TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF MAY 3, 2018
COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Issue purchase order and enter into an agreement for Contract 18-RFP-02 Pre- and Post-Offer Psychological Assessments for Police Officer Candidates with Stephen A. Laser & Associates, P.C., in an amount not to exceed $58,200.00, Account 101-25000-612430, Requisition 1476559
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with Stephen A. Laser & Associates, P.C., to perform pre- and post-offer psychological assessments for Police Officer candidates for the period from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021.
On January 17, 2018, Request for Proposal 18-RFP-02 Pre- and Post-Offer Psychological Assessments for Police Officer Candidates was publicly advertised. Forty-one (41) firms were notified and eleven (11) requested proposal documents. On February 16, 2018, the District received two (2) responsive proposals from the following vendors: PSI Services, LLC (PSI) and Stephen A. Laser & Associates, P.C. (Laser).
The proposals were evaluated by staff from the Human Resources Department and the Procurement and Materials Management Department. The criteria for these evaluations were outlined in Request for Proposal 18-RFP-02 and included: understanding of the services to be provided; approach to the work; experience and technical competence; personnel effectiveness; financial stability; compliance with insurance and licensure requirements; and cost.
Following the preliminary evaluation of proposals, excluding cost, both proposers were deemed to be finalists and were invited to interviews conducted March 22 - 23, 2018. On April 2, 2018, a solicitation was sent to both of the finalists that participated in the interviews requesting an unqualified “best and final” offer. The “best and final” offers were returned to the Director of Procurement and Materials Management on April 6, 2018.
Based on the evaluation of proposals and interviews, it is recommended that a purchase order be awarded to Laser for these services. The pre-screening evaluation and post-offer assessment provide a robust evaluation of a candidate’s suitability to perform the duties of Police Officer at the District. The pre-screening instrument offered by Laser utilizes an assessment center format and includes a combination of group exercises, a personal history interview form and a written exercise to produce a full evaluation of the candidate. The pre-screening instrument is built to augment the written exam administered by the District at the initial stage of the selection process. It evaluates a combination of cognitive abilities and personal characteristics correlated with successful performance on the job. The group exercises allow for the assessment of abilities such as interacting with others, diplomacy and communication skills important to the job but not easily assessed by a written instrument. It also allows assessors an opportunity to see how these candidates apply these skills in a live exercise during the group sessions. The assessment has strong validation data and has been successfully utilized on municipal police departments of similar size and scope to the District.
The post-offer psychological assessment consists of an in-depth interview and a carefully selected battery of personality and mental ability tests. The post-offer assessments are individually conducted by a trained clinical psychologist specializing in public safety assessments. The combination of validated personality tests and the in-depth interview provide a complete picture of a candidate’s psychological suitability for the Police Officer classification.
Laser is a Chicago-based firm that has been providing police and public safety assessments for over 40 years. Clients include over 100 municipal Police and Fire Departments across the Chicago suburbs. The professional staff is very highly credentialed, with the two lead psychologists holding a combined 45 years of experience in this field. The proposed assessments have been validated on the District Police Officer classification through Laser’s prior work with the District.
In view of the foregoing, it is requested that the Director of Procurement and Materials Management be authorized to award a contract to Laser in the amount of $58,200.00. The estimated expenditures are $45,600.00 in 2018, $4,800.00 in 2019, $4,800.00 in 2020 and $3,000.00 in 2021. Funds are available in Account 101-25000-612430 for 2018. Funds for 2019, 2020 and 2021 are contingent on the Board of Commissioners’ approval of the District’s budget for those years.
Recommended, Beverly K. Sanders, Director of Human Resources
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement and Materials Management
Respectfully Submitted, Barbara J. McGowan, Chairman Committee on Procurement
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for May 3, 2018