HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_SPCS_01.17.2018Minutes of the Meeting of the Strategic Partnerships for Community Services Advisory Board City of Georgetown, Texas January 17, 2018 The Strategic Partnerships for Community Services Advisory Board of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met on Wednesday, Thursday, January 17, 2018, at 4:00 p.m. Members Present: Suzy Pukys, Michael Douglas, Jaquita Wilson, Alexia Griffin, and George Porter Members Absent: None Staff Present: Shirley J. Rinn, Executive Assistant to the City Manager MINUTES Legislative Regular Agenda A. Call to Order --Suzy Pukys, SPCS Advisory Board Chair The Meeting was called to Order at 4:07 p.m. B. Roll Call --Suzy Pukys, SPCS Advisory Board Chair All Members were present. C. Consideration and possible action to approve the Minutes from the August 29, 2017 SPCS Advisory Board Meeting—George Porter, Secretary Motion by Douglas, second by Wilson to approve the Minutes from the August 29, 2017 SPCS Advisory Board Meeting (Approved 5-0) D. Consideration and possible action to amend and modify the Annual Report format approved at the August 29, 2017 SPCS Advisory Board Meeting –George Porter, Secretary Discussion with Board whether or not any changes needed to be made to the reporting format that was discussed at the August 291h Meeting. Several members indicated that they were concerned about the reporting format because some of the recently received reports did not utilize the new reporting format nor the checklist. Rinn explained that the reports the Board received for this reporting cycle (FY 2016-17) were not required to utilize the new reporting format, but that she had requested that they do so if they were able to. In making that request some of the reports that were received utilized the new reporting format, and others did not. It was noted that when reviewing the reports and comparing them to the contract terms, it was noticed that many of the agencies didn't really explain how they "coordinated as appropriate with the City and other community service providers in the provision of services to Georgetown residents". There was discussion that if these terms were something that was important to the City to know, that we needed to SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 1 of 7 emphasize to the agencies that these terms are in the contract and that they need to be sure and address it in their annual reports. The Board reviewed and discussed the Annual Reports that were provided by the agencies for the 2016-17 fiscal year. There was discussion that in the future it needed to be emphasized to the agencies that they need to provide better details for the budgets for the programs for which they were requesting as opposed to the entire budget for the agency and that the City wants to know "how" the agencies utilized the funds that they were awarded. Boys and Girls Club There was concern that while the report was very detailed with their outputs and provided lots of good information about their programs, the report didn't really focus on or tie to the program goals that the Boys and Girls Club listed on their grant application. There was also concern that the Program Budget Report that was provided didn't detail or provide a specific breakdown on what the grant funds were spent on, only that they were spend in certain areas. The Board indicated that it was important that someone should follow up with the agency to provide them with feedback on what could be done to improve the agency's reporting in the future. Pukys indicated that since she was the board member who had the most concerns about the reporting, she would be happy to meet with the agency staff to provide them with some feedback that would improve their reporting in the future. The Board felt that it was important for the agencies who receive funding do what they say they are going to do in their grant applications or provide the program the city asked them to do in lieu of their grant request and follow it up with accurate reporting. There was additional discussion by the Board that it was important that all of the agencies understand that it was important for them to detail and itemize how they are specifically spending the grant funds and not just lump it all into a "category" such as "operating costs", but rather detail the specific type of operating cost. This is especially important when the local agency is part of a larger organization. There was additional discussion regarding whether or not there was a need to set up additional training sessions on the requirements of the Common Grant Application. Pukys clarified to the Board that these trainings have been done multiple times and the agencies know what the requirements are and what to do. It's just a matter of them doing it. Brookwood in Georgetown There was a discussion about the need provide a more detailed breakdown on how the scholarships were distributed. While the Board is not asking for the names of who received the scholarships, they would like to see a breakdown of how many scholarships were award, whether they were partial or full scholarships, and an assurance that the scholarships went specifically to Georgetown residents. The Board was also concerned that the Program Budget Report provided the agency's entire Operating Budget and not a specific breakdown of how the City's grant funds were utilized for the scholarship program, which was the purpose of the grant award. The Board members did indicate they were pleased to see a breakdown on the process BIG uses to award the scholarships. SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 2 of 7 CASA The Board acknowledged that CASA provides many services in Williamson County. However, they would like to see more specific details about how the city's grant funds are utilized specifically in Georgetown and for Georgetown citizens. The Board felt like the Annual Report focused more on the agency as a whole as opposed to reporting specifically about the program aspects in Georgetown and for Georgetown citizens. The Board also noted that the Program Budget Report also provided the budget for the entire program and that it did not specifically detail how the city's grant funds were actually specifically spent. Faith in Action The Board felt like the agency did a really good job on reporting their outcomes and outputs. They noted that the agency recently changed leadership and they have definitely ramped up their outreach. There was discussion that Faith in Action was also working with the City to apply for another grant to help increase their outreach. The Board noted that the services this organization provides is the only one of its kind in the area. Caring Place The Board was impressed with the number of Georgetown Families the Caring Place provides services to. There was some discussion about how the Caring Place coordinates with other agencies, but the Board acknowledged that most who live in Georgetown are familiar with the Caring Place operations and that they do work with other agencies to provide the services they do. The Board noted that the annual report did a good job focusing on the program that they applied for the grant for. The Program Budget Report needs to provide more specific details about what the city's grant funds were specifically spent on as opposed to the whole agency budget. The Georgetown Project The Board was impressed with the Georgetown Project' programs and the impact that they have the kids they serve. However, there was some concern about how the information about the summer camp program (Kid City) is advertised. There is a perception that there are many parents who would like to have their kids participate in Kid City, but they don't know how to go about getting information on how to enroll their children in this program, or who to go to in order to inquire about it. It's important to parents to know about this type of curriculum based program for their children. There was discussion that this particular issue is not a problem at the Nest. There seems to be a pretty good network disseminating information about that program. The Board would like to see more information about how the agency promotes Kid City. The Agency did a really good job of detailing their outputs and outcomes in the annual report, They also did a good job on detailing how the grant funds were utilized in their Program Budget Report. Girls Empowerment Network There was a brief discussion about the current relationship between GISD and GEN and how it is much improved this year compared to last since GEN hired a much more experienced staff person who has the educational and related work experience to facilitate the big difference in how the program is administered. GISD is now supportive of the program with the improvements they have seen this past year and have indicated that they would like to see funding continue for this program. SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 3 of 7 The Board felt like they did a good job detailing their outputs and outcomes in their annual report. The Board also noted that GEN did a really good job in breaking out this program in Georgetown from the larger organization. They also did the same thing in the Program Budget Report. Habitat for Humanity The Board noted that while our grant funding was limited to Home Repair they still reported on their other programs as well. The Board did note that they exceeded their goal of repairing 5 houses by doing repairs on 11 houses. They felt like Habitat did a good job on the annual report and Program Budget Report. There was a brief discussion on the income levels needed to qualify for Habitat's programs, as well as the ongoing concerns about the increasing values of Habitat homes that can hinder the owner's abilities to pay the rising taxes. They also indicated that they are comfortable with the City's decision to provide the grant funds specifically for the Home Repair Program. They felt like this program is a good place for the city to ask Habitat to use its grant funds. The Locker There was a brief discussion about how the program is being utilized in the schools. There was some concern about the parameters the agency utilizes to accurately track their outputs/outcomes when there really isn't a mechanism to track the actual number of kids that utilize the Locker at the schools. There was an acknowledgement that the program is probably utilized a lot more because they don't closely monitor who goes in and out to get the supplies they need than if it were more closely monitored. There is no way to know whether a student goes once or multiple times a day to utilize the Locker's services. There was also discussion how the Locker was able to help a homeless student this past year. In discussing this situation, they noted it was difficult to facilitate that situation because that while the Nest is a resource, they do not have overnight facilities. It was also noted that a portion of the funding was used to pay for extra -curricular activities and AP Testing in addition to providing supplies to the kids. Wilson indicated to the Board that there is a real need for this type of program in the schools, but it is really hard for the agency to adequately track its outputs. She also mentioned the Locker may be able to also assist parents with the cost of make-up classes and ROTC. It was noted that the agency didn't spend as much as it planned to on the entire program for the year, Because of this, was a question as to how well the program is promoted in the schools to ensure as many kids know about it as possible so that the program is adequately utilized? There was some discussion about the advantage this agency has over others by having direct access to the students to help with fundraising at the schools, as well as the amount of the salaries for an organization of this size, given the scope of its services and utilization of student and school staff volunteers. The Board also expressed a desire to see more details about the types of Service Learning Projects the students are working on with the Locker. The Program Budget Report did not specifically detail what the city's grant fund were spent on. The reporting that the agency provides need to be more focus on the Program that the agency plans to use the grant funds for and not the entire organizational budget. There was also some discussion regarding the percentage of the budget that goes to salaries given the scope and size of the organization. SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 4 of 7 Lone Star Circle of Care The Board noted that this was an agency that the city restricted the use of the city's grant funds to uninsured adult dental care. It was noted that they did a good job in their reporting on the number of dental patients in Georgetown they served. There was some discussion about the scope of the total care that Lone Star provides to its patients in addition to the dental services. It was also noted that Lone Star is a primary care provider and they do not provide any specialty care. There was additional discussion regarding the gap in needed specialty services for underserved populations in the community. It was noted that the city's funding was utilized to pay salaries and the Board had a brief discussion on whether that was a proper use for the funding. There was additional discussion that payment of salaries was part of the organization's operational expenses which are utilized to provide the dental services and therefore a valid use of the grant funds. A concern was noted that if salaries increase then there would be fewer