SR-092507-1D~~~
~;LYo, City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: September 25, 2007
Agenda Item: I _ p
Ta Mayor and City Council
From: Barbara Stinchfield, Director of Community and Cultural Services
Subject: Authorization to Negotiate and Execute a Professional Services
Agreement for Consulting Services for the Selection and Implementation
of a Homeless Management Information System
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a Professional Services Agreement with Canavan Associates for Consulting
Services for the Selection and Implementation of a Homeless Management Information
System (HMIs) in an amount not to exceed $81,402.
Executive Summary
The City has sought consulting services to provide guidance to the Community and
Cultural Services Department with development and implementation of a plan to: select
a new HMIs system; transfer data from an existing database (ClientTrack) to the new
system; coordinate the selection of key HMIs staff, including a system administrator;
and ensure a seamless transition to the new system. A Request for Proposals was
issued by the Human Services Division; proposals were reviewed by Human Services
Division staff, Information Systems Department staff, and representatives from
homeless service agencies. Canavan Associates is recommended to provide these
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services. The term of the contract will extend from September 1, 2007 to June 30,
2009.
Discussion
Background
At the direction of City Council at its January 23, 2007 meeting, City staff are
undertaking a comprehensive study of the functionality and design of a new Homeless
Management Information System (HMIs) to replace the existing ClientTrack HMIs. As
part of the Adopted FY 2007-08 Budget, City Council approved first-year startup costs
associated with this project 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 #8651 (CCs)
and subsequent renewal grants) will provide additional start-up and on-going resources
toward this project.
It is anticipated that the selection and implementation of any. new HMIs software
product will provide the following benefits:
• Compliance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
data standards;
• The ability to conduct asystem-wide unduplicated count of persons accessing
services;
• The ability to track all services provided system-wide;
• The ability to identify "bottlenecks" in service delivery;
• The ability to interface with other local and regional data systems;
• Reduced data entry by eliminating duplicative data entry systems;
• Improved coordination and data-sharing protocols/agreements between
agencies; and,
• Flexibility to meet future anticipated and unanticipated City, state, federal, and
other funder requirements and requests.
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In order to ensure that these goals are met, City staff will require expert guidance from
an appropriate HMIS planning firm. The consultant will be expected to assist the HMIS
Steering Committee, a group composed of representatives from the City's Human
Services Division, Information Systems Department, and homeless service agencies, to
identify hardware, software, security, data migration and budgetary needs, develop
interagency policies and procedures, hire necessary HMIS staff, and recommend the
selection of an appropriate HMIS vendor. In order to ensure the HMIS staff and
software vendor are able to conduct a smooth transition to a new HMIS, the consultant
will be expected to:
• Convene and facilitate the HMIS Steering Committee meetings, along with
various other subcommittees involving appropriate stakeholders as mandated by
HUD requirements;
• Conduct a comprehensive agency needs-assessment, reviewing not only
agency's technical and client-related needs, but also needs being currently
fulfilled by other data systems within the organization;
• Provide a written report detailing the funding requirements by all local homeless
service agencies and articulating which alternative data systems within each
organization that may be replaced by selecting a more optimal HMIS system;
• Develop a minimal technical and programmatic standards document, which will
be folded into an RFP for a new HMIS product, also to be developed and
managed by the consultant;
• Coordinate and oversee a minimum of three in-depth, onsite demonstrations of
HMIS products. These demonstrations will be required to involve staff at multiple
levels at all of the participating agencies conducting hands-on tests of products;
• Simultaneous to the selection of a new, improved vendor, engage the HMIS
Steering Committee in a facilitated discussion regarding appropriate policies and
procedures related to: roles and responsibilities, system participation,
interagency MOUs, data sharing, security, privacy, disaster plan and recovery,
standardized intake forms, interagency referrals, service delivery, outcome
tracking, service values for match tracking purposes, and other components as
needed;
• Draft and, with the input of the Steering Committee, finalize policies and
procedures that are required to comply with HUD requirements and do not
currently exist in any form;
• Develop and manage an RFP process for the selection of the new HMIS system
administrator;
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• Should any individual homeless service agency wish to hire new IT staff, assist
them in developing position descriptions;
• Once a new HMIS product is selected, staff has been hired and appropriate
policies and procedures have been developed, provide expertise in the
negotiation and preparation of a contract with the HMIS vendor;
• Prepare a written plan to install the new product at each of the 8 participating
agencies, which include up to 40 individual programs. Extensive levels of
customization will need to be supported for each program, due to the different
types of services they offer and outcomes they achieve;
• Implement the plan and provide the necessary support to ensure that the product
and implemented sites meet strict, HUD-mandated security requirements and
that each program is able to track required services and outcomes;
• Produce plans and budgets for data conversion from the legacy system
(ClientTrack) to the new system, along with any ongoing data merges that need
to be established between agency's other required databases and/or between
the new HMIS system and the HMIS system put into place by the Los Angeles
Homeless Services Authority;
• Oversee the implementation of those plans and test the validity of the data
transfers;
• Prepare an initial report on system participation and data quality.
Because expertise in this field is highly specialized and tends to be concentrated on the
East Coast, no applicant for this consultancy was based locally. The consultant visits
have been reduced to the extent possible, but because this is an extremely intensive
timeframe for installing a system as complex and comprehensive as this, City and
agency staff will require intensive onsite support.
Consultant Selection
In May 2007, the HMIS Steering Committee convened to develop the scope of work and
the RFP for a selection and implementation consultant. The Request for Proposals was
released in June, 2007 and was sent to fourteen firms and posted on one national HMIS
job board. Three proposals were submitted in response. Members of HMIS Steering
Committee reviewed the proposals and conducted telephone and in-person interviews
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with the candidate firms. This careful review and selection process led to a
recommendation to award the contract to Canavan Associates based on:
• Significant experience with similar projects;
• Submission of a detailed, thoughtful and comprehensive project plan;
• Demonstrated ability of the principal staff assigned to the project to balance
technical expertise with understanding of homeless service agency workflow and
needs;
• Competitive price; and
• The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, training, experience and efficiency
of the firm and the principal staff assigned to the project.
Canavan Associates currently serves as members of HUD's National HMIS Technical
Assistance Initiative, providing assistance not only to communities wishing to implement
an HMIS system but also directly to HUD regarding policies, data standards and
security standards. Managing Director David Canavan has demonstrated technical
expertise in his work with HUD and the McCormack Institute. Senior Associate Fran
Ledger, MSW, has extensive experience in the social services field in addition to
technical expertise as demonstrated by her work implementing the New Orleans HMIS
system, providing disaster technical assistance to the Gulf South Region following
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and managing the statewide implementation of a single
HMIS system throughout the state of Louisiana. The firm has provided similar services
to the Nassau-Suffolk County Coalition for the homeless. and the San Diego Regional
Task Force on the Homeless. Staff contacted four of the references for this firm and
received exceptionally positive feedback.
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Budget/Financial Impact
All Homeless Management Information System-related funds were included as part of
the City's Adopted FY 2007-08 Budget. The funds for this Agreement with Canavan
Associates are available in account 012628.544390.75211W.
Prepared by: Julia Brown, Administrative Analyst
Approved: _Forw,ar~ed to Council:
Director, Community & Cultural Services C~i Manager
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Reference Contract
No. 8825 (CCS)