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California is transforming Medi-Cal to better support and meet the whole-person care needs of members experiencing, or at risk of homelessness.

Medi-Cal provides members with access to new and improved services to get well-rounded care that goes beyond the doctor’s office or hospital and addresses their physical and mental health, and also social drivers of one’s health such as housing.

Medi-Cal is opening the door to essential health care services for the most vulnerable populations, no matter where they live or seek care.

Enhanced Care Management
Enhanced Care Management is a new Medi-Cal benefit that assigns a dedicated Lead Care Manager, a personal guide who helps qualified Medi-Cal members navigate all medical, dental, social, and community services such as housing navigation, housing deposits, and more.

Enhanced Care Management takes a whole-person, interdisciplinary approach to care to address clinical and non-clinical needs of members with the most complex medical and social need and serves as a safety net of care coordination for high-risk groups, including, but not limited to, individuals experiencing homelessness.

“Our unhoused population has inadequate access to shelters and experiences a lack of food and care,” said Glenn Tsang, Policy Advisor for Homelessness and Housing for the California Department of Health Care Services. “These members tend to have extensive medical and mental health needs that are difficult to address in an unstable living environment. To help address their needs, the Enhanced Care Management benefit builds consistent connections to medical care, mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, and housing stabilization services.”

Addressing Health-Related Social Needs through Community Supports

Community Supports are services or care settings, in addition to those required under the California Medicaid State Plan, that Medi-Cal managed care plans may elect to offer. The goal of Community Supports is to provide services that address a member’s health-related social needs that may be exacerbating their health condition, such as housing instability. Among the 14 services available as Community Supports services, six are specifically focused on helping unhoused members.

Many of these services empower high-risk individuals and families to live healthier lives in less restrictive settings and avoid unnecessary emergency visits and inpatient nursing facility admissions. They include services that go beyond traditional care received in a doctor’s office and may include housing deposits, housing transition and navigation services, housing tenancy and sustaining services, short-term post-hospitalization, recuperative care, and day habilitation.
Street Medicine
Street medicine is a set of health and social services developed specifically to address the unique needs and circumstances of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness, delivered directly to them in their own environment. The fundamental approach of street medicine is to engage people experiencing unsheltered homelessness exactly where they are and on their own terms to maximally reduce or eliminate barriers to care access and follow-through.
Medi-Cal Expansion
Starting on January 1, 2024, all eligible Californians qualify for full scope Medi-Cal coverage, regardless of immigration status.

This expansion allows even more Medi-Cal members to potentially qualify for Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports, among other services, to improve outcomes for California’s most vulnerable populations.

“By expanding Medi-Cal, we’re addressing the root causes of health disparities and providing equitable access to quality health care, leading to a healthy California for all,” said Tsang.

How Providers Support Members
Providers are vital in delivering Medi-Cal’s expanded services, ensuring the most vulnerable members receive the care they need. These providers include, but are not limited to, housing service providers, housing organizations, and other organizations that have an existing footprint consistent with Community Supports activities and in the communities they serve. Providers are essential in providing dedicated care management, ensuring seamless transitions and continuous support across various housing settings.

Street medicine providers also offer direct medical care to individuals on the streets, build trust by consistently providing compassionate services, and use comprehensive care management platforms for efficient coordination. Providers include Federally Qualified Health Centers, mobile medicine units, and many other organizations that provide care to unsheltered members living on the street.

They collaborate with community-based organizations and community support systems like schools, food banks, and housing agencies, and offer proactive support when patients transition through emergency departments, homelessness, or incarceration.

Encouragement to Seek Services
If you or someone you know is experiencing homelessness or is at risk of homelessness, Medi-Cal’s expanded services offer vital support for members enrolled in a managed care plan to improve their health and well-being.

For more information, call the state’s Medi-Cal Managed Care Office of the Ombudsman at (888) 452-8609 or email MMCDOmbudsmanOffice@dhcs.ca.gov.

