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Approve a new, 5 year contract with Document Fulfillment Services, the current provider, for $2,084,915 to provide CalWORKs Information Network (CalWIN) client correspondence to include printing and mailing services for Employment & Eligibility clients for the period beginning March 1, 2018 through June 30, 2022; and Authorize the County Administrator to execute the contract and any subsequent amendments that remain within budgeted appropriations
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Published Notice Required? Yes ___ No _X_
Public Hearing Required? Yes ___ No _X_
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Health & Social Services (H&SS) recommends that the Board approve a new contract with Document Fulfillment Services (DFS), the current provider, for $2,084,915 to provide CalWORKs Information Network (CalWIN) client correspondence to include printing and mailing services for Employment & Eligibility clients for the period beginning March 1, 2018 through June 30, 2022; and Authorize the County Administrator to execute the contract and any subsequent amendments that remain within budgeted appropriations.
SUMMARY:
Document Fulfillment (DFS) provides document-processing services, including printing and mailing of batch CalWORKs Information Network (CalWIN) client correspondence such as client notices or forms to Employment and Eligibility (E&E) clients. CalWIN is the computer case management system for clients serviced by E&E. Solano County is part of the CalWIN consortium comprised of 17 other California counties utilizing the CalWIN system, including Sacramento County, which is the lead public agency in the CalWIN consortium for the competitive solicitation of the CalWIN correspondence printing and mailing services. Involvement in the consortium allows other counties to reference Sacramento County’s competitive bid process and contract award when obtaining authorization to establish their contracts for DFS’s services. This five-year contract for $2,084,915 for the period beginning March 1, 2018 through June 30, 2022 will ensure the continuation and maintenance of various types of required correspondence for clients receiving public assistance and participating in Social Services programs.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The recommended contract of $2,084,915, will be funded with Solano County CalWORKs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal administrative allocations with no change or increase to the CalWORKs Maintenance of Effort for fiscal year 2017/18. There is no additional financial impact to the County General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
In November 1999, the Board approved the development, implementation, and maintenance of the CalWIN automated eligibility determination and benefits delivery system in Solano County. CalWIN is the primary business application utilized by the H&SS E&E division and 17 other California counties which form the CalWIN consortium.
DFS provides the CalWIN client communication printing and mailing services to E&E which includes critical and time-sensitive notices and/or forms regarding client case information. Important mailings include renewal packets for several Social Services programs such as the Medi-Cal annual redeterminations, re-certifications, recipient responsibility statements, and other various disclosure forms and notices. Additional services include a daily batch cycle process, quality control measures, automated processes and tracking, and any circumstances in which special print, mailing, and document processing jobs will be needed. As part of the quality control measures, DXC Technology Services LLC (DXC), formerly known as Enterprise Services, responsible for creating and sending client correspondence to DFS, released a new reporting tool. This DXC tool, developed in collaboration with other consortium counties, ensures independent, original source file summary reporting and verification of images that DFS will print. Sacramento County determined it would be best to request another review of the file data gathered through the use of this new reporting tool. This reporting tool was unavailable for deployment during the original contract review of DXC which began in July 2016. On February 7, 2017, the Board approved a one-year contract extension and first amendment with DFS for $451,482 through February 28, 2018. That contract extension allowed for a thorough contract review using this new tool and ensured continued services.
As a result of this new reporting tool, validation controls were established to allow E&E to continue to monitor, inspect and evaluate the vendor’s performance. Proactive steps have been taken to ensure increased clarity and compliance in this contract and all of Sacramento County’s recommendations regarding contractual language, monitoring and compliance to ensure resolution of all issues noted in the agreed-upon procedures has been included in this contract.
DFS will meet related industry standards when providing services outlined in this scope of services in the following areas, but not limited to receiving data and processing for the United States Postal Service (USPS), mail piece specifications, letter size and weight of standard letter envelopes, and reading and processing of the current CalWIN vendor original source files. The majority of hardcopy correspondence provided will be black/white printing of Portable Document Format (PDF) files which is estimated at over three million units annually followed by collateral material printing estimated at 800,000, in addition to the various types of inserts.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose to not approve this contract with DFS. This is not recommended because the County will be unable to provide all necessary materials, equipment and labor to process and mail the CalWIN client correspondence and comply with federal and state regulations on a timely basis.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has reviewed the contract for legal sufficiency.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION