Fremont City Council Meeting: 09/12/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Human Services Department Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4972) DOC ID: 4972 A
Updated: 9/5/2023 1:55 PM by Alberto Quintanilla A Page 1 ALAMEDA COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT CONTRACT - Authorization to execute a Second Amendment to a Master Service Contract, under a Joint Powers Agreement with Alameda County Probation Department for Programs Supporting At-Risk Youth and Families, through December 31, 2023 and Making Findings of CEQA Exemption
Contact Persons:
Name: Annie Bailey Suzanne Shenfil
Title: Youth and Family Services
Administrator
Director
Div/Dept: Human Services Department Human Services Department Phone: 510-574-2111 510-574-2051
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: For many years, Alameda County Probation Department (ACPD) has contracted with the City’s Human Services Department to provide delinquency intervention and prevention programs to at-risk youth and their families provided through the Human Services Department’s Youth and Family Services Division and the Fremont Family Resource Center Division. The programs serve at-promise (at-risk) youth to help stabilize the youth and their family and reduce at-risk behavior by providing immediate interventions.
From FY 2018/19 through FY 2022/23, ACPD contracted with the City to provide these services, for a total of $2,210,000, or $442,000 per year. This included the original 3-year agreement and a 2-year amendment.
Pending completion of a recent Request for Proposal (RFP) process for these DPN services, ACPD has asked the City to enter into a Second Amendment to the Contract, extending the term for an additional six months through December 31, 2023.
The purpose of this report is to recommend that the City Council authorize the City Manager or her designee to execute a Second Amendment to a multi-year Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) with Alameda County in an additional amount not to exceed $221,000. As a result of the additional services, the not to exceed amount for the Master Contract has increased from $2,210,000 to $2,431,000. The JPA format allows the City to provide services outside its territorial boundaries while retaining the legal protections available when providing services within the City’s jurisdictional boundaries.
BACKGROUND: Alameda County through its Probation Department (ACPD) has contracted for Delinquency Provider Network (DPN) services with the City through the Human Services Department’s Youth and Family Services (YFS) Division and the Family Resource Center (FRC) Division for many years. The purpose of the DPN services is to provide at-risk youth and youth on probation with early intervention counseling, case management, and truancy intervention services and to provide family support services to parents and caregivers. Since the inception of the original contract, the agreement has been renewed each year.
Council Staff Report (ID # 4972) Meeting of September 12, 2023 Updated: 9/5/2023 1:55 PM by Alberto Quintanilla A Page 2 Most recently, the City has been providing Youth Service Center counseling, case management, and truancy intervention services under a 3-year contract which started in FY 2018/19 and ended in FY 2020/21. In 2021, at the request of ACPD, the City entered a 2- year Amendment, for the term of July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2023.
In February 2023, the City responded to an RFP issued to all DPN providers, and subsequently received an award letter to continue providing services. A protest of the County’s RFP decision, unrelated to the City’s award, has delayed the process. Pending the completion of the RFP process, ACPD has asked that the City execute a Third Amendment to the original contract, through December 31, 2023, to ensure that services may continue uninterrupted.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The Joint Powers Agreement with the County is made pursuant to State law and does not create a separate legal entity. Rather, the Agreement allows City staff to provide services on property outside the City boundaries while retaining the legal protections available when providing services within the City's jurisdiction. Through the proposed JPA, Human Services Department’s YFS and FRC divisions will provide services for 245 at-risk and system-involved youth and their families residing in Fremont and Newark to reduce at-risk behavior. The target population is youth who are habitual truants, runaways and/or youth at risk of becoming wards under California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 601 and youth described in California Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 602.
This target population includes the following: adjudicated youth on probation; youth who have had contact with the juvenile justice system (police, probation, or the courts), and at- risk youth referred by School Attendance Review Boards (SARBs), local schools, other community agencies, or parents. YFS and FRC will provide the following assessment driven services under this contract.
Youth Service Center: YFS assists youth from Fremont and Newark as part of a county- wide system of Youth Service Centers that are funded by Alameda County Probation Department to provide youth and family crisis intervention, youth assessment, short-term diversion counseling, parent education and support, and linkage to other needed resources.
Youth Service Center counselors work with youth who are on probation (Section 602 California Welfare and Institutions Code), youth who have committed status offenses (Section 601 California Welfare and Institutions Code, i.e., running away, truancy and refusing to follow parent’s or teacher’s direction), and first- time offenders through our diversion program located at Fremont Police Department.
Services for probation youth (California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602) are coordinated with the Alameda County Probation Department. The goal is to divert youth from the juvenile justice system when possible and to assist youth to successfully complete probation requirements and prevent recidivism.
Services for at-risk youth (California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 601) are coordinated with Fremont and Newark Unified School Districts, Fremont Police Department, parents, and other community agencies. Youth who are truant, and/or cited for alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use, or school behavior problems are referred for counseling services through school and clinic-based programs.
Diversion services for first-time offenders are coordinated with the Fremont Police Department. Successful completion of the diversion services program allow youth to avoid Council Staff Report (ID # 4972) Meeting of September 12, 2023 Updated: 9/5/2023 1:55 PM by Alberto Quintanilla A Page 3 receiving a criminal record. Typically, the requirements include an assessment, family and individual youth counseling, restitution for damages, and in some cases attendance at a Santa Rita Jail Youth Education Program. The goal, through early intervention, is to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system and to strengthen family relationships.
Family Support (Case Management): The Family Resource Center’s Family Support Coordinators serve as advocates to assist at-risk youth and their families in accessing and utilizing necessary community resources to address family problems that are contributing to the youth’s delinquent behaviors (i.e., homelessness, parental drug or alcohol abuse, health care access, cultural and language barriers). This is done in coordination with the Depu ty Probation Officers (DPO’s) assigned to youth. FRC Family Support Coordinators work with each family to develop a family case plan that will consider family concerns, priorities, and resources. The Case Manager works with the Probation staff in the development of an Intervention Plan and/or a Multi-Disciplinary Team to address minor’s risk factors and critical issues associated with probation failure and/or challenges. Key components of Case Management services are Outreach, Assessment, Planning, Linkages, Monitoring, and Advocacy.
FISCAL IMPACT: Contract funding will support 2.82 full-time equivalent (FTE) clinical counseling and case management positions. Funding through this contract is combined with Medi-Cal reimbursement, Targeted Case Management reimbursement, and fees to operate the programs described above. In anticipation of this continued funding from ACPD, the City Council appropriated sufficient funds, within the Alameda County Probation Youth Diversion Fund (Fund 133), in the FY 2023/24 adopted budget to cover this contract.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: This action is not a project subject to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378 as it is an administrative governmental activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager or her designee to execute a Second Amendment to a multi-year joint powers agreement for the additional amount of $221,000, and a total not to exceed amount of $2,431,000 over the term of the Contract, with Alameda County to provide delinquency intervention and prevention services for at-risk youth and families in Fremont and Newark.