DATE: June 4, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Kirk Haynes, Chief Probation Officer
SUBJECT: Agreement with University of Cincinnati Research Institute
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 sole source 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 the University of Cincinnati Research Institute (UCRI), which licenses the University of Cincinnati Center for Justice and Communities’ curricula, including the Effective Practices in Community Supervision models and the Core Correctional Practices manual and training program, and will sublicense these curricula for use by the Department and provide technical assistance, training, coaching, and oversight necessary for the Department’s implementation of the curricula; and
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with the UCRI, for technical assistance, training, coaching, and oversight to further expand, improve, and sustain the delivery of evidence-based practices and continuous quality improvement in the Probation Department, effective June 4, 2024, not to exceed five consecutive years, which includes a three-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $753,500.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions will allow for the continuation of training, coaching and technical assistance services to expand and improve delivery of Evidence Based Practices (EBP) in the Probation Department through a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) model. The Department requests that your Board determines that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement under AP 34 is satisfied due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, because UCRI licenses from the University of Cincinnati Center for Justice and Communities (CJC) its curricula, including the Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS) models and UCRI’s Core Correctional Practices manual and training program, which will be utilized in the recommended agreement. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended actions are not approved, Probation would not have the benefits provided by UCRI’s technical assistance, including oversight of programming related to the implementation of the Juvenile Sexual Offender (JSO) hub, as well as an enhanced behavioral management system, enhanced use of core correctional practices, and enhanced development of meaningful case plans.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
It is requested that your Board find that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement under AP 34 is satisfied due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, as UCRI licenses from the CJC its curricula, including for the EPICS model, the UCRI’s manual and training program, and the UCRI’s Core Correctional Practices manual and training program and will sublicense these curricula to the Department. Based on this, a letter of interest was not issued. The Internal Service Department, Purchasing Division concurs with the Department’s 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 compensation for the recommended agreement is $753,500; the costs for the recommended agreement will be funded with the Youthful Offender Block Grant funds, the ongoing Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Allocation, and SB 678 funding. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenue are included in the FY 2023-24 Probation Org 3430 and Org 3440 Adopted Budgets and will be included in future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
On January 29, 2019, the Board approved the original agreement with UCRI for services to expand and improve the delivery of Departmental EBP. On September 30, 2020, SB 823 was signed into law, which stopped the intake of youth to the DJJ custodial facilities on July 1, 2021. On April 27, 2021, the first amendment to the agreement was approved, adding in services related to the design and implementation of the DJJ Realignment program. Additionally, as a result of the closure of the DJJ, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) offered a grant opportunity for California counties to apply for grant funding to create regional hubs for high-risk youth.
On January 4, 2022, the Board approved the grant agreement with BSCC (executed by BSCC on January 11, 2022). The grant agreement includes funding for technical assistance, training, coaching, fidelity monitoring, and oversight services for JSO programming. Effective March 1, 2024, the County entered into a short-term Procurement Agreement with UCRI for training, technical assistance, coaching, and fidelity monitoring services to help provide oversight of the JSO treatment programming hub being developed at the County’s Juvenile Justice Campus (JJC) facility.
The recommended agreement will allow the continuation of technical assistance and training to expand and improve delivery of EBPs Department-wide and will help implement and maintain sustainability through the use of a CQI model. This will include the continued development of programming, training, fidelity monitoring, technical assistance and oversight of community-based organizations involved with the implementation of the JSO hub at the JJC.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI # 23, January 4, 2022
BAI # 7, April 27, 2021
BAI # 51, January 29, 2019
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Suspension of Competition Form PD-048
On file with Clerk - Agreement with University of Cincinnati Research Institute
CAO ANALYST:
Fine Nai