REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
July 28, 2020
FROM
G. CHRISTOPHER GARDNER, Public Defender, Chair Law and Justice Group
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Abundant Living Family Church - High Desert
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 18-751 with Abundant Living Family Church - High Desert in the amount of $305,000, increasing the total contract from $1,378,280 to $1,683,280, to continue the New Hope pilot program to provide expanded transportation and supportive services to help reduce jail reoccurrence in the High Desert Region, and extend the term through December 31, 2020, for a total contract period of October 2, 2018 through December 31, 2020.
(Presenter: Lana Tomlin, Assistant Sheriff, 387-3636)
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
Approval of this item will require additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) in the amount of $305,000, which has been included in the Countywide Crime Suppression and Pilot Program Reserve (Reserve). Amendment No. 2 will be funded from the Reserve and will be paid at a flat rate of $61,000 per month. Budget adjustments are not requested at this time, but will be included in a future Countywide Quarterly Budget Report brought to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On October 2, 2018 (Item No. 16), the Board approved a contract with Abundant Living Family Church - High Desert (ALFC) to establish the New Hope pilot program (New Hope). New Hope provides transportation services for individuals released from the High Desert Detention Center and has been seeking to link these individuals to County reentry-related services. This item recommends to continue the New Hope pilot through December 31, 2020.
ALFC, located in the city of Hesperia, has been providing recidivism reduction services through Proposition 47 and other recidivism reduction funds allocated through the Board of State and Community Corrections since 2015. In addition, they have been working in conjunction with the Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator (Sheriff) to provide needed transportation services for individuals released from incarceration into the High Desert Region for 10 years. Upon establishing the New Hope program, services were expanded to include peer navigator supportive services to connect individuals with physical and mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, and assistance in accessing housing, job training, job placement, and other vital resources through the Probation Department’s Day Reporting Center. The initial pilot program included a mandatory planning period to create a framework that defined program objectives and data elements to be collected, including a focus on the homeless population. The focus on the homeless population resulted from an analysis of the County jail population that demonstrated significantly higher rates of recidivism amongst those that are considered transient compared to the rest of the jail population.
Since implementation of the pilot program, opportunities for improvement were identified related to providing linkage to care to County services and ensuring data integrity. The Law and Justice Group departments, including Public Health and Behavioral Health, have collaborated with ALFC to streamline processes and remedy potential gaps in service delivery. In addition, data collection efforts were standardized through the use of ESRI’s survey 123 tool. The Law and Justice Data Analyst began analyzing data in August 2019, until the positon became vacant in November 2019. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Law and Justice Data Analyst position has not been backfilled, and existing staff have not been able to perform the required data analyses. Therefore, the Law and Justice Group recommends extending the pilot program through December 31, 2020 to allow existing staff ample time to measure outcomes. ALFC has been providing continuous services since October 2, 2018, and has requested a vacation period from July 25, 2020 through August 2, 2020, during which time the Sheriff will manage transportation services. This extension will increase the total contract amount by $305,000, from $1,378,280 to $1,683,280.
PROCUREMENT
The original contract, approved by the Board on October 2, 2018, was recommended as a one-year pilot program, and was supported and funded by a collaborative effort between the Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator and the Departments of Public Health and Behavioral Health. ALFC was approved for a non-competitive contract based on their specialized expertise working with the hard-to-serve target population, and because they were providing existing recidivism-related services to the High Desert Detention Center. The Law and Justice Group recommends extension of the New Hope pilot program to allow ample time to measure program performance.
On July 23, 2019 (Item No. 22), the Board approved Amendment No. 1, increasing the total contract amount by $750,000 and extending the contract term through July 24, 2020. In addition, the scope of work was more clearly defined, appropriate staffing levels were determined, and data collection tools and reporting were finalized, including the required use of ESRI’s Survey 123 tool.
Due to the vacancy of the Law and Justice Data Analyst, the required data analyses have not yet been performed, and extending the pilot program through December will allow existing staff to perform the analysis. Dependent on the success of the pilot program, and contingent upon available funding, the County will conduct a competitive procurement to expand the pool of potential providers at the end of the contract term.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Katherine Hardy, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 21, 2020; Purchasing (Michelle Churchill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on July 21, 2020; Finance (Allegra Pajot, Administrative Analyst, 387-5005) on July 17, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Kelly Welty, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on July 17, 2020.