Even tho everyone is focus on the 2010 budget at the moment, yesterday, the Community Services Committee’s subcommittee heard about new staff proposed changes to funding priorities for 2011. While this sounds intriguing to me, I suspect it has multiple unintended consequences that I haven’t yet thought of. It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around without more detail. And, sadly, if this opens it up for agencies to apply for what they really need . . . I pity the poor volunteers that will have to sort through that. If the Tenant Resource Center really applied for what it needs from the city to meet the priorities outlined, we’d need to quadruple our funding. We need $160,000 (a couple staff people plus overhead and benefits) instead of $40,000 to really provide the services needed. This was sent to agencies last night around 4:30, after many may have left for the day, and it was in a docx format so most probably can’t open it on their work computers (who has money to upgrade computers and software and time to train staff on the new stuff? – and did the city finally upgrade?). The public hearing will be next Thursday 7:30 – 9:30am and again 5 – 7 at Warner Park. So about 70 people can testify if they don’t take any time to explain anything and just line them up and get going and give them three minutes each. Sounds like fun, eh? I’m going to have trouble explaining why hard working non-profits should spend the time it takes to engage in this for the 2011 budget when we’re trying to survive 2009 and not get more cuts at the city and county in 2010. I don’t think people will pay too much attention, until they come out with the other part of this, how the dollars will shift from category to category.
INTRODUCTION
Clingan says the change is not meant to be a negative comment about past staff, community members and decisions that were made. He says he initiated the process. We are welcome to blame him if it goes down in flames. Why go through this? He says because the Division isn’t doing their job unless reviewing their work and trying to improve it. They have to ask does this reflect the needs of the city, are we using our funds well? He’s not looking for change for change sake, chaotic change is not useful. This is an internal project that he worked on with community services staff (Mary, Laura, Monica, Gray, Jolene, Lorri). There were individual and group decisions. Where there was agreement that was great, but there was disagreement. They worked through those changes together. So, it’s not perfect, but pretty darn good. They want to go through it and at some point they will modify or change it. He says these are priorities for next spring and summer and contracts for Jan 2011. Dollars are not included in these changes. They have had discussion about the changes internally, but they have not come up with something they are ready to share.
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area.
Goal: Ensure that children and their families have access to high quality, affordable child care. Assist and educate parents/guardians, child care providers and the community to prepare Madison’s children for optimal growth and development.
High Priority:
A. Provide for the availability of affordable, stable, quality full-time child care and/or elementary school-age care for low-income children.Intermediate Priority:
B. Provide low-income parents/guardians education and resources to raise successful healthy children.Lower Priority:
C1. Provide specialized training and consultation services for City of Madison accredited programs that strengthen the ability of child care staff to serve at-risk children.
C2. Provide professional development opportunities that improve the quality of child care in the City of Madison.
Remove family child care accreditation and 4-C as “essential service” and put them in the Division Administrative Budget.
Jolene Ibeling explains that Childcare Services is now Children and Families
Slight merger of program 1 & 2. Parent education is the category 2 piece that gets moved.
She reads the goal and says that we may have noticed glaring omission – childcare accreditation and data. These services are required by ordinance so they removed them from this process. They will still put out an RFP (Request for Proposals) but they will make it make it part of the general budget. Also, the data is needed for the staff to do their work and so it makes sent to make it part of the administrative budget.
Highest priority changed a little bit – placed emphasis on full time child care. Want to support employment, not part time preschool services which are important.
Intermediate priority – parent and guardian education added in here. There was some cross over to other categories. They were mostly parenting of young children. Intermediate because recognition of the value of the service.
Lower priorities. Training for staff to serve at risk children for accredited programs and lowest priority is professional development to child care providers, not just accredited programs. They provide basic trainings to get people into the childcare filed, SIDS training and others. Those two services are a less direct services to the population.
SUPPORT TO FAMILIES CATEGORY
Clingan explaings Support to Families as a category goes away. Looking forward and being informed by the past. Not trying to find a home for every agency funded now. They thought that support to families funded agencies will find a home elsewhere.
ADULT WORKFORCE AND PERPAREDNESS AND EMPLOYEMENT
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area.
Goal: Improve the opportunities for economic stability for residents encountering multiple barriers to employment including: criminal background and/or associations, language barriers, long-term poverty, lack of skills and/or formal education.
High Priority:
A1. Provide community-wide services which develop life skills, vocational/career guidance, pre-employment and post-employment services and support for residents to successfully maintain full employment.
A2. Provide neighborhood-based services that develop life skills, vocational/career guidance, pre-employment and post-employment services and support low-income residents to successfully maintain full employment. The City of Madison will identify the specific challenged neighborhoods where services will be offered using data tools like the Neighborhood Indicators.Intermediate Priority:
B1. Provide services to Madison residents that provide education and literacy proficiency to acquire, maintain or improve their opportunity for full employment.
Lorri Wendorff explains jobs are key to maintaining housing and maintaining family relationships. Several programs may be moved from CDBG fundins and given to the Community Services Commission instead. This will cover programs like START and Urban League, MAP and YWCA. Job creation stays with CDBG, others come to Community Services. Multiple barriers is the key. This isn’t to replace job center or person working for 30 years and company moved and have skills. This is for folks who have for a long time been out of the work force or never been in the workforce.
High priority – Life skills, how to write a resume to post employment. We can get people jobs, but how do we keep them there. Continuum to maintain full employment. A2 is neighborhood specific – they haven’t picked neighborhoods yet.
Intermediate – Education and literacy.
SENIORS
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area.
Goal: Help seniors live as independently as possible, maintain/improve seniors’ health and well-being, and reduce seniors’ isolation.
High Priority:
A1. Provide case management activities that connect seniors to services.
A2. Provide volunteer-based home chore services that help seniors remain in their homes.Intermediate Priority:
B1. Support focal point agencies (Senior Coalitions) that provide information, referral and education services to seniors.
B2. Provide recreational, educational, social, health, cross-cultural and multi-generational activities, and volunteer opportunities.Lower Priority:
C1. Provide services that overcome employment barriers.
Laura Noel says not much changed, some editing of language, nothing substantive. Priorities are as they stood before, but ranked. Wendorff says that employment priority in seniors and youth and they had a very long debate about that – to decide if seniors and youth should be pulled out.
YOUTH AREA
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area.
Goal: Support youth to become successful members of their families, school and communities through collaboration with the public school system and other key stakeholders.
High Priority:
A1. Provide high-quality programs for low-income middle school youth that complement in-school learning and development during non-school hours.
A2. Provide life skills, vocational/career guidance, pre/post-employment support and job placement for low-income youth.Intermediate Priority:
B1. Provide opportunities for juveniles who commit municipal violations to receive alternative sanctions from a peer youth court.
B2. Provide opportunities for positive community engagement for youth at-risk of involvement in the criminal justice system.
B3. Provide culturally or gender specific programs for vulnerable youth that promote positive youth development.Lower Priority:
C1. Provide low-income parents/guardians education, skills and resources to raise successful youth.
Mary O’Donnell said this category was really compressed, everything was an A1 priority and no distinction. The things they looked at were the needs in the youth community, low income neighborhoods, research in youth development, city’s role and how to integrate a link with the school district since they are a major player and primary service provider. Also, support to families area was divided up into other areas, so added support to middle school and high school kids were added back in. Services to run away homeless youth are now falling into crisis intervention area.
High Priority – after school for middle school youth. In addition to what is here, they will have a required best practice piece for multiple areas. Will have to meet three times a week, geographically accessible, close to schools and [I missed it . . . ] Youth employment will also be linked to schools, high priority because of city’s role and recommendations that came out from delinquency enhanced youth gang task force report. New priority is youth court programming. Followed by other two intermediate areas that are broader. Also, parenting component.
CRISIS INTERVENTION, SAFETY AND SUPPORT
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area.
Goal: Provide crisis intervention and supportive services for victims of sexual assault, victims of domestic violence and families in crisis.
High Priority:
A1. Provide immediate direct services for victims of sexual assault or domestic violence.
A2. Provide immediate direct services for runaway and homeless youth.Intermediate Priority:
B1. Provide immediate support services for the prevention of abuse and neglect.
B2. Provide assessment, referral and short-term services for children/youth who have experienced family violence.Lower Priority:
C1. Provide education for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Laura Noel explains it was domestic violence and sexual assault. These are immediate response programs that speak to public safety and likely intersect with police. Domestic violence and sexual assault were highest category.
Second priority run away and homeless youth.
Canopy – physical abuse and neglect and Rainbow CBH (children in violent homes) funding also Respite in B1 category.
Lower priority is prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault education
ACCESS TO RESOURCES
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area
Goal: Provide access to resources that increase self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life for the community’s most vulnerable individuals.
High Priority:
A1. Improve access to services that meet basic needs for low-income and marginalized groups.Intermediate Priority:
B1. Provide culturally specific or targeted supportive services to members of low-income and marginalized groups that increase participation in community life.These services may be targeted to serve a specific population, or a geographic area.
Laura Noel explains this used to be community assistance and access. This category is to focus on low income marginalized families. Key indicators is that you are a marginalized population with barriers. That is what kept ringing in their heads.
Highest priority – basic needs
Intermediate – culturally specific services
Clingan says this is really basic services – language, transportation, education, criminal history – things that are needed to get to housing, food, shelter. Potential fixes might be about how to cut through those issues to get to the basic needs.
Committee says it sounds very very broad.
Laura Noel asks if catch all or program one that addresses broad based or endemic set of issues. She says you can come at it from different ways. Specific population or neighborhood area.
NEIGHBORHOODS
Services listed below are in priority order within each goal area
Goal: Create and sustain healthy neighborhoods by supporting neighborhood facilities that serve lower income individuals and families. Facilities and programs will promote community cohesion, stability, quality services and efforts which enable all residents to participate fully in their neighborhood.
Higher Priority:
A1. Sustain and enhance the operation of neighborhood centers. Centers should be neighborhood focal points that are used by community groups, offer programming relevant to the neighborhood and serve lower income individuals and families.
Intermediate Priority:
B1. Support quality programs that serve low income individuals and families by enhancing the opportunities of residents to be informed and participate in decisions about their neighborhoods. Programs may address: leadership development, community mediation, advocacy and neighborhood based problem solving.
Some programs will come over from CDBG – all of the management of core and facility use of neighbohood centers will move – that will happen yet this year in the management of the contracts. Goal and priority language has to meet HUD requirements – some of the HUD money will move.
First priority will to support the facilities – and programs to create better neighborhood. Not support a building, need to have quality programs.
Highest priority is for neighborhood centers. Was second priority.
Lower priority doesn’t say planning councils. Political hot potato, so they broke down what they do – so they wrote it that way. May support planning council or an element of their work in an area.
Emerging models may be sought here. Clingan says that he tries to think about them as a division. He says that they are not moving things from office to office but within the office. [Can you say merger?] With this category – it will look like the category exploded – city levy from CDBG and OCS and HUD money.
DISCUSSION
Families and Children
Accreditation and 4c’s moves money from the preview of community services commission. Noel says ordinance language committees still have purview to comment or recommend on budget policies etc. Ibeling says that they had a discussion about still soliciting community input and haven’t decided how they will do that. Still need opportunity for community to chime in. Cnare asks is they would be 1 yr or 5 year contracts – would they see the bids for the RFP. Clingan says that staff would make a recommendation to Community Services Commission and then goes to council cuz its a contract. They talked about contracting and still in formative stages. Need points in time to evaluate, on the other hand, don’t want to create work for provider or staff for no reasons – could be 2 year contract with a roll over. How much? 40K 4c’s and accreditation is 225,000 (DCPC, Satellite). Mary asks if they will make it clear these are priorities. Lauren asks why full time childcare? Are people really working full time in this economy. Not enrichment programs or work programs. Ibeling says that other programs are 2 – 3 hours and not five days a week. They don’t care if families are there full-time, it’s the program not the users. Not sure what happens to Headstart – might be considered because part of the full-time system. Brown asks about 4K as well. Half time programs that need to be matched – Headstart or 4K half day programs. Need to discuss further.
As a side not they talk about whether they need to put the categories in chronilogical order. Chilcare, Youth, Adult Workforce, Seniors . . .
Adult Workforce
As labor rep Mary loves it. Omega is in B1. Bus pass program in Access category. Alan likes it too. Ripe for partnering and leveraging funds. Real opportunity to link into other programs and agencies to get to same goal. Hopes it will be the approach. Cnare wants neighborhood indicators project to decide which neighborhoods. Joann concerned that B1 is second. Some of these multiple barriers are lack of formal education -might be primary barrier. Cart before the horse? Assumes they have the other skills or documentation. Clingan says you could spend a bazillion dollars in this category – what they were trying to do was address populations that don’t have funding streams attached to them. Vocational school, education and training – tech schools fund GEDs – so given the money they have, how do they target is the question. There is some questions about if MUM is funded – they are no. START is the trades program. Wendorff says A1 & 2 don’t preclude GED assistance.
Seniors
Mary asked under 2A if its volunteer based what do they spend the money on? Recruitment, organizing, etc is what they pay for – the overhead to do this. Should the add a seat on the committee to represent school district?
