REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
October 22, 2024
FROM
Bradley Gates, Director, Workforce Development Department
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Goodwill Industries of Southern California for the CalFresh Employment and Training Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve contract with Goodwill Industries of Southern California, for a total amount of $1,750,000, to operate the education, job retention and job search components of the CalFresh Employment and Training Program, in an amount not to exceed $350,000 per year, for the period of October 23, 2024, through September 30, 2029, contingent upon the availability of federal funding.
(Presenter: Bradley Gates, Director, 387-9856)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The combined aggregate expenditures of the Contract for the CalFresh Employment and Training (CFET) Program will not exceed $350,000 per year, for a total amount of $1,750,000 and will be funded fully by the Transitional Assistance Department (TAD) through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Workforce Development Department (WDD). Sufficient revenue and appropriations have been included in WDD’s 2024-25 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The CFET Program is for Non-Assistance CalFresh recipients who do not receive a monthly grant under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program. The primary goals of the County’s CFET Program are to assist CalFresh customers with finding and retaining employment that will lead to reducing or eliminating the need for CalFresh assistance. This includes providing job readiness (soft skills) training; General Education Development exam preparation; referral to vocational training; reducing financial barriers to the customer; and connection to resources.
Program participants can be assigned to a variety of activities, which include Professional Edge job seeker workshops, job search, job retention, and basic education, including English as a Second Language for those who have limited English proficiency. CalFresh recipient participation in the CFET program is voluntary.
The intended outcomes for CFET are to provide services to program participants to enable their movement towards full-time employment, increase earnings for those currently in the labor force, and achieve self-reliance.
Goodwill industries of Southern California is skilled, and will be providing, all the services of the CFET program. A requirement of the CFET program is giving recipients supportive services. A caveat of this requirement is supportive services may only be given with non-federal funds and will only be reimbursed at 50%. Goodwill pledges to use their non-federal funds to provide supportive services to CFET customers.
PROCUREMENT
On August 12, 2024, WDD issued Request for Proposals (RFP) No. EDA124-WDD-5471, to identify a suitable provider of the CFET Program to serve up to 30 customers per fiscal year for the period of October 23, 2024 through September 30, 2029. Additionally, the selected provider is required to provide supportive and ancillary services through non-federal funds and will receive a 50 percent reimbursement on such expenditures. The RFP was posted on the County Purchasing ePro website.
On September 2, 2024, the following two proposals were received and determined to be responsive to the RFP criteria:
|
Proposer |
Location |
|
First Institute Training & Management |
Fontana, CA |
|
Goodwill Industries of Southern California |
Los Angeles, CA |
The proposals were evaluated by County qualified neutral parties. Proposals were scored in accordance with the Proposal Review and Evaluation Process outlined in the RFP, including qualifications and experience in providing services, technical understanding, financial health, cost reasonableness, and references. Goodwill Industries of Southern California was selected as the contractor for CFET due to earning the highest overall rating from the proposals received. On September 17, 2024, WDD approved the funding and recommended Goodwill Industries of Southern California to provide the services for CFET for a period of October 23, 2024 through September 30, 2029, contingent upon the availability of federal funding and contractor’s performance. Letters of intent were sent on September 9, 2024. No protests were received.
Purchasing supports this competitive procurement based on the RFP referenced above.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Sophie A. Curtis, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on September 16, 2024; Purchasing (Ariel Gill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on September 20, 2024; Finance (Carl Lofton, Administrative Analyst, 387-5404) on October 3, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on October 4, 2024.