DATE: March 19, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Purchase of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Post-Call Summarization and Additional Licenses for Contact Service Center Expansion through the CalSAWS Consortium
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 suspension of competition 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 CalSAWS Consortium for both agreements listed within recommended actions two and three as CalSAWS Consortium is a Joint Powers Authority formed by all 58 California Counties;
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the County Purchase Agreement with the CalSAWS Consortium for the purchase of Generative AI for post-call summarization on behalf of the County, effective April 1, 2024 through May 31, 2025, total cost not to exceed $2,041,241; and,
3. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the County Purchase Agreement with the CalSAWS Consortium for the purchase of two-hundred twenty-two (222) additional Contact Center licenses on behalf of the County, effective May 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025, total cost not to exceed $586,705.
REPORT
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions will allow the Department to purchase, through the CalSAWS Consortium, Generative AI for post-call summarization and 222 additional Contact Service Center licenses to improve call efficiency and increase the number of staff available to handle service call volumes. The cost for the purchase will be offset primarily through current year State and Federal allocated funds. This item is Countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended actions, the Department’s Contact Center will continue to operate following current business practices and with the current number of staff assigned to service calls. Without Generative AI, the Department will forego the opportunity to take advantage of the increased efficiency an automated real-time transcription service provides by reducing overall call handling time. Without the additional Contact Service Center licenses the Department will not be able to leverage additional ongoing staff during periods of high call volume.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
It is requested that the County find under AP No. 34 that an exception to the competitive bidding requirement is satisfied, and a suspension of competition is warranted due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances, as the CalSAWS Consortium is a Joint Powers Authority formed for the management of CalSAWS on behalf of all 58 California counties. The Joint Powers Authority has procured the software, maintenance, and any necessary equipment support of Generative AI and acquiring additional Contact Center licenses. Generative AI and additional Contact Center licenses cannot be procured independently elsewhere. The Internal 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 cost of the recommended agreements ($2,627,946) will be fully offset with State and Federal Social Services Funds ($2,571,661), 2011 Realignment ($15,787) in lieu of State General Funds for Foster Care Eligibility that was realigned to counties through Assembly Bill 118 (Chapter 40, Statutes of 2011), 1991 Social Services Realignment ($5,833), and the required Net County Cost ($34,665) which offsets the General Relief Program share of cost. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget and will be included in subsequent budgets.
DISCUSSION:
On March 12, 2019, the Board approved Agreement No. 19-129 and Agreement No. 19-130 with the CalSAWS Consortium, a Joint Powers Authority, to allow the CalSAWS Consortium to oversee activities and the management of CalSAWS, such as the design, procurement, development, implementation, migration, ongoing operation, and system maintenance, on behalf of all 58 California counties. The Department requests for additional CalSAWS support to follow the existing processes within the Consortium agreement and are represented as “Additional County Purchase Requests/Agreements”.
Approval of the recommended actions will allow the Department to purchase additional ongoing worker support using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution. The additional support would assist workers with automatically completing the narration support documentation that is required in the CalSAWS system. This is expected to reduce the time a worker spends on a call to approximately ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes, as the typing of the consumer conversation would be completed automatically by the AI solution in the system. This additional support would allow for phone call wait times to be reduced and more consumers to be assisted.
To assure additional consumers can be assisted, it is also necessary to increase the number of licenses that the Department currently has under the Enhanced Call Control Panel (ECCP)/Amazon Connect Licenses used in the Department’s Call Center phone system. Approval of the third recommended action will allow the Department to procure and add an additional 222 licenses which will maximize available State and Federal funds under the Department’s eligibility programs.
The two (2) additional County Purchase Agreements deviate from the County’s standard contract language as they were developed by the CalSAWS consortium.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #50, March 12, 2019
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Sole Source Acquisition Request - Generative AI
Sole Source Acquisition Request - Additional Contact Center Licenses
On file with Clerk - County Purchase Agreement for Gen AI
On file with Clerk - County Purchase Agreement for Additional Contact Center Licenses
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander