To: Board of Supervisors
From: Marla Stuart, Employment and Human Services Director
Report Title: ADMIN / IT 19-794-17 Northwoods Consulting Partners, Inc. Agreement Amendment No. 12
Recommendation: Recommendation of the County Administrator
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Employment and Human Services Director, or designee, to execute an agreement amendment with Northwoods Consulting Partners, Inc., effective September 1, 2026, to increase the payment limit by $1,739,969 to a new payment limit not to exceed $12,655,879 to provide the additional budget required on the current agreement to continue receiving Compass Pilot/OnBase Application Support software services, with no change to term through June 30, 2027.
FISCAL IMPACT:
54% Federal, 38% State, and 8% County General Fund, all of which is budgeted in FY 26-27.
BACKGROUND:
The Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) entered into an agreement with Northwoods Consulting Partners, Inc. on December 4, 2012 (C. 82), to convert to and implement a document management system, Compass Pilot. The document management system provides
functionality and a database for on-line storage, retrieval, and transfer of critical documents required to determine and verify eligibility to all public assistance programs administered by EHSD, and to meet State mandated case management requirements. Use of the system was also
implemented in EHSD’s Personnel Division.
Previous Board approved action items include the following: June 22, 2021 (C.150); June 7, 2022 (C.88); April 24, 2023 (C.88) and August 13, 2024 (C.32).
On June 24, 2025, the Board approved item C.58 for continued funding of the agreement for the period of July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027, necessary for continued access to the system to perform critical and daily tasks to receive basic software support for business continuity. In addition, the agreement provides for funding of system changes and technical consultation services for which Compass Pilot document images, data, and functionality are key components. The Northwoods system is needed to provide continued document management functionality for EHSD functional areas, such as EHSD’s Personnel Division, that do not have access to CalSAWS because of the scope of funding.
This action is to approve an increase in budget amount by $1,739,969 to cover payment for the remainder of the term through June 30, 2027.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Should the proposed action not be approved by the Board of Supervisors, the County will not be able to capture and retrieve documents that have been submitted into the electronic document management system for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)/Public Authority, IHSS Payroll, and Personnel.