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Data Collection Supplemental Content

This Supplemental Guide is intended to be used alongside the CARE Act Data Dictionary to support CARE Act data entry and submission. This Guide features general and technical reporting guidance as well as a crosswalk of changes comparing the Data Dictionary 1.0 to the Data Dictionary 2.0.  

General Reporting Guidance

Reporting Requirements

Data will be collected on CARE respondents from the time of petition as follows:  

  • If the county behavioral health agency is the original petitioner, data collection begins at the time of petition.  
  • If the county behavioral health agency is not the petitioner, data collection begins when the court orders an investigation by the county. 

Counties should report on CARE agreements and CARE plans that have been approved or ordered into effect by the courts during the reporting month. CARE agreements that have been developed but not yet approved should not be reported. CARE plans ordered should be captured when the court orders the plan to go into effect. It should not be captured when the court orders the development/creation of a plan. 

For example, if a CARE agreement was developed in January but approved by the court in February, the CARE agreement should be reported in the February reporting data submission.   

Counties do not need to provide an ROI to DHCS for the purposes of CARE Act reporting. When working with the courts, Please reference California Welfare and Institutions Code (W&I Code) section 5977.4, which clarifies how county BH may obtain and disclose SUD patient records, and consult with your county counsel on the need to obtain an ROI.

County behavioral health agencies are expected to obtain information via client consent where possible, through exemptions in Senate Bill 35 as applicable, or to the extent that administrative data is available. If the county is unable to obtain information, an “Unknown” response option is available. If the data needs to be updated due to delays, Health Management Associates (HMA), on behalf of DHCS, will provide a mechanism to update the data. 

County Behavioral Health (BH) should report client data for each month, even when BH is unable to locate or engage with the client, or when other delays or extensions occur. The following case scenario provides an example: 

A petition was initiated on October 20, 2023, and County BH was asked by the court to evaluate the merits of the petition on November 1, 2023. County BH needed more than 14 days to locate and engage with the client, and the court provided extensions for this reason. The petition was eventually dismissed on January 25, 2024, as the client was eligible for CARE and agreed to voluntarily engage in County BH services. 

During the CARE Initiation Process, County BH should submit data for each month of this measurement period (November, December, and January in this case example), updating client data as it becomes available. Following dismissal of the petition, the Active Service Measurement Period will begin. 

Data metrics identified in Welfare and Institutions Code sections 5985 and 5986 for the Annual Report and Independent Evaluation will be shared in accordance with the DHCS Public Reporting Guidelines to maintain privacy and security. 

We encourage you to join the listserv and select your CARE Act role as “Data Collection & Reporting” to receive data-specific messages. 

If you are already on our listserv, you can modify your profile to update your role—see instructions below: 

  1. Open a past CARE Act TTA newsletter from your inbox. 
  2. Scroll down to the footer section at the bottom of the email. 
  3. Select the “update your preferences” link. 
  4. Select the “email me a link button” link. 
  5. You will receive a separate email to securely update your preferences. 
  6. Click the “update your preferences” link in the email. 
  7. Modify your selections and information as needed. 
  8. Click the “update profile” button. 

Data Entry and Submission Processes

A reporting period-specific SurveyMonkey link and password will be distributed to all county data contacts via email ahead of the submission deadline. To view or edit county data contacts, please reach out to [email protected].  

The county behavioral health data file templates can be found in the Resources folder within the DHCS platform, through the MOVEit file transfer application. Authorized MOVEit users will be able to download the templates from this folder. To avoid issues with version control, always use the most current data file templates located within the Resources folder. 

The naming convention for the data file template is as follows: 

  • Initial Submission: Name of County_MMYYYY, where MM corresponds to the reporting month and YYYY the reporting year (e.g., El_Dorado_012024). 
  • Resubmissions: Name of County_MMYYYY_Resubmission_DDMMYYYY, name of the county, month and year of the reporting month, resubmission, and date of resubmission (e.g., El_Dorado_012024_Resubmission_02152024). 

 

The name of the data file template will include a version number and date. The file name for the first version is: CountyBH_Data_File_Template_V1.0_01172024. 

Within the file, we include a History Log tab, which will summarize changes or updates made to the template for future versions. Previous versions will be archived. 

The Resources folder will always include the latest version of the county behavioral health data file template. An email update will be sent out to authorized users in the event of a change. 

The data file template does not need to be filled out within the DHCS platform. The data file template provided can be downloaded, or an electronic file that aligns with the structure of the data file template can be created. 

Excel format, with file extension .xlsx, is the only format that will be accepted. Please reach out to the HMA Data Team ([email protected]) to confirm acceptability of any data file structure that deviates from the provided data file template prior to submission. 

For multiple select questions, each option is in its own column with its own value code (value codes are indicated in the CARE Act Data Dictionary). For example, the race data point is a multiple select question (Columns L-AE in the data file template). Japanese (Column U) uses the value code J. If the CARE client is Japanese, you will go to Column U and enter J. If the CARE client is also Hawaiian (Column Y), then you will also navigate to Column Y and insert value code P for that answer. You only need to input data in the columns that apply to the CARE client. 

Whether a county opts to submit data via SurveyMonkey or MOVEit, all counties must establish access to the MOVEit file transfer application to allow for access to the quality assurance (QA) report to correct data deficiencies and data resubmission. Counties will need to identify data submission users. Please use this form to submit user requests for the MOVEit Application for CARE Act data submission. Please note, it does take time for access to be granted and counties should begin this process well in advance of data submission. 

If you have access issues with the MOVEit file transfer application, please contact the DHCS CARE Team at [email protected]. 

For password resets, please contact DHCS IT:
 
Email Address: [email protected] 
Phone: (800) 579-0874 (select option 3) 
Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday; 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. 

This depends on the nature of the data that has become available. Below is some broad guidance: 

  • Demographic and basic CARE client information: This data is submitted monthly, and counties are typically not expected to update information from prior submissions. HMA will use the most recent data submitted to update demographic information on the CARE client. For example, if a CARE client’s demographic or basic information (e.g., petition file date, tribal affiliation, immigration status) was unknown at the time of submission, you can include the information in the next month’s submission when known, without going back to edit the previous submission. However, if incorrect information about the CARE client was previously provided on critical demographic information needed to link records over time (specifically, date of birth, legal name, and social security number), please reach out to the HMA Data Team ([email protected]) to make corrections. 
  • Services and Supports: If counties are relying on claims to complete information on services/supports and there are significant lags in claims/encounters that affect county reporting of services provided to CARE clients during a particular month, we recommend that counties create a refreshed (or updated) data file and resubmit their data to properly account for services provided. 
  • Outcomes data: Key outcomes (per California Welfare and Institutions Code (W&I Code) section 5985(e)(17)) that are potentially impacted by client participation in the CARE Act model should be prioritized for corrections. These include outcome measures related to housing status; emergency department visits; inpatient hospitalizations; law enforcement encounters and incarceration; involuntary treatment and conservatorship; and substance use. If these data points were unknown or incorrectly reported during the CARE initiation process (i.e., baseline data) and these baseline data become known later, counties should prioritize updating/correcting these data points to support assessment of the effectiveness of the CARE Act model. 

 

HMA plans to flag Unknown/Unable to Answer responses in each county’s quarterly data submission QA reports. In the fall of 2024, HMA will upload each county’s entire dataset for the period covering October 2023 – June 2024 and give counties an opportunity to update/refresh their data. This will optimize data completeness for the first Annual Report. 

To make updates or correct previously submitted data, please contact the HMA Data Team at [email protected] and provide the reason for requesting updates or corrections. If necessary, the HMA Data Team will export the data for that specific reporting month and upload it to the requested county’s folder via the MOVEit file transfer application for corrections. The county will then follow the resubmission process as covered in the Data File Submission and Quality Assurance Process Overview training. 

Counties can expect to receive the QA report within 45 business days following the data file submission. 

To support counties in their own QA, the HMA Data Team will send an email to authorized users to inform them when the SQL query used to conduct QA on submitted data is available in the Resources folder within the MOVEit file transfer application. We encourage counties to use this SQL query to conduct their own QA before data submission to reduce the number of needed corrections. 

Technical Data Entry Guidance

If both the Social Security Number and Medi-Cal beneficiary number are unknown, County Behavioral Health Agencies should enter “999999999”. If or when the Social Security Number or Medi-Cal beneficiary number becomes available, counties should update the basic client information. The same identification number should be used for client data submission throughout the CARE process; avoid switching between Social Security Number and Medi-Cal beneficiary numbers. 

Counties that are using SurveyMonkey do not have to provide demographic information more than once, unless existing clients have updated demographic information to report.  When submitting this updated information, the counties are required to re-enter all demographic data points on SurveyMonkey. 

Counties that are using MOVEit must submit basic client and demographic information each time. Counties should query the required CARE data from their data system and upload basic client and demographic information with each submission.  

During the CARE Process Initiation Period only, client information should include data that represents the entirety of the reporting month. The data reported during this period serves as baseline information for the client. 

For example, if a client enters the CARE Process Initiation Period on the 15th, the “number of jail days” data point should represent total jail days for the entire month. 

County behavioral health agencies are required to report on key data variables that will be used to link clients across survey and file submissions. These linkage data variables will include first name, last name, date of birth and Social Security Number/Medi-Cal Beneficiary number. CARE clients will not be assigned a unique identifier. 

When a change in CARE status occurs, the data points associated with each status must be reported in full. Each change in status that occurs within a month requires a separate submission associated with each CARE status. 

Change in CARE Status during the CARE Initiation Period 

As an example, if a client’s CARE agreement is approved by the court in the same month that CARE proceedings were initiated, data associated with the CARE Initiation Period and the Active Service Period must be reported. 

Data reported during the CARE Initiation Period is a baseline measurement. Likewise, if a case is dismissed by the court in the same month that CARE proceedings were initiated, associated data must be reported both for the CARE Initiation Period and the Dismissal. 

Change in CARE Status during the Active Service Period 

Case dismissal 

If a case is dismissed by the court during the Active Service Period and the client engages with voluntary supports and services (without court supervision), the client should be designated as an Elective Client (3.3.10 Value Code Option 4). In this scenario, counties are required to continue to report this client’s data for 12 months of Active Service from the start date of their CARE agreement or CARE plan, as well as provide follow-up data for an additional 12 months thereafter. 

Termination 

During the Active Service Period, if a client has a premature exit (e.g., unable to locate individual or death), the client should be designated as Terminated (3.3.10 Value Code Option 7). Data associated with the Active Service Period must be reported, in addition to the data points required for when a client is terminated. 

Please refer to the CARE Act Data Collection and Reporting County Flow Chart for more information.