DATE: January 12, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Kirk Haynes, Chief Probation Officer
SUBJECT: Retroactive Revenue Agreement with Fresno County Superintendent of
Schools for Truancy Intervention Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize Chairman to execute a retroactive revenue Agreement with the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools for services provided by Deputy Probation Officers for the Truancy Intervention Program, effective July 1, 2020, not to exceed five consecutive years, which includes a one-year base contract with four optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $498,203.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Fresno County Superintendent of Schools (FCSS) will provide partial funding for the 1.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) existing Deputy Probation Officer (DPO) positions providing services to the Truancy Intervention Program (TIP). The Fresno County Probation Department and FCSS recognize a correlation between chronic school absenteeism, criminal activity, drug abuse, and incarceration, and, therefore, believe a coordinated collaborative effort will reduce school absenteeism. Due to the collaborative nature of this agreement, the Department recommends the Board deviate from the County policy requiring full cost recovery (including indirect costs). This practice is consistently applied to similar agreements with other school districts. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If item is not approved, the Probation Department will not have sufficient funding to continue services to the Truancy Intervention Program.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
The recommended revenue agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2020. The Probation Department has been in discussions with FCSS regarding renewing the agreement, since May 2020. In early August of 2020, the Probation Department was notified that one school district had elected to withdraw from the agreement for the 2020-2021 school year, as they would not be providing in-person instruction, due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (COVID-19). Probation and FCSS then worked together to renegotiate costs. FCSS provided Probation with the updated Memorandum of Understanding and Summary of District Contributions on October 5, 2020. The recommended agreement is being brought before your Board on the next available Board date within established County deadlines.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no additional increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The total salary and benefit cost for the existing 1.4 FTE DPO positions to provide services to TIP is $202,772 per year. In addition, vehicle and radio costs associated with these positions are estimated at $12,250 per year. FCSS will provide a total of $99,641 towards these costs for the 1.4 FTE DPOs, with the remaining $115,381 funded with Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) funds. This is a decrease in FCSS funding of approximately $40,047 from the prior year due to one of the school districts withdrawing from the agreement. The District withdrew from TIP due to not having in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year, resulting from COVID-19. The reduction in participating school districts also resulted in a reduced number of DPOs positions assigned to TIP (2 to 1.4 FTE). The remaining 60 percent of the second DPO position will be used for other Probation activities, funded with Youthful Offender Block Grant (YOBG) funds.
The Probation Department’s current indirect rate of 25.86% of salary and benefits is $52,437. It is recommended FCSS’s portion of the indirect not be included due to the collaborative nature of the recommended agreement, which has the potential to not only reduce absenteeism, but is also a prevention program that has shown to deter students from engaging in future criminal activities. The portion of the indirect costs that may be funded with JJCPA funds is limited to 0.5% ($577), per funding requirements. Therefore, the Net County Cost for indirect costs is $51,860. Sufficient appropriations, estimated revenue and Probation indirect costs for these positions are included in Probation’s FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget Org 3430.
If there are any periods during the term of this agreement in which services are not provided, FCSS will not receive an invoice for these specified periods of time, upon written mutual agreement of FCSS and the Chief Probation Officer or his or her designee. In such circumstances, JJCPA funds will be used to fund costs for the 1.4 FTE DPO positions that would otherwise have been funded by FCSS.
DISCUSSION:
On July 18, 2006, the Board approved a revenue agreement with the FCSS for implementation of a pilot program titled the “Truancy Intervention Program.” Subsequent annual agreements approved by the Board have continued to fund this program, which is no longer considered a pilot. On December 10, 2019, the Board approved an agreement with FCSS for 2 DPO positions not to exceed five years. The first year of this agreement expired on June 30, 2020 and the recommended agreement before the Board now has 1.4 FTE DPOs providing services five days a week (a decrease from the 2 DPO positions). The decrease in allocated DPO positions is a result of the fact that one of the districts withdrew from the agreement, due to COVID-19; if the District elects to participate at a future date, Probation will return to the Board to amend the agreement.
The TIP is a collaborative program to help decrease truancy, improve attendance, increase learning opportunities, and raise financial revenue for school districts throughout the County. The success of this program is demonstrated through an increase of the average daily attendance levels at each school district with TIP participation. The FCSS has obtained separate agreements with the representative school districts to fund TIP for FY 2020-2021.
The duties of the DPOs will include, but are not necessarily limited to, providing support to the TIP system as developed by the districts and Probation, participating in school site meetings with parents/guardians and attending School Attendance Review Board meetings when possible, assisting schools in supervising identified chronic truants, and participating in training school district personnel.
The recommended agreement with the FCSS differs from the County's model contract in that it contains a mutual hold harmless clause. However, Risk Management has reviewed this provision and finds it acceptable. This has the effect of making each party responsible for losses arising from their own negligent acts.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI # 53 - December 10, 2019
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with FCSS
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck