AGENDA STAFF REPORT

Agenda Item AGENDA STAFF REPORT ASR Control 22-001231
MEETING DATE:	02/07/23
legal entity taking action:	Board of Supervisors
board of supervisors district(s):	All Districts
SUBMITTING Agency/Department:	County Executive Office (Approved)
Department contact person(s):	Doug Becht (714) 834-5000
	Lilly Simmering (714) 834-6234

Subject: 2023 Homeless Services Survey

ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

3 Votes Board Majority

Budgeted: Yes

Current Year Cost: $130,000

Annual Cost: FY 2023-24 $30,000

Staffing Impact:

# of Positions:

Sole Source: Yes

Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

Funding Source: Fed: 67% (HUD CoC Planning Grant, State: 33% (HHAP-County)	County Audit in last 3 years: No

Prior Board Action: N/A

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

Approve the Sole Source Contract with Kingdom Causes, Inc. dba City Net for provision of professional and technical support services for the Orange County 2023 Homelessness Survey, for the term of March 15, 2023, through December 31, 2023, for the amount not to exceed $160,000.

Pursuant to Contract Policy Manual Section 3.4-114, authorize the County Procurement Officer or Deputized designee to exercise a contingency contract cost increase, not to exceed a total of 10 percent of the Contract amount for the first year of the contract, for the entire term of the Contract, including renewals, and within the scope of work set forth in the Contract. The use of this contingency contract cost increase is subject to approval requirements established by the County Procurement Officer.

Authorize the County Procurement Officer or Deputized designee to execute the Contract with Kingdom Causes, Inc. dba City Net as referenced in the Recommended Action above.

SUMMARY:

Approval of a Sole Source Contract with Kingdom Causes Inc., dba City Net will provide the County of Orange with professional and technical support services for the 2023 Homelessness Survey, which will support the collection of comprehensive data pertaining to homeless services, help inform the work of the Commission to End Homelessness and aid in the development and coordination of regional resources to assist individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Orange County.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The County Executive Office (CEO) Office of Care Coordination in partnership and collaboration with the Commission to End Homelessness and the 2023 Survey Ad Hoc Committee, are recommending that a 2023 Homelessness Survey (2023 Survey) be conducted to obtain updated and comprehensive data of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Orange County. On August 17, 2022, the Commission to End Homelessness has determined the need to conduct a 2023 Survey to gain greater understanding of the needs of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The primary purpose of the 2023 Survey will be to collect feedback from the homeless population about which homeless services are effective or ineffective, gaps and barriers in services; access to services; and available resources. The information collected through the 2023 Survey will be used to help inform the development and coordination of regional resources to assist in addressing homelessness.

The 2023 Survey is a County of Orange (County) effort that is a distinct but complementary project to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Point in Time (PIT) Count. Whereas HUD requires that each Continuum of Care conduct a count of persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness at least biennially or every odd year in accordance with HUD guidelines to capture households’ demographic information. Conducting the 2023 Survey will allow for a County-specific focus with longer timeframes to conduct surveys, staff resources, and local questions than is generally possible within the framework of the HUD PIT Count. The 2023 Survey will be a one-time survey in conjunction with the Commission to End Homelessness and is not associated with, replicating or related to the Orange County’s Continuum of Care’s biannual PIT Count required by HUD.

The 2023 Survey will be conducted in early Spring and will canvas the entire geographic area of Orange County broken down by Service Planning Areas in a 30-day timeframe. The target population for the 2023 Survey will focus on unsheltered individuals as defined by HUD, as someone with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground. The 2023 Survey will use a stratified sample of at least 20 percent of the number of unsheltered persons counted during the 2022 PIT homeless count, which is approximately 608 individuals.

The data gathered from the 2023 Survey will be analyzed by the Commission to End Homelessness and used to generate findings to help provide a county-wide assessment of homelessness to increase current knowledge regarding unsheltered homelessness. In addition, the data will help fill existing knowledge gaps about individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness within various subpopulations, inform Federal, State, and local funding applications. The data will be shared at future meetings of the Commission to End Homelessness and also inform local program and policy decisions with the goal of increasing access, decreasing barriers, and increasing the overall available resources and opportunities. A report summarizing the findings of the 2023 Survey will be presented to the Commission to End Homelessness for approval.

The Office of Care Coordination recommends a Sole Source Contract with Kingdom Causes, Inc. dba City Net to provide planning, implementation, and reporting services for the 2023 Survey. City Net is uniquely qualified and has extensive experience counting and surveying unsheltered homeless populations in Orange County and throughout Southern California. In addition to their work on the Flood Control Channel Engagement Initiative and the Santa Ana Civic Center, City Net has conducted 40 total homeless counts in Southern California including 18 in Orange County cities. City Net also conducted the North Orange County census that covered 13 cities in the North Service Planning Area and served as the PIT Count Project Lead in 2019 and 2022. The completed Sole Source Request Form is attached to this Agenda Staff Report. See Attachment C for Sole Source Request Form.

By approving the Recommended Actions, the County will be able to determine how to best improve the delivery of vital homeless service programs for individuals experiencing homelessness and support the County’s commitment and effort to address homelessness.

CEO requests the Board of Supervisors approve the Sole Source Contract with City Net for provision of professional and technical support services for the 2023 Survey, as referenced in the Recommended Actions. The Orange County Preference Policy is not applicable to this Contract award. The Contractor’s previous performance has been confirmed as satisfactory. The County Procurement Office has verified there are no concerns that must be addressed with respect to Contractor's ownership/name, litigation status or conflicts with County interests. The Sole Source Contract includes no subcontractors, please see Attachment B for the Contract Summary Form.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

Appropriations for this Contract were included in CEO Budget Control 017’s FY 2022-23 Budget and will be included in the budgeting process for the future years.

The proposed Contract includes a provision stating the Contract is subject to and contingent upon, applicable budgetary appropriations approved by the Board for each fiscal year during the term of this Contract. If such appropriations are not approved, this Contract may be immediately terminated without penalty to the County.

STAFFING IMPACT:

N/A

ATTACHMENT(S):

Attachment A – MA-017-23010850 with Kingdom Causes, Inc. DBA City Net
Attachment B – Contract Summary Form
Attachment C – Sole Source Justification Form