DATE: April 9, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Kirk Haynes, Chief Probation Officer
SUBJECT: Agreement with Allvest Information Services, Inc., dba Vant4ge
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 Allvest Information Services, Inc. is the only vendor that can provide the STRONG-R and M-PACT assessment tools;
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with Allvest Information Services, Inc. to replace and supersede Agreement No. A-15-216, for risk-assessment software applications and related services, effective upon execution, not to exceed seven consecutive years, which includes a five-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $1,275,900;
3. Adopt Budget Resolution increasing FY 2018-19 appropriations and estimated revenues for Probation Org 3430 in the amount of $21,250 (4/5 vote); and
4. Adopt Budget Resolution increasing FY 2018-19 appropriations in the Youthful Offender Block Grant Org 3434 in the amount of $21,250 (4/5 vote).
REPORT
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The costs associated with this agreement are fully funded with Youthful Offender Block Grant (YOBG) and Community Corrections Performance Incentive (SB 678) revenues. Approval of the recommended actions will replace and supersede Agreement No. A-15-216. It is necessary to replace and supersede Agreement No. A-15-216 because the Probation Department’s needs have changed and the Department needs to upgrade its current risk/need assessment tools. A suspension of competition is requested because a majority of the integration required for the upgrade to Vant4gePoint is already in place, staff is familiar with the vendor’s product, and the upgraded assessment tools are not available from other vendors. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended actions are not approved, the Probation Department would continue utilizing the current assessment tools, Static Risk and Offender Needs Guide (STRONG) and Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT), for the duration of Agreement A-15-216. If the agreement was not awarded to the recommended vendor, there would be significant costs to the Probation Department to integrate new applications into the Department’s existing case management system.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
The Department requests your Board suspend the competitive bidding process consistent with Administrative Policy No. 34 under the unusual or extraordinary circumstances exception, as the Probation Department has expended significant funds and staff time to integrate Allvest’s software into the Probation case management system. The recommended actions will allow the Department to upgrade from its current STRONG and PACT applications to Allvest's unique STRONG-Revised (STRONG-R) and Modified-PACT (M-PACT) applications, which will be developed and validated for the Fresno County population. The STRONG-R and M-PACT applications are not available from other vendors. Based on this, a letter of interest was not issued. The Internal Service Department, Purchasing Division concurs with the Department’s request to waive the competitive bidding process.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The maximum total cost for the possible seven year agreement is $1,275,900, and is detailed as follows:
• Year One - $218,700 ($42,500 one-time costs for development/implementation and validation of the assessment tool, $151,200 annual subscription, and $25,000 extra services upon request; and
• Years Two through Seven - $1,057,200 ($151,200 annual subscription and $25,000 extra services upon request for a total of $176,200 per year for six years).
It should be noted, the Department will pay the current annual subscription of $80,000 per year until Allvest completes the upgrades to the STRONG-R and M-PACT assessment tools. At that time, the yearly subscription rate will increase to the above mentioned rate of $151,200 per year.
The costs for the recommended agreement are fully offset with YOBG and SB 678 funding, and will be divided evenly between these funding sources. Approval of the recommended actions are necessary to increase FY 2018-19 appropriations and estimated revenues in the amount of $21,250 in Probation Org 3430 and Youthful Offender Block Grant Org 3434. Adequate appropriations are included in the SB 678 Special Revenue Fund Org 3450 to cover adult Probation-related costs for FY 2018-19. Funding for subsequent years of this agreement will be included in the Department’s future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
On March 15, 2011, the Board approved an agreement with Allvest that provided risk-assessment software applications for juveniles and adults to the Fresno County Probation Department. Risk-assessment applications are used to determine the appropriate level of supervision and services for probationers, in an effort to reduce their likelihood of recidivating. This agreement provided for the installation, implementation, training, integration, and customization of these applications. On June 2, 2015 the Board approved a second agreement with Allvest to continue to provide web-based PACT and STRONG risk-assessment applications.
The recommended agreement will replace and supersede the current agreement, which is due to expire June 30, 2019, and has one remaining one-year extension. This will allow the Department to upgrade from the current STRONG and PACT assessment tools to the STRONG-R and M-PACT risk assessment applications. These applications are unique to Allvest, in that they use historical and current data from Fresno County to validate the assessment, significantly increasing the accuracy of recidivism and re-offense predictions of the Probation population. Both applications not only classify the types of risk levels, such as high, moderate, and low, but also display the full spectrum of offender behaviors from technical violations to extremely violent offenses. These include extreme risk levels, such as criminally diverse, and other types of crime such as violence, property, and drug. Along with STRONG-R and M-PACT, the agreement will provide the Department with the Commercial Sexual Exploitation - Identification Tool (CSE-IT), Static-99, and the Detention Risk Assessment Instrument applications. In addition, continuing to contract with Allvest will allow the Department to maintain a significant portion of the work that has been done since 2011 to integrate Allvest’s tools into the Department’s case management system.
The recommended agreement differs from a standard agreement by having a five year base term with two one-year extensions. A seven-year agreement was required in order to provide continuity to the Department and lower the annual subscription rate from $170,100 to $151,200, a savings of $18,900 annually.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #35, June 2, 2015
BAI #27, March 15, 2011
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Allvest Information Systems, Inc.
On file with Clerk - Budget Resolution (Org 3430)
On file with Clerk - Budget Resolution (Org 3434)
Suspension of Competition Form PD-048
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck