To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator
Staff Name and Phone Number: Christel Querijero 565-2431, Maggie Luce 565-1796
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Immigrant Services Update & At-Risk/Unprotected Workforce Resources
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Receive an update on the status of the following items (Information Only):
A) The Board of Supervisor’s recent action to fund immigrant rights education
B) The County’s immigrant services and resources gap analysis project
C) County Regional Centers & Mobile Services Van
end
Executive Summary:
On January 10, 2025 <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7087194&GUID=630532E8-1F20-41A1-9DF5-331527EAB540&Options=&Search=>, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution affirming the civil rights, dignity, health, and safety of immigrant residents and all Sonoma County members. Building on this commitment, the Board approved $500,000 on February 4, 2025 <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7107967&GUID=89E636ED-FE66-4CD8-866E-F94CBC5DFC2B&Options=&Search=>, for the Secure Families Collaborative (SFC) to administer funding to local community-based organizations providing immigrant education and preparedness services. In parallel, the County is partnering with SFC to implement a project funded by California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) to identify resources available to the immigrant community and enhance coordination among providers.
To further improve access to services, the Human Services Department (HSD) is preparing to launch a mobile services van to expand outreach to immigrant communities, particularly in underserved areas. These mobile services are anticipated to begin by early 2026.
Discussion:
Secure Families Collaborative (SFC) Funding Agreement
On February 4, 2025 <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7107967&GUID=89E636ED-FE66-4CD8-866E-F94CBC5DFC2B&Options=&Search=>, the Board approved $500,000 for an agreement with Secure Families Collaborative (SFC) to support countywide education and preparedness efforts related to federal immigration policies. The Board established the Sonoma County Secure Families Collaborative in 2018 to meet the needs of the community due to changes in federal immigration policy and the North Bay wildfires. The Board has provided financial support from varying sources to the SFC over the past seven years. Under the most recent agreement, SFC will work with partners to enhance community awareness, improve access to legal resources, and ensure accurate and timely information sharing. SFC will administer the funding and distribution, manage contracts, and oversee service coordination to ensure equitable access. The contract with SFC was executed April 4, 2025 (Attachment A)
SFC issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to community-based organizations and legal service providers to implement educational activities, including Know Your Rights (KYR) training, family preparedness planning, and pro bono immigration legal consultations. SFC engaged a broad range of stakeholders, including approximately 300 community-based organizations (CBOs), immigration legal service providers, the Sonoma County Community Foundation, and the Haas Foundation to develop the RFP to ensure alignment with community needs. SFC also presented the RFP at approximately 20 CBO convenings and formed a grant selection committee to incorporate diverse perspectives.
Program activities are tentatively scheduled to begin on May 1, 2025, and conclude on April 30, 2026. Funded projects will focus on collaborative service delivery, legal analysis, and strategic planning, with an emphasis on reaching underserved communities in trusted settings such as schools, healthcare centers, and faith-based organizations. SFC will submit three financial and programmatic updates to the County, followed by a final comprehensive report. Financial reports will include a budget summary and expenditure breakdown, while programmatic updates will detail events held, participant numbers, and demographic data. The final report will aggregate grantee data to analyze service delivery, community impact, and key findings. The agreement stipulates that SFC will coordinate with the County’s Communications team to maintain an up-to-date Immigrant Information webpage <https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/administrative-support-and-fiscal-services/county-administrators-office/projects/support-for-immigrant-communities>.
Local Immigrant Integration and Inclusion Grant
On September 24, 2024 <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6866627&GUID=5C71E701-754A-422F-B0FF-AB1C920FFEEE&Options=&Search=>, the Board of Supervisors authorized the County Executive and the Director of the Economic Development Collaborative to execute a grant agreement to accept $141,235 in funding from the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) under the Local Immigrant Integration and Inclusion Grant Program (LIIIG) funding program. With these funds the Economic Development Collaborative (EDC) and Secure Families Collaborative (SFC), in coordination with the County Administrator’s Office, are aiming to identify and streamline resources for immigrant communities in Sonoma County, improving accessibility, collaboration, and service effectiveness. To achieve this, they have launched a survey to collect information from various community organizations, businesses, and local agencies that provide immigrant services (see Attachment B for survey sample).
Since the origination of the grant agreement, changes at the federal level have drastically impacted SFC’s ability to collect survey responses. To-date, they have received 32 responses from CBO’s and 1 response from an individual. Even when a response is received, changes in federal policy and/or withdrawal of federal funding, makes the responses stale and out-of-date almost immediately. EDC have met with SFC, and agree that the creation of an asset map, with information that is likely outdated by the time it is published, is not recommended. With this in mind, EDC and SFC staff are working on a revised grant proposal to Go-Biz that would do the following:
• Adjust the individual survey response targets
• Remove the creation and hosting of an online asset map from the scope of work. SFC would still generate a report with a gap analysis, but it would be with an understanding that the data informing it is a snapshot in time.
