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Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) recommending the Board:
1) Make findings pursuant to Section 3.13.030 (B) of the El Dorado County Ordinance Chapter 3.13, Contracting Out, that the web-based automated time study services and associated trainings provided by Fiscal Experts, Inc. requires specialty skills and qualifications not expressly identified in County classifications are involved in the performance of the work;
2) Make findings in accordance with Procurement Policy C-17 Section 3.4(2f) and 3.4.3 exempting the competitive bidding process, with Purchasing Agent concurrence, because the procurement is for goods where the continuity of providers will provide efficiency or critical knowledge, and other providers of the goods cannot provide similar efficiencies or critical knowledge and competitive bidding would produce no economic benefit to the County;
3) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign Agreement for Services 9351 with Fiscal Experts, Inc. in the amount of $263,000 for the term of five years from May 9, 2025, through June 30, 2030;
4) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to execute amendments relating to Agreement 9351, contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management, which do not increase the maximum dollar amount or term of the Agreement; and
5) Authorize the HHSA Director, or the Chief Assistant Director, to execute programmatic, administrative, and fiscal documents relating to Agreement 9351.
FUNDING: 40% Federal funding, 35% State funding, 25% County Realignment funding.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND:
HHSA Social Services Division administers a variety of entitlement programs and services that are funded by a mix of federal, state, and County revenue. To access administrative financing for these services, counties are required by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to complete an administrative expense claim on a quarterly basis. An essential component of this claim is the submission of time study information for each staff member, which is then charged against the appropriate program code. Effective management of this process is critical to ensure that all allocations are maximized and overspending is minimized.
In 2009, in an effort to implement process improvement, the Department of Human Services (DHS, now under the umbrella of Department of Health and Human Services) investigated the “Time Study Buddy” technology offered by FEI to ensure it met federal and state requirements as well as the County’s fiscal and programmatic requirements. The Time Study Buddy system allows for automated entry of program codes staff would normally track manually. DHS sought recommendations from Marin County, who had already automated their time study system using FEI’s program, and Lake County and the County/City of San Francisco, who were running pilot programs using the system. The County of El Dorado chose to first participate in several small-scale pilot programs and then analyzed the results of the manual versus automated processes, such as those available from FEI. Based on the resultant favorable outcomes combined with positive recommendations from the other users of the system, the County of El Dorado has contracted with FEI since 2010.
Implementation of FEI’s Time Study Buddy system has eliminated the need for HHSA staff to manually enter time study information into an Excel-based timesheet, has improved quality review processes, and has assisted in ensuring that grant revenue received, via the County Expense Claim, is appropriately maximized. During the evaluation process for UKG Kronos LLC (referred to as UKG Pro), the County's planned new timekeeping platform, it was determined that the UKG Pro system did not provide the capabilities that this proposed contract with FEI fulfills. Unlike a standard timekeeping software, features of the Fiscal Experts software is integrated with regulatory and funding requirements of HHSA's Social Services programs. It allows for detailed information on activities tied to specific services such as case management and produces formatted reports necessary for the purpose of claiming against federal and state revenues.
In accordance with Board of Supervisors Procurement Policy C-17, the contractor is exempt from competitive bidding, with Purchasing Agent concurrence, per Section 3.4, (2f) which states, “the procurement is for services where the continuity of providers will provide efficiency or critical knowledge, and other providers of the services cannot provide similar efficiencies or critical knowledge.” and per Section 3.4.3 which states “Competitive bidding would produce no economic benefit to the county.” FEI’s expertise and experience providing access to the online software, as well as support and maintenance of their proprietary system makes FEI uniquely qualified to provide this service, and FEI is currently the only company offering this type of web-based service.
ALTERNATIVES:
Should the Board decline to approve this recommendation, HHSA staff whose job function requires time study activities will have to manually enter and code time study information into an Excel-based timesheet, which may result in inaccurate coding data being reported to the State.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION:
1) 12/06/11, 11-1347, HHSA/DHS 12/6/11 Fiscal Experts #021-S1210
2) 12/17/13, 13-1486, HHSA/SS Fiscal Experts 246-S1411
3) 12/06/16, 16-1141, HHSA Fiscal Experts Agreement 250-S1711
4) 01/28/20, 20-0082, HHSA Fiscal Experts, Agmt 4594
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Approved by County Counsel, Human Resources, Information Technologies, and Risk Management. The Auditor-Controller has been notified per Policy B-12.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
This Agreement for Services is a renewal of a prior year agreement; sufficient appropriations were included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget and will be included in future budgets for the term of the Agreement.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS:
Clerk of the Board to obtain signature of Chair on one original Agreement for Services 9351.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT:
N/A
CONTACT:
Olivia Byron-Cooper, MPH, Director, Health and Human Services Agency