Title
a. Approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Social Services (DSS), or his designee, to sign an agreement with Solutions West, Inc. for $469,200 to provide Temporary Eligibility staff for the period March 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014 and consulting services that will produce training materials and manuals for eligibility staff; and
b. Authorize the Director of DSS, or his designee, to sign up to three (3) amendments to this agreement where the total amendments do not exceed 10% of the original contract amount, and do not significantly change the scope of work. (ADDED VIA ADDENDUM)
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Social Services (DSS), or his designee, to sign an agreement with Solutions West, Inc. for $469,200 to provide Temporary Eligibility staff for the period March 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014 and consulting services that will produce training materials and manuals for eligibility staff; and
b. Authorize the Director of DSS, or his designee, to sign up to three (3) amendments to this agreement where the total amendments do not exceed 10% of the original contract amount, and do not significantly change the scope of work.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
DSS is recommending entering into an agreement with Solutions West that will provide specialized staff to assist in eligibility case processing for Social Services. Due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the technology challenges related to the interface between the Covered California eligibility system and the county consortia system, the Department is not meeting mandated timeframes for case processing. Currently, over 5,000 Medi-Cal cases are pending action with current staffing unable to meet the workload demand.
While DSS is committed to hiring and training eligibility workers to manage the workload, the lengthy process to recruit and train staff has contributed to the backlog of work that needs to be completed. Solutions West has experience in providing eligibility case processing services in Riverside County who operates using the same C-IV automated system that Monterey County uses. Solutions West has business analyst staff who understand the ACA and have developed and provided training on the functionality of the CalHEERS automated system.
For these reasons, DSS is recommending approval of this agreement to provide temporary eligibility staff to assist with the backlog and to provide assistance in producing training materials and policy and procedure products for the staff.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Department has discussed this agreement with its Labor Management Committee and there is consensus that the additional short-term support it offers will be beneficial to the workforce and the community. The Auditor-Controller and Contract/Purchasing have reviewed and approved this agreement. County Counsel has approved the agreement as to form.
FINANCING:
This agreement is funded 100% by the Medi-Cal Allocation. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues in SOC005 are included in the FY 2013-14 Adopted Budget. Approval of this action has no impact on the County General Fund.
Prepared by: Barbara Verba, Deputy Director of Community Benefits, x4403
Approved by: Elliott Robinson, Director - Social Services, x4434
Attachments: On File with the Clerk of the Board