patients. There was additional discussion regarding the viability challenges of the provision of dental care to the uninsured in the area. R.O.C.K. The Board noted that this was the only Veteran Program that received funding. The Agency did a very good job on the reporting of their Performance Measures. They also did a good job breaking out how the city's funds were spent. There was additional discussion as to whether or not Lone Star could breakout the costs of each dental encounter in the same manner. It was noted that it is much easier to track and breakout the specific costs for 17 veterans vs. a larger scope of services provided too many of dental patients. Stonehaven They did a really good job of tracking all of their activities. They also did a good job breaking out the expenses on the Program Budget Report as well. Opportunities for Williamson Burnet Counties Rinn told the Board that they recently hired their new Executive Director, Marco Cruz, who has an extensive background relative to OWBC's programs. She also told them that OWBC does the things they the way do them because the terms of their lease agreements for the facilities basically forces them to do it this way. Rinn told the Board that she had talked to the Interim Executive Director about amending their Lease Agreements to incorporate the utility assistance into the agreements so that OWBC would not have to go through this process each year. She told them that in order to accomplish that OWBC would need to make the written request to the City to modify the agreements. Until that time, the current process would remain in place. She did acknowledge that the current process does cause some confusion for both the Board and the City Council. There was a clarification that the city's funding is for utility assistance for Meals on Wheels and Head Start. There was additional discussion that OWBC reached out to staff to make sure that they did everything they were supposed to meet the reporting requirements. She indicated that the primary point of complying with the reporting is for them to be sure to acknowledge the value of the utility assistance being provided to them by the City. Rinn indicated to the Board that it is difficult to quantify the reporting due to the nature of the assistance, which is why it would be best to incorporate it into the terms of the Lease Agreements. She also indicated that if that were to happen, OWBC will still probably apply for grant SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 5 of 7 funding in addition to the utility assistance, much like they have done in the past and in doing so they would still need to incorporate into the grant application that they do receive the rent and utility assistance from the City, which is a substantial compared to other grant awards. There was also a discussion about the importance of being aware of market rental value of a number of the city's lease agreements with other non-profit agencies in the community, especially if they request funding through the SPCS Grant Program. Rinn also told the Board how much the City Council appreciates and values the work that the SPCS Advisory Board does in vetting all of these issues and making the funding recommendations. Williamson County Master Gardeners The agency did a really good job reporting their activities, outputs, outcomes, and performance measures. They also did a good job detailing their expenses in the Program Budget Report as well. Rinn told the Board that they did not apply for funding in FY 2017-18. There was a brief discussion about the review of the Annual Reports and how that will assist the Board moving forward as they begin to vet the grant applications received in the next fiscal year. The Board indicated that they appreciated the work done by staff in providing the spreadsheets to assist with the review. Rinn told the Board that Linda White's help was instrumental in putting all this information together. Rinn told the Board she would contact the agencies to provide them feedback for next year's grant cycle. There was also a brief discussion about what may happen in the future if agencies don't meet the compliance requirements of the funding agreements. E. Farewell comments and appreciation of Suzy Pukys and George Porter's years of service—Shirley Rinn, Staff Liaison Rinn and the members of the Board told Pukys and Porter how much they appreciated their service on the Advisory Board. Pukys and Porter told the Advisory Board how much they appreciated their time on this Advisory Board. There was additional discussion about the vetting process this past year and the concern that one of the councilmembers felt that the vetting process was arbitrary. Rinn did let the Board know that in future years if staff noticed that there were pieces missing from the grant applications that we would be contacting the agencies to provide them the opportunity to get the missing pieces submitted prior to the deadline (unless the application is submitted on the last day). They went on to discuss the process for providing the City Council the recommendations prior to the City Council meetings. Rinn explained to the Board that the City Council receives the Agenda and all the backup material, including the funding recommendations, for the City Council meeting a week in advance of the meeting for them to review. She also clarified that it would not be appropriate to provide that information to them outside of that process in that the funding recommendations are coming from the Advisory Board and that a single councilmember would not be able to ask the Advisory Board to adjust their recommendations prior to taking them to the City Council as a whole for their consideration. SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 6 of 7 Rinn briefly provided an overview of how the process has changed in the 19 years she has been working with this Program and that she has heard from several councilmembers that they thought the vetting process runs a lot smoother than it has in the past. It was also discussed that the City Council as whole very much appreciates the time and care the Advisory Board members put into reviewing the applications and making their recommendations to the Council. There was also some discussion as to whether or not a councilmember was able to attend the SPCS Advisory Board meetings, and Rinn told them that that these are public meetings and that if they wanted to attend a meeting to observe the process they could. The Board indicated that it might be a good idea so they would be aware of all the work the advisory board members put into this process. F. Adjourn. Motion by Griffin, second by Wilson to adjourn Meeting was adjourned at 5:34 p.m. Attest: Alexia Griffin, Board Secre SPCS Advisory Board Minutes January 17, 2018 Page 7 of 7 L Ja ita Wilson, Board Chdir