• Redirect the resources previously set aside for asset map creation towards a new partnership with 211 United Way, to support their online resources available to the public.
County Regional Centers & Mobile Services
Sonoma County is home to a network of regional centers that provide critical services to residents. These centers play a key role in fostering community resilience and accessibility to essential services, providing geographically distributed services to residents who may otherwise have difficulty accessing services. See Attachment C for a list of Sonoma County regional Service Centers.
The County plans to pilot a mobile services model to provide enhanced opportunities to access County services. The Human Services Department (HSD) is currently exploring using the mobile services van to support the County’s immigrant education efforts. The purchase order for the mobile services van was issued on December 4, 2024, and HSD anticipates receiving the van by the end of this calendar year or early 2026, with service delivery expected in early 2026. In the meantime, HSD has established a Mobile Services Committee (comprised of HSD staff) to focus on policy planning, bilingual services, and developing procedures related to safety, staffing, locations, and scheduling. The Mobile Services Committee is collaborating with Child Support Services to coordinate their approaches for mobile service delivery and will also invite feedback from the other Safety Net Departments including the Department of Health Services. HSD anticipates having an update on the planning process available by the end of 2025.
Farmworker Resource Centers (FRCs)
The most recent significant legislative action related to Farmworker Resource Centers was the enactment of Assembly Bill 941 (AB 941) in September 2021, which established the Farmworker Resource Center Grant Program. This program, administered by the California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD), provides grants to counties to create or expand resource centers offering services to farmworkers and their families. In a March comment letter on the state budget (Attachment D), CEO Rivera requested that the Legislature consider renewing funding for grant opportunities piloted under AB 941. County Legislative Affairs continues to monitor state policy conversations and budget negotiations for further opportunities to advocate for expanded farmworker resources.
Sonoma County Immigrants Data
At the September 17, 2024 Board meeting, staff presented data on the services provided to immigrant communities, directly through County departments or through County contracts with community-based organizations. The Board directed staff to gather additional data on immigrant communities, including data from local government agencies such as MTC/ABAG (Metropolitan Transportation Commission / Association of Bay Area Governments) and SCTA/RCPA (Sonoma County Transportation Authority / Regional Climate Protection Authority). Attachment E includes a summary of additional data on Sonoma County’s immigrant communities. This attachment includes data produced by SCTA/RCPA, providing an overview of communities in Sonoma County with significant Hispanic/Latinx populations and overlapping environmental, health, and socio-economic vulnerabilities. It synthesizes multiple datasets to identify equity priority areas and support informed policy and programmatic decisions. Attachment E also includes data from MTC, presenting a regional map and methodological overview of Equity Priority Communities (EPCs) within the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding counties. These communities are identified for prioritization in transportation planning and resource allocation due to overlapping socioeconomic vulnerabilities.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
Yes
No new policies or programs are recommended in this Board item. See Attachment F for the Equity Analysis associated with the September 17, 2024 Immigrant Services Board item <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6857962&GUID=F339EA04-9560-4B65-968A-1732A19C0CF9&Options=Advanced&Search=>.
Prior Board Actions:
February 4, 2025: Undocumented, Immigrant, and Refugee Support. <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7107967&GUID=89E636ED-FE66-4CD8-866E-F94CBC5DFC2B&Options=Advanced&Search=>
January, 10, 2025: Federal Policy Changes. <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx? <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7087194&GUID=630532E8-1F20-41A1-9DF5-331527EAB540&Options=&Search=>
ID=7087194&GUID=630532E8-1F20-41A1-9DF5-331527EAB540&Options=&Search=> <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7087194&GUID=630532E8-1F20-41A1-9DF5-331527EAB540&Options=&Search=>
September 17, 2024: Update on County Services for Immigrant Communities. <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6857962&GUID=F339EA04-9560-4B65-968A-1732A19C0CF9&Options=Advanced&Search=> <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6857962&GUID=F339EA04-9560-4B65-968A-1732A19C0CF9&Options=Advanced&Search=>
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY24-25 Adopted |
FY25-26 Projected |
FY26-27 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$500,000 |
0 |
0 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$500,000 |
0 |
0 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
$500,000 |
0 |
0 |
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$500,000 |
0 |
0 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
No new funding requests are included in this Board item. The fiscal summary table above includes the $500,000 that was approved by the Board on 2/4/25 for the Secure Families Collaborative immigrant education funding administration funding and delivery.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment A: Secure Families Collaborative Agreement
Attachment B: Organizational Survey Sample
Attachment C: Regional Service Centers
Attachment D: Farmworker Resource Centers Comment Letter
Attachment E: Immigrant Data
Attachment F: Equity Analysis
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A