DATE: August 23, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Luchini, RN, PHN, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Retroactive Agreement with Central Valley Farmworkers Foundation
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Make a finding that it is in the best interest of the County to suspend the competitive bidding process consistent with Administrative Policy No. 34 for unusual or extraordinary circumstances as Central Valley Farmworkers Foundation has been providing COVID-19 services to the Fresno County agricultural community for the last two years; and
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive Agreement with Central Valley Farmworkers Foundation to provide COVID-19 health education, vaccination, testing, and health access services to the Fresno County agricultural community, effective May 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022, total not to exceed $171,177
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions will allow the County to continue partnering with Central Valley Farmworkers Foundation (CFF) to continue assisting Fresno County in providing COVID-19 services to the County’s agricultural community. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action. Should your Board elect not to approve the recommended action, the County will not be able to continue partnering with CFF to provide COVID-19 health education, vaccination, testing, and health access to the County’s agricultural community, reducing the available services to this population. Furthermore, the County will not be able to reimburse CFF’s for services retro to May 1, 2022.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
The Department requests to suspend the competitive bidding process consistent with Administrative Policy No. 34 when in unusual and extraordinary circumstances as CFF has been providing COVID-19 services to the Fresno County agricultural community for the last two years. CFF has demonstrated its ability to be an excellent partner for Fresno County through the services that have been provided under PO M02-0000020777 and M04-0000021370. CFF has helped distribute COVID-19 testing supplies and helped test thousands of farmworkers at their worksites and at community events throughout Fresno County. CFF uses their experience providing direct services to farmworkers since 2016 and has collaborated with 40 agricultural employers and farm labor contractors to enhance its efforts for the County. Prior to the issuing of PO M02-0000020777, internal staff dedicated to working with the agricultural community met with approximately 15 employers throughout Fresno County to determine which community-based organizations (CBOs) the employers believed focused on helping farmworkers. Employers strongly recommended CFF as a past partner they felt comfortable with and agreed to provide access to their place of business and workforce. Many employers stated they had worked with CFF in the past and trusted them to deliver culturally and linguistically sensitive health and education services to their employees. Due to the strong relationship CFF has with Fresno County’s agricultural community, the Department would like to continue working alongside CFF. The Internal Service Department - Purchasing concurs with the Department’s request to suspend the competitive bidding process.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
The recommended agreement is retroactive to May 1, 2022. CFF was providing services under PO M04-0000021370 that expired on June 30, 2022. Based on the demand for COVID-19 services among the County’s agricultural community, the Department determined there was still a need and requested a procurement agreement through County Purchasing. However, County Purchasing could not execute a procurement agreement because the services were a continuation of the PO and the aggregate compensation exceeded the $200,000 limitation authority of the Purchasing Manager. Service demand also created a need to increase compensation back to May 2022, as services provided exceeded the PO maximum in May 2022. As the Department initially assumed a procurement agreement would be the purchasing vehicle for these services, presentation to the Board is being brought forward as a retroactive action to cover services rendered.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The agreement is funded by State grants. There are two pending invoices for the total amount of $38,134. The maximum payable under this agreement is $171,177. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5620 FY 2022-23 Recommended Budget.
DISCUSSION:
According to zip code analysis of COVID-19, cases are still of great concern in the Central Valley agricultural communities. COVID-19 variants continue to emerge, which extend the need for health education, awareness, testing, and vaccination at farmworker worksites and rural communities. Continuing to use CFF will build on the successes already achieved, utilizing the well-established connections between CFF and the population they serve to assist in preventing another COVID-19 outbreak.
CFF has partnered with Fresno County since December 18, 2020 and has proven to be effective in assisting the agricultural community with access to COVID-19 resources. Over the past 17 months, CFF has directly reached more than 67,000 farmworkers and conducted over 8,825 COVID-19 tests. CFF has also helped to distribute more than 12,525 COVID-19 supplies, 9,215 food supplies, and 17,913 educational materials to Fresno County’s agricultural farmworkers.
Approval of the recommended actions will allow Fresno County’s partnership with CFF to continue providing COVID-19 health education, vaccination, testing and health access services to the agricultural community through December 31, 2022. The County and CFF will continue to work together to assure the maximization of resources and meeting expected goals.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Suspension of Competition Acquisition Request
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Central Valley Farmworkers Foundation
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander