DATE: April 22, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Amendment to Agreement with Brain Learning Psychological Corporation
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute Amendment No. 1 to Agreement with Brain Learning Psychological Corporation for specialized assessments for CalWORKs Welfare-To-Work participants, effective May 1, 2025, with no change to the term of January 24, 2023, through June 30, 2027, and increasing the maximum compensation by $900,000 to a total of $2,033,063.
REPORT
The Department of Social Services (DSS) has seen an increase in the number of clients in need of specialized assessment services for CalWORKs Welfare-To-Work (WTW) participants, which results in the need to increase the agreement’s maximum compensation to serve all eligible clients. Approval of the recommended action will allow DSS to continue services uninterrupted and satisfy the California Department of Social Services Manual of Policy and Procedures Section 42-711. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended action, DSS will fall out of compliance with State mandates to provide specialized assessments for Limited English Proficiency (LEP), Learning Disability Evaluations (LDE), and Independent Assessments to CalWORKs WTW participants.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The increase in maximum compensation ($900,000) will be offset using the CalWORKs Single Allocation. As this is a fee for service contract, actual costs will be determined by the number of assessments provided. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget and will be included in subsequent budget requests.
The County has a required Maintenance of Effort (MOE) of $4,022,882 for FY 2024-25 for the CalWORKs program. Once the MOE has been met, all expenses over that amount will be 100% funded with State and Federal dollars up to the amount of the annual CalWORKs Single Allocation. Social Services Realignment funds will be used to meet the CalWORKs MOE.
DISCUSSION:
On January 24, 2023, following a Request for Proposal (RFP) procurement process in which Brain Learning Psychological Corporation (BLPC) was selected to provide these services, the Board approved Agreement No. 23-048 allowing BLPC to provide specialized assessment services to WTW participants. These assessments document the presence or absence of potential barriers that limit a CalWORKs WTW client’s ability to engage in work or job-related training.
DSS estimated the number of clients that would require these assessments and based the maximum compensation in the agreement on that estimate. Over the last year, DSS has seen an increase in the number of clients in need of these assessments and as a result, additional funding is required to be added to the agreement in order to serve all eligible clients. The recommended amendment will adjust the maximum compensation allowed to accommodate for the increased number of clients requiring assessments.
The recommended amendment seeks to increase the maximum contract value by $900,000 to a total of $2,033,063. Approval of the recommended action will allow state-mandated assessments for WTW participants to continue without delay. The recommended amendment also seeks to update the Summary of Services, adding language that clarifies remote assessments are allowed for clients within the Fresno metro area and inserting language in the Outcomes and Expectations to include outcomes determined mutually between BLPC and County in 2023 after the Agreement was approved.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #9, January 24, 2023
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Amendment No. 1 to Agreement with BLPC
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander