DATE: November 8, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator
SUBJECT: Waive Competitive Bidding Process for Medical and Mental Health Agreements at the Jail and JJC
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Make a finding that it is in the best interest of the County to waive the competitive bidding process for comprehensive medical and behavioral health care, including substance use disorder, services to inmates at Sheriff-Coroner’s Office Adult Detention Facilities and wards at the County Probation Department Juvenile Justice Campus; and
2. Authorize staff to develop agreements with the current vendor, California Forensic Medical Group, Incorporated, a California corporation, and return to the Board for approval.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions, which will allow staff to negotiate and draft agreements with the current vendor, California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG) for medical and mental health agreements at the adult detention facilities (jail) and Juvenile Justice Campus (JJC). The current agreements with CFMG are for approximately $142 million for the jail and $18 million for the JJC for five years to terminate on June 30, 2023. Due to the dollar amounts of these agreements, the request to waive the competitive bidding process is being heard as part of your Board’s Regular agenda prior to negotiating agreements with CFMG. The request to waive the competitive bidding process will allow for continuity of operations in both the jail and the JJC and allow the County to finalize the remedial plan for the jail as ordered by consent decree. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could choose to direct staff to continue the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, in which case if another vendor were to be awarded the agreements, it would delay the implementation and finalization of the remedial plan.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The current agreements for medical and mental health services at the jail and JJC will expire on June 30, 2023. Staff will return to your Board after negotiating and drafting new agreements with the current vendor, CFMG.
DISCUSSION:
CFMG is the County’s current vendor for medical and mental health services at the jail and JJC. The current agreements with CFMG are for approximately $142 million for the jail and $18 million for the JJC for five years to terminate on June 30, 2023. The County entered into a consent decree in 2015 and as a result agreed to implement a remedial plan in the jail. The remedial plan is comprised of the following sections: medical care, mental health care, accommodations for inmates with disabilities, and jail safety and security. The County began implementation of the remedial plan in November of 2015 under a previous medical vendor (Corizon), who were unsuccessful at assisting the county in its implementation. Over the past (4) years, the current vendor CFMG, has been a key component in making progress in the jail’s delivery of medical and mental health care including the development of complex medical policies and procedures which account for nearly one-third of the remedial plan. CFMG has assisted the County with the medical and mental health portions of the remedial plan to include development of policies and procedures for compliance. Changing vendors at this point in the process will delay finalization of the remedial plan.
Due to the dollar amounts of these agreements, the request to waive the competitive bidding process is being heard as part of your Board’s Regular agenda prior to negotiating agreements with CFMG. The standard process would be to have the request to waive the bidding process and the agreement on the Consent agenda. Instead, staff is requesting approval of the recommended actions at the public hearing today prior to negotiating agreements with CFMG.
In addition, the County is in the process of implementing the realignment of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) youth at the JJC, which requires extensive programming and service needs for DJJ youth. Approval of the recommended actions will allow for continuity in operations for the medical and mental health services at the jail and JJC for both regular and DJJ youth from the current vendor CFMG and for timely finalization of the remedial plan in the jail.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #35 March 22, 2022
BAI #16 February 1, 2022
BAI #23 March 23, 2021
BAI #5, August 4, 2020
BAI #30.1, April 28, 2020
BAI #8.1, April 3, 2018
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck