Agenda

Return

C. 44

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	David Twa, County Administrator
Date:	May 26, 2020

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Smart Reentry Transitional Age Youth Services Contract with Bay Area Community Resources

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 05/26/2020

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Donte Blue, 925-335-1022

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: May 26, 2020
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a contract, subject to approval as to form by County Counsel, with Bay Area Community Resources (BACR), in an amount not to exceed $130,000 to provide Smart Reentry Transitional Age Youth Services for the period October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020.

FISCAL IMPACT:

100% Federal: "Smart Reentry: Focus on Evidence-Based Strategies for Successful Reentry from Incarceration to Community" Grant.

BACKGROUND:

On October 24, 2017, the Board of Supervisors authorized new revenue in the amount of $1,000,000 awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice "Smart Reentry: Focus on Evidence-Based Strategies for Successful Reentry from Incarceration to Community" grant and appropriated it to implement responsive reentry services for transitional aged youth (TAY) offenders (18-25 years old). The initial grant period was from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2019.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

The goal of the Smart Reentry Program is to support jurisdictions to develop and implement comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the reentry challenges for individuals reentering communities from incarceration who are at medium to high risk for recidivating in order to increase public safety and reduce recidivism. Within the context of this initiative, “reentry” is not envisioned to be a specific program, but rather a process that begins when the individual is first incarcerated (pre-release) and ends with his or her successful community reintegration and reduction in risk of recidivism (post-release).

In Contra Costa County, the TAY population constitutes the largest age cohort within the jail and experiences some of the highest rates of homelessness for the justice involved population outside of jail. There is a growing state and national awareness of the inadequacy of existing practices in serving the needs of young adults aged 18 to 25 in the justice system. This Smart Reentry program allows the County to better serve the needs of the TAY population.

Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) partnered with the Contra Costa County Probation Department to prepare and submit the grant application. As part of this grant project, BACR will work closely with the County and community agencies to:

Provide pre-release services to incarcerated Transitional Aged Youth;
Participate on the Reentry Success Team;
Provide case-management and wrap-around post release support services;
Provide career coaching and planning services; and
Provide job and life skills training.

On August 14, 2018, the Board of Supervisors approved and authorized the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a contract with Bay Area Community Resources in an amount not to exceed $305,000 to provide Smart Reentry TAY Services for the period January 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. In February 2019, the County's one-year no cost extension of the grant was approved by the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance setting the new end date of the grant as September 30, 2020. (Note: The County Administrator's Office of Reentry & Justice administers and manages the Smart Reentry contracts on behalf of the Probation Department.)

Because of the change to the grant term, the funder approved the reallocation of $27,000 in grant funded revenue to BACR as part of the Smart Reentry project. This action was to allow the County's contract with BACR to be extended through the newly established end of grant term. As a result, on May 21, 2019, the Board of Supervisors approved and authorized the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a contract amendment with Bay Area Community Resources for Smart Reentry TAY Services that increased the payment to $332,000 and established a new contract end date of September 30, 2020.

Because of staffing changes and other administrative hurdles within BACR, the contract amendment approved by the Board of Supervisors was never executed by BACR prior to the expiration date of the original contract. Thus, for BACR to continue to perform the Smart Reentry TAY Services, and for the County to meet its obligations under the Smart Reentry Grant, a new contract needs to be executed with BACR for the period October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020. It should be noted that BACR has recognized the administrative conundrum created by the inability to execute a contract extension and since October 1, 2019, has continued to partner with the County to provide TAY services, in good faith, as part of the Smart Reentry Grant project. Execution of this new contract will allow for reimbursement for substantial work that has already been completed to date.

When the original contract with BACR expired on September 30, 2019, there was a total of $91,871 in unspent revenue. Since then we have been able to reallocate another $11,129 in unspent revenue from the SMART Reentry Grant to TAY services, and when coupled with the $27,000 additional revenue already approved for allocation to BACR for is work under the Smart Reentry Grant, the payment limit of newly executed contract is $130,000 for the period of October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

Smart Reentry Transitional Age Youth services will not be performed, a community based partner will not be compensated for a significant amount of work provided to the County, and the "Smart Reentry: Focus on Evidence-Based Strategies for Successful Reentry from Incarceration to Community" grant deliverables would not be performed.