
with a serious mental illness who are homeless is to provide this
population with better access to all mainstream mental health services.
Mental Health Block Grant funds can be dedicated to ANY of the
priority program areas to provide mainstream mental health services to
persons with a serious mental illness who are homeless. The HSRS data will
be used by the DMHSAS to report on services provided to persons who are
homeless. All HSRS data must be completed for all consumers with a serious
mental illness who are homeless regardless of whether the MHBG is used to
fund their services.
Data describing individuals whom are homeless shall be recorded in
fields in HSRS as follows:
- Code 80 indicating an individual is homeless should be recorded as a
Client Characteristic (Field 7), and
- For individuals who meet the BRC criteria for inclusion in the
Consumer Status Data Set (CSDS), Code 1 indicating the individual
lives on the street or in a shelter should be recorded to describe
their Residential Arrangement (Field 37).
Every year, the State must report data to the federal Center for Mental
Health Services (CMHS) as part of the annual MHBG application. Thus, data
collection and reporting remains a priority area for the DMHSAS. Mental
health information from the CSDS must be reported through HSRS in a timely
manner. All data is critical to the Department of Health and Family
Services and county agencies in measuring performance outcomes.
ACTION SUMMARY STATEMENT: This Memo outlines a reporting process with
priority areas. Counties are required to report data and to develop
performance targets. Please disregard the previous DDES memos relating to
MHBG reporting.
Complete and return pages 1-3 of Attachment 1 no later than August
1, 2007. The Attachment asks you to:
- Summarize activities, expenditures, and outcomes related to the
Mental Health Block Grant Community Aids Formula Allocation in CY
2006;
- Indicate your spending plan for the CY 2008 Community Aids Formula
Allocation; and
- Submit one copy to the Area Administrator. Counties may submit
electronically, however one hard copy must be sent or faxed to the
Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
REGIONAL OFFICE CONTACT: Area Administrators
CENTRAL OFFICE CONTACT: Rebecca Cohen
Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
1 West Wilson Street, Room 434
P.O. Box 7851
Madison, WI 53707-7851
(608) 266-2712
Fax: (608) 266-1533
e-mail: cohenrw@dhfs.state.wi.us
MEMO WEB SITE: http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/dsl_info/
Attachments:
Attachment 1 County Reporting Form (MS Word,
75 KB)
Attachment 2 County Program Allocation Levels (PDF,
21 KB)
Attachment 3 2008 Mental Health Block Grant Requirements (PDF,
34 KB)
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