REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 21, 2024
FROM
JEANY ZEPEDA, Director, Children and Family Services
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Walden Family Services for Independent Living Program Extended Care Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Contract with Walden Family Services to provide Independent Living Program Extended Care services to young adults formerly in foster care, in an amount not to exceed $900,000, for the period July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027.
(Presenter: Jeany Zepeda, Director, 387-2792)
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 and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total cost of $900,000 will be funded with the Independent Living Allocation, which is 62% ($558,000) federal and 38% ($342,000) with existing County local share, which may include Discretionary General Funding and 2011 Realignment. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Human Services (HS) Administrative Claim 2024-25 recommended budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended contract with Walden Family Services will allow Children and Family Services (CFS) to continue providing Independent Living Program (ILP) Extended Care services through June 30, 2027 for foster youth ages 17½ to 21.
ILP Extended Care services enable foster youth to secure the skills that are necessary to exit the dependency court system and become self-sufficient. Federal and state law authorizes payments to establish and administer programs that assist foster youth with the transition from dependency to independent self-sufficient living. CFS manages a variety of programs to assist foster youth through this transition, both directly and through contracted agencies. CFS anticipates that the recommended contract with Walden Family Services will provide ILP Extended Care services to 70 foster youth per year, at a cost of approximately $4,300 per foster youth.
To ensure foster youth have access to ILP services, CFS has provided ILP Extended Care services through contracted agencies since 1985. Independent living skills help foster youth who are dependents or wards of the County develop the skills to meet their needs in the community and successfully transition into independent living upon their exit from the foster care system.
Walden Family Services’ performance will be monitored by review of monthly reports and annual audits to ensure compliance with the administrative, program, and fiscal terms and conditions of the contract. Walden Family Services has agreed to cooperate with the County in monitoring and evaluation of this contract and comply with all reporting requirements established by the contract. Walden Family Services’ charges are for services provided to eligible beneficiaries under this funded program. CFS Budget and Administrative Services division reviews invoices and attachments remitted by Walden Family Services prior to payment. The County reserves the right to request additional program and/or fiscal documentation to facilitate this monthly review. The contract may be terminated without cause by the County with 30 days’ written notice.
PROCUREMENT
On December 20, 2023, the Chief Executive Officer approved and authorized for release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from interested and qualified agencies to provide ILP Extended Care services. Approximately 230 prospective proposers with experience providing transitional and permanent housing and supportive services were notified via the County’s Electronic Procurement System and through direct mail.
On or before February 13, 2024, the proposal submission deadline, HS received five proposals in response to RFP HSSA24-HSSA-5139, as follows:
|
Agency |
Proposed Region(s) |
Proposed Total Cost |
|
Walden Family Services |
All Regions |
$900,000 |
|
The Heart Matters |
All Regions |
$900,000 |
|
Avector Community Group |
All Regions |
$900,000 |
|
First Institute Training & Management, Inc. |
All Regions |
$900,000 |
|
Simple Solutions Family Therapy Inc |
All Regions |
$900,000 |
A team that included representatives from CFS, HS Auditing, and the HS Program Development Division completed an evaluation of the proposals. Proposals were evaluated on the following criteria: youth to be served, ability to provide services, experience providing services, available staffing and resources, cost, and geographical region/service area served. Walden Family Services ranked the highest overall by the evaluators due to their ability to provide services, serve all referred youth, experience providing services, available staffing and resources, and geographical regions/service areas. Based on the criteria, CFS recommends Walden Family Services the contract to provide ILP Extended Care services for the period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027. Letters of intent were sent to all responsive bidders on March 22, 2024. No protests were received within the allowable window.
The Purchasing Department has reviewed and concurs with this recommendation.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Services Contracts (Patty Steven, Contracts Manager, 388-0241) on April 16, 2024; County Counsel (Kaleigh Ragon, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on April 18, 2024; Purchasing (Ariel Gill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on April 22, 2024; Finance (John Hallen, Administrative Analyst, 388-0208) on May 3, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on May 3, 2024.