After loud protests from foster families and some legislators, Utah officials have ruled that flawed bidding led to an initial decision to replace Utah Foster Care — a nonprofit created 21 years ago by the Legislature that supporters credit with fixing big problems in the system.
So, the Utah Division of Child and Family Services now will reopen bidding for a five-year contract for the state’s foster care recruitment, training and retention services, agency Director Diane Moore wrote in a letter to foster families.
She wrote that state procurement officials ruled that the initial bid selection was flawed because of “a clerical error in how the contract was published and that no evidence of bias was found in the process.”
Utah Foster Care’s current contract — which was to expire on July 1 — will be extended for 120 days while the state rebids the contract, Moore said.
Initially, two of the three officials who evaluated bids gave winning scores to Utah Foster Care, based on documents that supporters obtained through open records requests. But a third evaluator gave it scores just low enough to swing the contract to a competitor, The Adoption Exchange, based in Colorado, which won by a score of 82.7 to 81.3.
Supporters had complained that a budget proposed by Utah Foster Care was $800,000 a year cheaper but the savings apparently were never considered in the bidding process. They also say the system by design gave Utah Foster Care no credit for success over 20 years compared to a program that does not yet exist.
Rob Gerlach, board chairman for Utah Foster Care, said the nonprofit is pleased that its formal protest led to a rebid of the contract.
“This is good news for everybody that we don’t have to wade through a protracted debate with the state on whether the request for proposals should be reissued,” he said. “We understand that the Division of Purchasing and DCFS both are committed to making sure that this is thorough and correct ... this go-around.”
Gerlach also said his agency does not believe problems with the bid were deliberate or the result of any “malevolent motivation.”
The action comes after foster families and allies in the Legislature complained loudly about the initial bidding. They noted that Utah Foster Care was organized by lawmakers in 1999 in response to a lawsuit claiming the foster system was not protecting children. The change has been credited by many for fixing problems in the foster care system.
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, a foster care advocate, expressed displeasure with the initial bidding that would have awarded the contact to The Adoption Exchange, as did Rep. Patrice Arent.
Utah Foster Care has "such an outstanding reputation in the community that I wonder about this decision,” Arent, D-Millcreek, said at the time.
Doug Smeath, a foster parent, was among those applauding the training and help he received from the nonprofit. “They have made a pretty complicated and tricky system as easy to navigate as possible.”
Moore, the DCFS director, said, “We are grateful for the lessons learned during the procurement and honor and respect this outcome” to rebid the contract.
She added in a letter to foster parents, “While much of the procurement process is not public, we will continue to follow an inclusive, transparent, and solution-based process that maintains a focus on what you need to provide for the children placed in your care. I will keep you informed of new information as it becomes available.”
