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Receive a presentation on funding related to the Community Investment Fund; Consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $548,302 for a 2-year period from the Community Investment Fund Deep Programming category to Vacaville Solano Services Corporation to provide a homeless shelter in Vacaville for transition age youth ages 18-24 in response to Request for Proposals 2021-01 Transition Age Youth Homeless Services; Consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $250,000 from the Community Investment Fund, One-Time Investments, to six agencies for 1 year in response to Request for Proposals 2021-02 Annual Grants; and Delegate authority to the County Administrator with the concurrence of County Counsel to sign resulting agreements
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Published Notice Required? Yes_______ No ___X___
Public Hearing Required? Yes_______ No ___X___
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The County Administrator’s Office recommends that the Board of Supervisors receive a presentation on funding related to the Community Investment Fund, consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $548,302 for a 2 year period from the Community Investment Fund Deep Programming category to Vacaville Solano Services Corporation to provide a homeless youth shelter in Vacaville for transition age youth ages 18-24 in response to Request for Proposals 2021-01 Transition Age Youth Homeless Services, Consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $250,000 for 1 year from the Community Investment Fund, One-Time Grants, to six agencies in response to Request for Proposals 2021-02 Annual Grants, and Delegate authority to the County Administrator with the concurrence of County Counsel to sign resulting agreements
SUMMARY:
On behalf of the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator’s Office initiated a Human Services Needs Assessment (HSNA) to identify the greatest human services needs in the county. This effort resulted in the creation of a durable framework of desired outcomes with clearly defined indicators to support a process that directs limited county resources via a $2 million Community Investment Fund. The Community Investment Fund (CIF) is a three-pronged approach to funding which includes Legacy Programs, Deep Programming and One-Time Investments. This item brings forward a recommendation in two categories: Deep Programming and One-Time Investments.
For the category of Deep Programming, staff issued Request for Proposals (RFP) #2021-01 Transition Age Youth Homeless Services to identify a provider who could provide temporary or permanent housing and supportive services for youth ages 18-24. A review panel recommended Vacaville Solano Services Corporation who proposed to provide an 8-bed transition age youth shelter in Vacaville with supportive services to support the youth to transition to permanent housing.
For the category of One-Time investments, staff issued RFP #2021-02. This RFP solicited proposals for grants of up to $50,000 for one year to address one of the top 6 needs identified in the HSNA: mental health, housing, homelessness, youth development, safe and stable environments for children and early care and education. A review panel recommended to fund six proposals submitted by the following organizations: La Clinica de la Raza, On the Move, Rio Vista CARE, Parents By Choice, Kyle Hyland Foundation for Teen Support, and Agape Counseling Center and Network.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs associated management and implementation of the Community Investment Fund are included in First 5 Solano FY2020/21 budget. The costs associated with preparing this agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2020/21 Adopted Budget. The costs associated with the six total contracts are included in the Board’s $2 million Community Investment Fund for FY2021/22.
DISCUSSION:
In September 2018, the County Administrator’s Office recommended, and the Board of Supervisors endorsed, the development of a formal process to utilize qualitative and quantitative data to identify the highest needs in the county. The goal of the 3-step process was to create a durable framework of desired outcomes with clearly defined indicators and use the findings to guide decision-making during the budget process toward priority outcomes and leverage other county resources.
The Human Services Needs Assessment (HSNA) process was conducted by Applied Survey Research, a Bay Area research and evaluation firm, and was guided by a planning team that consisted of two Board of Supervisor members, Department Heads that engage in service delivery as part of their role, and the County Administrator. The planning team reviewed extensive community data, conducted key informant interviews and considered data results from a community survey before recommending that the Board of Supervisors establish a Community Investment Fund to address the top human services needs in Solano County.
The top community needs that were identified in this process in priority order were: Mental Health, Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Early Education, Youth Development, and Safe and Stable Environments for Children.
Community Investment Fund:
In June 2019, the Board of Supervisors approved the recommendation from the planning team to create a Community Investment Fund (CIF). The CIF is a 3-pronged approach which includes:
1. Legacy Programs-3-year commitment to sustain programs funded by the Board to serve a specific population.
2. Deep Programming-3-year commitment to address the top 3 priority needs. Community partners will be selected following the County’s Purchasing Policy, including competitive process, to implement strategies that were selected as part of an outcomes framework to evaluate progress toward the selected needs over time.
3. One-Time Investments-Smaller annual grants to address the top 6 priority needs. Community partners will be selected by a competitive process.
Deep Programming
For the Deep Programming Category, your Board allocated $500,000 annually toward the priority area of homelessness. A previous Request for Proposals (RFP) process identified Volunteers of America to conduct a Rapid Rehousing Program for $250,000 annually. In February 2021, staff issued RFP #2021-01 to identify a provider for homeless services for Transition Age Youth (TAY) ages 18-24. This population was identified as it represented 18% of the 2019 Solano Point in Time Count. It is also a population for which prevention strategies can make a difference in life-long homeless outcomes.
In response to RFP #2021-01, two proposals were received. The review panel recommended Vacaville Solano Services Corporation (VSSC) be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors to allocate funding in the amount of up to $548,302 ($299,582 for year 1 and $248,720 for year 2). VSSC currently operates Opportunity House in Vacaville. VSSC proposed to utilize the funding from the Board to renovate a home in Vacaville to an 8-bed transition age youth shelter, and provide services to the youth in the shelter such as case management, education and/or employment services, and support for transition to permanent housing.
While the review panel did recommend funding to VSSC, they recommended the funding be contingent on meeting the following provisions:
• Confirm VSSC will be following a Housing First model
• Clarify housing and services outcome measures
• As $90,000 of the proposal for year 1 was for renovations to a leased house that has already been secured by VSSC, work with county counsel to ensure there are provisions in the contract that the house will remain as a transition age youth shelter for the term of the lease (4-5 years); this may be through a forgivable loan for the renovation costs or another agreed upon method.
In addition to the funding by the Board, staff is working with probation to leverage $92,000 of one-time funding for transition age youth housing support. Pending successful negotiations, this funding will be added to the overall contract to increase services for this population.
One-Time Investments
For the one-time investments category, your Board allocated $250,000 annually. Staff issued RFP #2021-02 to solicit proposals for grants of up to $50,000 for one year (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022) to address one of the top 6 needs identified in the HSNA.
In response to this RFP, 96 people representing 74 agencies attended the mandatory virtual proposers’ conference to learn and ask questions about this funding opportunity. A total of 25 organizations submitted proposals that addressed one or more of the top six needs in the county, with 23 proposals meeting the minimum qualifications and scored by a review panel with expertise in the top areas identified in the HSNA.
The review panel for the annual grant RFP made the following recommendations for funding:
1. La Clinica De La Raza - $50,000 to increase access to Solano County’s mental health system of care through the hiring of a case manager to support patients with mental health concerns.
2. On the Move - $49,764 to provide youth a drop-in center and support to transition into healthy adulthood, including housing, employment and education, and health and wellness services.
3. Rio Vista CARE - $40,000 to provide mental health services to uninsured and underinsured Rio Vista residents, mental health outreach to youth in schools, and increase utilization of mental health services for insured residents through linkages to services.
4. Parents By Choice - $50,000 to provide the evidence-based Triple P Positive Parenting Program to parents of youth ages 13-18 and parents going through separation or divorce.
5. Kyle Hyland Foundation for Teen Support - $35,000 to provide youth in Benicia a drop-in center with educational workshops, mental health services, and social emotional awareness campaigns.
6. Agape Counseling Center and Network - $25,236 to provide youth development workshops in anger management, self-esteem, financial planning, communication, and resiliency.
As part of the RFP process, financial documents are reviewed by the Auditor Controller’s Office. It was noted during this review that Kyle Hyland Foundation for Teen Support and Agape Counseling Center and Network both were newer nonprofits with limited financial capacity. The review panel already recommended lower funding amounts than these agencies applied for. It is also recommended for these two agencies that additional risk assessments, documentation, and contract management activities take place prior to and during the contract period to manage the risk to the county and assist these organizations with achieving successful outcomes.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose not to approve the recommendations for allocations of funding from the Community Investment Fund to one or more of the seven agencies identified through the RFP process; however, this is not recommended as the CIF was approved by the Board of Supervisors after being developed through a nine-month process with cross sector input to guide the board in decision making; the Board requested staff implement this CIF on its behalf; and the agencies and proposals were selected through a competitive process in accordance with the County’s Contracting and Procurement Policies and reviewed and recommended by review panels.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
First 5 Solano is administering the CIF on behalf of the County Administrator’s Office.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION