REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 23, 2020
FROM
MARLENE HAGEN, Director, Children and Family Services
SUBJECT
Title
Revised Standard Contract Template for Resource Family Approval Permanency Assessment Services
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RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve the revised standard contract template for Children and Family Services in the aggregate amount of $2,700,000 to provide Resource Family Approval Permanency Assessment Services on a fee-for-service basis for the period of July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021.
2. Authorize the Assistant Executive Officer of Human Services, the Deputy Executive Officer of Human Services, or the Director of Children and Family Services to execute the standard contract template with the individual agencies on behalf of the County.
(Presenter: Marlene Hagen, Director, 388-0242)
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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 require Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The contracts are on a fee-for-services basis and will not exceed $2,700,000, individually or in aggregate for the period and is funded 32% ($864,000) federal and 68% ($1,836,000) State. Adequate appropriation and revenue will be included in the Human Services Administrative Claim 2020-21 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended revised standard contract template will allow Children and Family Services (CFS) to replace the existing contract template and update standard language and the contract term. Under the revised template, CFS will to continue to contract with qualified Foster Family Agencies (FFAs) to assist in the completion of the Resource Family Approval (RFA) application process. CFS is requesting the standard contract template with the individual agencies be executed by the Human Services (HS) Assistant Executive Officer, HS Deputy Executive Officer, or the CFS Director on behalf of the County.
Welfare and Institution Code, section 16519.5, requires the California Department of Social Services (State) in conjunction with county child welfare agencies to implement a unified RFA process. Current law requires the County to provide services to the family and child, so the child can return safely to the parents. The preferred route to permanency is through safe reunification, but when that is not possible, services must be provided for the child or youth to achieve an alternative permanent and stable family, which is referred to as permanency. Reunification, guardianship, relative placement, and adoptions are all forms of permanency.
Written directives received from the State require CFS to establish a single approval process for all types of placements. This process, RFA, was implemented on January 1, 2017. The RFA process requires a time limit of 90 days for the approval of applications. Currently, on average, CFS receives approximately 80 applications per month, but the number of applications is expected to rise once RFA is operating at full capacity.
FFAs are licensed, private, non-profit organizations engaged in recruiting, certifying, training, monitoring, and providing professional support to foster parents and identify homes for the placement of children and youth. The County desires to secure permanency assessment services statewide from FFAs.
CFS will monitor individual referrals to ensure that the total payments to all contractors combined do not exceed the spending authority of $2,700,000 in aggregate, for the period of July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021. The contracts are written in this manner to allow CFS the flexibility of selecting the contractor that best meets the needs of each client. There is no guarantee of the number of referrals that will be provided under awarded contracts.
Services provided under these contracts may be terminated by the County without cause upon 30-day prior written notice. Contractor performance will continue to be measured by review of monthly invoices and written reports to ensure compliance with the administrative, fiscal, and program elements of the contract. Upon approval of the revised contract template, the current providers will have their existing RFA Permanency Assessment Services contracts terminated and replaced with the new standard contract template.
PROCUREMENT
On December 4, 2018 (Item No. 28), as a result of a formal procurement, the Board of Supervisors approved a standard contract template for the provision of RFA Permanency Assessment services in the aggregate amount of $6,000,000 for the period of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022. A total of 20 qualified providers were awarded.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Services Contracts (Jennifer Mulhall-Daudel, Contracts Manager, 388-0241) on May 27, 2020; County Counsel (Michael Markel, Principal Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on June 1, 2020, Finance (John Hallen, Administrative Analyst, 388-0208) on June 8, 2020, and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on June 8, 2020.