In Alameda County, Medi-Cal recipients can contact:

*   Alameda Alliance for Health: 510-747-4567

*   Kaiser Permanente: 855-839-7613

In Contra Costa County, Medi-Cal recipients can contact:
*   Contra Costa Health Plan: 877-661-6230

*   Kaiser Permanente: 855-839-7613

In Marin County, Medi-Cal recipients can contact:
*   Partnership Health Plan of California: 800-863-4155

*   Kaiser Permanente: 855-839-7613

In Solano County, Medi-Cal recipients can:
*   Partnership Health Plan of California: 800-863-4155

*   Kaiser Permanente: 855-839-7613

So, if you are at risk of or experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area, your health and well-being matter. Medi-Cal’s expanded services are here to support you every step of the way.

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to take away state funding from cities and counties that delay implementing an executive order to clear out homeless encampments statewide and relocate occupants to shelters.

Last week, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) worked with Newsom to clear several encampments in the Los Angeles area.

“I want to see results,” said Newsom at a press conference on Aug. 8.

“I don’t want to read about them. I don’t want to see the data. I want to see it,” he said.

Gov. Newsom pressured local governments to clear homeless encampments in an executive order he issued last month.

Newsom’s decision came after the United States Supreme Court overturned a decision by a lower court ruling that governments are not allowed to force people to leave encampments without shelter beds available.

Over the last five years, California has spent approximately $24 billion to clear the streets and house people. The state has also invested $3.2 billion in grant funding for local governments to build shelters, clear encampments, and provide services to homeless people.

The Newsom administration has pulled back a $10 million grant to San Diego to build small homes because the county is delaying clearing out encampments.

However, the California State Association of Counties, representing all 58 counties, stated that it will continue to work with Gov. Newsom.

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Oakland Post

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By Magaly Muñoz

West Oakland is now the proud location for the new 100% affordable housing complex for low-income families.

The Black Panther Apartments gets its name from developer and former Black Panther chairwoman Elaine Brown, who says she intends to honor the party throughout the building.

Brown helped raise $80 million for the project, which features 79 units and includes ground floor businesses for residents and the community.

The complex is a brief walk from the West Oakland BART Station, making it an ideal location to access other parts of the city and region within a few minutes.

The upper levels of the complex are almost or completely parallel to a BART track, which can be a disturbing and noisy distraction with how often the trains pass by, but future residents should not worry. Every apartment has a triple-pane window that muffles the sounds of the passing train and traffic from the street below.

Brown said that she had conversations with BART to build a cover over the train track to dampen the noise, but her efforts came to no avail.

The ground-level businesses will feature a grocery store, gym, restaurant, and tech space. The restaurant will be called “Taste of Power.”

The businesses are co-owned by formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs and will allow those in the building to possibly apply for available jobs.

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The complex will also feature three greenhouses that will be maintained to sell to the downstairs grocery store. Residents will have the opportunity to apply for jobs here as well.

But Brown emphasized that this apartment complex was not a transitional housing service or “survival program,” if people want to make their way in this capitalistic world, they have to work for it, she says.

“This is not a charity,” Brown repeated throughout the tour.

She said everyone is entitled to housing regardless of their background, but she would not be providing therapy, substance abuse programs or case work management. This is a place to give people a much-needed roof over their head.

There are studios and 1- to 2-bedroom apartments available to rent. Each apartment will come furnished with a dining table, a sofa bed in the living room, and beds for each room. Bathrooms can also be adapted for ADA accessibility.

A community room and kitchen will also be available to residents for socializing or hosting their own private events. Each residential floor also has water fountains, laundry rooms, and trash chutes.

West Oakland was once a thriving hub for Black folks, featuring restaurants, bars, music clubs and more. The area was made up of a majority of Black people and their families, but the population has slowly dwindled over the years.

It did not take long for people online to criticize the development, saying that it was a waste to build in West Oakland and the apartment complex would soon “turn into a drug den.”

Brown said she does not respond to petty comments about people who are not making any change in their community.

“What I’m hoping for is that this will inspire developers to actually develop beautiful housing for poor people who can’t afford market prices,” Brown said.

The limited amount of units available has not stopped people from applying. The complex currently has received over 7,000 applications that will be filtered through the county’s coordinated entry program.

Although they cannot house everyone, Brown and her team say that this goes to show the urgent need for more affordable housing projects in the city. They have heard of too many people and families either living on the streets and their cars or packing themselves into a tight living space with not enough room for everyone to be comfortable.

The development is one of the few affordable housing projects in the area to successfully pan out from start to finish.

Residents will begin to move into their units starting in September.

Oakland Post

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