DATE: August 20, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Delfino E. Neira, Director, 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 IV 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 upon execution, extending the term by six months from September 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 and increasing the maximum by $356,878 to a total of $4,581,045.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will allow the Department of Social Services to extend the agreement to allow time to re-issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) and recommend a service provider. Services are funded with CalWORKs Housing Support Program (HSP) funds, with no Net County Cost. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action. If the recommended action is not approved, CalWORKs HSP services will discontinue for homeless California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) families until a new provider is recommended to your Board. Additionally, the County will not have sufficient time to expend the full allocation for FY 2019-20, which could result in a decrease to future allocations.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The amendment will extend the term for six months and increase the maximum compensation by $356,878 to $4,581,045, which will be entirely offset with CalWORKs HSP funding allocation. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2019-20 Recommended Budget.
DISCUSSION:
HSP is a program for homeless CalWORKs families, funded by the California Department of Social Services and administered by individual counties. HSP provides eligible CalWORKs families with case management, housing financial assistance, housing search and placement services, and is designed to rapidly move families from homelessness into safe permanent housing. Referrals are received from local schools, school districts, domestic violence programs, and local homeless service providers. HSP services have been provided through an agreement with the Housing Authority of the County of Fresno since February 2015.
On April 9, 2019, your Board approved Amendment III to Agreement No. 15-072, which provided a two-month extension and increased the maximum compensation to enable the Department to procure a new vendor. The RFP was released on April 25, 2019, and contained several elements that sought to align services with best practices. Specifically, additional case management and housing location services, and caseload expectations were adjusted to provide a smaller ratio of clients per case manager. Only one proposal was received in response to the RFP, and after thorough review and discussion, the review panel unanimously recommended not to fund the proposal, as it did not adequately respond to several components of the RFP. The review panel consisted of representatives from the Department, County of Fresno Administrative Office, and the Madera County Department of Social Services.
The Department is working to restructure the program, while refining HSP practices and goals, and continues to work with the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care to coordinate its homeless funding and services with other resources available in the community. To continue to meet the needs of homeless CalWORKs families, a new RFP will be issued in August 2019 to procure a vendor, while meeting HSP programmatic expectations and continuous quality improvement processes.
If your Board approves the recommended action, the existing agreement with the Housing Authority will be extended through February 29, 2020 to allow time for the procurement and development of new agreement(s) for HSP services. This will ensure that the needs of families in the program are met, and additional homeless families can be served, until new agreement(s) are executed.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #56, April 9, 2019
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 IV to Agreement No. 15-072 with Housing Authority of the County of Fresno
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa