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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12192006 - D.5 D.5 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this Order on December 19, 2006,by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Gioia,Uilkema, Piepho, and Glover ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None DISTRICT IV SEAT VACANT SUBJ: RELISTED to CONSIDER approving policy on contracting with community-based organizations for social and human services as reviewed by the Family and Human Services Committee and recommended by the District V Supervisor. . I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. Attested: December 19,2006 John Sweeten,Clerk of the Board Of Supervisors and County Administrator By: &L 6 Deputy Cler< FHS #70 Contra TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS fit L Costa FROM: Federal Glover, Supervisor District V _ Count``/ Y DATE: December 19, 2006 ../! SUBJECT: County Policy on ContractingwithCommunity Based Organizations SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS DIRECT staff to implement the new draft policy on contracting practices with community based organizations. FISCAL IMPACT: Minimal fiscal impact. Departmental contract staff will have an unknown amount of increased workload for processing the required Request for Interest or Request for Proposal processes. BACKGROUND: On March 1, 2005, the Board of Supervisors considered approving a recommended policy requiring the periodic competitive recruitment for County services contracts. The Board took two actions on this issue. First it amended page three of the draft Administrative Bulletin to include notification of the Board when a waiver of the policy is approved. Secondly, at the request of the Contractors' Alliance and to provide time for more public input on the recommended policy, it referred the issue to the Family and Human Services Committee. On October 17, 2005, the Family and Human Services Committee considered a recommended policy on County contracts for services provided by community based organizations. At the meeting discussion took place regarding several aspects of the County's contracting relationship with community-based organizations. The Committee requested that staff return with a plan for a workshop to discuss the proposed policy and other contracting concerns. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES XX NO SI ATURE 'C��! RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S) ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED !� OTHER MOTE OF SUPERVISORS X.UNANIMOUS(AB SENT)---- AYES: NOES: ABSENT:_ABSTIAN: ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND DISTRICT IV SEAT IS VACANT CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: Dorothy Sansoe, 5-1009 ATTESTED JOHN CULLEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF cc: County Administrator SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Health Services Department Employment and Human Services Department BY: DEPUTY Page 2 of 2 The Committee requested that staff return with a plan for a-workshop to discuss the proposed policy and other contracting concerns. On March 13, 2006, the Family and Human Services Committee conducted, with the assistance of Grace Boda, a consultant specializing in meeting facilitation, a discussion between County department staff and CBO staff. This discussion focused on principles surrounding contracting issues between the parties. The discussion was not meant to reach agreement on specific issues, but rather to provide an opportunity for give and take on both sides and for thoughtful expressing of ideas to improve the process and procedures involved. On April 3, 2006, the Family and Human Services Committee again met to discuss the draft of the proposed policy. The Committee provided direction to staff to work with the Executive Director of the Contractors Alliance to prepare a final version of the draft. Over the past few months the County Administrator's Office and the Contractor's Alliance have been working together to finalize the draft policy and incorporate comments from County departments and community-based organizations. The above recommendations are being made by the District V Supervisor and not the Family and Human Services Committee. This is due to the election of the Chair of the Family and Human Services Committee to the State Assembly on November 7, 2006 and the lack of a quorum of the Committee. Attached to this memo is a draft of the Administrative Bulletin. T CONTRA COSTA COUNTY Office of the County Administrator ADMINISTRATIVE BULLETIN Number: 611 Effective Date: 1/1/2007 Section: Purchasing SUBJECT: Contracting with Community-Based Organizations Authority for this Policy: State law provides that the Board of Supervisors may appropriate and expend money from the general fund of the county to establish county programs or to fund other programs deemed by the Board to be necessary to meet the social needs of the population of the county, including, but not limited to, the areas of health, law enforcement, public safety, rehabilitation, welfare, education, legal services, and the needs of physically, mentally, and financially handicapped persons and aged persons. The Board may contract with other public agencies or private agencies or individuals to operate those programs which the Board determines will serve public purposes. The Board frequently contracts with nonprofit community-based organizations to operate and provide such programs and services. Purpose of this Policy: The County and the organizations with which they contract share a common goal of wanting to ensure that the people who need the services provided receive those services. Further, the County and its contractors are committed to providing the highest quality services and to reaching the greatest number of people in need. Services contracted with CBOs are generally of very good quality. However, as with any service sector, business practices and model approaches are continually being developed and/or refined. The County wishes to ensure that the people who need the services receive the best services available on the market. An RFP process helps ensure.that this occur. It is strongly recommended that departmental staff work with community-based organizations (CBO) during both the bidding process and contracting process and that regular, frequent communication take place between program staff and CBO staff. Notification should be provided to current providers early in the process to allow as much notice as possible. This policy pertains exclusively to contracts with community-based organizations for social and human services, and does not amend or replace Administrative Bulletins Nos. 605 and 608-610 pertaining to contracting for special services. Revised December 4, 2006 Administrative Bulletin No. 611 Contracting with Community-Based Organizations, Page 2 Effective Date: This policy is effective upon Board of Supervisors approval on all new contracts or renewal of contracts which expire six weeks after the effective date or later. This is intended to provide sufficient time for County departments to complete the RFP process without a gap in services. POLICY 1 . New Funding and Open Bidding Departments will contract with CBO's for services anytime a new dedicated funding stream designed for health or social services is available and eligible to be used for contracting. Where feasible, County departments may compete through the RFP process to provide the services. This section does not preclude the ability of a department to use new funding for oversight, monitoring, or case management of contracted services issued under this policy. 2. Requests for Interest Prior to proceeding to a formal or informal competitive bid process, a Request for Interest will be issued to determine if there is interest on the part of contractors not currently providing services. If there is no new interest, the competitive bidding process may be waived as provided for in Section 7 of this policy. 3. Competitive Bidding For contracts with community-based organizations in excess of$50,000: a. The initial contract award will be based on a competitive bidding process. b. An annual contract may not be renewed more than two times without a Request for Interest process. c. Multi-year contracts may not exceed three years in length and may not be extended without a Request for Interest process. 4. Contract Award For contracts with community-based organizations in excess of $250,000: Revised December 4, 2006 Administrative Bulletin No. 611 .Contracting with Community-Based Organizations Page 3 a. Consideration will be given to the fiscal and managerial capability of the agency before contracts are entered into with community-based organizations. b. Strong consideration will be given to contractors with an established financial track record. c. Follow-on or renewal contracts will not be approved unless and until any audit exceptions and deficiencies have been remedied. 5. Contract Requirements a. All contracts shall identify specific performance outputs and/or outcomes. Contracting departments shall review performance of contracts periodically to ensure compliance with output/outcome requirements. b. Failure to achieve contracted performance output or outcome requirements maybe grounds for contract termination. c. Contracts with contractors that fail to achieve performance outputs or outcome requirements may not be automatically renewed. Such contracts must be reviewed to ensure that the desired outputs or outcomes are achievable. A new contract may be established, if appropriate, following a competitive bid process. d. Contracts will contain a provision for termination at the convenience of the County upon thirty-day advance written notice, or immediate termination by written mutual consent. e. Once per contract period, contracts will be monitored by the County to ensure service quality and progress toward outputs and outcomes is being achieved. 6. Board of Supervisors Approval Requests to the Board of Supervisors to establish, renew, or continue a contract will be in the form of a Board Order that includes the following information: a. the name of the agency b. the term of new contract or contract amendment/ renewal c. the new or increased payment limit d. the services to be provided in consideration for the payment Revised December 4, 2006 Administrative Bulletin No. 611 Contracting with Community-Based Organizations Page 4 -- e. - a summary of the history of the contractual relationship for the services requested, to include the term of the original contract authority and the number and duration of any prior renewals - f. a brief summary of the competitive recruitment process, if any, that led to the contractor's selection g. for contracts in excess of $250,000, a supportable statement that any problems or deficiencies identified in the selected agency's most recent audit have been remedied to the department's satisfaction h. if applicable, justification for waiver of all or any portion of this policy (see the following section) i. any and all other information routinely required on a Board Order (such as the Children's Impact Statement). 7. Policy Waiver Prior to entering into any contractual agreement under this policy, a department may apply to the County Administrator.for waiver of all or any portion of this policy. Such application will demonstrate the extenuating circumstances that render the policy inapplicable. The County Administrator or authorized designee will evaluate and authorize such applications. The County Administrator will notice the Board of Supervisors via the agenda process whenever a waiver is approved. GUIDELINES FOR COMPETITIVE BIDDING The following are guidelines to assist department contract personnel in the development and solicitation of proposals. Departments may develop internal policy to strengthen these guidelines, if deemed desirable. 1. Request for Interest Conduct a Request for Information (RFI) and/or take necessary steps to identify potential contractors (reference County Outreach Program), including contacting other public agencies. If there are no parties interested in providing services other than those with whom the County is already contracting, the competitive bidding process may be waived as outlined in Section 7 above. 2. Suggested Formal Competitive Recruitment Process a. Develop a comprehensive description of the services being sought, the location of work to be performed, the timeframe, and any special licenses, qualifications, or other requirements. Revised December 4, 2006 Administrative Bulletin No. 611 Contracting with Community-Based Organizations Page 5 b. Advertise the services being sought and instruct vendors as to whom to notify if they can and are qualified to provide such services. This step may be skipped if a diverse list of qualified vendors is already available for the services being sought. C. Revise the services description, if needed, and develop a recruitment outline and schedule. d. Prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) describing, as applicable, the: ♦ Services to be provided by the contractor, including specific tasks. ♦ Population to be served. ♦ Specific eligibility criteria for each category of service. ♦ Name and address of each facility at which service is to be provided. ♦ Time each service is to be provided at every service location, including hours of services, days of the week, and whether services will be provided on weekends and/or holidays. ♦ Goals and objectives of each category of service, including performance records and reports Contractor will be required to maintain and/or submit. . ♦ Definition of service unit for each category of services and the number of service units Contractor will be required to deliver during the period, e.g., one unit of service = one 8-hour day. ♦ State and/or federal statutes and regulations with which the Contractor will be required to comply in performing each category of service. ♦ Criteria against which proposals will be evaluated. e. Issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) - Advertise the services being sought and request vendors to submit by a specified deadline (typically 3-6 weeks) a detailed proposal meeting all of the RFP requirements, including a copy of the service provider's most recent audit. Advertising may include newspaper, Internet, professional journals, and mailings to vendors on a distribution list. Revised December 4, 2006 Administrative Bulletin No. 611 Contracting with Community-Based Organizations Page 6 f. Mail a copy of the RFP to all vendors who request a mailed copy. g. Conduct a Bidders' Conference, if warranted, shortly after the RFP issuance to better describe the services required and to respond to questions of potential contractors. Send a summary of questions and answers emanating from the Bidders' Conference to all vendors who were sent a copy of the RFP. . h. Evaluate the proposals in accordance with the predefined qualifications, eliminate proposers that are not qualified, and send notification letters. i. Determine selection method based upon number of qualified applicants. Selection method may be an in-depth screening and ranking of proposals, interview of proposers, or a combination of both. j. Convene an impartial selection panel including at least one representative from the CBO community, and, in one or more rounds, evaluate and rank proposals in accordance with predefined criteria. k. Conduct reference checks to verify past performance of finalists. I. Select the preferred service provider and, for contracts in excess of $250,000, request the County Auditor-Controller's office or another qualified official to review the most recent audit of the finalist and express an opinion as to the finalist's financial position / management controls. M. Finalize selection, send notification letters, and respond to appeals as necessary. 2. Suggested Informal Competitive Recruitment Process a. Take necessary steps to identify a diverse group of potential contractors, including contacting other public agencies. b. Conduct outreach to potential contractors by notifying those firms by facsimile, telephone, email, web advertisement, or any other practical and economically feasible method. C. Evaluate and rank proposals, check references, and select preferred vendor. Revised December 4, 2006 Administrative Bulletin No. 611 Contracting with Community-Based Organizations Page 7 d. For contracts in excess of $250,000, request the County Auditor- Controller's office or another qualified official to review the most recent-audit of the finalist and express an opinion as to the finalists financial position / management controls. e. Notify all proposers. Orig. Dept: County Administrator References: California Government Code section 26227 Board Order dated August 17, 1982 from the Internal Operations Committee /s/ JOHN CULLEN, County Administrator Revised December 4, 2006