REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
October 5, 2021
FROM
CASONYA THOMAS, Assistant Executive Officer, Community Revitalization
VERONICA KELLEY, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Social Work Action Group for Homeless Street Outreach and Engagement, Housing Navigation, and Case Management Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve contract with Social Work Action Group for the provision of Homeless Street Outreach and Engagement, Housing Navigation, and Case Management services, in an amount not to exceed $2,000,000, for the contract period of October 5, 2021 through September 30, 2022.
2. Designate the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Chief Executive Officer, or Assistant Executive Officer of Community Revitalization to approve any subsequent non-substantive amendments to the contract for the provision of Homeless Street Outreach and Engagement, Housing Navigation, and Case Management services on behalf of the County, subject to County Counsel review.
3. Direct the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Chief Executive Officer, or Assistant Executive Officer of Community Revitalization to transmit all documents in relation to the contract changes to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
4. Authorize the Auditor/Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector to post appropriations and revenue adjustments as detailed in the Financial Impact section to the Department of Behavioral Health’s 2021-22 budget for Homeless Street Outreach and Engagement, Housing Navigation, and Case Management services (Four votes required).
(Presenter: CaSonya Thomas, Assistant Executive Officer, 387-4717)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Ensure Development of a Well-Planned, Balanced, and Sustainable County.
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 contract amount will not exceed $2,000,000 and will be funded with the use of available reserves that came from Project Roomkey and Rehousing Strategy grant funding in the amount of $1,887,055 and with $112,945 from the County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding that the Board of Supervisor’s allocated for Homeless Services and Housing. Payments will be administered by the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH). DBH requests the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector to post the following adjustments to the 2021-22 budget. Adequate appropriation and revenue will be included in the 2022-23 recommended budget.
|
Funding Center |
Commitment Item/GL Account |
Description |
Action |
Amount |
|
9200002715 |
52002445 |
Other Professional Services |
Increase |
$2,000,000 |
|
9200002715 |
40509194 |
ARPA RECVRY FD DIST |
Increase |
$112,945 |
|
9200002715 |
37008880 |
F/B Res-Available Reserves |
Decrease |
$1,887,055 |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
San Bernardino County is committed to systematically addressing homelessness and access to services sought out by individuals who are homeless due to their mental illness, substance use disorder, disability, and other barriers. San Bernardino County Community Revitalization (CR) is launching a pilot program to improve, expand, enhance, and augment the local homeless response system with the ultimate goal of maximizing and expediting the number of individuals assisted out of homelessness. The program will allow the County to better understand community resources in addressing the challenges and needs of the homeless population. The program aims to identify areas of duplication, build efficiencies, and improve coordination.
The contract agency will work collaboratively with the Sheriff’s Homeless Outreach and Proactive Enforcement (HOPE) Team, Department of Behavioral Health, Department of Aging and Adult Services and other community-based providers to provide field based outreach and case management to a select group of chronically homeless individuals who have experienced high levels of utilization and recidivism in hospital emergency rooms and local jails. Intensive case management and linkages to social services programs and housing services will be provided to eligible individuals. The number of individuals served will be based on available resources, needs assessment and eligibility requirements. The program will continue to enhance current efforts that the County is undertaking to address the regional homelessness problem and is aligned with the County’s Homeless Strategic Plan to Create Heathy Communities to Improve Quality of Life for Unsheltered Individuals.
PROCUREMENT
On June 25, 2021, CR in conjunction with the DBH released a Request for Proposals (RFP), RFP No. OHS 20-06, to solicit interested and qualified agencies to provide homeless street outreach services. Notice of the RFP was sent to an email distribution list of over 700 entities that included the Homeless Provider Network active members, city managers for every city within San Bernardino County, and subscribed Homeless Partnership providers.
Four agencies attended the virtual non-mandatory application workshop held on July 6, 2021. A total of five agencies submitted applications in response to the RFP. DBH staff performed an initial review of the proposals for completeness. One agency, Searchlight Society, was disqualified due to the proposal being incomplete. The following four proposals met the minimum requirements set forth in the RFP and moved on through the evaluation process.
|
Proposing Agency |
Proposed Budget |
|
Illumination Foundation |
$1,997,924 |
|
Knowledge, Education for Your Success - KEYS |
$2,000,000 |
|
Mental Health Systems, Inc. |
$1,596,900 |
|
Social Work Action Group - SWAG |
$2,091,432 |
The evaluation committee was comprised of five individuals from the County’s Sheriff Department, Fontana Police Department, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, County Administrative Office, and DBH. The committee reviewed and evaluated proposals based on the following criteria: housing first emphasis, qualifications and experience, technical review, cost review, and references. Based on the evaluation results, Social Work Action Group (SWAG) is recommended for contract award for the Homeless Street Outreach services.
The recommended agency was selected for their experience to best meet the needs of the County in providing Homeless Street Outreach to County residents, experience in working with the homeless population, proposed services that meet the RFP requirements, demonstrated ability to provide services to the target population, readiness to adopt changes as needed, ability to provide services as soon as possible, and ability to serve a greater number of participants over a larger area.
Based on the evaluations and completed contract negotiations, CR is recommending the following agency for contract award to SWAG in the amount of $2,000,000.
All agencies not recommended for contract award were notified by mail, and advised they were able to submit a formal written protest to the Purchasing Director based on the criteria in the RFP. Searchlight Society did submit an appeal to the Purchasing Department; the Purchasing Department did an investigation and denied the appeal.
CR will monitor contractor performance on a regular basis to ensure performance and compliance standards are met.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Suzanne Bryant, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on September 27, 2021; Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (Vanessa Doyle, Chief Deputy Controller, 382-3195) on September 27, 2021; Purchasing Department (Michelle Churchill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2148) on September 27, 2021; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on September 24, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on September 24, 2021.