Approve and authorize the Procurement Manager or designee to execute an agreement with Wayfinder Family Services in an amount not to exceed of $1,500,000 for the period of January 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, for the provision of supervised visitation and coaching services. (No general fund impact) (Sullivan)

Supervised Visitation and Coaching Services Program (SVCSP) are the coordination and provision of scheduled contact between the child(ren) in a family and the child(ren)'s biological parent(s), adoptive parent(s), or other relative. The goal of this supervised visitation is to ensure child safety and to provide feedback and coaching for the parent to increase attachment and bonding for the child in the presence of a third party.

SVCSP is designed to create a positive, safe, and neutral environment where children and their caregivers can be assured that services will first and foremost, provide close supervision that ensures the child is safe. SVCSP will provide feedback and coaching to the parent to increase the understanding of child development, parenting skills, and increasing the parent’s protective capacity. The program will be designed to provide a safe exchange component complete with safety protocols that keep parents separated during visitation or exchange drop-off in compliance with orders of “no contact” and protection. Activities will include supervised parenting activities that promote effective parenting skills and encourage positive parenting through role-modeling, coaching, verbal communication, monitored child exchange, and neutral drop-off/pick-up services.

Authorizing delegated signing authority to the Procurement Manager will ensure that there is adequate time to finalize the contract and obtain signatures from all parties in time for a January 1, 2024 start date to prevent a lapse of these vital services. There are several holidays between now and the end of the year that may impact processing timeframes on the behalf of the vendors as well as County departments. HHSA and Department of General Services, Procurement Division seek to mitigate any potential delays.

Performance Measures included in this Agreement are as follows:
The Performance Measures associated with this Agreement will be included in the underlying Agreement.

County Counsel will approve the resulting agreement as to form.
Department of General Services, Procurement Division

On May 16, 2023, the County via the Department of General Services, Procurement Division (DGS-Procurement) [formerly Department of Financial Services, Procurement Division] issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on behalf of the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) for Supervised Visitation and Coaching Services. The solicitation was open for 35 days, (5 weeks). On May 23, 2023, DGS and HHSA offered potential bidders an opportunity to ask questions during a bidder’s conference. 

The County received one proposal from this solicitation. DGS reviewed the proposal for minimum requirements and one proposal was moved forward to the Review Committee, comprised of four (4) HHSA Staff.

The Review Committee evaluated the proposals and determined that the proposal submitted by Wayfinder Family Services met all the required qualifications necessary to successfully provide these services.  On August 14, 2023, the County issued an Intent to Award letter.

Additional information regarding the Competitive Bid Process is provided below, including a summary of the solicitation evaluation criteria.

Evaluation Criteria Included in RFP

Bids Received