From: Colby, Tess Sent: Friday, January 31, 2020 4:50 PM To: Herbold, Lisa ; Pedersen, Alex ; Lewis, Andrew ; Morales, Tammy Cc: Gonzalez, Lorena ; Sawant, Kshama ; Juarez, Debora ; Strauss, Dan ; Mosqueda, Teresa ; Fong, Michael ; Auriemma, Anthony ; Johnson, Jason ; Salazar, Diana ; Thomas, Brianna ; Reiter, Cody ; Coutsoubos, Christena ; Clardy, Alex ; Swift, BrynDel ; Emsky, Tyler ; Thorpe, Jacob ; Brown, Kamilah ; Basu, Aretha ; Cuevas, Faride ; Vallier, Cara ; Somer, Sasha ; Virdone, Ted ; McLean, Alyson ; Doss, Greg ; Lemke, Will ; Formas, Stephanie Subject: RE: LEAD Status Councilmembers Herbold, Morales, Lewis and Pedersen, In response to your January 28 letter, I am re-sending the update that I sent you on Monday, January 27. This letter included several updates about the status of the contract that we are hoping to execute shortly. I also wanted to clarify a few points: • The split of the contract budget into two phases will not impede LEAD’s ability to staff in accordance with its needs. LEAD is not proposing to hire 52 case managers in the first quarter of 2020, but rather over the course of the year. I note this because the budget we have requested from LEAD will cover expenses associated with the addition of new case managers to right-size their case management ratios. This is consistent with LEAD’s plan to grow in response to referrals and intakes. Thus, the pace of hiring will not be slowed during the first phase of the contract. • The Bennet Midland contract is specifically designed to yield a deeper understanding of the LEAD program and in that context, the best performance metrics that identify the impacts the program has on its participants and the community. I believe both the Executive and Council agree that creating appropriate performance metrics are critical to transparency and accountability of all City contracts. Knowing the impact of the City’s investment is at the core of good stewardship of public funds of any amount, particularly for an important program that has seen a 170% increase in funding over the last year. • In response to your inquiry about the status of the IT database, the prototype database has been built, and it will store complete participant and contact data, assist in analyzing recidivism and facilitate case coordination. We are glad that Seattle IT was a partner to help deliver on this critical asset for LEAD. You will find my previous e-mail updating you on LEAD below. As stated before, please do not hesitate to contact me for any additional information, and I will be happy to meet with you. Tess Tess Colby (she/her/hers) Senior Advisor on Homelessness Office of Mayor Jenny A. Durkan O: 206.233.7115 m: 206.491.6355 tess.colby@seattle.gov From: Colby, Tess Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 4:46 PM To: Gonzalez, Lorena ; Herbold, Lisa ; Sawant, Kshama ; Pedersen, Alex ; Juarez, Debora ; Strauss, Dan ; Lewis, Andrew ; Morales, Tammy ; Mosqueda, Teresa Cc: Fong, Michael ; Anthony Auriemma (Anthony.Auriemma@seattle.gov) ; Jason Johnson (Jason.Johnson@seattle.gov) ; Diana Salazar ; Thomas, Brianna ; Cody Reiter (Cody.Reiter@seattle.gov) ; Christina Cotsoubos (Christena.Coutsoubos@seattle.gov) ; Clardy, Alex ; Swift, BrynDel ; Emsky, Tyler ; Thorpe, Jacob ; Brown, Kamilah ; Basu, Aretha ; Faride Cuevas (Faride.Cuevas@seattle.gov) ; Vallier, Cara ; Somer, Sasha ; Virdone, Ted ; Alyson McLean (Alyson.McLean@seattle.gov) ; Greg Doss (Greg.Doss@Seattle.gov) ; Lemke, Will Subject: LEAD Status Councilmembers, Over the past few months I have had conversations with different Council staff at different times about the status of LEAD, so I wanted to take this moment to provide you all with an update on the status of the HSD contract negotiations with LEAD. As with any contract, HSD is working closely with LEAD to develop both the appropriate budget and performance measures for the contract. HSD and I have been in frequent conversation with LEAD, specifically with Lisa Daugaard, to discuss the information HSD needs to finalize the contract. This information will help to establish the budget and estimated spending schedule for two contract phases. The first phase covers the period of time during which we are working with Bennet Midland, the consultant engaged to perform a program assessment. As a reminder, that contract will provide an assessment of LEAD’s approach to diversion and case management in light of its theory of change and national best practices. The consultants will also develop LEAD-appropriate performance measures to be included in the contract. We’ve asked that the budget for this interim phase show the costs and timing associated with the ramp-up of staff to reach an appropriate case management ratio that addresses their current client base (roughly 700 persons) and backlog (roughly 300 persons) of clients. We’ve asked that the ramp up be broken out on a monthly basis so we can right-size funding during this phase. Funding a ramp-up budget that addresses the immediate needs of current clients and those in the queue will set the stage for the significant program expansion LEAD contemplates. The second phase will begin after the Bennett Midland report has been completed and should coincide with the completion of the new LEAD database. At this juncture we will work with LEAD to incorporate into the contract updated performance measures recommended by the report and informed by its data evaluation tools. In the meantime, we have also asked LEAD for their proposed budget that includes the Council add and the Ballmer grant. This is helpful not only for consideration of the budget in phase two, but also as an additional data point for Bennett Midland to consider as part of their assessment. LEAD has provided both budgets and HSD is in conversation with Lisa about specific questions, to which she is responding. With quick work by both sides, we will be ready to execute the contract. Bennett Midland is underway with the initial research, including setting up local interviews. They will be in Seattle in early March for their site visit, keeping them on schedule for a spring completion of the contract. I am committed to keeping you informed of the progress of the LEAD work. Please do not hesitate to contact me for any additional information about the status of our work with LEAD and Bennett Midland. Regards, Tess Tess Colby (she/her/hers) Senior Advisor on Homelessness Office of Mayor Jenny A. Durkan City of Seattle O: 206.233.7115 m: 206.491.6355 tess.colby@seattle.gov Facebook Twitter Subscribe to Mayor Durkan's E-Newsletter