ORDINANCE appropriating $5,000,000.00 out of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) Affordable Housing Fund and approving award of an Outreach, Intake and Case Management Services Agreement between the City of Houston and ICF INCORPORATED, L.L.C., for Hurricane Harvey Disaster Recovery Services; establishing a maximum contract amount - 1 Year with two one-year options

Request for Proposal received May 29, 2018 for S67-T26599 - Approve an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of $5,000,000.00 out of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) Affordable Housing Fund (2409) and award a contract to ICF Incorporated, LLC. for a maximum contract amount not to exceed $35,773,197.00 for Outreach, Intake and Case Management Services for housing programs for the Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD).

Specific Explanation

The Director of the Housing and Community Development Department and the Chief Procurement Officer recommend that City Council approve an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of $5,000,000.00 out of the TIRZ Affordable Housing Fund (2409) and award a one-year contract with two one-year options, to ICF Incorporated, LLC. for a maximum contract amount not to exceed $35,773,197.00 for Outreach, Intake and Case Management Services for the Housing and Community Development Department. This sum includes $33,800,445.00 for services including outreach and intake activities, case management and legal assistance; and $1,972,752.00 for Other Direct Costs (ODCs) including leases, furniture, and equipment for each Housing Resource Center (HRC). The Director of the Housing and Community Development Department and/or the Chief Procurement Officer may terminate the contract at any time upon 30-days written notice to the Contractor.

HCDD also requests Council approval to use TIRZ Affordable Housing Funds as interim bridge funding for this contract until Hurricane Harvey Disaster Recovery CDBG-DR (DR17) funds arrive. DR17 funds are expected to start flowing in December 2018 or January 2019. However, in order to effectively and quickly implement programs to disperse this funding to the community, HCDD must put systems in place now. Until DR17 funding arrives, HCDD will need to use approximately $5,000,000.00 to execute this contract for outreach, intake and case management services. Access to these funds will be needed primarily for certification purposes only; HCDD anticipates actual cash outlay will be less and that all funding will be reimbursed by DR17 funds.

The scope of work for this contract requires the Contractor to, under direction from HCDD staff, provide comprehensive outreach, intake and case management services for housing programs developed for Hurricane Harvey recovery to maximize the number of eligible applicants to the programs and address any barriers to application. Contractor services include outreach and marketing, applicant surveys, intake services, case management during the intake process, and limited legal services for owners and renters residing within the City of Houston. ODCs include costs to establish and operate HRCs in different areas of the City to facilitate outreach and intake. The Contractor is required to procure a local non-profit firm(s) to subcontract at least 25% of the services.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) was advertised in accordance with the requirements of the State of Texas bid laws.  The solicitation document was posted on the Strategic Procurement Division’s e-bidding website and, as a result proposals were received from: IEM/MPACT, ICF Incorporated, LLC., and HGI Catastrophe Services, LLC.  The Evaluation Committee consisted of members from the Housing and Community Development Department and Houston Health Department.

The proposals were evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Responsiveness of Proposal
2. Technical Competence
3. Price Proposal

ICF Incorporated, LLC. received the highest overall score and was deemed to be the best qualified consultant to perform the requirements as outlined in the RFP.

MWBE Subcontracting:

The RFP solicitation was advertised with 24% goal for MWBE participation, and ICF Incorporated, LLC. has exceeded this goal by proposing to award 57% of the contract to MWBE certified subcontractors as indicated below.

Pay or Play Program:

The proposed contract requires compliance with the City’s Pay or Play ordinance regarding health benefits for employees of City contractors.  In this case, the contractor will provide health benefits to eligible employees in compliance with City policy. 

Houston Hire First:

The proposed procurement may be funded by a federal grant; therefore, exempt from “Hire Houston First” (HHF) ordinance that promotes economic opportunity for Houston Business and support job creation.

Fiscal Note:

Funding for this item is included in the FY 2019 Budget.  Therefore, no Fiscal Note is required as stated in the Financial Policies.

The Housing and Community Affairs Committee reviewed this item on September 18, 2018.

____________________________________                  _______________________________

Jerry Adams, Chief Procurement Officer                        Department Approval Authority

Finance, Strategic Procurement Division

$  5,000,000.00 – TIRZ Affordable Housing Fund (2409)

$30,773,197.00 - Out-years Funding source TBD

$35,773,197.00 - Total