DATE: April 9, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Delfino E. Neira, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Amendment to Agreement with Housing Authority of the County of Fresno for CalWORKs Housing Support Program Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute Amendment III to Agreement No. 15-072 with the Housing Authority of the County of Fresno for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Housing Support Program services, effective April 9, 2019, extending the term by two months from July 1, 2019 to August 31, 2019 and increasing the maximum by $286,549 to a total of $4,224,167.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will allow the Department of Social Services to: 1) add reallocated funding to the current California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Housing Support Program (HSP) agreement, expanding services to additional clients; and 2) extend the agreement by two months to allow additional time to re-design the program before issuance of a new Request for Proposal (RFP). Services are financed with CalWORKs HSP funds, with no Net County Cost. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may choose not to approve the recommended action, and the County will forfeit $113,135 in reallocated CalWORKs HSP funding from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The amendment will extend the term for two months and increase the maximum compensation by $286,549 to $4,224,167; the increase consists of $113,135 in reallocated CalWORKs HSP funding and $111,622 of the 2019-20 HSP allocation. In addition, the Department included $61,792 in one-time HSP administrative funding to augment direct client services in the final months of the agreement. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2018-19 Adopted Budget and will be included in the FY 2019-20 Requested Budget.
DISCUSSION:
HSP is a program for homeless CalWORKs families, funded by CDSS and administered by individual counties. The program provides eligible CalWORKs families with case management, housing financial assistance, and housing search and placement services, and is designed to rapidly move families from homelessness into safe permanent housing. Since February 2015, the Department has partnered with the Housing Authority of the County of Fresno (Housing Authority) to provide CalWORKs HSP services. Referrals are received from local schools and school districts, domestic violence programs, and local homeless service providers.
In the current fiscal year, the program has experienced higher rates of referrals, and a significant increase in clients enrolled in the program. In order to ensure that the Housing Authority is able to adequately support families enrolled in the program, the Department closed referrals in January 2019. However, based on spending trends, additional funding would be beneficial to maintain service levels and ensure sufficient support for the increased client need.
In February 2019, CDSS informed counties of the availability of reallocated funds. Fresno was allocated $63,135, and at the request of CDSS, received an additional $50,000 for use by June 30, 2019. The Department also elected to include an additional $61,792 of one-time HSP administrative funding, to augment funding to direct client services in the final months of the HSP agreement. Funding for the additional two months of the agreement will be provided through the CalWORKs HSP 2019-20 allocation and totals $111,622.
The Department is continually working to improve HSP outcomes and integrate services with other homeless programs in the community. As a result of this effort to re-design the program and implement program improvements, changes were made to the upcoming RFP, requiring additional time to procure the next HSP vendor.
With your Board’s approval of the recommended action, the existing agreement with the Housing Authority will be extended through August 2019 to allow sufficient time for procurement and a new agreement for HSP services. The RFP for new HSP services will be released in April 2019.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #58, June 6, 2017
BAI #72, May 24, 2016
BAI #47, February 24, 2015
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Amendment III to Agreement No. 15-072 with Housing Authority of the County of Fresno
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa