REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
September 24, 2024
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Objective Arts, LLC for Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment and Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment Software as a Service
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Contract with Objective Arts, LLC, for the provision of Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment and Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment Software as a Service, and software support and maintenance services, in an amount not to exceed $1,280,000, for the contract period of October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2029.
2. Authorize the Director of Behavioral Health to execute change service orders with Objective Arts, LLC, for any necessary administrative modifications, such as for the development of a report or updating an existing report, software replacement due to the discontinuation of existing software, tools, and reports, in an amount not to exceed $41,000 annually, with no change to the contract amount of $1,280,000, subject to County Counsel review.
(Presenter: Georgina Yoshioka, Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The recommended contract amount of $1,280,000 is funded by 1991 Realignment and Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2024-25 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to County residents experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. The Software as a Service (SaaS), provided by Objective Arts, LLC (OA), is a secure, online proprietary data collection and reporting platform which allows immediate access for appropriate providers within the DBH Mental Health Plan. A portion of the data collection is currently integrated with myAvatar, the DBH electronic health record. The SaaS allows for the collection of data for multiple assessment tools (e.g., the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment (CANS), the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA), and the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist-35) with the ability to summarize individual and collective data, which enables staff and supervisors to access and monitor client information trends while protecting the confidentiality of the client’s results.
DBH has used CANS and ANSA since 2012. The SaaS is aimed at identifying strengths and successes in clients and thus is an integral part of the DBH service delivery system. The CANS/ANSA SaaS enables DBH’s continued compliance with Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Service (SMHS) provision and delivery of higher quality service to County residents. The SaaS allows DBH and its contractors, after providing the assessment, to measure the treatment outcomes of clients as they participate in various specialty mental health programs. DBH anticipates that OA will provide services to approximately 19,500 unduplicated clients annually to be served at an average cost of $13.12 per client.
PROCUREMENT
Due to the nature of the software and specialized reporting capacity, DBH is requesting a non-competitive contract with OA. DBH has purchased and facilitated the creation of customized reports for DBH programs within OA specifically. Securing a new vendor would result in DBH incurring additional expenses associated with recreating reports and other tools used to measure treatment outcomes. DBH uses the reports for compliance with EPSDT Medi-Cal SMHS and to assist DBH contractors in providing appropriate services to clients. The Purchasing Department supports the non-competitive procurement with OA for the CANS and ANSA assessment system based on these factors related to the proprietary nature of the software.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Ellayna Hoatson, Contract Supervisor, 388-0858) on August 29, 2024; County Counsel (Bonnie Uphold, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on September 4, 2024; Purchasing (Jessica Barajas, Supervising Buyer, 387-2065) on September 5, 2024; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on September 9, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on September 9, 2024.