Comprehensive Assessment Services

The vendor is required to provide comprehensive, multi-dimensional assessment of both the office and the community warning system (CWS) to evaluate organizational effectiveness, structural alignment, staffing capacity, compliance posture, policy framework, and technological infrastructure.
- Office assessment (emergency management program)
1. Organizational assessment
•    Conduct a detailed analysis of the current organizational structure of the office.
•    Identify and document potential gaps or redundancies in leadership, authority, and lines of communication.
•    Evaluate the alignment of the office with the county’s responsibilities and operational needs for emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation taking into account emergencies and other office activations that have occurred over the past 3-5 years (including covid-19).
•    Benchmark the current structure against peer jurisdictions and recognized best practices in emergency management organization.
2. staffing analysis
•    Assess current staffing levels, roles, core competencies, and capacity to meet operational needs under both routine and emergency conditions.
•    Identify critical gaps in staffing, technical expertise, and succession planning.
•    Recommend strategies for optimizing the staffing model, including role clarification, potential reclassification of positions, and future capacity planning.
•    For each proposed organizational structure scenario (as outlined above), develop a future-ready staffing plan and chain of command that includes:
o    Position titles and job descriptions.
o    Recommended FTE levels.
o    Required certifications and core competencies
o    Associated salary and benefit costs.
o    A phased implementation strategy.
3. Lines of reporting
•    Map current reporting relationships between the office, the county administrator (administrator of emergency services), and the board of supervisors.
•    Identify points of friction, overlap, or ambiguity in decision-making authority, operational command, and accountability.
•    Evaluate the effectiveness of communication and coordination protocols during both routine operations and emergency operations center (EOC) activations.
•    Provide recommendations to improve organizational transparency, responsiveness, and inter-agency coordination.
•    For each proposed structural option for the office, provide a corresponding reporting framework with clear delineations of responsibility and command authority.
4. Mandates and compliance
•    Identify all applicable federal, state, and local statutes, mandates, and regulations relevant to the county emergency management program.
•    Assess the current state of compliance with each mandate, identifying any deficiencies or areas of partial compliance.
•    Evaluate the effectiveness of internal monitoring, documentation, and audit practices.
•    Provide specific, actionable recommendations to achieve full compliance, including timelines, responsible parties, and resource requirements.
•    Develop a compliance roadmap that includes corrective actions for existing gaps and proactive steps for anticipated changes in regulation.
•    Recommend compliance policy and procedure updates aligned with current industry standards and best practices.
5. Review of policies and procedures
•    Conduct a comprehensive review of existing policies, standard operating procedures (sops), and administrative directives governing the operations of the office.
•    Assess the alignment of existing procedures with current best practices in emergency management and EOC operations.
•    Identify policies that are outdated, redundant, or insufficient to support a scalable emergency response.
•    Recommend revisions or new policy development to support:
o    EOC activation and deactivation.
o    Inter-agency coordination.
o    Public information dissemination.
o    Resource management.
o    County disaster service worker (DSW) program.
o    County interfacing with local jurisdictions' emergency management programs.
•    Provide a policy modernization framework that includes prioritization, responsible departments, and implementation timelines. 
6. Technology assessment
•    Evaluate the current technology platforms, systems, and tools utilized by the office across the emergency management cycle, with particular focus on:
o    WebEOC: assess its effectiveness, usability, and interoperability with state systems including CalOES.
o    Other tools (if applicable): assess backup communications systems, resource tracking tools, damage assessment, recovery, and incident management platforms. examples include evacuation software, situational awareness programs, GIS mapping software, etc.
•    Determine the degree of integration between systems used by office, county departments, regional and state partners, and local jurisdictions.
•    Identify technical limitations, user adoption issues, cybersecurity risks, and recommend potential solutions.
•    Recommend enhancements, upgrades, or replacement strategies where needed to improve situational awareness, communication, and operational efficiency.
•    Evaluate training practices for staff on current technology tools and provide recommendations for improvement.
7. Public engagement, community outreach and crisis communications
•    Review current public outreach, education, and engagement strategies. evaluate current emergency management public preparedness programs. to include: 
o    Review of emergency preparedness materials
o    Social media campaigns
o    Readiness website
o    Assess disaster preparedness programs for contra costa county’s unincorporated jurisdictions.
o    Assess and review strategies to reach vulnerable and at-risk populations.
•    Recommend enhancements, strategies, and budget to increase the county’s public outreach and resiliency programs.

- Questions/Inquires Deadline: August 11, 2025