REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 4, 2021
FROM
CASONYA THOMAS, Assistant Executive Officer, Human Services
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Institute for Urban Initiatives for Homeless Consulting Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 7, effective July 1, 2021, to Contract No. 16-550 with the Institute for Urban Initiatives for the provision of homeless consulting services to support the San Bernardino County Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Program, increasing the total contract amount by $383,700, from $914,550 to $1,298,250, and extending the contract for two additional years, for a total contract period of July 12, 2016 through June 30, 2023.
(Presenter: CaSonya Thomas, Assistant Executive Officer, 387-4717)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
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 increase of $383,700 will be funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Planning Grant. Adequate appropriation and revenue will be included in Human Services, Office of Homeless Services’ (OHS) 2021-22 and 2022-23 recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Institute for Urban Initiatives (Urban Initiatives) provides comprehensive consulting services to OHS to support the County’s effort to end homelessness. OHS acts in the role of the administrative agent on behalf of the San Bernardino County Continuum of Care (SBC CoC) regarding the submission of the HUD annual grant application for the SBC CoC. The CoC is a community plan to organize and deliver housing and services to meet the specific needs of people who are homeless as they move to stable housing and maximize self-sufficiency. It includes action steps to end homelessness and prevent a return to homelessness. The recommended amendment will increase the contract amount by $383,700 and extend the contract through June 30, 2023.
OHS is requesting extension to the contract for an additional two years to allow Urban Initiatives to continue providing consulting services and technical assistance on current and upcoming projects; such as assisting OHS with development of the annual Homeless Strategic Plan. The framework of the Homeless Strategic Plan was approved by the Board on November 17, 2020, to guide the County’s efforts to increase prioritization and efficacy of regional homeless funding, improve collaboration with the SBC CoC, and enhance efforts to reduce homelessness impactfully within the region through the development of a structured plan. In addition, Urban Initiatives will continue to provide consulting services and technical assistance to OHS in completion of the regional sheltered and unsheltered Point-in-Time Count report of the homeless population as required by HUD, HUD Housing Inventory Count, CoC gaps analysis, county-wide asset mapping, and annual HUD CoC grant competition. Urban Initiatives provides critical assistance in the development and administration of the Request for Proposals soliciting applications to be included in the SBC CoC grant application, with support continuing through the entire preparation and submission process including conducting performance measurement training and technical assistance workshops for local homeless service providers. As a direct result of Urban Initiatives’ assistance from 2009 to present, HUD CoC funding to homeless service providers within San Bernardino County has increased from $847,516 in 2008 to $11,662,078 in 2020.
PROCUREMENT
Urban Initiatives began providing technical assistance regarding HUD’s competitive grant process in 2009. In 2012, after a competitive process in which Urban Initiatives was the only vendor to respond to a Request for Quotes, Urban Initiatives was selected as the consultant to assist with the preparation of the 2012 HUD SBC CoC grant application. On July 12, 2016 (Item No. 11), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a non-competitive contract with Urban Initiatives in the amount of $363,600 for the period of July 12, 2016 through June 30, 2019, with the option to extend for two one-year periods contingent upon the availability of funding and contractor performance.
On May 23, 2017 (Item No. 53), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 increasing the total contract amount by $44,750, from $363,600 to $408,350, and expanding services to include a Gaps and Capacity Analysis, with no change to the contract period.
On June 27, 2017 (Item No. 22), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 increasing the total contract amount by $9,000, from $408,350 to $417,350, and adding additional consulting hours for enhanced services to address the issues of homelessness among unaccompanied homeless women, with no change to the contract period.
On January 9, 2018 (Item No. 13), the Board approved Amendment No. 3 increasing the total contract amount by $65,000, from $417,350 to $482,350, and expanding services to include additional support and training for staff, with no change to the contract period.
On December 4, 2018 (Item No. 30), the Board approved Amendment No. 4 increasing the total contract amount by $78,800, from $482,350 to $561,150, for additional training to staff for PITC, Homeless Management Information System assistance, and consulting services to update the SBC CoC Homeless Strategic Plan, with no change to the contract period.
On April 30, 2019 (Item No. 33), the Board approved Amendment No. 5 to the contract increasing the total contract amount by $161,550 to $722,700 and exercising the first one-year extension option extending the contract through June 30, 2020.
On June 9, 2020 (Item No. 20), the Board approved Amendment No. 6 to the contract increasing the total contract amount by $191,850 to $914,550 and exercising the final one-year extension option extending the contract through June 30, 2021.
On November 17, 2020 (Item No. 43), the Board approved the framework of an annually updated San Bernardino County Homeless Strategic Plan to add to the development of local policies to deal with homelessness and guide the County to increase accountability, responsibilities of oversight, reporting, monitoring of funds, while concurrently reducing liabilities associated with various award funds.
Due to the ongoing services that Urban Initiatives is currently providing, Purchasing concurs with the non-competitive justification to extend the contract for an additional two years through June 30, 2023 to support continuity of services. Per Policy 11-04, Board approval is required for all contracts that exceed the standard contract period of 5 years. Prior to the end of the two-year period, OHS will either present a new contract for approval or conduct a procurement for these services. OHS will continue to monitor contractor performance on a regular basis to ensure compliance standards are met.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Suzanne Bryant, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on March 31, 2021; Purchasing Department (Bruce Cole, Supervising Buyer, 387-2148) on April 2, 2021; Finance (Chris Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on April 13, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on April 14, 2021.