DATE: March 12, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Delfino E. Neira, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Joint Powers Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding with the CalSAWS Consortium, Appointment of the Member Representative
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Joint Powers Agreement with the CalSAWS Consortium, a Joint Powers Authority, for the design, procurement, development, implementation, migration, ongoing operation, and maintenance of shared welfare data management services for all 58 California counties, effective June 28, 2019 with no termination date.
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the CalSAWS Consortium, a Joint Powers Authority, for the design, procurement, development, implementation, migration, ongoing operation, and maintenance of shared welfare data management services for all 58 California counties, effective June 28, 2019 with no termination date.
3. Appoint the Director (or Interim Director) of the Department of Social Services as the Member Representative for the County of Fresno.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions will support the Department’s mandatory transition to a single statewide welfare data management system by 2023, as directed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Food and Nutrition Services agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, with no increase in Net County Cost. Actual migration from the CalWIN system to CalSAWS is currently projected to begin in late 2021. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There are no viable alternative actions for any of the recommended actions. The State of California has been mandated to establish a single statewide welfare data management system by 2023. Failure to meet this deadline may result in the withdrawal of Federal funds. Although your Board may appoint a Board member to represent the County in the JPA at mandatory meetings, the Social Services Director has the specialized knowledge to best represent the County’s interests.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Member counties of the Joint Powers Authority (JPA) agree to contribute funding allocated for CalSAWS, in addition to any match required by California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 10824. The total cost of services managed by the CalSAWS Consortium is not known at this time; however, the County is currently responsible for paying 4% of the Fresno share of cost for services associated with the Welfare Client Data System (WCDS) Consortium, comprised of Realignment and Net County Cost. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues will be included in the FY 2019/20 Recommended Budget for the Department of Social Services Org 5610 and will be included in subsequent budget years.
DISCUSSION:
On August 7, 2018, your Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System (CalACES) for the procurement, implementation, maintenance, and operations of shared welfare data services. That MOU was designed to terminate upon the formation of the California Statewide-Automated Welfare System, which is effected by the first recommended action. Your Board received additional information about this large-scale change to welfare data operations in the Department’s October 8, 2018 Board Briefing Report.
The MOU between the County and the CalSAWS Consortium, referenced in the second recommended action, delineates the areas of understanding and agreement among the participants concerning administration and fulfillment of the Consortium’s purpose, governs the assignment of County personnel to the Consortium (including payment provisions), governs system and data use requirements, and outlines fiscal responsibilities.
Member counties of the JPA will each be represented by a Member Representative, who may be either the county’s Welfare Director or a member of the county’s Board of Supervisors. The Board of Directors for the JPA will be formed from twelve Member Representatives (distributed proportionally amongst six (6) regions) and one State Representative selected from amongst the California Office of Systems Integration, Department of Social Services, or Department of Health Care Services. The Department’s Director (or Interim Director) and his or her specialized knowledge of welfare data system needs is uniquely suited for appointment as the County’s Member Representative, as referenced in the third recommended action.
The JPA Bylaws are on file with the Clerk, for your Board’s reference, and govern the meetings of the Board of Directors and Member Representatives. The JPA Agreement and MOU were revised by all counties from earlier versions, and deviate from the County’s standard contract language. Neither the Agreement nor the MOU contain an ending term as, per the rationale of the CalSAWS Consortium, there is no mechanism for the State of California to forego a unified welfare data management system, and as such, there will always be a need for the JPA Agreement and MOU.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has reviewed and supports the plan to have the CalSAWS Consortium oversee activities for the statewide automated welfare data management system.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BBR - Transition from the CalWORKs Information Network to the California Statewide Automated Welfare System, October 8, 2018
BAI #58, August 7, 2018
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - JPA with CalSAWS
On file with Clerk - MOU with CalSAWS
On file with Clerk - Bylaws for CalSAWS
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander