To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Services
Staff Name and Phone Number: Angela Struckmann 565-5800, Lynn Peralta 565-5800
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Human Services Department Contract with Equitable Access California
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize the Director of the Human Services Department to execute an agreement with Equitable Access California in the amount of $318,843 for the period of July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023.
end
Executive Summary:
In May of 2022, the Board approved 27 department and community proposals for American Rescue Plan Act Community Resilience Program funding. The approval included the public Wi-Fi program submitted by the Russian River Alliance. After Board approval, the Chief Financial Officer for Russian River Alliance, who had submitted their initial proposal, requested that the agreement be with Equitable Access California, a 501(c)3 created by the original proposer to focus solely on bringing broadband and equitable access to the Internet to rural California beyond the lower Russian River community. Community Resilience Program agreements are currently being reviewed for renewal and given this timing, staff are bringing this item before the Board to memorialize the change from Russian River Alliance to Equitable Access California.
Discussion:
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Community Resilience Program (CRP) competitive process, the project review committees recommended and the Board approved funding the public Wi-Fi program proposed by the Russian River Alliance under the Educational Disparities: Internet & Digital Literacy category. The program supports free public Wi-Fi installation in unincorporated communities in Guerneville, Cazadero, Jenner, Bodega Bay, Bodega, and Forestville. These communities experienced increased COVID-19 challenges because it was harder for them to access resources for education, health and employment due to internet connectivity issues. It also supports resilient and redundant disaster preparedness and communication.
After Board approval of 27 department and community proposals, during the contract completion process for ARPA CRP dollars to implement the public Wi-Fi project, the Russian River Alliance Chief Financial Officer contacted the ARPA CRP team requesting that the contractual agreement be with Equitable Access California instead of Russian River Alliance. Equitable Access California was a newly created 501(c)3 focused specifically on expanding broadband access to rural communities. At the time of the request, the intent of the original proposal was considered and verifications including the California Secretary of State, the System for Award Management, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control were confirmed for Equitable Access California. The ARPA team made the determination to proceed with the change to Equitable Access California as the intent of the proposed program was intact, the project principal remained the same, and there were no concerns identified with contracting with the alternative legal entity.
Staff are currently reviewing the CRP agreements for renewal and have recognized that the Board should have given formal approval of the change in organization for the project. This item retroactively requests approval of the agreement with Equitable Access California for the Public Wi-Fi project in the amount of $318,843 for the period of July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
10/31/23: File #2023-0636, received update on Sonoma County Community Resilience Program; authorized the Director of the Human Services Department (HSD) to execute agreements and/or amendments; Authorized the Director of HSD to execute an additional one-year contract extension; approved 9.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) allocations through June 30, 2026; approved the method for reallocating funds that become available due to ARPA CRP contract modifications and authorized the Director of HSD to approve contract modifications in accordance with this process.
12/06/22: File #2022-1075, received an update on American Rescue Plan Act Community Resilience Program Status Update and approved community resilience program administration capacity improvements.<https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5948417&GUID=63E476AA-80B5-4129-B84A-D31D52D7B8FC&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=2022-1075>
05/24/22: File #2022-0376, approved 27 department and community proposals for ARPA funding; authorized Director of HSD, or designee, to execute contracts with selected organizations.<https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5653998&GUID=9FB5C12C-F225-4A2D-839A-F3B8201E2585&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=%232022-0376>
12/14/21: File # 2021-1386, provided direction for funding on County items and approved community Investment funding areas and funding amounts.<https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5351534&GUID=28CE5BAF-B7FA-4D8E-A7B2-94FE0D321E14>
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 23-24 Adopted |
FY 24-25 Projected |
FY 25-26 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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General Fund Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
There is no change to the total APRA budget with this Board action.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Contract - Equity Access California
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None