City Council Meeting: March 25,
2008
Agenda Item: 1-F
To: Mayor and City Council
From:
Jory Wolf, Chief
Information Officer, Information Systems
Subject: Authorization to Negotiate and Execute
a Contract for a Homeless Management Information System
Recommended
Action
Staff recommends that the
City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with
Bowman Systems for software licensing
and data hosting of a homeless management information system for a period of
one year in an amount not to exceed $120,770 (including 10% contingency), with two
additional one year renewal options in an amount not to exceed $44,760
(including 10% contingency).
Executive
Summary
At the
direction of
Background
As part of the Adopted FY 2007-08 City Budget, City Council approved first-year startup costs associated with the implementation of a new HMIS in the amount of $322,604 and ongoing funding for this project in the amount of $71,804. A Federal Supportive Housing Program (SHP) grant awarded through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (Contract #8857 (CCS) and subsequent renewal grants) will provide additional resources toward this project.
Consistent with
the recently approved “Action Plan to Address Homelessness in
· Compliance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data standards;
· The ability to conduct a system-wide unduplicated count of persons accessing services;
· The ability to track all services and client outcomes system-wide;
·
The ability to collect and query client
demographics and needs to assess
· The ability to identify “bottlenecks” in service delivery;
· The ability to interface with other local and regional data systems;
· Reduced agency staff time devoted to data entry by eliminating duplicative data entry systems;
· The ability to use new technologies (scan cards, wireless capability) to increase data collection and assist in new projects such as the Service Registry;
· Improved system management due to data hosting by the recommended software vendor; and,
· Flexibility to meet future anticipated and unanticipated City, state, federal, and other funder requirements and requests.
In late September, 2007, City Council approved a contract with Canavan Associates for expert guidance in the selection and implementation process. Since that time, Canavan Associates staff has been instrumental in facilitating the HMIS Steering Committee, a group composed of representatives from the City’s Departments of Community and Cultural Services, Housing and Economic Development and Information Systems and participating homeless service agencies; conducting a needs assessment of homeless service agencies; developing policies and procedures related to use of the HMIS; and developing the RFP for the HMIS software. The RFP was released in December, 2007 and was sent to 24 vendors, posted on one national HMIS job board and advertised in the Santa Monica Daily Press.
Discussion
Contractor Selection
Seven proposals were submitted
in response to the RFP. An initial
review was conducted by Canavan Associates and City staff. The top three respondents were invited to
provide demonstrations of their product to the HMIS Steering Committee. As part of the demonstration, selected City
and homeless service agency staff, including front-line case managers, participated
in hands-on testing of each product. References
for each firm were contacted and interviewed.
Based on the demonstrations, surveys completed by the user-testing
participants and references, the HMIS Steering Committee came to a consensus to
recommend Bowman Systems’ software product ServicePoint to be the City’s HMIS
solution.
Bowman Systems was recommended
based on:
·
Capacity of the software product to meet the data collection needs
of the City and homeless service agencies and to dramatically improve the
capability of the system to report and track services and outcomes;
·
Capacity of the software product to be customized at the agency
level to ensure case management and other staff members are able to use the
system most efficiently to benefit their clients;
·
Bowman’s client base of over 120 HMIS customers nationwide, including
“best practice” agencies (City of
·
Submission of a detailed and comprehensive start-up plan;
·
Competitive price; and
·
The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, training,
experience and efficiency of the firm and the principal staff assigned to the
project based on information gathered from the RFP and through reference
checks.
Financial Impacts &
Budget Actions
The cost for the software licensing, training, hosting and
disaster recovery will not exceed $120,770 in the first year. No equipment will
need to be purchased for this implementation. Funds of $120,770 are available
in the Human Services Division budget at account 012628.544390 75211W for this
project. Ongoing maintenance costs will
not exceed $44,760 annually for Years 2 and 3.
Ongoing annual funding in the amount of $44,760 is available in the
Human Services Division budget at account 012628.544390 99281W.
Prepared by:
Julia Brown,
Administrative Analyst
Al Dave,
Software Systems Officer
|
Approved: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jory
Wolf Chief
Information Officer, Information Systems |
|
|
|
Approved: |
|
Forwarded to Council: |
|
|
|
|
|
Director,
Community & Cultural Services |
|
P. City Manager |