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Consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $249,500 from the Community Investment Fund to five agencies in response to Request for Proposal 2020-02 - Annual Grants; and Consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $99,438 from the Community Investment Fund, Deep Investments category, to two additional agencies in Response to Request for Proposal 2020-02 - Annual Grants
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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 consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $249,500 from the Community Investment Fund to five agencies in response to Request for Proposal 2020-02 - Annual Grants and consider approval of a recommendation to allocate up to $99,438 from the Community Investment Fund, Deep Investments category, to 2 additional agencies in Response to Request for Proposal 2020-02 - Annual Grants.
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 is a three-pronged approach to funding which includes Legacy Programs, Deep Investments and One-Time Investments. For the one-time investments category, staff issued Request for Proposal (RFP) 2020-02. 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. Those needs are: mental health, housing, homelessness, youth development, safe and stable environments for children and early care and education.
This staff report brings forward a recommendation to fund five proposals submitted in response to Request for Proposal (RFP) 2020-02. Additionally, this staff report brings forward a second recommendation to fund an additional two proposals with savings due to delays in implementation of the entire Community Investment Fund related to COVID-19 response efforts.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs associated management and implementation of the Community Investment Fund are included in First 5 Solano FY2019/20 budget. The costs associated with preparing this agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2019/20 Adopted Budget. The costs associated with the seven total contracts are included in the Board’s $2 million Community Investment Fund for FY2020/21.
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:
1. Guide decision-making during the budget process toward priority outcomes
2. 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 were:
Priority Need 1: Mental Health - Increase access to Solano County’s mental health system of care with dual strategies of increasing community understanding of how to access mental health services and increasing provider understanding of how to respond to residents with mental health needs.
Priority Need 2: Affordable Housing - Work with cities to increase the supply of affordable housing under the community goal of “reducing homelessness.”
Priority Need 3: Homelessness - Reduce homelessness with dual strategies strengthening capacity to address homelessness and increasing community and provider understanding of how to connect to available resources.
Priority Needs 4-6: Early Education, Youth Development, Safe and Stable Environments for Children - While mental health, housing, and homelessness rose to the top priorities, early education, youth development, and safe and stable environments for children were also highly ranked in the prioritization.
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 Request for Proposals 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 Request for Proposals process.
For the one-time investments category, your Board allocated $250,000 annually. Staff issued Request for Proposal (RFP) 2020-02 to solicit proposals for grants of up to $50,000 for one year (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021) to address one of the top 6 needs identified in the HSNA.
In response to this RFP over 80 agencies attended the mandatory bidders conference to learn and ask questions about this funding opportunity. A total of 27 organizations submitted proposals that addressed one or more of the top six needs in the county. That list of applicants is included as Attachment A to this staff report. A panel with expertise in the top areas identified in the HSNA reviewed and scored all of the proposals. A total of 13 proposals were scored as eligible for funding.
The review panel for the annual grant RFP identified the top 5 grants for funding with the $250,000 available for annual grants in the Community Investment Fund. This staff report brings forward a recommendation to fund the top five eligible proposals submitted in response to Request for Proposal (RFP) 2020-02. Additionally, this staff report brings forward a second recommendation to fund an additional two proposals with savings due to delays in implementation of the entire Community Investment Fund related to COVID-19 response efforts.
The top 5 proposals recommended for funding are:
1. La Clinica De La Raza - Up to $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. Dixon Unified School District - Up to $50,000 to improve supports for the social, emotional, behavioral, health, and mental health needs of students and integrate those supports with their academic instruction by staffing their new Wellness Center
3. On the Move - Up to $49,500 to serve 400 system-involved youth transition into healthy adulthood.
4. Fairfield Police Activities League - Up to $50,000 to implement their Earn and Learn Internship program to provide low income or disconnected/underserved teens with a quality paid internship experience to position the youth on a career or college path.
5. Community Medical Centers - Up to $50,000 to enhance and increase behavioral health services and screenings for low-income residents.
In addition to the above five proposals recommended for funding, a total of $105,000 of the Community Investment Fund has been identified as available, due to delays in implementation of the RFP for services under the Deep Investment funding category. The delay in the RFP is related to the COVID-19 response and will result in programs awarded in the Deep Investments beginning services 1 to 2 months later than initially anticipated. This delay will result in one-time savings which Staff are recommending being used to support the next two highest ranking proposals, as described below totaling $99,438:
6. Napa/Solano SANE/SART - Up to $49,754 to provide expanded emergency housing support and temporary shelter services for marginalized crime victim populations.
7. Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District Family Resource Center - Up to $49,684 to provide intensive case management for at-risk families, including supporting their basic needs.
Should the Board concur with the recommendations, staff will negotiate contracts with the awarded agencies. As these contracts are approximately $50,000 each, the Board has delegated authority to the County Administrator for approval of the final contracts.
Future Funding Opportunities:
There are several funding opportunities coming forward in future months to further implement the Community Investment Fund. The notifications for these funding opportunities will be shared widely, to encourage a broad array of proposals for your Board to consider. Those funding opportunities are as follows:
1. Mental Health First Aid Training: An RFP for approximately $260,000 per year for 3 years will be issued in mid-May to identify provider(s) to offer Mental Health First Aid Training within Solano County. The proposals under this RFP will be due at the end of June, with recommendations considered by your Board in July. The anticipated start date for these proposals is August 1.
2. Homelessness Innovation Ideas: An RFP for approximately $500,000 per year for 3 years will be issued in mid-June to solicit for proposals that offer innovative solutions to address Homelessness in Solano County. Multiple proposals of up to $100,000 per year for 3 years will be made available under this RFP, allowing your Board to tackle homelessness in a variety of ways. These proposals will be due at the end of July, with recommendations considered by your Board in August. The anticipated start date for these proposals is September 1.
These RFP processes are intentionally staggered, so that any agency whose mission aligns with addressing both mental health and reducing homelessness can apply for both opportunities and will not be expected to apply for 2 opportunities at once.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. The Board could choose not to approve the recommendation to allocate up to $249,500 from the Community Investment Fund to five agencies in response to Request for Proposal 2020-02 - Annual Grants; 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 and the Board requested staff implement this CIF on its behalf.
2. The Board could choose not to approve the recommendation to allocate up to $99,438 from the Community Investment Fund, Deep Investments category to two additional agencies in Response to Request for Proposal 2020-02 - Annual Grants and instead fully fund the RFP for Deep Investments, recognizing that program awards will be delayed and successful proposals will need to fully spend the amounts allocated within the reduced grant period; however this is not recommended as programs awarded under the Deep Investments RFP may not be able to fully expend the award in the reduced timeframe, resulting in an underutilization of funding.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
First 5 Solano is administering the CIF on behalf of the County Administrator’s Office.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION