DATE: May 21, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Luchini, RN, PHN, Director, Department of Public Health
Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
Susan L. Holt, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Agreement with United Way Fresno and Madera Counties
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Under Administrative Policy No. 34 for competitive bids or requests for proposals (AP 34), determine that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement under AP 34 is satisfied and a suspension to competition is warranted due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, and that the best interests of the County would be served by entering into an agreement with United Way Fresno and Madera Counties as this vendor is the sole source provider of 2-1-1 services in Fresno County.
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with United Way Fresno and Madera Counties to provide information and referral services through its 2-1-1 call center, effective July 1, 2024, not to exceed five consecutive years, which includes a two-year base contract and three optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $231,500.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions, which will allow the Fresno County Departments of Social Services (DSS), Behavioral Health (DBH), and Public Health (DPH) to continue to provide information and support to residents of the County utilizing the 2-1-1 call center. Through 2-1-1, United Way currently provides information and referrals for vital community services which include mental health, food, shelter, financial assistance, and employment and emergency event related information. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended actions, residents will not be able to use 2-1-1 to access DSS, DBH, and DPH information, referrals, and emergency incident related information and the respective County Departments would need to provide these services directly.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
It is requested that the County find under AP 34 that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement is satisfied, and a suspension of competition is warranted due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, as United Way Fresno and Madera Counties is the only vendor authorized to provide 2-1-1 call center services in Fresno County by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California. The Internal Services Department - Purchasing Division concurs with the Departments’ assessment that this satisfies the exception to the competitive bidding process required by AP 34.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The maximum cost ($231,500) of the recommended agreement will be fully offset by existing funding sources. DSS will fund $30,000 of cost per year through State and Federal funds ($25,648), 2011 Realignment ($2,139) in lieu of State General Funds for Child Welfare Services and Adult Protective Services Programs that were realigned to counties through Assembly Bill (AB) 118, 1991 Social Services Realignment funds ($1,979) and the required Net County Cost ($234) which offsets the General Relief Program Share of cost.
DBH will fund $12,500 of the cost per year through Realignment funds.
DPH will fund a flat fee of $10,000 for the first year and up to an additional $9,000, based on a per call basis, for the totality of years one through five through Federal and State Public Health Emergency Preparedness grant funds. Annual cost is not to exceed $61,500 for the first year and $51,500 for the following years, including optional years 3-5. The actual annual cost will depend on whether DPH needs to direct the public to contact 2-1-1 for an anthrax related emergency, but the overall maximum cost will be $231,500. Sufficient appropriations will be included in the DSS FY 2024-25 Recommended Budget for Org 5610. Sufficient appropriations will be included in the DBH FY 2024-25 Recommended Budget for Org 5630. Sufficient appropriations will be included in the DPH 2024-25 Recommended Budget for Org 5620. Each Department will include sufficient appropriations in future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
The County has entered into three separate procurement agreements with United Way for nearly identical DSS and DBH related services beginning in 2018 (P-18-347-P), in 2020 (P-20-222) and in 2021 (P-21-204). The current procurement agreement, which expires on June 30, 2024, has been amended three times, twice to extend the agreement and once to add call center services related to the severe winter storms of 2023.
The recommended agreement continues to provide DSS and DBH services which are identical to those provided for in the current agreement. DSS services include providing information and referral services to DSS clients that are seeking non-case related information on various topics including housing and shelter, food distributions, low-cost childcare, and other help line referral needs. Up to 1,000 calls may be routed from DSS to 2-1-1 each month.
DBH services include providing information and referrals for vital community mental health support systems to individuals in need of them, reducing disparities in access to mental health services for unserved and underserved populations within Fresno County.
DPH services include providing information to the public specifically in the event anthrax is detected at the United States Postal Service’s Fresno mail processing center. 2-1-1 would direct callers to the appropriate section of the DPH webpage which will include incident and other anthrax related information. Additionally, 2-1-1 call center staff will take contact information from callers who believe they may have been exposed to anthrax at the processing center and submit this information to DPH so DPH staff can contact them directly for more details and providing post exposure prophylaxis antibiotics if appropriate.
The agreement supports County goals by (1) quickly providing information and referrals for vital community mental health support services to individuals in need of them; (2) providing information and/or linkages to services that significantly affect a person's well-being such as food, shelter, financial assistance, and employment among others; and (3) has the capacity to quickly begin receiving a significant number of calls requesting information related to a local emergency.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Sole Source Acquisition Request
On file with Clerk - Agreement with United Way Fresno and Madera Counties
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander