To: Board of Supervisors
From: Probation
Agenda Section: Consent
SUBJECT:
title
Agreement with Noble Software Group, LLC
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the Agreement with Noble Software Group, LLC for hosting Noble Assessment Platform, Inter-Rater Reliability, Noble View, Validation Study, and Training Program;
2. Authorize the Chief Probation Officer to sign this agreement and any future amendments after approval by County Counsel, Risk Management and the County Administrative Office; and
3. Direct the Clerk of the Board to return one original of the fully executed agreement to Humboldt County Probation Department Attn: Ellisha Hardison.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
1100-235 Probation General Fund
DISCUSSION:
In July 2016, Humboldt County Probation started working with Noble Software Group to integrate their case management system with the Noble Assessment platform. The integration of the two systems allows Probation staff to import demographic information from the department case management system, Juvenile Adult Management System (JAMS), into the Noble library of assessments. This streamlines officers’ ability to complete risk assessments, identify offenders’ criminogenic needs, and develop case plans to address those needs. It also allows the Probation Department to analyze aggregate data to determine population trends and service gaps. As part of the contract, Noble provides training to the Probation Department on the assessments to support consistent application of the tools with fidelity to the scoring rules. This ensures offenders are evaluated and receive the most appropriate level of supervision. Noble software also assists in developing the case plan in order to target specific criminogenic needs that better support rehabilitation.
The term of the attached contract is a 3-year term and was structured in order to include a validation study of the tool once every 3 years. Risk assessment tools inform Probation Department decisions such as the level of supervision to impose upon probationers. By providing an empirical and objective assessment of an individual’s risk of recidivism, these tools can improve upon traditional practice of criminal justice decision-making driven by professional judgement of criminal justice stakeholders. For this approach to be effective, however, the risk assessment tool must be as accurate as possible in its prediction of an individual’s recidivism risk. It is also important to ensure that the risk assessment tool is legally and practically sound and does not exacerbate existing disparities in criminal justice outcomes. The process of determining how well a tool performs at predicting risk is called validation. It is the Probation Department’s intention that this agreement and all future Noble agreements be structured as a 3-year term with a validation study occurring once every third year.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The annual cost for the Assessment platform and Interrater Reliability is $27,246 or $81,738 over the life of the contract. In addition, the contract includes a validation study to be completed for a cost of $18,000 and as-needed training at a cost of $2,200 per day. Total contracted cost is $99,738 over the entire contract term. These costs were built into the Probation Department budget for fiscal year 2020-21 and thus no supplemental budget is required at this time.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:
This action supports your Board’s Strategic Framework by providing community-appropriate levels of service .
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Board may elect to not approve this agreement however that is not recommended. This service agreement allows Probation to provide risk assessments to aid in determining risked-based supervision levels.
ATTACHMENTS:
Service Agreement between Humboldt County Probation and Noble Software Group, LLC
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Board Order No.: N/A
Meeting of: N/A
File No.: N/A