DATE: May 6, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Agreement with Evident Change for Provision of SafeMeasures
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 Sole Source Acquisition 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 Evident Change as this is the only vendor authorized to access the State of California’s Child Welfare Services/Case Management System data; and
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Sole Source Agreement with Evident Change, for the provision of SafeMeasures, an internet reporting system, effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2029, total not to exceed $379,032.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions will allow the Department of Social Services continued use of SafeMeasures, an internet reporting system, provided by Evident Change, which produces custom reports utilized for advanced Child Welfare data analysis. The service will be made available to the Department for a three-year period with one optional twelve-month extension for a total of four years, with no Net County Cost. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action. Failure to approve the recommended actions will result in the elimination of Child Welfare real-time data analysis capability for the Department.
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 Sole Source Acquisition is warranted due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, as Evident Change is the only vendor authorized to access the State of California’s Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) data. SafeMeasures uses CWS/CMS to generate advanced, real-time case level reports. The General Services Department - Purchasing 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 amount of the recommended agreement ($379,032) will be entirely offset using a combination of 2011 and 1991 Realignment funds, as well as State and Federal Child Welfare funds. The maximum cost of the three-year base term (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028) is $280,604, and the maximum cost of the twelve (12)-month extension period (July 1, 2028 through June 30, 2029) is $98,428. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues will be included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2025-2026 Recommended Budget and will be included in subsequent budgets.
DISCUSSION:
The CWS/CMS is a mandated, statewide database for Child Welfare implemented by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in 1997 designed to automate the case management, service planning, and information gathering functions of all counties’ Child Welfare Services (CWS). Although CWS/CMS has the functionality to produce management reports, it is limited in its ability to provide usable management information at the County or case specific level. The Department seeks to continue solving for this limitation by re-subscribing to the existing reporting service that is permitted by the state to provide in-depth, customized reports.
Evident Change is the proprietary developer of SafeMeasures. SafeMeasures is a quality assurance internet reporting service that links and extracts data from CWS/CMS to key Child Welfare performance standards. SafeMeasures can monitor service delivery activity and agency performance by navigating an extensive set of customized reports and dashboards. These customized reports can be presented in multiple different formats that can be aggregated by timeframe, location, assignment, or specific demographics and services. These reports permit the Department to estimate current workload demand, plan more effective service interventions, and monitor certain performance indicators established by county, state, or federal regulatory requirements. SafeMeasures further includes quality control displays that the Department employs to improve compliance with state or federal performance audits.
The recommended agreement was drafted by Evident Change and varies from the standard County boilerplate. The Agreement may be terminated for any reason by the County, County’s DSS Director, or Contractor with a 30-day advance written notice. In addition, the Agreement may be modified or terminated upon non-allocation of funds with written notice from the County prior to June 30, 2029. Jurisdiction, venue and governing law for any litigation resulting from this Agreement falls under the State of Wisconsin. The Department believes moving forward with the agreement with Evident Change without changes to the limitation of liability language is in the County’s best interests, as its workforce will benefit from the internet reporting system which outweighs the risk to the County. The Department wishes to move forward due to low risk and need for continued services. The Risk Management Department concedes to the Department’s decision.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #40, June 9, 2020
BAI #49, May 19, 2015
BAI #33, June 18, 2013
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Sole Source Acquisition Request Form
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Evident Change
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander