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County of
Volusia
Children and Families Advisory Board
Minutes
Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center
Training Rooms 1&2
123 West Indiana Avenue
DeLand, FL 32720
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9:00 a.m.
Attendance
| CFAB Members Present | CFAB Members Absent |
County Staff Present |
|
Carrie Baird |
Dr. Suzanne Dewees |
Edward Jasper |
Call to Order
Chair, Carrie Baird called the meeting to order.Roll Call
Roll called by Joyce Kennedy.
A quorum was present.Item 1—Approval of minutes of the Children and Families Advisory Board.
Minutes of the April 22, 2008 CFAB meeting.
Alexander Carmichel moved to approve the April 22, 2008 meeting minutes as presented. Deborah Denys seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Item 2—Request from Trinity United Methodist Church of Seville for youth program.
Chair, Carrie Baird opened the item for public hearing.
Staff Report: Diana Phillips reported that Strong Tower Mission at Seville had notified the County that they would no longer provide services for the town of Seville. Trinity United Methodist Church of Seville submitted an application requesting $6,250 to provide a youth program for July, August, and September 2008.
Staff Recommendation: Approve allocation of $6,250 to Trinity United Methodist Church to provide a youth program in Seville for July, August, and September 2008.
Public Participation: Representatives from Trinity United Methodist addressed the Board and reiterated that the closing of Strong Tower had left many teens, grades 6 – 12, without access to summer programs. Trinity United Methodist had always partnered with Strong Tower and provided volunteers but would need help with funding to provide needed services.
Board Discussion/Action: Alexander Carmichel moved to approve allocating $6,250 to Trinity United Methodist Church to provide youth programs in Seville for July, August, and September 2008. Susan Caplan seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Carrie Baird suggested staff provide technical assistance to Trinity United Methodist to raise level of outcomes.
Item 3—Request for additional 2008 summer camp funding
Chair, Carrie Baird opened the item for public hearing.
Staff Report: Diana Phillips reported that 13 income eligible children were still on the Summer Camp waiting list. A request was made for an additional $6,565 to serve the additional 13 children.
Staff recommendation: Approve transfer of $6,565 from contingency/reserve to summer camp to provide assistance to an additional 13 children.
Public Participation: No public participation.
Board Discussion/Action: Dr. Willie Kimmons moved to approve the transfer of $6,565 from contingency to summer camp to provide assistance for thirteen children.
Board members expressed great concern that the number of summer camp applications received this year had decreased compared to last year. Many possibilities were offered as factors affecting enrollment. Deborah Denys also expressed concern that no Board meeting was scheduled prior to the start of the summer programs; which could hinder the Board allocating additional funds, if necessary.
Ed Jasper reminded Board of the need to prepare for the receipt of last minute applications from families without other options.
Dr Kimmons confirmed that slots would be available to serve the thirteen children for which funding had been approved. Diana Phillips expressed anticipation that other funding might also become available through children dropping out of summer camp or families moving away.
Item 4—Request from Volusia County Parks Division
Chair, Carrie Baird opened the item for public hearing.
Staff Report: Diana Phillips reported that Volusia County Parks Division had requested $5,000 to assist children ages 8-15 attend sports camp. This would be for children from families at or below 150% of federal poverty income level.
Staff recommendation: Approve transfer of $5,000 from contingency/reserve to provide assistance for 13 low-income children to attend sports camp at the rate of $60.00/week.
Public Participation: No public participation.
Board Discussion/Action: Dr. Willie Kimmons moved to approve transfer of $5,000 from contingency/reserve to provide assistance for 13 low-income children to attend sports camp at the rate of $60/week. Dee Jarrard seconded. Carrie Baird opposed. Motion carried.
Carrie Baird expressed concern about the fairness of allowing County departments to request funding outside of the summer camp process. After much discussion, it was suggested that it might be desirable to put in place a process for handling special programs.
Item 5—Update of contingency/reserve account and request direction for use of funds.
Chair, Carrie Baird opened the item for public hearing.
Staff Report: Diana Phillips reported that after adding $11,447 returned by Strong Tower and $2,313 returned by Daytona Beach YMCA, then subtracting the approved expenditures for Trinity United Methodist, Volusia County Parks Division, the 13 children on the waiting list, and funding needed to serve all of original applicants, the reserve/contingency account balance was $59,058.
Staff recommendation: Request board to discuss and determine method in which remaining contingency funds shall be disbursed.
Public Participation: No public participation.
Board Discussion/Action: The Board brainstormed many possible options for disbursement of funds. Some suggestions were:
Create a one-page application for agencies to submit outlining their need for the funds
Increase allocations across-the-board for already approved agencies
Return reserve funds to the County coffer
Target agencies that supply basic needs in time of crisis
Transfer to Community Assistance
Serve last-minute summer camp applicants
Give funds to Early Learning Coalition
Set aside $6,000 contingency for Summer Camp
After much discussion from other Board members, it was decided that transferring funds to another County agency such as Community Assistance, Human Services would not be a viable option.
It was agreed that the primary areas of focus should be assisting children to attend summer camp and developing an efficient and effective process for providing basic needs such as rent, mortgage, electric assistance to families with children. However, the Board concluded that since the contingency funds were comprised of funds from the “children’s” budget, providing basic needs would not be an allowable expense.
David Kerr moved to set aside $6,000 to be used specifically for additional summer camp applications that might be received and subsequently approved. Alexander Carmichel seconded. Dr. Willie Kimmons opposed. Motion carried.
David Kerr moved to authorize staff to develop and submit a process for accepting applications for services provided to children from existing agencies with established waiting lists showing a documented and demonstrated need for such assistance. Services must be provided and funds expended by September 30, 2008. Dr. Willie Kimmons seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Dr. Willie Kimmons moved to have board member David Kerr serve as liaison and work with staff to determine appropriate funding recommendations. Alexander Carmichel seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Item 6—Workshop
Chair, Carrie Baird opened the item for public hearing.
Public Participation: Tom Lindzon, Council on Aging, wanted Board to know that in Volusia County, seniors are increasing at a greater rate than children. Since the budget for children is larger than for community, Lindzon advocated combing the two funds to give all agencies fair opportunity at obtaining funding. Lindzon further reminded the Board that Council on Aging had a demonstrated need with a waiting list of over 1,000, a meals program 31,000 overspent, and a lack of funding to start a respiratory program in Ormond Beach.
Public participation closed.
Board Discussion/Action
Questions discussed included the following:
1) Should the CFAB have two different funding sources (current) or just one?
2) What should county social service funding be used for?
3) How might the CFAB identify priority services to fund?
4) Which agencies should receive county social service funding?
5) Should all types of agencies be eligible for funding?
Board unanimously agreed that merging the two funding streams would best serve the needs of the community. Board requested copies of supporting documentation staff submitted to County Manager’s office.
After much discussion, it was agreed that Board should focus on the purchase of prevention and early intervention services. Board agreed that it would be beneficial to communicate to United Way a desire to discuss their changes in process and funding and the simplification of the application.
Board agreed that for 2009/2010 funding year, all agencies should submit 990 whether or not they were required to file one.
Board agreed that no government agencies (excluding summer camp funding process) should be funded. Only non-profit corporations (501c3) should be funded. Government agencies would be strongly encouraged to partner with non-profits.
Board agreed that application process should be divided into two phases: qualification phase that would encompass an administrative review by staff and the funding or programmatic phase that would be handled by the board. To that end, the Board appointed a subcommittee to review and simplify the application: Deborah Denys, Alexander Carmichel, Susan Caplan, Dave Evans and Dr. Willie Kimmons.
Chair Report:
Budget sub-committee meeting scheduled for June 12, 2008, 3:00 pm. TCK Admin Building, Training rooms.
Board meeting moved from July 22, 2008 to June 26, 2008, 5:15 pm, County Council Chambers.
Discussion by board members of matters not on the agenda.
Dr. Willie Kimmons expressed gratitude to board members for any and all support provided to re-open Cypress Park swimming pool on George Ingram Blvd and Nova Rd. Pool had been closed for a number of years.
Adjournment
Chair, Carrie Baird adjourned the meeting at approximately 12:30 pm.
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