RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)
Employment Support and Placement Services
West County: $600,000 to Rubicon Programs Inc.
Central Co.: $600,000 to Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay
East County: $500,000 to Rubicon Programs Inc.
East County: $300,000 to Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay
Short and Long-Term Housing Access
West County: $259,000 to SHELTER Inc.
West County: $50,000 to Reach Fellowship International
Central Co: $309,000 to SHELTER Inc.
East County: $412,000 to SHELTER Inc.
Central-East Reentry Network: up to $150,000 to Mz Shirliz Transitional
Mentoring and Family Reunification Services
Mentoring: $110,000 to Men and Women of Purpose
Family Reunification: $90,000 to Center for Human Development
Civil Legal Services: $150,000 to Bay Area Legal Aid
FISCAL IMPACT:
The contracts have an aggregate cost of $3,530,000 for FY 16/17 and are funded 100% with AB 109 Public Safety Realignment revenue.
BACKGROUND:
On January 22, 2016 the CCP Executive Committee adopted a FY 2016-17 AB 109 Public Safety Realignment Budget for recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The Recommended Budget included $4,020,036 for Community Programs, allocated as follows:
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Employment Support and Placement Services $2,000,000
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Support of WCRSC & Central-East Reentry Network $1,225,036
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Short and Long-Term Housing Access $500,000
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Peer and Mentoring Services $110,000
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Family Reunification Services $90,000
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Legal Services $80,000
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Development of a “Reentry Resource Guide” $15,000
At the January meeting, the CCP Executive Committee also recommended an additional appropriation of $160,000 to the AB 109 Community Programs, to be allocated among the Community Program service areas upon the advice of its Community Advisory Board (CAB). At its February 8, 2016 meeting, the PPC subsequently recommended that an additional $500,000 be allocated to the Community Programs, with advice from the CAB on its distribution. The CAB took action on its recommended allocations at its Feb. 11, 2016 meeting and determined amounts for the AB 109 FY 2016-17 Community Programs as follows ($4,680,000 in total):
a. Employment Support and Placement Services - $2,000,000
b. Short and Long-Term Housing - $1,030,000
c. Reentry Success Center and Central-East Network- $1,285,000
d. Mentoring and Family Reunification - $200,000
e. Civil Legal Services - $150,000
f. Reentry Resource Guide - $15,000
These allocations were approved by the PPC at its Feb. 29, 2016 meeting.
RFP/Q Process: The CAO’s office administers the Community Programs contracts and has done so since 2013 when AB 109 RFPs/RFQs were initially issued. For the RFP/Q development process, the following individuals were actively engaged, as recommended by the Community Advisory Board:
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Nicholas Alexander, Director, Reentry Success Center;
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Donté Blue, County Reentry Coordinator;
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Lara DeLaney, Senior Deputy County Administrator;
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Stephanie Medley, Chair of the CAB; and
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Kathy Moniz-Narasaki, Central-East Reentry Network Manager.
In developing the Final RFPs and RFQ, the development team utilized the original RFP/Qs developed in 2013 for the current Community Program contracts as the starting point and incorporated recommendations of the CAB. Staff also researched RFP/Qs issued in other counties in California for reentry services for procurement best practices and program design. In addition, multiple conference calls were held with the RFP/Q development team to ensure participation and input on their development.
The RFP/Q process encouraged meaningful collaboration among organizations, particularly through the mandatory Bidders Conference that were held in each region of the county, and by allowing a proposal to respond to more than one service area and to include multiple partners.
Timeline of RFP Process
The timeline established a process that from date of RFP/Q issuance to Board of Supervisors award lasts approximately two months. With strict adherence to the timeline, should the Board of Supervisors authorize these contracts for services at today's (May 10, 2016) meeting, staff will be developing and executing contracts to begin on July 1, 2016.
Review Panel Members
To conduct the proposal evaluation and vendor interview process, the Review Panel composition was established as such:
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County Probation Management Representative
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County Administrator Representative
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A Reentry Coordinator from a neighboring County
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A Member of the CAB
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A subject matter expert in each of the service areas
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A formerly incarcerated person or family member of a formerly incarcerated person.
Employment Support and Placement Services:
· Lara DeLaney, Senior Deputy County Administrator
· Carl George, Volunteer Mentor-Navigator, Returned Citizen
· Patrice Guillory, CAB Representative, Central-East Field Operations Coordinator
· Melvin Russell, County Probation Manager, AB 109 Program
· Donna Van Wert, One-Stop Consortium Administrator, Workforce Development Board
· Jessie Warner, former CCC Reentry Coordinator, Program Planner, Oakland Unite, City of Oakland
Short and Long-Term Housing:
· Lara DeLaney, Senior Deputy County Administrator
· Angelene Musawwir, CAB Representative; Public Defender’s Office Social Worker
· Kathy Narasaki, Central-East Network Manager
· Jenny Robbins, Housing and Services Administrator, Contra Costa Behavioral Health
· Melvin Russell, County Probation Manager, AB 109 Program
· Roosevelt Terry, Re-entry Health Conductor, CCP Member, Returned Citizen
Mentoring and Family Reunification:
· Kimberly Aceves, Executive Director, RYSE Center
· Carol Burton, CEO, Jeweld Legacy Group
· Lara DeLaney, Senior Deputy County Administrator
· Patrick Mims, CAB Representative; Field Operations Coordinator, Central County
· Melvin Russell, County Probation Manager, AB 109 Program
· Arlinda Timmons-Love, African American Re-entry Health Conductor
Civil Legal Services:
· Lara DeLaney, Senior Deputy County Administrator
· Neola Crosby, Reentry Coordinator, Alameda County Probation Department
· Marcelina Kendall, Contra Costa County Workforce BACR, family member of returned citizen
· Jonathan Laba, Assistant Public Defender
· Talia Yaffa Rubin, CAB representative
· Melvin Russell, County Probation Manager, AB 109 Program
The Review Panel proposal evaluation and interviews were facilitated by the County’s Reentry Coordinator, Donté Blue, though he did not participate in the scoring of proposals. The Review Panels were convened beginning on April 5 and concluded on April 15, 2016. The Review Panels utilized a “Consensus Scoring Methodology” for proposal evaluation and rating, and all members were required to return an Impartiality Statement before serving in order to ensure there were no individuals with conflicts of interest.
RFP Responses
The County received 20 proposals in total in response to the four RFP/Qs. Nine proposals were submitted for Employment Services, including 3 separate proposals from Goodwill Industries. Six proposals were submitted for Housing Access, with only one organization submitting a proposal for countywide services—SHELTER Inc. One proposal was submitted for Mentoring Services; two proposals were submitted for Family Reunification Services. Two proposals were submitted for Civil Legal Services.
The notifications of award recommendations by the Review Panels were prepared and distributed.
At its April 25, 2016 meeting, the Public Protection Committee reviewed the Panel Recommendations and made one adjustment to the funding award for West County Employment, recommending $600,000 be awarded to Rubicon Programs Inc.
Summaries of Proposals Recommended for Funding
EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT AND PLACEMENT SERVICES
1. Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay: (Countywide) Goodwill has a 95 year history providing work preparation and transitional employment services, with a diverse, professional staff, over half of which is formerly incarcerated.
Goodwill offered three separate proposals for each area of the County, noting that if funded for more than one region, they would consolidate management and facility expenses and redirect these resources into additional transitional employment and training opportunities for participants.
Goodwill’s service delivery model will be similar to what they currently operate in Central Contra Costa County as their Bridges to Work Program, with a focus on providing transitional employment, vocational training, competitive job placement, and support services to returning citizens. With the anticipated funding, they expect to be able to serve at least 615 participants, including 180 in East County, 75 in West County, and 360 in Central County.
Goodwill’s benchmarks and anticipated outcomes for the AB 109 Bridges to Work Program as delineated in the proposals include the following:
· Completion of Job Readiness Workshops = 70% (of enrollees)
· Completion of Cognitive Behavioral Workshops = 70% (of enrollees)
· Completion of Transitional Employment = 70% (of enrollees)
· Placement into Unsubsidized Employment = 50% (of PPT completions)
· Job Retention for 30 days = 80%
· Job Retention for 60 days = 70%
· Job Retention for 90 days = 65%
All of the Goodwill locations are accessible by public transportation and located in safe areas. Services will be provided from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and may include evenings and weekends as needed. The Central County office will remain at 3350 Clayton Road, Suite 100, Concord. In West County, Goodwill will leverage a currently leased space at 12341 San Pablo Avenue in Richmond to reduce rent and overhead. In addition, program services for East County will be initially offered at 2701 10th Street, Antioch, a facility they own. While Goodwill will likely maintain a presence in this location, it is currently near capacity, so another site will be identified and leased to enable them to provide services in East County. Goodwill anticipates the rent to be less than their facility in Concord, as they will not need as much space given the number of individuals they are proposing to serve with the recommended funding. They will also explore the possibility of co-locating services with another provider in East County.
Staffing for the AB 109 Bridges to Work Program, based on the recommended funding levels, will include minimal management and focus more on case management and job development. All program personnel positions include major duties that impact the direct service provision to the participant. The positions include a manager, assistant manager, job developers, a lab instructor, and case managers. The contract will be managed by a director of contracts and programs, which is a full-time position with costs shared equally by their contracts in Contra Costa and Solano Counties. Moreover, an administrative position staffed by a former AB 109 participant is included, ensuring an additional training and placement opportunity for participants as well as support for the program. The staffing for this project is as follows:
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Program Manager (1 FTE 100% on project)
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Assistant Program Manager (1 FTE 100%)
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Case Managers (2 FTE 100%)
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Job Developers (2 FTE 100%)
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Lab Instructor (1 FTE 100%)
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Participant Administrative Assistant (1FTE 100%)
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Director of Contracts and Programs (1 FTE 20% on project)
The job responsibilities are detailed in the budget narratives included with the proposals. In addition, as an agency, Goodwill is striving to increase their competitive job placements, and therefore they anticipate that staff will focus more on employer engagement as well as their essential duties to help facilitate more external opportunities for participants.
Goodwill slightly reduced staffing and overhead in an effort to expand their ability to provide vocational training and transitional employment for our participants. They also reduced rent and utilities, leveraging currently occupied spaces to achieve cost savings. Their rent is based on their current rent in Concord ($3,267 per month), a cost share of their Richmond location ($315 per month), and anticipated leasing at a new location in East County (estimated at $1,650 per month). These are increased 3 percent each year in the budget, reflecting current lease provisions.
With savings realized by consolidating management and staffing, as well as decreases in costs achieved by leveraging facilities and resources, Goodwill has been able to expand participant wages and client supplies. Their goal is to ensure that 480 participants, or 78 percent of enrollees, can receive subsidized transitional employment for a full 90 days.
2. Rubicon Programs Inc. (Rubicon): (West and East County) Founded in 1973, Rubicon is a non-profit recognized for its integrated housing, mental health, relapse prevention, legal, financial education and employment services whose participant base includes a significant percentage of individuals with a history of justice involvement. Rubicon has provided AB 109 Employment services in West and East County since 2013 (276 participants to date) and proposes to continue providing a comprehensive suite of employment and career services through its ELEVATE program in three components: 1. Employment Services; 2. Career Services; and 3. Workforce Services, utilizing a two-phase approach.
The program design targets 245 participants (140 in East County and 105 in West County). Phase 1 includes: Intake and Assessment, Domestic Violence services, Job Readiness Training with Financial Literacy Education, Small Group Job Search Training/Assistance and Digital Literacy Training, Benefits Screening and Application Assistance, and Transitional Employment. Phase 2 incudes Vocational Assessment and Career Advising, Vocational Skills Training, and Individualized Job Placement and Retention Services.
ELEVATE offers a full range of grant-funded and leveraged employment services and also offers access to other Rubicon services, including referral to WIOA services to access individualized training accounts, as well as responsible parenting and healthy marriage services, and access to a NA group at its West County site.
