Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies Prepared by No Kill Shelter Alliance - Page 1 of 16 To: Orange County Deputy Purchasing Agent – Cathy To Copy: Orange County Board of Supervisors and CEO From: No Kill Shelter Alliance, Save More Kill Less Protest Group Date: March 1, 2016 Topic: Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies that was signed by Orange County management and supervisors: ASR Control #: 15-001566, Agreement CT-012-016010713, Sole Source BidSync Number: 012-C007965-LM Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies NOTE THAT THE FIRST FOUR PAGES ARE TITLE ONLY AS SLIDESHAREDOES NOT ENABLE HYPERLINKS UNTIL PAGE 5 If you need a pdf without these blank pages please send an email to [email protected]
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Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
Prepared by No Kill Shelter Alliance - Page 1 of 16
To: Orange County Deputy Purchasing Agent – Cathy To Copy: Orange County Board of Supervisors and CEO From: No Kill Shelter Alliance, Save More Kill Less Protest Group Date: March 1, 2016 Topic: Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies that was signed by Orange County management and supervisors: ASR Control #: 15-001566, Agreement CT-012-016010713, Sole Source BidSync Number: 012-C007965-LM
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA
Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
NOTE THAT THE FIRST FOUR PAGES ARE TITLE ONLY AS
SLIDESHAREDOES NOT ENABLE HYPERLINKS UNTIL PAGE 5
If you need a pdf without these blank pages please send an email to
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
Prepared by No Kill Shelter Alliance - Page 5 of 16
To: Orange County Deputy Purchasing Agent – Cathy To Copy: Orange County Board of Supervisors and CEO From: No Kill Shelter Alliance, Save More Kill Less Protest Group Date: March 1, 2016 Topic: Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies that was signed by Orange County management and supervisors: ASR Control #: 15-001566, Agreement CT-012-016010713, Sole Source BidSync Number: 012-C007965-LM We respectively request that your office review the Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies (for Orange County Animal Services - OCAC) that was signed at the Orange County Supervisor Meeting on Feb 24, 2016. We became aware of this contract on Feb 25, 2016. We believe this contract violates the Orange County Contract Policy Manual as the contract was awarded as sole source procurement. Additionally, we have deep concerns that this contract will not achieve the desired goal - to make Orange County Animal Care (OCAC) a more humane place for homeless pets. The organization awarded the contract does not have the depth and breadth of experience to properly fully assess the current OCAC situation. Our objections to this contract are fourfold:
1. Improper definition of the Issues (actually, there is no definition of the issues since an RFP was not prepared)
2. Sole procurement contract inappropriately awarded (for up to $150K) 3. Disregard that two previous assessments by this same vendor were ineffective 4. No community involvement in contract definition or decision
Please note that the contract appears to be a pdf of a scanned document, thus making it impossible to copy/paste sections of it here.
Improper Definition of the Issues
Since there is no RFP issued, the problem being addressed is not defined, nor the goal, however we believe
that the goal should be to make OCAC a safe temporary haven for homeless pets at the level of the City of
Austin (How Austin Became America's Largest No Kill City) and San Diego County (San Diego Animal
Welfare Coalition’s efforts to eliminate euthanasia). The contract has a list of the policies, procedures, and operations shelter that JVR Shelter Strategies will address (see “Scope of Work” Phases 1-3). This list is woefully incomplete and focused on areas in which JVR Shelter Strategies has an expertise – shelter medicine. However, running a successful animal shelters involves much more than veterinary skill. There is nothing in this contract about reviewing and recommendations for improving in the following key operational areas:
marketing of adoptable pets
underlying computer, software, and mobile app technology used by OCAC, and their capability in using the system efficiently and effectively
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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animal control
volunteer recruitment and management*
foster recruitment and management*
working with rescue organizations
working with the community and building a county-wide animal welfare coalition
salary policies (for example, OC Community Director Steven Franks makes $310K including benefits and pension, yet Gary Weitzman, the CEO of San Diego Humane Society makes only $150K)
shelter management skillsets, competence, and training at the director level, manager level, and employee level
*there is mention of reviewing these areas in Scope of Work Phase 3, but they appear to be an aside and we do not believe the contractor is qualified since she is a shelter medicine specialist.
The contract is totally focused on what this supplier knows best - shelter medical issues. That focus not provide the whole picture of what needs to be done to make Orange County a humane place for homeless pets.
“Dr. Jyothi Robertson, a veterinarian who is board qualified in Shelter Medicine, a relatively new and complex veterinary specialty. She specializes in large- scale population dynamics, including outbreak management, infectious disease control and shelter statistics.” – from the OC press release
As just one example of why these other areas are so important; here is what the most recent OCAC Grand Jury report says about the management of the shelter:
It is our opinion that JVR Shelter Strategies does not have the expertise to make valid, actionable, senior management related recommendations. Health and enrichment are vitally important to the animals during their stay at the shelter, but this means nothing to those that are being euthanized upon intake. Given that this
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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population make up about half of the dogs’ euthanasia numbers, efforts to develop “best practices” will have little to no impact on the euthanasia rates unless management clearly endorses a “Saving More Lives” policy. Communities that have greatly reduced shelter euthanasia rates have done so by reducing shelter intakes and increasing adoptions. This requires community outreach, education, and awareness programs, which the JVR Shelter Strategies contract does not address. Again, while the condition of the shelter and the well-being of the animals is a major concern, a huge issue is with minimizing intake and euthanasia in the first place. Preventive rather than reactive.
Sole procurement contract inappropriately awarded (for up to $150K)
Attachment A – Sole Source/Proprietary Request Form argues that only JVR Strategies is qualified to perform the assessment. The rationale given in the OC press release is:
JVR Shelter Strategies was successful in improving animal welfare at Irvine
We counter that Irvine did much more than hire JVR Shelter Strategies. Their existing animal services director "resigned"; they brought in an interim director for three months and subsequently hired a new director. They also halted all euthanasias (except extreme medical suffering) for 60 days, thus responding to concerns by animal advocates and starting the process of building trust with the community. Repeated requests (here and here and here) for a moratorium on “Empty Cage Killing” have been ignored by Orange County management.
The rationale given in the sole source procurement document includes:
Only JVR Shelter Strategies is qualified The rationale given in the sole source procurement document states that several veterinary schools were contacted and they declared that no other organization was able to do a shelter medical assessment. Our counters to this are: Veterinary schools are not the experts in running animal shelters! The queries for recommendations of qualified animal shelter assessors should have been directed to those that are in the animal sheltering business e.g. the ASPCA (ASPCAPro.org), Humane Society of the United States (AnimalSheltering.org), Best Friends Animal Society, Society for Animal Welfare Administrators, and
Maddie’s Fund, for example. Given that there are approximately 13,600 community animal shelters in the U.S. it's not believable that there is only ONE company that can do an assessment given the size of the market. In our first meeting with OC in Nov 2015 we named alternative organizations that do assessments and in our January 2016 meeting we recruited two peer industry recognized outstanding leadership shelters (Austin ACC and San Diego HS) that would do an assessment for free! At the minimum before awarding a contract OCAC should have done these FREE assessments.
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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Disregard that two previous assessments by this same vendor were ineffective
While we are not stating whether or not JVR Shelter Strategies is qualified for assessing animal shelter medicine, we would like to point out that JVR Shelter Strategies previously did TWO other audits of OCAC and no improvements were made.
Performance Audit or Orange County Animal Care Final Report #141505 March 24, 2015 (contains JVR Shelter Strategies assessment)
The NKSA correspondence with JVR Shelter Strategies also indicates that they may have a lack of concern about whether their recommendations are actually implemented (see email correspondence at the end of this document).
No community involvement in contract definition or decision
The volunteer, rescue, and other animal advocates were not involved in the process at all. No requests were
made for the community to identify issues to be addressed. In fact, despite two in-person meetings with OC
management (the second one included CEO Frank Kim), no feedback from the No Kill Shelter Alliance (NKSA)
was requested before the contract was signed. NKSA was specifically told “trust us” in an email sent Feb
23, 2016 by Chairwoman Bartlett’s staff (attached) rather than engage in a dialogue. Trust is built on open
communications and dialogue and mutual agreement on actions. Given the history of OCAC, at this
point there is no foundation for trust.
Summary
Thank you for your review of this contract. Please direct all correspondence to [email protected].
Saskia Boisot, M.D. – Founder No Kill Shelter Alliance Email: [email protected] | Phone: 619 895-0599 available before March 3 and after March 23, 2016 Website: No Kill Shelter Alliance - facebook.com/groups/nokillshelteralliance
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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Appendices
Links to related documents and websites:
This letter on No Kill Shelter Alliance Slideshare: Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies (for Orange County Animal Services) [all four parts on the OC website] and Board Discussion (video): Orange County Supervisor Meeting on Feb 24, 2016
Please note that the contract appears to be a pdf of a scanned document, thus making it impossible to copy/paste sections of it here.
o JVR Shelter Strategies Contract (revised) Attachment B
o JVR Shelter Strategies Sole Source Procurement defense Attachment A
Orange County Press Release: February 24, 2016 Orange County Board of Supervisors Approves JVR Shelter
Strategies, LLC for a Veterinary and Operational Review of OC Animal Care (Orange, CA)
No Kill Shelter Alliance website (Facebook page)
Save More Kill Less OC Animal Care website (Facebook page)
Save More Kill Less OC Animal Care Press Release: Orange County Animal Advocates Demand: “Save More,
Kill Less”
NKSA Save more Lives presentation – Improving Animal Welfare @OCAnimalCare made to Orange County
Supervisors’ Chairman Bartlett, CEO Frank Kim, supervisors’ staff, OCAC Director Jennifer Hawkins, OCAC
Deputy Director Katie Ingram - 1/28/16
NKSA Presentation Improving Animal Welfare @OCAnimalCare made to Supervisor Bartlett’s staff Nov 30, 2015
OCAC EUTHANASIA STATISTICS ANALYSIS (Orange County Animal Care [Shelter], California) by Dr. James
Gardner
o Response by OCAC to OCAC Euthanasia Statistics Analysis – Clarification of OC Animal Care
Euthanasia Rate (be sure to also read the counter response from Dr. Gardner in the slideshare
comments)
Policies and Procedures documents from OCAC (nearly 200 of them) – via a public records request we asked for
ALL of them but we know some are clearly missing as they are referred to in other documents. The ones we
know are missing are:
o Volunteer Interest Application o Volunteer Application o Interview Questions, if applicable o OC Animal Care Volunteer Policy o Foster Caretaker Agreement o Foster Caretaker Application
OC Grand Jury Report: If Animals Could Talk About the Orange County Animal Shelter - 2015
OC Grand Jury Report: The Orange County Animal Shelter: The Facility, The Function, The Future - 2015
Performance Audit of Orange County Animal Care – Final Report (#141505), March 24, 2015
Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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Concerns regarding the Orange County, CA Feb 24, 2016 Contract for services by JVR Shelter Strategies
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Additional Information attached to this document on the following pages: Email from staff member of OC Supervisor Chairwoman Lisa Bartlett to No Kill Shelter Alliance
(Feb 23, 2016)
Save More Kill Less Press Release
Email conversation between principals of No Kill Shelter Alliance and JVR Shelter Strategies
(August 2015)
Email from Chairman Bartlett’s staff to No Kill Shelter Alliance Feb 23, 2016
Note: While we appreciate the agreement that change is needed, we do not agree with the selection of
JVR Strategies as a sole source procurement contract, the lack of involvement of the community, nor
the belief that nothing at all can be done now, immediately.
Irvine did much more than hire JVR Shelter Strategies. Their existing animal services director "resigned"; they
brought in an interim director for three months and subsequently hired a new director. They also halted all
euthanasias (except extreme medical suffering) for 60 days, thus responding to concerns by animal advocates
and starting the process of building trust with the community. Repeated requests (here and here and here) for
a moratorium on “Empty Cage Killing” have been ignored by Orange County management.
To: No Kill Shelter Alliance, dated Feb 23, 2016
“(We) empathize with you and share your desire to change the situation at OCAC for the better. We
appreciate the information you have sent us and your passion for the well-being of Orange County’s
animals. Unfortunately, during our numerous conversations with the CEO, OC Community Resources, and
OC Animal Care, we have learned that the issues at stake cannot be solved by just one office. This will
take the entire Board, as well as a consensus among the shelter’s contract cities. Change is not impossible,
and by no means are we giving up, we are simply admitting that there are further considerations we must
acknowledge before we can inspire a major, positive, and permanent change.”
“We have been researching the issues daily. I check the Special Needs list every day, and follow up with
OCAC staff when I suspect an animal can be saved by a rescue. I have personally spent hours calling and
emailing various rescues to take dogs in need. (We) have had conversations with Kristen Auerbach and
the executive management at the San Diego shelter and the Washington D.C. Humane Society shelter.
Further, today the Board should approve JVR Strategies to provide consulting services and conduct a full
review of our shelter, as well as assist with the design of the new shelter. As you know, the Irvine shelter
credits this company with their successful turn-around last year. We are also looking forward to our tour
of the San Diego shelter next Wednesday. We are dedicated to the success of our shelter, and we are
making strides toward that goal.”
“Again, we appreciate you both reaching out to us to bring our attention to the issues we face at OCAC.
Now that we have committed ourselves to the task, you need to trust in our strategy. We have
seen that the emotional argument is not effective, and a more calculated approach is essential to
implement change. (We) are exploring all options, and we will continue to work toward a more successful