Youth
Vetted to school district or MTI? They did have discussions with MMSD – our dollar amount is small and intent is not to fill in gaps because of state budget issues or turn the keys over to the car but if there are ways to cooperate and build a better mousetrap, they were open to it. They also talked to MSCR as well. Doesn’t impact teachers contracts. Open Leopold to the community at night is the type of ideas they are looking at. No conversations with private schools. There is an issue with school boundaries, MMSD doesn’t cover all of the city. They ask about home schoolers because they are an active group. Public vs church funded dollars – strong feelings from a couple members. Summer programs are in non-school hours instead of after school, evenings and weekends could be included too. A2 – recent immigrant community – youth needs to target job placement for latino youth – wants to make sure they don’t feel unwelcome. Cligan says trying to create language to create a lens to view the priorities through. But didn’t want to make it exclusive – emphasis but not exclusive. Staff says they can work that into best practices.
Crisis Intervention
Sexual assault and domestic abuse, not one more important than the other. They wanted to make sure abuse was not interpreted as AODA services.
ACCESS to resources
Lauren asks if this duplicates 211. How is this different or is it supportive. It is explained that 211 is information and referral and assumes you know about them, have a phone and hearing about a service will help you access it. This is access not information and outreach, services to get people there, working with people on one on one basis. Telling people about their rights – also thinking about the outcome – what will we be measuring. Outcomes might we the person engaged in service, got the paperwork done, etc. Clingan says it might be food stamps obtained, health care initiatives that people don’t access. Not just telling them there are dots, but connecting them. A1 is individuals, B1 is group focused.
Neighborhoods
Someone asked if Grassroots Leadership College is included. It’s in B-1.
At this point, they started to address the timeline, but I had to leave. However, I did inform them of the poor timing on the issue. Feedback I got after the meeting was it was ok because the last public hearing was after the budget – I don’t think that’s good enough. Here’s the timeline . . .
2009
Sept 10 Final review of application, staff summary and best practice formats—7:30 am, MMB Room 303Sept 17 Staff Recommendations for Program Area Goals and Priority Draft Finished
Sept 22 OCS staff will publish agenda for Funding Process Subcommittee meeting on 9/24, with Recommendation document as attachment. Staff will distribute recommendations by email to POS agencies and stakeholders along with a schedule of public hearings
Sept 24 Staff will present recommendations re: Program Areas, Goals & Priorities to the Funding Process Subcommittee—7:30 am, MMB Room 303
Oct 1 The Community Development Division will present Draft Program Areas, Goals and Priorities in two public settings (AM and PM) and listen to POS agencies and stakeholders concerns. Subcommittee members and other committees are encouraged to attend. Funding Process Subcommittee meeting will follow evening presentation.—Labor Temple from 7:30 – 9:30 am and 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Oct 8 Funding Process Subcommittee completes Draft Program Areas, Goals & Priorities—7:30 am, MMB Room 303
Oct 14 CSC Meeting: CSC receives and reviews draft of Program Areas, Goals & Priorities. CSC sends Draft Program Areas, Goals & Priorities to ECCEC and SCAC for review and recommendations—5:35pm Water Utility, 119 E. Olin Avenue
Oct 21 ECCEC and SCAC meet and complete their recommendations re: Draft Program Area Goals and Priorities
Oct 22 Funding Process Subcommittee meeting (only if necessary)—7:30am MMB Room 303
Oct 23 ECCEC and SCAC recommendations to OCS for inclusion in CSC agenda to be posted Monday 10/26
Oct 28 CSC meeting (Second meeting of Month) CSC will finalize draft recommendations for publication—5:35pm Water Utility, 119 E. Olin Avenue
October 30 Draft recommendations published and sent to POS agencies and Stakeholder list.
Nov 16 CSC Public Meeting on Draft Program Areas, Goals & Priorities—5:35pm Location TBA
Nov 18 CSC Public Meeting on Draft Program Areas, Goals & Priorities and CSC meeting finalizing recommendations on Program Areas, Goals & Priorities—5:35pm Location TBA
Nov 18- Dec 9 Time allowed for extra meetings if needed.
Dec. 9 CSC Meeting. Deadline for CSC to finalize recommendations for Program Areas, Goals & Priorities—5:35pm Location TBA
2010
Jan –
Feb Any Council action, application and reporting frameworks finalized through staff and Subcommittee work (This work will also be coordinated with CDBG process and application.)
Mar 24 Program Areas, Goals & Priorities and Application Published
Application workshops will be scheduled) (Tentative Date)May 7 Applications Due – 12 noon
(Tentative Date)May Staff reviews applications and prepares reports to the CSC, ECCEC and SCAC