Other key services that will be provided by partners include domestic violence screening and counseling, as well as anger management training by STAND!, GED prep, career online high school diploma and adult basic literacy provided by Richmond Literacy for Every Adult Program (LEAP), and GED prep and testing through Liberty Adult Education. In addition, vocational training will be accessed through an extensive referral network that includes The Stride Center, Bread Project, Opportunity Junction, Future Build, Richmond WORKS, Solar Richmond, and Henkels and McCoy.
Rubicon has a demonstrated history of employment services and supports for the formerly incarcerated, since its inception 40 years ago, combined with a thorough quality assurance and program evaluation process, and solid financial management as demonstrated by a recent audit with an unqualified opinion, no internal control issues, and the completion of numerous successful State and County program and fiscal reviews.
The staffing for the proposal included 13.95 FTEs, utilizing a number of existing staff; seven new staff would be hired. Total FTEs dedicated to the project: 6.0 FTEs for West County and 7.95 FTEs for East County.
Transitional employment will be provided by Rubicon in Richmond or with external employer partners. In East County, the program utilizes a partnership with Manpower (employer of record).
SHORT AND LONG-TERM HOUSING ACCESS
SHELTER Inc. (SI): (Countywide) SI has been the County’s contracted provider of AB 109 Housing services since 2013, having served 225 clients (unduplicated) with housing assistance. SI has at least 19 years of experience providing services requested in the RFP. SI proposes to partner with New Hope Transitional Housing, their current sub-contractor for SLE housing who has been offering SLE housing for 22 years, in addition to other as-yet subcontracted SLE transitional housing providers.
SI proposes to offer structured, transitional housing coupled with intensive case management to participants who are actively engaged in addressing their personal barriers to success, including alcohol and drug use and/or behavioral health needs, and who have reliable income from benefits and/or employment or are participating in programs leading to employment.
They propose a two-pronged approach for eligible participants: serving 75 Level 1/Level 2 clients each year with serious challenges in a stabilizing, structured SLE setting in either East, West, or Central County. (50 clients will receive Level 1 only and 25 clients will receive Level 1 and Level 2 services.) Participants will be moved to more permanent housing when they have addressed their barriers. Participants will be provided with the necessary financial assistance for security and utility deposits and short-term rental subsidies. An additional 15 participants with less severe barriers and challenges will receive financial assistance only.
The initial placement in an SLE will be for a period of 30 to 60 days, up to a maximum of 90 days. If unable to locate/obtain permanent housing, but having successfully obtained employment, addressed behavioral issues and reduced financial barriers to housing self-sufficiency, participants will move into Level 2, which provides additional time in an SLE facility (additional 3 to 6 months) along with continued case management and Level 1 services, including regular work with a Housing Resource Specialist.
The proposed scope of services from SI will provide housing access, case management and related support services to men and women in each region of the County with an expectation of providing a minimum of seven Level 1 beds in West County, seven Level 1 beds in Central County, and eight Level 1 beds in East county for a total of 22 Level 1 beds. An additional minimum of eight Level 2 beds will be provided at one or more as-yet unidentified locations.
Reach Fellowship International (Reach): (West County) Reach is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help formerly incarcerated women and those at risk of incarceration become stable and self-sufficient. In December 2014, Reach opened and began operation of “Naomi House,” the only reentry home for women and children located in North Richmond, West County, which has provided services to over 40 women. Naomi House is a duplex house with 3 bedrooms located in each unit. Reach will provide 24-hour house management services, weekly Sistah-to-Sistah groups and job-training services for 20 women. 6 children, maximum two per participant and up to 5 years in age, can also be accommodated on an annual basis.
The value of having a transitional housing site exclusively for women was noted by the Review Panel. The Panel wanted to ensure that the Community Recidivism Reduction Grant funding in the amount of $50,000 was replaced by AB 109 funding, in the event that CRRG funding is no longer provided by the State.
Mz Shirliz Transitional.: (Central-East Reentry Network) The origin of Mz Shirliz Transitional began when the founder, Shirley Lamarr, was Director of “The Choices Program” in Maguire Correctional Facility, in San Mateo County. The program model is based on the highly acclaimed Delancey Street Project, from which the Director graduated in 1994. Mz Shirliz Transitional proposes to operate an SLE-type residence, located in the East region of the County in a zoning permissible location. They are attempting to lease an available group home or care facility that would accommodate 20-25 people and include office space. At a minimum, they intend to secure a 3-year lease for a 5 bedroom home that would house 12-15 people including a resident House Manager.
The goal of the program is “To provide a safe, alcohol, drug and crime-free living environment that recognizes an individual’s needs, provides all supportive services and promotes the cognitive and behavioral changes leading to a successful reentry into the community as a productive, clean, sober and decent human being.”
The Director functions as a counselor and case manager. All participants are required to develop a Program Plan with agreed-upon objectives. All Plans must include NA/AA meeting attendance; GED acquisition; participation in the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP); mental health therapy for dual-diagnosis participants; household chores; house meetings and interpersonal groups; and participation in an “enterprise activity” consisting of 4 hours of volunteered work. If a participant is employed, rent is expected on a sliding scale basis.
The Review Panel noted that locating a facility and beginning service delivery in the desired timeframe (as stipulated in the RFP, 2 months from contract-award to operation is the goal) may be difficult and may need to be extended. But the Panel was concerned that this process not take more than 3-4 months and if not successful, other housing options should be considered.
MENTORING AND FAMILY REUNIFICATION SERVICES
Men and Women of Purpose (MWP): (Mentoring, West County) MWP is a non-profit organization that has been providing mentoring services in Contra Costa County for the past three years, utilizing a “Jail to Community” model. The CEO and all staff have direct experience with incarceration, AOD abuse, and criminal behaviors that have been ameliorated through personal transformation and years of clean and sober living.
MWP utilizes the mentoring curriculum developed by Insight Prison Project and proposes to serve 65 individuals on an annual basis. Services include pre-release program introduction and relationship building, the mentoring curriculum, alcohol and other drug groups and workshops, domestic violence workshops, and individual counseling. The formal curriculum is delivered twice weekly in 2-hour sessions for 6 weeks. Groups are held for no more than 12 clients and scheduled as appropriate. Mentors are available to clients at least 10 hours per week, per individual.
MWP is recognized for its history of collaboration with other service providers, as well as with the law and justice community. It has successfully met the performance targets for its current mentoring contract.
The Review Panel was concerned about the administrative capacity of the organization and recommends that additional support be provided through the work of the Quality Assurance Committee.
Center for Human Development (CHD): (Family Reunification, Countywide) CHD is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1972 to “create opportunities for people to realize their full potential.” CHD has been providing family and community reunification services for the AB 109 program for nearly 3 years. CHD proposes to provide reunification services to 40 clients on an annual basis to facilitate strengthening of relationships and the reduction of family conflict. Specific services include the development of a reentry plan, family conferencing, family ecological mapping, developing a family reunification plan, and reviewing the overall health of the client to ensure appropriate referrals.
The Review Panel expressed concern with the relatively low numbers of successful client engagement in family and community reunification services and recommended that the contract be granted for one additional year.
CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES
Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal): (Countywide) BayLegal’s core services include expertise in the areas of law required by the RFQ including: housing and landlord/tenant law, public benefits law, consumer law, family law/domestic violence prevention, and health care access. In addition, their Reentry staff have expertise in criminal record remedies, including petitions for expungement, felony reductions and certificates of rehabilitation. BayLegal’s staff of attorneys and advocates provide information and referrals, advice, counsel, brief legal service, full representation, impact litigation, public policy development and trainings, education and outreach. They are presently the contracted provider of AB 109 Civil Legal Services.
BayLegal currently has 1.0 FTE Reentry Staff attorney and dedicates the time of other staff attorneys to the AB 109 contract. The additional funding from this contract award will enable BayLegal to add another 1.0 FTE reentry attorney.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Negative action would result in these contracts not being executed and a disruption of services to the AB 109 population.