This contract is for the procurement of employee background verification services from Accurate Background, LLC in an amount not to exceed $96,385. This background screening service will be primarily utilized by the Office of Human Resources, Savannah Police Department, and Savannah Fire Department. Background Services are both a common practice and a requirement for the City's interest in recruiting and retaining a fully qualified and credible workforce.

In addition to this new partnership, the Human Resources Talent team has initiated a committee to review, update, and provide recommendations for an updated background standards policy to include all efforts the city considers for fair chance hiring. The City’s existing contract was up for renewal and after service issues, the decision was made to complete an RFP process. 

The service from Accurate includes background checks for all identified positions and integration with the City's Applicant Tracking Software, NeoGov. This integration will automate the manual process, and improve efficiency and turnaround time for background checks. Therefore, improving the overall time to hire a candidate once selected. The forecasted coverage of all fees annually is for approximately 800 background screening requests. The decrease in time-to-hire will improve the candidate's experience and help City departments fill positions needed more quickly to continue the City’s mission of servicing citizens and visitors. It will also help reduce the overtime needed to complete the functions of vacant positions. Accurate has over 25 years of providing background screening services and is a long-time partner with the State of Georgia and the State of Georgia University System. 

In addition to their reference list and years of experience, Accurate has:

• Automated technology that is customized to the City’s workflows.
• Customer Service support for Team Savannah and all applicants 24/7, 363 days a year.
• Integration capabilities - additional cost.
• Strong accuracy at 99.994%.
• Ongoing employee monitoring options available.
• Competitive pricing.
• Dedicated team to partner with City Staff.
• Reporting analytics.
• The average turnaround time of three days.

The method used for this procurement was the request for proposals (RFP), which evaluates criteria in addition to cost. The proposals were evaluated based on the proposer’s qualifications and experience, turnaround time of verifications, and overall success rate, references, fees, and local vendors. Seven (7) proposals were received in response to this RFP. Of those, four (4) proposals were shortlisted and selected for interview before a selection committee of City staff. The fee proposals for the four (4) shortlisted firms were then opened and the proposals were fully scored. The proposal was advertised, opened, and reviewed. There are four (4) renewal options available. Delivery: As needed. Terms: Net 30 days.

The proposers are:

B.P.   Accurate Background, LLC (Irvine, CA)^(D)                        $41,384.50

         Truview BSI, LLC (Melville, NY)^(D)                                   $85,125

         Accusource, Inc. (Temecula, CA) (D)                               $52,321.50

         Securecheck360, LLC (San Diego, CA) (D)                     $47,175

A pre-proposal conference was not conducted. (D) Indicates non-local, non-DBE business.

Local vendors notified via the supplier portal: Yes

Total sent: 824

Total received: 7

Approval