DATE: January 26, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Delfino E. Neira, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Amendment I to Agreement with Comprehensive Youth Services of Fresno for Supervised Visitation Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute Amendment I to Agreement No. 19-451 with Comprehensive Youth Services of Fresno, Inc. for Supervised Visitation Services, effective upon execution with no change to the term of October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024 and increasing the maximum by $486,036 to a total of $5,444,136.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will allow the Department of Social Services to meet an increased capacity need for Juvenile Court-ordered supervised visitation services provided to children and their families involved with the Department’s Child Welfare System. The additional funds will be used to augment staffing and other operational costs to ensure families receive timely visitations. The recommended amendment will be funded with 2011 Realignment and federal Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) funds, with no increase in Net County Cost. The item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended action, the Department will need to assume a larger percentage of supervised visits internally and incur the added associated costs for these services.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Approval of the recommended action will increase the maximum compensation by $486,036, for a total maximum agreement cost of $5,444,136. The cost of the recommended amendment will be funded with 2011 Realignment and PSSF funds. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s, Org 5610 FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget and will be included in subsequent budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
Visitation is a critical service in Child Welfare for children and their families that have been separated due to abuse and/or neglect. Timely and regular visitation services promote and facilitate family reunification. Visitation is required as part of court ordered services by the Juvenile Dependency Court and the Department must ensure compliance.
On September 10, 2019, your Board approved Agreement No. 19-451 with Comprehensive Youth Services, Inc., (CYS) to provide supervised visitation services for the Department. CYS was the sole responsive bidder to a Request for Proposal and was recommended for funding.
During 2020, the Department has experienced an increase in the number of families requiring supervised visitation services. The Department cannot meet the increase without increasing staffing levels. The contract with CYS has been maximized as well. Although the Department maintains capacity to manage supervised visitations in-house, it would require reallocation of staff from other mandated functions and/or use of overtime to meet and sustain this increase internally.
Approval of the recommended action will allow CYS to increase capacity to meet supervised visitation service needs. The recommended amendment will allow CYS to add staff positions and related operational costs to increase weekly scheduled visitation hours from 200 to 282. The additional resources will also ensure effective coordination of visits with families, proper documentation and accurate collection of Department data, to minimize visit cancellations or no shows.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #58, September 10, 2019
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Amendment I to Agreement No. 19-451 with CYS
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander