Title
Recommendation to Authorize the Interim City Manager to Amend a Service Provider Agreement with ABT Associates, Inc. to Expand the Scope of Work and Increase Service Provider Agreement Amount by $35,000 for a Total Not-to-Exceed $344,940. (Base Reuse and Economic Development C99300)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Adam W. Politzer, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At the City of Alameda’s (City) May 17, 2022 City Council meeting, City Council directed staff to proceed with a guaranteed income pilot program called Rise Up Alameda (Rise Up). The City has an existing Agreement with Abt Associates (which later became Abt Global) (Abt) to perform work under this program including participant engagement and statistically significant surveying and analysis. Following the year one survey work, Abt and staff determined that additional engagement and analysis will be needed by Abt to ensure the year two survey results and storytelling are meaningful. Staff recommends City Council authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an amendment to the Agreement to expand Abt’s scope of work to conduct this critical and timely outreach, and to increase the Agreement’s not-to-exceed amount by $35,000 for a total Agreement amount of $344,940, utilizing the contingency budget for Rise Up which was previously allocated by City Council.
BACKGROUND
The City Council direction established a guaranteed income pilot program providing $1,000 per month to 150 low-income households over a two-year period. City Council also approved the allocation of $4.6 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the pilot program, with $3.6 million to be used for the direct cash payments to program participants.
On November 15, 2022, following a competitive bidding process, City Council approved an agreement with Abt to serve as the program research partner responsible for the quantitative analysis of the program’s contribution to the financial stability of the recipients, determine the methodology for the selection of the program participants and to help measure the statistical significant of the program’s effectiveness. Abt’s current service provider agreement for $309,940 is effective through November 16, 2026.
On November 17, 2025, Abt launched a 24-month survey to assess the impact of the program over the past two years for both the treatment group (participants that received guaranteed income) and the control group. Currently, the survey response rate is low which compromises the statistical significance of the pilot program research. Additionally, Operation Dignity was initially engaged to complete outreach for the Narrative Storytelling aspect of the program, but they have been unable to complete this outreach, and staff are working on terminating their agreement to remove this portion of the scope. At the start of the program, both the treatment group and the control consented to receiving communication from Operation Dignity and Abt, which are therefore the only two organizations authorized by participants to complete this work. City staff do not have permission to contact Rise Up participants, and to do so would compromise the research integrity of the program.
DISCUSSION
At the start of the Rise Up program, staff set aside a $50,000 Benefits Conservation Fund to cover any loss of benefits for program users and a $37,072.00 Program Contingency Fund. To date, these funds have not been used. The current balance of the Rise Up Project Budget is $87,628.75, consisting of ARPA funds. Staff recommends using $35,000 of the remaining ARPA funds to cover Abt’s expanded scope of work.
The first guaranteed income payments were disbursed in December 2023 and the final payments were dispersed in November 2025. While the payments are complete, the 24-month survey is underway and the Narrative Storytelling phase, where participants share their personal experience, begins in early 2026. Abt opened the 24-month survey on November 17, 2025, which will be open for eight weeks. Currently, the survey has a 50% response rate for the treatment group and a 38% response for control group. To increase the statistical significance of the 24-month survey findings, it is critical to increase the survey response rate. Abt has proposed expanding their scope of work to include 1) 24-month survey outreach including phone calls, texts and emails to both the treatment and control groups and 2) Narrative Storytelling outreach.
Abt’s current agreement amount is $309,940 and this additional scope costs $35,000 for a total not to exceed of $344,940 as shown in the service provider agreement amendment in Exhibit 1. This would leave $52,628.75 remaining in the project budget contingency, which staff intends to use in the future to engage a consultant to enhance the quality of the final publications and communications summarizing the program results.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement amendment to expand Abt’s scope of work and increase service provider agreement amount.
• Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement amendment with different terms, and provide staff direction on the change in scope.
• Do not authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement amendment. This could compromise the statistical significance of the 24-month survey results and the Narrative Storytelling project.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Rise Up program is primarily funded from the $4.6 million ARPA allocation approved by City Council in May 2022. No new funds will be used; it is simply a redirection of contingency funds that have already been set aside, therefore there is no financial impact.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is subject to the Levine Act. This program is specifically mentioned in the City’s Strategic Plan (2023-2026), Transportation, Infrastructure, Economic Opportunities & Historic Resources section, item TIE30:
“Implement and manage Rise Up Alameda-the City’s Guaranteed Income Program.”
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA review is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Interim City Manager to amend a service provider agreement to expand Abt’s scope of work and increase service provider agreement amount by $35,000 for a total amount of $344,940.
Respectfully submitted,
Abigail Thorne-Lyman, Base Reuse and Economic Development Director
By,
Jackie Keliiaa, Development Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. First Amendment
2. Original Agreement