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C. 20
To: Board of Supervisors
From: Esa Ehmen-Krause, County Probation Officer
Date: September  15, 2020
The Seal of Contra Costa County, CA
Contra
Costa
County
Subject: Contract for a West County Reentry Resource Center in FY2020-2021
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Action of Board On:   09/15/2020
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, 925-313-4087
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:     September  15, 2020
David Twa,
 
BY: , Deputy

 

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Chief Probation Officer, or designee, to execute a contract with Rubicon Programs, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $791,335, during the period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, for the operation of a West County Reentry Resource Center, as recommended by the Community Corrections Partnership, and for the operation of an Evening Connection Program at both the Reentry Success Center in West County and the Rubicon Antioch Office in East County.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The contract is jointly funded by $561,335 in AB 109 Public Safety Realignment Revenue, $150,000 in revenue from the Public Safety Realignment Local Innovation Subaccount, and $80,000 in SB 678 California Community Corrections Performance Incentives Act revenue.

BACKGROUND:

In 2017, the County Office of Reentry and Justice (ORJ) conducted a two-step competitive selection process consisting of a Request for Interest (RFI) to identify qualified community-based organizations (CBOs) interested in operating a WCRRC, followed by a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process that provided qualified CBOs an opportunity to submit an expanded response that more thoroughly detailed each agency's qualifications and


BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
    ability to effectively perform the WCRRC functions. Rubicon Programs, Inc. (Rubicon) prevailed over the only other qualified organization, Mental Health Systems, and on September 19, 2017 the Board of Supervisors (BOS) authorized the execution of a new contract with Rubicon for the “Operation of the West County Reentry Resource Center.” The County has continued to execute contracts with Rubicon for these services each fiscal year, with the most recent coming after Board authorization in June 2019 for a FY 2019-20 contract in the amount of $561,335. This amount consisted of $546,335 for the management of a WCRRC that operates in Richmond as the "Reentry Success Center," and an additional $15,000 for the development and distribution of the seasonal Contra Costa Reentry Voice periodical.  
      
    On October 8, 2019, the BOS authorized a contract amendment with Rubicon Programs to increase the payment limit by $65,000 to a new payment limit of $626,335 for the operation of the WCRRC in FY 2019-20. The contract budget increase of $65,000 was funded by SB678 California Community Corrections Performance Incentives Act revenue managed by the Probation Department. The contract amendment extended the Reentry Success Center’s service hours during the remainder of the contract term, which allowed the Reentry Success Center to provide critical evening services to those requiring support outside of the regular business hours and allowed the Reentry Success Center to act as a bridge to the County's Warming Center for the homeless residents in West County.  
      
    FY 2020-21 AB109 Budget Allocation for a WCRRC  
      
    In December 2019, the CCP recommended that for FY 2020-21 the Board authorize increased AB109 funding amounts for a WCCRC to $580,000 and the Reentry Voice to $20,000 for an expanded “Connection to Resources” ($600,00 total). These recommendations were then approved by the Public Protection Committee (PPC) on February 3, 2020, and the following day, the ORJ issued RFI #2001-374 for the operation of a WCRRC during the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023. This RFI marked the beginning of a new two-step (RFI + RFQ) competitive selection process for the triennial identification of a qualified WCRRC operator. The RFI process was completed on March 10, 2020, and three CBOs were invited to submit responses to RFQ #2002-388 by April 8, 2020. These agencies were:
    • Rubicon Program, Inc.
    • SHELTER Inc., and
    • GEO Reentry Services, LLC
      
    Shortly thereafter, the Contra Costa County Health Officer issued an order dated March 16, 2020, directing all county residents to shelter in place and suspending non-essential business functions due to the public health threat posed by COVID-19. This Order forced the ORJ to consider the appropriate course of action for the ongoing RFQ process and related contract to operate the WCRRC. Among the important issues impacting this decision were:
    1. The limited information available as to how long the pandemic’s disruptive effects would last and what these effects would be over the next several months;
    2. Barriers the crisis might pose for the transition to a newly selected service provider, and whether this might lead to a substantial disruption in services at a time of great need; and
    3. Hardships to CBOs created by the shutdown (such as searching for a WCRRC location or negotiating partnerships) that might bias the selection process, especially if such hardships would be experienced differently by the current and prospective contractors.
      
    After careful consideration and consultation with the County Administrator, it was determined that cancelling the ongoing selection process and extending the current contract with Rubicon for one year would be in the County’s best interest as this would improve the chances of completing a fair and unimpeded selection process at another time, and best protect residents from harmful disruptions in service at a time of increased need.  
      
    The ORJ issued a Notice of Cancelation for RFQ #2002-388 on March 17, 2020 (see Attachment A). When the ORJ subsequently reached out to Rubicon to offer a contract extension, this offer was informed by the economic challenges the County expected to be confronted with because of COVID-19. Thus, instead of offering an extension at the $600,000 level recommended by the CCP and endorsed by the PPC for FY 2020-21, the ORJ offered an extension at the lower amount of $561,335 that was approved by the BOS for FY 2019-20, and Rubicon accepted this offer.  
      
    The CCP was asked to consider the matter at its June 5, 2020 meeting and during that meeting voted to recommend the BOS authorize a contract extension with Rubicon Programs for FY 2020-21 in the amount of $561,335 for the management of the WCRRC, operating in Richmond as the Reentry Success Center.  
      
    FY 2020-21 Local Innovation Fund  
      
    On September 6, 2019, the Community Corrections Partnership directed ORJ to release an RFP for no more than $300,000 of the local Innovation Fund to support innovative reentry programs in FY 2020-21. Subsequently, on October 15, 2019, the ORJ released RFP #1909-365 for Local Innovation Fund Projects with a maximum award of $300,000. On December 17, 2019, the Board Supervisors approved awarding $300,000 from the Local Innovation Fund to Rubicon Programs for an Evening Connections Program in both West and East County for FY 2020-21.  
      
    However, due to the impact of COVID-19 on revenues received by the County from the state, the projected revenue to be received in FY 2020-21 for the Local Innovation Fund was substantially less than previously expected. In July 2020, after in-depth discussions among the representatives of the Office of Reentry and Justice, Probation Department and the County Administrator’s Office, it was determined that a recommendation be made to the Board of Supervisors to reduce the award from the Local Innovation Fund to Rubicon Programs in FY 2020-21 to $150,000 for their Evening Connections Program.  
      
    SB678 Revenue Budgeted in the Probation Department for FY 2020-21  
      
    Given the above recommendation to reduce the revenue allocated from the Local Innovation Fund to Rubicon, the Probation department has decided to continue funding a portion of the evening programming at the Reentry Success Center using $80,000 of SB 678 California Community Corrections Performance Incentives Act revenue for FY 2020-21. Rubicon has been approached with being provided this reduced amount of $230,000 ($150,000 Local Innovation Fund + $80,000 SB 678) and have agreed to provide a modified evening program in both East and West County for this reduced amount.  
      
    In conclusion, it is recommended that the BOS approve and authorize a contract with Rubicon Programs, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $791,335, during the period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, for the operation of a West County Reentry Resource Center and an Evening Connection Program at both the Reentry Success Center in West County and the Rubicon Antioch Office in East County that will be jointly funded by $561,335 in Public Safety Realignment Revenue, $150,000 in revenue from the Public Safety Realignment Local Innovation Subaccount, and $80,000 in California Community Corrections Performance Incentives Act revenue.

    CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

    Negative action would result in a contract not being authorized for the operation of the West County Reentry Resource Center and an Evening Connection Program in FY 2020/2021 and a disruption of vital services to the County’s reentry population.

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