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Committee continues retroactive Northpointe contract amendment, seeks technical staff for bias questions
Summary
The committee continued consideration of a retroactive fifth amendment to the Adult Probation Department's Northpointe (Compass) contract, asking the department to bring technical staff to address algorithmic impacts and bias concerns and scheduled the item for Sept. 29.
The Budget & Finance Committee on Sept. 22 heard from Veronica Martinez of the Adult Probation Department on a retroactive fifth amendment to the department's maintenance and support agreement with Northpointe Software Inc. The amendment would extend system maintenance for the Compass correctional/offender management tool by 12 months through March 7, 2022; Martinez said the resolution language also corrects a previously misstated not‑to‑exceed amount.
Supervisor Asha Safai and others expressed concern about the retroactive nature of the amendment and asked for staff who manage the system to appear at the next meeting to answer questions about algorithmic impacts on BIPOC communities and potential bias in the tool. Martinez said the amendment is retroactive because the department required multiple approvals and noted staffing shortages delayed timely submission; she said operational team members and technical staff will be prepared for the Sept. 29 continuation.
The Budget Legislative Analyst said a report will be provided next week. The committee voted to continue the item to the Sept. 29 Budget & Finance Committee meeting to allow the department to bring technical staff and to answer substantive questions about the contract's operational impacts.
