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Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) recommending the Board:
1) Make findings that the provision of Organizational Consulting and Software as a Service (SaaS) services provided by Carahsoft Technology Corporation are in the public's best interest and that there are specialty skills, qualifications, and equipment not expressly identified in County classifications involved in the performance of the work in accordance with El Dorado County Ordinance Code, Chapter 3.13.030(B);
2) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to electronically sign Amendment I to Purchase Contract 6707 with Carahsoft Technology Corporation, to revise the scope of services to include updated services provisions, add $175,000 to the maximum obligation, thereby increasing the maximum obligation of the purchase contract from $165,040 to $340,040, and extend the term an additional 1.7 years, for a new term of October 24, 2022, through June 30, 2025;
3) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to execute further documents relating to Agreement 6707, contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management, including amendments which do not increase the maximum dollar amount or term of the Agreement; and
4) Authorize the HHSA Director, or the Chief Assistant Director of HHSA, to execute programmatic, administrative, and fiscal documents relating to Agreement 6707.
FUNDING: 100% State Emergency Response Enhancement Funds Program Allocation.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND:
Child Welfare Services (CWS) Emergency Response (ER) programs across the State of California currently experience a high workload volume that is often very complex. With the heightened stress and constraints families experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CWS workforce was faced with many new challenges. Schools were shut down and businesses were closed, leaving many families and children vulnerable. Children were seen less often by mandated reporters and county CWS hotlines saw a decline in call volume. As schools and other services began reopening, it was expected that counties would experience a slight increase in the number of calls coming into their hotlines. The heightened stress and constraints experienced by some families is expected to lead to more complex concerns, which, in turn may increase social worker workloads.
Due to the increased needs, the California Budget Act of 2021 appropriated $50 million of State General Funds to Emergency Response Enhanced Funding to enhance a county CWS agency’s existing ER services. This resulted in a net increase of staff for hotline and investigation functions. These funds are available to counties for encumbrance or expenditure until June 30, 2025.
In the County of El Dorado (County), the severity of the issues contained within referrals are significant and often require extensive coordination with others, including extended family members, other agency professionals, and within the County’s teams. While additional workload support is warranted given these increased needs, HHSA has asked for State ER Enhancement Funds to specifically address how work flows in and through the CWS continuum of care. HHSA recognizes that hiring additional staff is not a long-term solution and supports identifying ways to work smarter while simultaneously supporting County CWS by reducing staff turnover, strengthening ER and court investigations, and enhancing the HHSA CWS program. HHSA has identified the need for a Contractor to streamline its CWS Division to find efficiencies and maximize the use of its resources through a Baseline Process Evaluation, Rapid Process Improvement Workshop, and Change Management Planning.
Through the cooperative solution by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO), Carahsoft Technology Corporation was awarded the categories of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) through the nationwide competitively bid solicitation for Cloud Solutions. Change and Innovation Agency (C!A), as an authorized reseller of the Carahsoft products and services in the State of California, was selected by CWS to provide the consulting and SaaS services under Purchase Contract 6707. The County has piggybacked on NASPO contracts over the years to leverage better terms and pricing for various services.
C!A has unique expertise working with a variety of child welfare agencies throughout the United States focusing exclusively on assisting child welfare teams to identify internal work processes that negatively impact staff workload. The Contractor brings standard data that applies to all child welfare agencies regardless of location and size (e.g. length of time to complete a child abuse investigation, length of time to secure placement and prepare court reports, to name a few) and performs internal reviews and audits to identify process inefficiencies and barriers to working smarter and more effectively. This expertise and service will allow HHSA CWS to provide higher quality and time-sensitive services to our community’s most vulnerable children who are at risk for child abuse and neglect. Fiscally speaking, these dollars are better spent implementing strategies that are proven to create efficiencies with current staff and practices versus the cost of hiring and training new staff while mitigating staff burnout.
Working closely with CWS Management and Leadership Teams, C!A is providing consultation to review current policies, guidelines, and practices to develop recommendations based on their review and assessment of current CWS practices. Following this consultation, C!A will provide a written summary of recommendations that will enable CWS to utilize existing resources more effectively and efficiently while ensuring that all Federal, State, and County-mandated laws and compliance mandates are being followed. Additionally, C!A will provide technical assistance and training to ensure a successful implementation of the recommendations.
Purchase contract 6707 was approved by the Board on October 11, 2022 (File ID 22-1380) and electronically executed by the Purchasing agent on October 24, 2022, for the maximum obligation of $165,040 and the term of execution through October 23, 2023.
Amendment I to Purchase Contract 6707 will allow the vendor to produce a more streamlined and effective rollout plan for the suggested improvements to the Child Protective Services front-end services, will increase the maximum obligation amount to $340,040, and extend the term by 1.7 years, for a new term of October 24, 2022, through June 30, 2025.
ALTERNATIVES:
Should the Board decline to approve this recommendation, CWS will not have access to the expertise needed to analyze the flow of intricate CWS practices which lead to internal inefficiencies, decreased response times, and delays in completing State and Federal requirements.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION:
10/11/22, 22-1380, Carahsoft Technology Corporation C#6707
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Approved by County Counsel, Human Resources, Information Technologies, and Risk Management. The Auditor-Controller has been notified in compliance with Board Policy B-12 Fiscal Review Process.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no General Fund cost associated with this Agenda item. This Agreement is 100% State funded by Emergency Response Enhancement Funding. Sufficient appropriations were included in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Request and will be included in future budgets for the term of the Agreement.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT:
Good Governance
CONTACT
Olivia Byron-Cooper, MPH, Director, Health and Human Services Agency