REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  June  27, 2017
CATEGORY:  Consent - Health and Human Services-15.

SUBJECT:

Agreement with Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, Inc. for the Provision of Work-Related Clothing and Hygiene Mentoring Services

Supervisorial District No. :  All

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Melissa Janulewicz, Branch Director, HHSA Regional Services, (530) 225-5450

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Melissa Janulewicz, Branch Director, HHSA Regional Services

RECOMMENDATION

Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a renewal agreement with Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $79,404 per fiscal year for the provision of work-related clothing and hygiene mentoring services for California Work Opportunity, Responsibility to Kids Program participants and Probation Department’s adult and juvenile offenders for the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020.

SUMMARY

Approval of this renewal agreement will allow Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, Inc. (NVCSS) through “Clothes That Work” to continue providing California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program (CalWORKs) participants, and Probation Department’s adult and juvenile offenders (Offenders), with work-related clothing and education on personal appearance to help them obtain gainful employment and dress appropriately for court proceedings.

DISCUSSION

A significant barrier to employment, for many CalWORKs participants and Offenders (Participants), is not having proper work-ready attire. Tough economic conditions make purchasing work-ready attire especially difficult for Participants. CalWORKs Participants must find employment or face the loss of their cash assistance and Offenders must also have the resources to dress appropriately in their search for employment. The services provided by NVCSS through “Clothes That Work” are important for Participants’ success in entering the job market. “Clothes That Work” provides clothing, shoes, and other apparel items to Participants referred by program staff and Probation Officers.  In addition to work-ready attire, Participants receive education on personal appearance and hygiene on a one-on-one basis or in groups to support those needs as appropriate.

Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15, NVCSS has assisted more than 1200 Participants and enhanced community awareness by opening the “Clothes that Work” to the public. NVCSS has consistently provided quality services for both Shasta County CalWORKs Participants and Probation Adult Offenders. In addition, NVCSS has consistently met established benchmarks by fully meeting the clothing and hygiene needs of 92% of Participants referred for services. In FY 2013-14 HHSA and Probation Department worked together to release a Request For Proposal (RFP) seeking parties interested in providing work-related clothing, and hygiene mentoring services which resulted with NVCSS as the only respondent.  In FY 2016-17 HHSA and Probation Department released a public notice seeking public or private sector agencies interested in providing these services. Again, NVCSS was the sole respondent. This renewal agreement now includes services being offered to juvenile offenders. It also continues the expectation that NVCSS is to provide personal appearance, hygiene mentoring, needed clothing, and accessories to a minimum of 80 percent of Participants who are referred and show for services, and keep compensation structured to reimburse NVCSS on a base rate paid in monthly increments with the opportunity for NVCSS to receive monthly incentive payments up to $800 a month if performance benchmarks are achieved.

ALTERNATIVES

The Board could choose not to approve the agreement.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

County Counsel has approved the agreement as to form.  Risk Management and Probation have reviewed and approved the agreement.  This recommendation has been reviewed by the County Administrative Office.

FINANCING

This agreement is funded through Public Safety Realignment and SB678 for Probation participants and the services provided to CalWORKs participants are funded through the CalWORKs single allocation and requires a County share of cost, which is applied to the required CalWORKs Maintenance of Effort. Sufficient appropriation authority to support this agreement is included in the FY 2017-18 Recommended Budget. There is no additional General Fund impact from the recommended action.