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Authorize Competitive Solicitation for Visitation, Transportation and Family Visit Coaching Services (Districts: All)
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Overview
The County of San Diego (County) Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), Child and Family Well-Being (CFWB) has provided visitation services to parents and children in out-of-home care since 2005. Out-of-home care refers to situations where children are placed outside their homes for safety reasons, often with foster families or in other licensed care settings. Over the past 10 years, driven by federal and State legislation focused on keeping children with their families and preventing maltreatment, CFWB has seen a 49.4% reduction in the number of youth in foster care. As of April 2026, 1,388 children ages 0-21 were in out-of-home-care. For children who must be removed from their homes, CFWB’s goal is to work closely with families to mitigate risk and support a safe and timely return when possible.
In 2012, CFWB expanded its services to include transportation services, to help ensure frequent, consistent, and high-quality visits that strengthen attachment while children remain in out-of-home care. Over time, these services have continued to be delivered through contracted community providers, offering visitation, transportation, and family visit coaching services to promote safe reunification. The current contracts for these services expire on March 31, 2027.
On May 4, 2021 (16), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) authorized a competitive solicitation for visitation and transportation services. Today’s action requests the Board to authorize the Director of the Department of Purchasing and Contracting to issue a new competitive solicitation for visitation, transportation, and family visit coaching services.
Today’s action supports the County vision of a just, sustainable, and resilient future for all, specifically, those communities and populations in San Diego County that have been historically left behind as well as our ongoing commitment to the regional Live Well San Diego vision of healthy, safe, and thriving communities. This will be accomplished by expanding access to supportive services that strengthen families, enhance stability, and support safe, timely reunification across the county.
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Recommendation by Chief Administrative Officer:
In accordance with Section 401, Article XXIII of the County Administrative Code, authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, to issue a Competitive Solicitation for the Visitation, Transportation, and Family Visit Coaching services, and upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price, award a contract for the period of up to one year and up to four option years, and up to six additional months if needed, subject to the availability of funds; and to amend the contract(s) as required to reflect changes in services and funding allocations, subject to the approval of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Health and Human Services Agency.
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Equity Impact Statement
This contract advances equity through a family-strengthening, prevention focused infrastructure designed to enhance support supportive services and help keep children at home, while reducing disparities by focusing on communities experiencing the highest barriers due to poverty, language, and systemic inequities. Services are delivered in a culturally and linguistically responsive manner, ensuring access for diverse populations. The program leverages evidence-based practices, community partnerships, and staff who reflect the communities served, to reduce disparities in child welfare involvement and promote safety, stability, and well-being for all children and families.
Sustainability Impact Statement
Today’s action supports the County of San Diego (County) Sustainability Goal #2 to provide just and equitable access to County services and Sustainability Goal #4 to protect the health and well-being of everyone in the region. These goals will be accomplished by ensuring continued access to prevention-focused, community-based services that promote safety, stability and permanency for families across San Diego County.
Fiscal Impact
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year 2026‑28 Operational Plan of the Health and Human Services Agency. If approved, this request will result in estimated annual costs and revenue of $1,785,000 in FY 2026-27 and FY 2027-28. The funding source is Realignment. There will be no change in net General Fund costs and no additional staff years.
Business Impact Statement
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Advisory Board Statement
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Background
The County of San Diego (County) Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), Child and Family Well-Being (CFWB) is advancing a family-strengthening, prevention-focused infrastructure designed to enhance supportive services and help keep children safely at home. CFWB is legally required to provide families with visitation opportunities during the reunification process.
In 2012, CFWB expanded its services to include transportation services, to help ensure frequent, consistent, and high-quality visits that strengthen attachment while children remain in out-of-home care. Over time, these services have continued to be delivered through contracted community providers, offering visitation, transportation, and family visit coaching services to promote safe reunification. The current contracts for these services expire on March 31, 2027.
Visitation Services
Visitation is an important component of a family’s case plan for reunification and visitation with parents, siblings, grandparents, and other relatives while the child is placed out-of-home must be addressed. One primary purpose of visitation is to maintain contact between parents and children to facilitate attachment while in out-of-home care. CFWB is responsible for facilitating these visits in community-based settings that are as natural and nurturing as possible, rather than relying solely on formal visitation centers.
Visitation services include:
• Scheduling new and ongoing family visitation services;
• Facilitating supervised and group visitations across the region, 7 days a week, based on level of supervision required;
• Completing child/parent observation narratives;
In Fiscal Year 2025-26, there were 591 new families referred for supervised visitation and 2,859 visits provided, with an average of 352 per month. Visitation services are available to children who are dependents of the Juvenile Court and their parents, siblings, grandparents, guardians, and other relatives with whom the Juvenile Court has ordered supervised visits, or as requested by the social worker.
Transportation Services
Access to reliable transportation is often a significant barrier for families involved in the child welfare system, especially in rural areas, and can affect a parent’s ability to attend visits and make progress towards reunification. To support this need, CFWB provides free bus passes for parents and contracts with local providers for additional transportation services that support frequent, consistent, and high-quality visits for families.
Transportation services include but are not limited to:
• Transporting dependent children, siblings, and parents, as necessary within and across regional boundaries, to ensure visit occurrence;
• Transportation for Family Visit Coaching sessions and traditional visitation;
• Coordinating transportation provided to the dependent children with the child’s caregiver (i.e., foster parent or relative caregiver).
In Fiscal Year 2025-26, there were 2,457 transportation services provided to families with an average of 205 transportation services per month. Transportation services are available to dependent children, siblings, and parents, as necessary, to accomplish the visit or when required by the social worker.
Family Visit Coaching (FVC)
In 2015, CFWB implemented FVC to promote timely reunification and strengthen the quality of interactions between children in out‑of‑home care and their parents during visits. FVC helps parents understand the unmet safety needs that led to their child’s removal and, through guided support from a coach, learn how to effectively address those needs during visitation so reunification can occur as quickly and safely as possible.
FVC assists parents in demonstrating appropriate parenting and acts of protection during visitation with their child in a natural and nurturing setting. FVC improves parenting by providing hands-on guidance and meeting with the parent before the visit, actively coaching during the visit, and debriefing with the parent after the visit. This model differs from the traditional supervised visits approach in that it is a supportive, collaborative process that builds on parents’ existing strengths to empower them to take charge of their visits. The goals for FVC are to help:
• Maintain the bond between the child and parents while living apart;
• Decrease the trauma associated with family separation;
• Increase parental compliance with visitation orders;
• Reinforce appropriate parent/child interaction;
• Reinforce positive parenting skills;
• Reduce reunification time by facilitating frequent and positive visits;
• Maximize visits in natural settings.
FVC services are available to families with children in out-of-home voluntary cases, with no formal Juvenile Court (Court) involvement, and children who are dependents of the Court. The anticipated number of voluntary cases is fewer than five (5) per year.
On May 4, 2021 (16), the San Diego County of San Diego Board of Supervisors (Board) authorized a competitive solicitation for visitation and transportation services. The current contracts expire on March 31, 2027. Today’s action requests the Board to authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting to issue a competitive solicitation for visitation, transportation and family visit coaching services. For the next procurement cycle, the County expects to maintain the same level of visitation, transportation, and family visit coaching services to continue meeting the needs of children and families.
Linkage To The County Of San Diego Strategic Plan
Today’s action aligns with the County of San Diego 2026-2031 Strategic Plan initiatives of Sustainability (Economy and Resiliency), Equity (Health and Housing), and Community (Engagement, Quality of Life, Communications, and Partnership), as well as the regional Live Well San Diego vision. This is accomplished by ensuring continued access to prevention-focused, community-based services that promote safety, stability and permanency for families across San Diego County.
Respectfully submitted,
Ebony N. Shelton
Chief Administrative Officer
Attachment(s)
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