City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: January 28, 2025
Agenda Item: 5.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ramon Batista, Police Chief, Police Department
Subject: Award Proposal and Enter into Agreement with Illuminating SOL Therapy Inc. for LEAD Program Master of Social Work Consultation Services Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding that the agreement is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
2. Award RFP# 412 to Illuminating SOL Therapy Inc. for Master of Social Work Consultation Services for the LEAD Program for the Police Department; and
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Illuminating SOL Therapy Inc. in an amount not to exceed $250,000 over a fiveyear period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
The Santa Monica Police Department (“SMPD”) is committed to empowering young people with the skills and guidance they need to thrive. In 2022, SMPD established the Leadership, Engagement, Action, and Discovery (“LEAD”) Program to formalize and further its prevention and intervention efforts. The LEAD program provides a process to engage and connect with young people and divert them away from arrest and formal court proceedings. Staff recommends that the City engage Illuminating SOL Therapy Inc. to provide Master’s in Social Work (“MSW”) consultation services. Illuminating SOL has demonstrated a deep understanding of SMPD’s diversion model and of the issues that affect the youth. The company employs an approach that is in alignment with the LEAD program’s approach. Illuminating SOL’s approach focuses on strategies around youth behavior, understanding of mental health, and local resource networks. Staff recommends that the City Council award the competitively bid contract to Illuminating 2 of 4
SOL, as it is the best and only qualified proposer. Illuminating SOL provides a deep and holistic method to best engage and work with local youth. The recommended award would also be in line with SMPD’s strategic goal of expanding the LEAD program.
Discussion
The diversion portion of the LEAD program equips the Police Department with the ability to assess youth individually and to formalize a structure to provide intervention through a variety of services. The overarching goal of LEAD is to reduce juvenile recidivism and to avoid future crimes by focusing on root causes and changing behavior. LEAD works to avoid the negative labelling effects of arrest, reduce costs to an already burdened juvenile justice system, and mitigate racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile arrests and system involvement.
In keeping with the current science and holistic approach in youth development, LEAD provides full-service options for high risk and high-need youth which include a path for mental health and substance abuse assessment and linkage to services. This is made possible, in large part, due to a partnership with the University of Southern California (“USC”) and California State University Dominguez Hills (“CSUDH”). The LEAD program team, on behalf of SMPD, entered into an agreement with USC and CSUDH to employ interns from their Master of Social Work (MSW) program. The MSW interns work closely with the LEAD team to facilitate assessments of participating youth and connect them to services in the social work network. In return, the interns receive a set number of hours of credit towards their practicum placement class. To meet State of California licensing requirements, an MSW consultant is required to monitor the interns.
The Santa Monica Police Department seeks to enter into a contract with Illuminating SOL, a licensed MSW consultant, to provide these monitoring and consulting services.
Illuminating SOL, was selected following a comprehensive Request for Proposal (“RFP”) process. Despite being the only vendor who submitted a proposal, their proposal stood out because of their deep understanding of Santa Monica resources, collaborations, and systems. Their proposal presented a thoughtful and holistic approach to youth assessment and behavior change.
Vendor Selection
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Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Firm Illuminating Sol Therapy, Inc.
Evaluation Criteria Credentials/experience, competence/skill, capacity/ability to perform services promptly, ability to provide future services as needed and price, experience in crisis intervention, and references.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
RFPs Received
Illuminating Sol
RFP Data
Posted On Posted On
Advertised In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
9/10/2024 City's Online
Bidding Site Santa Monica Daily Press 5 09/30/2024
Justification to Award
The selection process involved a thorough evaluation of the vendor’s ability to meet SMPD’s specific requirements. Based on their relevant experience, program understanding, and criteria in SMMC 2.24.190, staff recommends Illuminating Sol Therapy, Inc. as the best qualified firm to provide Social Work Consultation Services for the LEAD Program based on their vast experience with youth, the Santa Monica community, and SMPD specifically. Illuminating SOL has over 20 years of experience working with adolescents and their families. Their approach includes a holistic framework by which to assess and identify root causes of youth behavior. They have expertise in the Mental Health field and have been successful in supporting programs to create further capacity and communication loops for the purposes of effective service provision and collaboration.
Illuminating SOL has served as a Clinical Supervisor for MSW interns in various settings, both traditional and non-traditional clinical settings. The MSW Interns are a critical part of our juvenile diversion program and having someone to supervise them who understands and has experience with bringing clarity to the nuance and complexity of being in a law enforcement agency with a clinical lens is essential. The company has an incredible breadth of work in our local community and has a deep understanding of the current networks, collaborations, and resources. Illuminating SOL has also been SMPD’s contracted clinical supervisor for the past four years. 4 of 4
Environmental Review
The agreement for social services is not a “project” subject to CEQA. The agreement is administrative in nature and would provide for social services for the LEAD program.
Pursuant to CEQA Section 21065, the agreement does not meet the definition of a “project” subject to CEQA as it will not “cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.” Additionally, per Section 15378(b) of the CEQA Guidelines, a “project” does not include organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. Therefore, the contract is not subject to CEQA.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the General Fund to award a contract with Illuminating Sol Therapy, Inc. for LEAD Program Master of Social Work consultation services.
Contract Request
FY 2024-25
Request Amount Department Account # Future Years Amount Total Contract
Amount
$50,000 01180004.552010.96263 $200,000 $250,000
Future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Jose Arroyo, Senior Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Oaks Initiative - Illuminating SOL
B. Levine Act - Illuminating SOL