To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: MOU with All Home to provide the County a $100,000 grant to support the planning and creation of a County Homelessness Strategic Plan
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with All Home, a project of Tides Center, a California non-profit public benefit corporation, to provide the County a grant of $100,000 to support the development of a County Homelessness Strategic Plan.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the General Fund. All Home is providing $100,000 to the County as a grant. All Home does not require a County match, but the County is contracting with a consultant for this work at a cost of $314,000. This grant will defray some of that cost.
BACKGROUND:
The County departments of Conservation and Development, Health Services, and Employment and Human Services, with support and guidance from the County Administrator’s Office (together the “Specified Departments”), have been discussing the need for and scope of a proposed Homelessness Strategic Plan for Contra Costa County. To help facilitate this process, a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued in June 2024 to seek a consultant to provide technical assistance and support to the Specified Departments involved in developing a Countywide Homelessness Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan).
The County received three proposals from qualified consultants, and the proposal from Focus Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in helping communities reduce homelessness through delivery of effective homelessness crisis response and expanding on housing solutions, was selected. The contract with Focus Strategies (Consultant) was approved by the Board of Supervisors at the Board meeting held on December 3, 2024, with a contract amount not to exceed $314,000 and a term of December 1, 2024, through April 30, 2026.
All Home Grant
All Home, a project of Tides Center, is an organization that emphasizes regional approaches to housing and homelessness needs and has been working with the County over the last year and half providing facilitated policy planning discussions with the Specified Departments to review federal, state, and local policy plans and to define the need for a Strategic Plan.
During the County’s RFP process to retain a consultant, All Home staff informed the Specified Departments that All Home would contribute $100,000 as a grant to the County to assist in the costs of retaining the selected consultant.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and All Home was created to provide the terms, roles, and responsibilities between the County and All Home for the $100,000 grant. The MOU is attached to this report as Attachment A. The $100,000 is to solely support payment of associated costs of the Consultant contract to develop a Strategic Plan. The funds are to be provided to the County within 90 days of the execution of the MOU, with the grant objective being the planning and creation of a Strategic Plan.
As part of the MOU, All Home will also be responsible for the following:
1. Work collaboratively with the County to support the Consultant in completion of the Strategic Plan.
2. Work with County to share all relevant reports and memos, analytics, slideshows, and other materials needed to educate the Consultant on the progression and status of technical assistance completed by All Home and how this work may be useful to inform the development of the Strategic Plan.
3. Meet as necessary in collaboration with the County and Consultant to support completion of the Strategic Plan.
The County’s responsibilities, administered by the Department of Conservation and Development, are the following:
1. Manage the contract with Consultant.
2. Include All Home staff in an advisory role in meetings of the County and Consultant throughout development of the Strategic Development, as appropriate. The County will determine when All Home staff’s participation in project-related meetings is appropriate and will inform All Home staff in a timely manner.
3. Maintain collaborative communications with All Home regarding the progression of Consultant’s scope of work, including amendments or adjustments to the agreed upon scope of work and focus of the Strategic Plan.
4. By allowing All Home to continue to serve in an advisory role, participate in project-related meetings, and contribute to the Strategic Plan process, the County will not be asked to submit any periodic grant reports. Moreover, the parties acknowledge that all final County actions are taken through the County Board of Supervisors and that nothing in the MOU directs or requires County action except as expressly provided for herein.
The MOU also provides a mutual indemnification clause in which each party will indemnify, defend, protect, hold harmless, and release the other, their elected bodies, officers, agents, and employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, proceedings, damages, causes of action, liability, costs, or expense (including attorneys’ fees and witness costs) arising from or in connection with, or caused by any negligent act or omission or willful misconduct of such indemnifying party.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the MOU with All Home is not approved, the Department of Conservation and Development will need to identify other funds to help pay for the associated costs of the consultant contract with Focus Strategies.