Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County staff: no viable emergency‑shelter contractor yet; Family Endeavors recommended for unhoused support center pending budget details
Summary
Staff reported four proposals for a temporary emergency shelter RFP and recommended Family Endeavors as operator for an unhoused support center; the scoring panel found no immediately viable shelter‑and‑facility combination for RFP 2614, and commissioners requested full budgets and loaded labor rates before contracting.
Cumberland County staff told commissioners on Nov. 13 that they had received multiple responses to recent procurements addressing temporary emergency shelter and an unhoused support center, but no immediate contract award was recommended without further review of facilities, finances and operational detail.
For RFP 2614 (temporary emergency shelter services and facility), Assistant County Manager Heather Skins said the county had 12 RFI respondents and received four formal proposals in the RFP phase. The proposals ranged from Family Endeavors (no facility; roughly $2.7 million per year and a 6–12 month ramp to operational status) to Responsive Deployment (modular-home solutions; approximately $8.7 million for a two‑year obligation) and the Salvation Army (has a facility; roughly $932,000 annually but with prior environmental‑health issues reported). The scoring panel did not recommend awarding a contract at this time, citing the lack of a provider-plus-ready‑facility that could be operational quickly and the prohibitive cost of some options.
A related operator RFP for the county’s planned unhoused support center produced two responsive proposals; staff said the scoring panel recommended Family Endeavors to operate the center. Family Endeavors’ submittal listed a pre‑operational consulting fee of $32,500 and an annual operating budget in its proposal package of about $3.2 million for a 100‑bed model; the proposal assumed county provision of certain site maintenance and landscaping costs. Commissioners asked staff to return with each responsive bidder’s full proposal packet, a line‑item operating budget, the loaded labor rate used to price consulting and preoperation hours, and clarity on whether preoperation consulting funds were capped or billed hourly.
Commissioners said they wanted clear, comparable budget breakdowns before any decision to contract. Staff also reported that Salvation Army was engaged for a follow‑up environmental inspection after the shelter‑and‑facility RFP raised concerns; staff will verify inspections and requested financial documentation with Salvation Army and report back to the board. The board left open the option of continuing procurement activity but asked staff to return with requested budget detail and verification of facility readiness.
