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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01131987 - IO.3 TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: 1986 INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Contra DATE'. January 12, 1987 Costa CO �fi Child Care Issues u ly SUBJECT: 1 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Authorize the Chair of the Board to write to the Martinez City Council soliciting their interest in a joint child care information and referral program with the County. 2 . Approve the attached Request for Proposals (RFP) and authorize the Director of Personnel to distribute it to all potential bidders. 3 . Refer to the County Administrator the request from the Director of Personnel for a $12,000 augmentation to his budget for the current year to pay for staff time being devoted to child care issues. 4 . Request the Director of Personnel to report the results of the RFP to the 1987 Internal Operations Committee for their review and subsequent report to the Board of Supervisors for award of a contract. 5 . Remove these items as referrals to the 1986 Internal Operations Committee. 6 . Note for information the fact that the Contra Costa Children' s Council has been asked by the Contra Costa Mayors ' Conference to make a workshop presentation to the 1987 Mayors' Congress on February 21, 1987 on the issue of land use decisions as they impact the need for and availability of child care services. BACKGROUND: On December 2, 1986, the Board of Supervisors requested the Director of Personnel to determine from the City of Martinez what land use requirements would apply to the County' s interests in providing child care facilities in downtown Martinez, what the City of Martinez is doing in meeting the child care needs of their employees, and to what extent the City of Martinez would be interested in entering into a joint program with the County CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE A VE OTHER _ SIGNATURE s ni C. Fanden p Sunne 14. PIcPeak ACTION OF BOARD ON . ,lanllar,y 13. 1937 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. County Administrator CC: ATTESTED 13 9 S�J Personnel Di rector - ;,- - -- -- Exec. Dir. , Children's Council PHI BATCHELO CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY A/LC ISN DEPUTY M382/7-83 Page 2 to provide child care information and referral services to employees of the City and the County. The Director of 'Personnel was also asked to prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a child care information and referral program for County employees, and to return it to our Committee. The Director of Personnel' s reports on these two subjects are attached. Over the past several years, the number of women County employees has increased. This has increased the need for child care. In addition, more men now are either single parents raising their children, or are trying to be more involved in co-parenting their children. These changes in the County' s workforce have made child care a greater concern of employees. In turn, this places a greater responsibility on the County as an employer to respond to the child care needs of its employees. Providing an information and referral 'service to County employees is going to involve a larger investment of money and staff resources that has been dedicated to this issue in the past. Our Committee believes strongly that in order to properly meet these child care needs more resources must be provided to the Personnel Department. We are, therefore, asking the County Administrator to determine the needs of the Personnel Department in this regard and report his conclusions and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. As the Personnel Director reported to our Committee, the Martinez City Manager' s office asked that a letter be sent from the Board of Supervisors to the City Council asking about their interest in a joint program for our respective employees in providing child care information and referral to our employees. Our Committee reviewed the attached RFP and believes it adequately responds to our interest in finding an organization interested in providing specialized and personalized child care information and referral services to County employees. Contra Personnel Department CostaAdministration Bldg. ' 651 Pine Street County Martinez, California 94553-1292 Date: January 7 , 1987 TO: Internal Operations Committee FROM: Harry D. Cisterman, Director of PersonnelA.. SUBJECT: Child Care Program On November 24 , 1986 the results of two County employee child care surveys were provided to the Internal Operations Committee. Based on the results of the surveys, the Committee concluded that there is a need for child care services among County employees. Various services were discussed and the Committee concluded that the County should consider providing a child care information and referral program for County employees that is tailored to their individual needs. The Committee requested that the Director of Personnel: 1. Meet with representatives of the City of Martinez concerning child care issues . 2. Develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a child care resource and referral services program. 3 . Determine what the zoning requirements or land use limitations are for the placement of a child care facility in the downtown area of Martinez . 4. Develop a proposed management position on providing a County financed subsidy for child care for County employees. Personnel Department Staff contacted the City Manager' s Office to determine what steps the City is taking to address the child care needs of it' s employees. The City Manager was also asked whether the City is interested in participating in a joint child care information and referral program with the County. Staff was informed that the above questions should be forwarded to the City Council in a letter directly from the Board of Supervisors. The Council would then consider the County' s proposal and respond back to the Board. A Request for Proposal (RFP) for a child care resource and referral services program was developed by the Personnel Department in conjunction with the County Administrators Office. It includes the elements that were discussed at the last meeting of the Committee in addition to other elements that are desirable in a program of this nature. It should be noted that there appears to be only one agency within the County that would be able to provide the requested services on a County-wide basis. Nevertheless, we have been advised by County Counsel to post a legal notice announcing the RFP so that that any interested parties will have the opportunity to submit a bid to provide the proposed services. A copy of the RFP is attached for your review. The Planning Department for the City of Martinez was contacted concerning zoning limitations which may have an impact on the placement of a child care facility in the downtown Martinez area. The following information was provided to staff: - If the County chooses to operate its own facility on County property it is exempt from the City of Martinez zoning restrictions. - If the County chooses to place a child care facility in the downtown Martinez area on private property it may be subject to zoning limitations and must apply to the City of Martinez Planning Commission for consideration. - If a private child care provider chooses to operate a facility on County property it is exempt from City of Martinez zoning restrictions. - If a private child care provider chooses to place a facility on private property in the downtown area of Martinez it will be subject to zoning limitations and must apply to the City of Martinez Planning Commission for consideration. A management position on providing a County-financed subsidy for child care for County employees will be developed in conjunction with the meet and confer process. This position will be addressed with the Board in executive session prior to the commencement of meet and confer deliberations for FY 87-88 . As the Committee may be aware, the Personnel Department has hired a temporary Administrative Aide to work on the child care program. This has been a full-time assignment for the Aide as well as a part-time assignment for other staff who have been asked to assist with the project. A substantial amount of effort has been devoted to developing, disseminating, and compiling the results of the child care surveys, researching other child care programs offered in both the public and private sectors, determining the desirable elements to be incorporated into the County' s program, and developing a Request for Proposal. To date the Administrative Aide ' s salary has been paid out of the Personnel Department' s temporary fund account. As a result, during the first six months of this fiscal year the department has overspent the amount of funds budgeted for temporary salaries for the entire year by approximately $2,000 . It is clear that we will be unable to continue to staff the child care program at it' s current level in light of our existing budget situation. Moreover, we do not have employees available within our current permanent staff to handle the program. In this regard, we anticipate that a full-time staff member will be needed during the implementation stage of the program to act as a liaison between the County, the employees, and the agency that provides the child care resource and and referral services. This will be necessary to insure that program services are monitored, that problems with service providers are addressed in a timely manner, and that employees have a contact person within the County who is knowledgeable about all aspects of the program. If the County also decides to develop a County financed child care subsidy program it will be necessary to have sufficient staff available to administer this aspect of the program. This would include determining eligibility of participants, coordinating reimbursement activities, monitoring and analyzing information and referral reports, and functioning as a liaison between program participants and the Auditor-Controllers Office. If the County is to be successful in establishing and administering child care services for its employees, we need to insure that we adequately staff the program. I am therefore requesting a $12 ,000 supplement to the Personnel Department' s temporary salary account to fund the Administrative Aide position for the remainder of this fiscal year. I will also be requesting that we fund a permanent position for fiscal year 87-88 in lieu of using temporary staff to administer the program. After the program is implemented and operational we may also use the Administrative Aide to assist (as time allows ) with the implementation of a County Volunteer Program. However, without additional funds we cannot retain 'the Administrative Aide and our ability to provide a quality child care services program will be severely impaired. HDC/WGR:af Contra Personnel Department Costa ~ Administration Bldg. R { 651 Pine Street County Il+y Martinez, California 94553-1292 January 12, 1987 Dear Contra Costa County is in the process of implementing a child care resource and referral program for its employees. The primary objective of the program will be to aid County employees in obtaining child care ser- vices. This will be accomplished by providing child care resource information to employees and by referring them to child care facilities on a County-wide basis. The County is now accepting bids from parties interested in contracting with the County to provide the above services. Please complete the information requested in the attached Request for Proposal and submit your bid to: Child Care Proposal Personnel Department County Administration Building 651 Pine Street, 3rd Floor Martinez, California 94553 Attn: Harry D. Cisterman, Director of Personnel Proposals must be received in the County Personnel Department no later than Proposals submitted after this date will not be accepted. If you have any questions please contact Kim Franklin in the County Personnel Department at 372-4060. KF:af REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR EMPLOYER SPONSORED CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL PROGRAM Program Goal : To provide county-wide child care resource and referral services to County employees. Desired Services: : The Contractor will agree to provide the following services to County employees: A. The Contractor shall provide employees with a list of insured, licensed child care providers in a specific geographic area and/or on a County-wide basis. The list will include the following information: name of provider, address, contact person, days and hours of operation, ages served, services provided, meals provided, capacity by age, cost per week and current vacancies. Included in the data base will be providers meeting special needs such as: infant care, after school care, half-day preschools, summer camps, and subsidized care. B. The Contractor shall maintain a record of each referral . Follow up information including the number of contacts, type of care requested, type of care provided and customer satisfaction will be reported on a monthly basis to the Director of Personnel or his designee. C. Where a need for child care services is not met, the Contractor shall recruit additional providers and when necessary, counsel existing providers on how they may better meet the needs of County employees. D. The Contractor shall negotiate a sliding fee scale with child care providers wherein County employees will be referred to that facility in exchange for the most favorable rates possible. E. The Contractor shall communicate with other resource and referral agencies in order to provide referral services for employees who live outside of the County. F. The Contractor agency shall conduct site visits to child care facilities before referring County employees to those facilities. G. The Contractor shall provide referral services to County employees through a special hotline telephone number or staffing at designated locations or both. H. The Contractor shall make information on community classes, support groups, and special events related to child care available to County employees. Proposal Contents Each Proposal must contain the following information: 1. Proposal Summary: A clear, concise description of the program that will be offered including its cost, the services to be provided and the program objectives. 2. Statement of Qualifications: The Contractor shall submit a statement of experience which shall include but not be limited to the following: A. Agency purpose and programs. B. Number of years of experience the Contractor has had in providing child care services which are equivalent or related to those being proposed by the County. C. An agreement to provide the County with additional information that the County deems necessary for making a determination of the Contractor' s qualifications to provide the required services. D. Attach the following: - References with whom we can discuss their experience with your firm. - List of current Board of Directors. - Agency Bylaws (if applicable) . - Any additional information about your firm you believe the County should consider in evaluating your proposal . 3. Statement of Procedure: Describe the specific means that will be used to provide the services as stated in the RFP. Include the following elements in the description: A. Direct Services as outlined in the RFP. B. Additional services offered. C. Will this be a new program or an expansion of an existing program? D. Referral criteria and sources. E. Intake procedures for receiving requests for child care information or referrals. F. Working relationships with other child care agencies. G. Organizational chart. H. Staffing including qualifications of personnel . T . Method of data gathering for program monitoring. J. Method of charging for services provided. (i .e. flat monthly fee or fee for service basis. ) K. Terms of reimbursement for sevices rendered. (i .e. monthly, quarterly, etc. ) Proposal Evaluation Criteria Criteria for Selection: The proposals for the program will be evaluated in six areas: 1. Cost. 2. Program objectives. 3. Program methodology. 4. Monitoring and evaluation plan. 5. Budget plan. 6. Operational scope. The results in each of the evaluation areas will be weighted and combined for a final rating. In order to be considered, proposals must be rated acceptable in all evaluation areas. Priority shall be given to proposals which demonstrate the greatest ability to provide the services stated in the RFP. While cost will be a primary factor in considering proposals, the following elements will also be considered: 1. Program Objectives: To what degree does the proposal address the service needs as stated in the RFP? 2. Program Methodology: : How well is the program designed to provide the desired services stated in the RFP? 3. Program Monitoring and Evaluation: What information will be provided to evaluate and monitor the program? How will this information be collected, summarized and reported? r 4. Budget Plan: What are your sources of revenue? Please submit a copy of your budget plan for your proposed program. 5. Operational Scope: Does your agency have the resources available to provide the program services stated in the RFP? - Where are your facilities located? - What are the qualifications of your staff? - What are your hours of operation? Additional Information 1. The Personnel Department may issue a RFP Amendment to make changes or corrections to specifications or provide additional data which will be sent to each bidding agency who received the RFP. 2. The RFP process may be cancelled in writing by the Personnel Department if the County Board of Supervisors determines that cancellation is in the best interest of the County, and the County reserves the right to decline to award any contract. 3. When evaluation of Proposals has been completed and a recommendation for award has been presented to the Board of Supervisors all bidding agencies shall be notified of the decision in writing. 4. Copies of standard County contract elements are attached.