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PROPOSED CONTRACT AMENDMENT
Department(s): Department of Resource Management
Vendor: Friends of the Forest Preserves, Inc. Chicago, Illinois
Request: Authorization for the Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) to increase contract
Good(s) or Service(s): Forest Preserves Experience Program
Original Contract Period: 1/1/2023 - 12/31/2024; 1/1/2025 - 12/31/2026 (Board Approved)
Proposed Contract Period Extension: N/A
Total Current Contract Amount Authority: $1,355,894.00
Original Approval: 12/13/2022, $1,170,000.00
Previous Increase(s): 11/19/2024, $185,894.00 (fully funded by additional ARPA grant funding)
This Increase Requested: Not to exceed $180,000.00 (anticipated to be fully funded by additional ARPA grant funding)
Estimated Fiscal Impact: FY 2026 $50,000.00 (unexpended contingency, per original approval)
Accounts: ARPA Conservation Corps 51032.521444; Professional Services 51037.520840; and all future Professional Services accounts
Contract Number(s): #74000011530 issued under RFP #22-31-116
Concurrences: The Chief Financial Officer has approved this item. Final amendment is subject to legal review and approval.
The contract-specific Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise goal for this contract was set to zero.
District(s): Districtwide
Summary: On December 13, 2022, the Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners approved the award of contracts for Conservation Corps service providers (Board Item Nos. 22-0524, 22-0525, and 22-0526) to provide job training and employment programs using grant funding received through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). The contracts were subsequently amended in 2024 per Board Item No. 24-0472 to extend each contract and increase the authority awarded to each vendor due to the allocation of additional ARPA funds. These programs were solicited via a public Request for Proposal (RFP) process in 2022.
The Forest Preserves Experience program is a summer youth employment program that provides conservation and job skills training to high-school youth, ages fifteen (15) to nineteen (19), from south and west suburban Cook County whose families are clients of the Housing Authority of Cook County. In 2026, the program is expected to engage approximately ninety-six (96) youth participants in hands-on conservation activities, such as invasive species removal, shoreline clean-up along the Forest Preserves’ many lakes and waterways, and other stewardship projects throughout the Forest Preserves. Participants will gain environmental awareness and basic job skills training supplemented by hands-on nature-based enrichment activities. The program promotes enjoyment and appreciation for nature and teaches participants how healthy forest preserves contribute to their community and quality of life.
Total program costs, including this additional allocation of ARPA funds, are not to exceed $1,535,894.00, of which the Forest Preserves previously requested and was granted authority to add up to $50,000.00 of direct match to allow for additional flexibility, if needed. The Forest Preserves has a separate non-ARPA funded agreement for the same program (Board Item No. 23-0603). Conservation Corps programs advance the goals of the Next Century Conservation Plan by mobilizing people to heal and nurture the lands through a paid conservation corps model.
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