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Approve a contract with Fairfield Police Activities League (FF PAL) for $150,000 to provide after-school and evening activities that are ideally suited for creating a safe and stable environment for youth for the period January 15, 2024 through January 14, 2027; Delegate authority to the County Administrator to execute the contract and any future amendments, pending County Counsel concurrence, not to exceed an annual aggregate of $74,999; and Authorize the Chief of Probation to execute any amendments which are technical or administrative in nature
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Published Notice Required? Yes_____ No__X__
Public Hearing Required? Yes_____ No__X__
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Chief of Probation recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve a contract with Fairfield Police Activities League (FF PAL) for $150,000 to provide after-school and evening activities that are ideally suited for a creating safe and stable environment for youth for the period January 15, 2024 through January 14, 2027;
2. Delegate authority to the County Administrator to execute the contract and any future amendments, pending County Counsel concurrence, not to exceed an annual aggregate of $74,999; and
3. Authorize the Chief of Probation to execute any amendments which are technical or administrative in nature.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Department issued a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) in June 2023 to solicit bids for prevention services for At Promise Youth for the period of January 15, 2024 through January 14, 2027. Notification of the RFP was sent to over 1500 entities registered to receive County RFPs, a press release announcing the opportunity was issued and ran in the Daily Republic on June 16, 2023, and the opportunity was regularly discussed at the Solano County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) meetings which engage many community partners. After careful consideration of the bid criteria and taking into account the bidders’ qualifications as determined by the information provided by the proposals received as well as the overall price and value to the County, the JJCC approved Fairfield Police Activities League to provide these services.
The Solano County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) recommends addressing gaps in prevention services for youth at the community / neighborhood level in its Comprehensive Multiagency Juvenile Justice Plan. This project will help the County do more than divert youth from the juvenile justice system, it will help youth build on their own unique talents, expand their agency, build connections that leverage collective community care, and reimagine their role in our community. Rather than seeing youth as a problem to be solved, funding prevention programs like this, see youth and their engagement as a key part of the solution, a resource to be invested in and protected. To reduce the number of young people exposed to the juvenile justice system and provide them with meaningful services.
The FF PAL will provide after-school and evening activities that are ideally suited for creating safe and stable environments for youth. Organized sport and recreation programs provide youth with critical development experiences that can help them learn positives ways of regulating their emotions and develop supportive personal relations with authority figures, peers, and community leaders. Exercise, including sports and games, increases the physical, social, and emotional well-being of youth. They help youth develop leadership skills, foster capacity for decision making, and help in the development of positive peer group culture where participants gain friendship, acceptance, and belonging.
The FF PAL will offer the “Theory of Change” program. The program moves through distinct phases, including engagement/recreation activities, followed by establishing emotional and physical safety, then relationship building and establishing meaningful participation to create the ideal environment for skill building. In the short term, the FF PAL Teen Center increases: (1) the amount of time spent in supervised, pro-social activities, especially among underserved and disconnected teens, (2) youth perceptions of their own physical and emotional safety, (3) opportunities and access to consistent pro social recreational programing, (4) positive examples and good information, (5) health and wellness prosocial choices and increases in healthy nutrition practices and hydration, (6) awareness of sleep or exercise effects on the body and stress management, (7) interpersonal skills among participating teens (assets/interpersonal skills), and (8) a youth’s positive beliefs about their own future and improved bonding with members of the community; particularly those in local law enforcement. Longer-term, the program has been found to increase endorsement and use of prosocial norms on a consistent basis, the ability to utilize executive functioning skills and social and emotional competency especially consistently and effectively during more stressful situations, to improve the larger communities’ perception and belief in the promise of our young people and decrease rates of school and community disconnection among youth and young adults in our community.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The maximum amount for the contract is $150,000 and it is funded by the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act. The contract costs are included in the Probation Department FY2023/24 Working Budget. There is no additional impact to the County General Fund.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose:
1. Not to award the contract to Fairfield Police Activities League. This action is not recommended as the services address the needs of safe and stable environments for vulnerable youth in the community.
2. Not to delegate signing authority to the County Administrator to execute the standard contract within budget appropriations. This action is not recommended as it would reduce flexibility and timeliness in completing the scope of work outlined in the contract.
3. Not to authorize the Chief of Probation to approve and execute any future contract amendments that are technical or administrative in nature. This action is not recommended and is not practical as it would require the Department to request Board approval for routine matters such as minor technical or administrative changes.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the contract as to form.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION