REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 19, 2020
FROM
MARLENE HAGEN, Director, Children and Family Services
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Public Consulting Group, Inc. for Supplemental Income Advocacy Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve contract with Public Consulting Group, Inc. to provide Supplemental Income Advocacy Services for foster care children, in an amount not to exceed $497,250, for the period of July 1, 2020 through September 30, 2023.
(Presenter: Marlene Hagen, Director, 388-0242)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total cost of these services will not exceed $497,250 and funding is 100% Realignment. Adequate appropriation and revenue will be included in the Human Services (HS) Administrative Claim 2020-21 recommended budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Under the recommended contract, Public Consulting Group, Inc. will provide Supplemental Income Advocacy Services on behalf of children in Foster Care in San Bernardino County. Supplemental Income Advocacy Services include, but are not limited to, timely and accurate evaluations for potential Supplemental Income benefits, benefit application processes designed to improve Social Security Administration (SSA) processing timeframes, and completion of continuing disability reviews to ensure ongoing eligibility, whenever appropriate.
Since 1993, the County has utilized contracted providers to file and process applications for supplemental income. Contracted providers are responsible for reviewing files of children in Foster Care to determine if they are potentially eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Administration Death and Disability Title II benefits (SSA Title II), and Veteran’s Administration benefits (VA). If a child meets the necessary criteria for eligibility, an application is filed and processed on their behalf. A special emphasis is placed on filing claims for 18-year-old dependents that may be exiting the County Foster Care system. CFS refers approximately 250 cases a month for Supplemental Income benefit review and approximately 124 applications are completed annually.
The objective of Supplemental Income Advocacy Services for Foster Care children is to maximize the amount of federal benefits received for the care of children, thereby reducing the amount of required County funds, and to assist children in their transition to self-sufficient living upon leaving Foster Care. For each case in which SSI, SSA Title II benefits, or other supplemental income is awarded, the amount paid by the County for that child's foster care is reduced by the amount received.
The recommended contract will allow Public Consulting Group Inc. to use its comprehensive knowledge and experience to navigate the extensive and perpetually changing SSA and VA policies and regulations, and act as a liaison between SSA to effectively pursue, maintain, and evaluate potential eligibility for San Bernardino County foster youth in the shortest possible time frames.
PROCUREMENT
On January 16, 2020, the Chief Executive Officer approved and authorized for release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from interested and qualified agencies to provide Supplemental Income Advocacy Services. Approximately 100 prospective proposers with experience providing Supplemental Income Advocacy Services were notified via the County’s Electronic Procurement System (ePro# HSSA20-HSSA-3610) and through direct mail.
On or before February 27, 2020, the proposal submission deadline HS received three proposals in response to RFP HS 19-18 by the established deadline as follows:
|
Agency Name |
Description |
Proposed Fee |
|
Inland Counties Legal Services |
Initial Applications: Notice of Award of Benefits: Continuing Disability Reviews: Additional fees: |
$500.00 per application $30.00 per award $900.00 per review Yes |
|
Maximus Human Services, Inc. |
Initial Applications: Notice of Award of Benefits: Continuing Disability Reviews: Additional fees: |
$369.64 $57.44 $180.94 Yes |
|
Public Consulting Group, Inc. |
Initial Applications: Notice of Award of Benefits: Continuing Disability Reviews: Additional fees: |
$150.00 $1,750.00 SSI; $250 SSA/VA $150.00 Yes |
An evaluation of the proposals was completed by a team that included representatives from CFS and the HS Administrative Support Division. Proposals were evaluated on the following criteria: cost, services, experience advocating for disabled children, ability to serve all regions, and availability of onsite services. Based on the evaluation, Public Consulting Group, Inc. is recommended for award; their proposal was determined to be the most effective, documented extensive experience working with the targeted population, and best met the overall needs of the County. The unsuccessful agencies were notified during the RFP process that they may protest the evaluation team’s recommendations by submitting a formal protest letter to the HS Contracts Unit by the April 24, 2020 deadline; no written protest was received.
Contracted services will be paid on a fee-for-service basis. The contract may be terminated without cause by the County with 30 days advance written notice. Contractor performance will be monitored by review of monthly reports and an annual site visit to ensure compliance with the administrative, program, and fiscal terms and conditions of the contract.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Services Contracts (Jennifer Mulhall-Daudel, Contracts Manager, 388-0241) on April 16, 2020; County Counsel (Michael Markel, Principal Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on April 17, 2020; Purchasing (Leo Gomez, Purchasing Manager, 387-2063) on May 1, 2020; Finance (John Hallen, Administrative Analyst, 388-0208) on April 29, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on May 5, 2020.