To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Services Department, Office of Equity, County Administrator’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Angela Struckmann, 565‐5800; Alegría De La Cruz, 565‐8709; Natalie Brunamonte, 565-8565
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
American Rescue Plan Act Community Resilience Program Update and Program Administration Capacity Improvements
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Receive the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Community Resilience Program Status Update
B) Consider Community Resilience Program Administration Capacity Improvements:
i. Adopt a Resolution adding 3.0 Time-Limited Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions (ending June 30, 2025) to the Human Services Department; and extend the time-limited term for existing ARPA funded positions from an end date of 12/31/2024 to 6/30/2025 (Human Services and Office of Equity).
ii. Adopt a Budget Resolution adjusting the FY2022-23 Adopted Budget by $680,673 to will implement the Community Resilience Program (4/5th Vote Required).
iii. Authorize the Director of the Human Service Department, or designee, to execute a contract for up to $800,000 and give authority to execute amendments not to exceed 10% of the total contract amount or non-substantive changes in contract terms, approve by County Counsel, with Witt O’Brien’s, LLC for Federal Compliance Audit Monitoring and CBO training services.
end
Executive Summary:
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021 and dedicated federal Recovery Funds to provide direct assistance to individuals and communities most impacted by COVID-19. The legislation has a clear intent to serve low-income communities and communities of color, as stated directly in the law: “While the pandemic has affected communities across the country, it has disproportionately impacted low-income families and communities of color and has exacerbated systemic health and economic inequities. Recovery Funds allow for a broad range of uses to address the disproportionate public health and economic impacts of the crisis on the hardest-hit communities, populations, and households.”
Sonoma County was allocated nearly $96 million under this legislation. Distribution of these funds was not specifically prescribed, giving each municipality ownership of the implementation plan. Throughout this process your Board has embraced the spirit of the legislation. On December 14, 2021 the Board approved $39 million of the $96 million to be allocated to fund both services and capacity building throughout the systems of care provided by our community-based organizational (CBO) partners through the Community Resilience Program (Resilience Program). Through the equity design process, community partners elevated and your Board validated and embraced the importance of these funds reaching CBOs and community members who traditionally experience marginalization in these funding and service opportunities. Your Board’s leadership here has resulted in new partners, increased capacity, and a greater reach into seeing and serving those communities and community members who have experienced disproportionately greater negative outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As indicated in the May 24, 2022 Board item, staff needed to assess and identify the resource needs to fully administer the Resilience Program, given changing federal requirements and the total number of fiscal leads and subcontractors. The initial 6.0 FTE staffing resources which were developed in June 2021 and prior to the Board’s ultimate decision to allocate nearly half of all the ARPA dollars towards community funded programs was developed based on a $5-10 million investment for approximately 10 programs. The final scope of the Resilience Program has increased to 27 total programs with 95 fiscal leads and subcontractors combined for a total investment of $39 million. As a result, additional staff is needed to support the Program.
Today’s Board item provides an update and next steps for the $39 million of funding dedicated to the Resilience Program, including a request for more staffing and associated funding recommendations to administer the program in alignment with the Board’s prior direction, including (1) strengthening our internal data accountability and reporting system and working with our CBO partners to collect and analyze impact and outcomes by developing and implementing Equity-Centered Results-Based Accountability (RBA) metrics and prioritizing the collection of demographic data; and (2) supporting and providing technical assistance to our CBO partners in the creation and maintenance of an intentional community collectively working towards addressing historical and current racial inequities. These two outcomes create long-term capacity improvements in our systems of care and service.
Discussion:
Background
Staff has worked in close partnership with the community since July of 2021 to identify priority funding areas and communities most in need of assistance. In December of 2021, your Board recommended a distribution plan that included the following:
• Approximately $24 million for ongoing COVID response costs
• Approximately $4.8 million to implement the ARPA program in alignment with information available at that date (including funding for 6.0 time-limited positions)
• $8 million towards the Public Health Lab and Morgue infrastructure project
• $8 million for a lump sum pandemic payment for County employees - 1/25/22 Board Action
• $1.16 million for Community Engagement, Language Access and Demographic Data initiatives
• $9 million for Rapid Economic Assistance (of which $5.8 million was re-directed to the Community Resilience Program)
• $4 million towards addressing homelessness
• $3 million towards investments in broadband infrastructure
• Approximately $34 million for a Community Resilience Program, which was increased to approximately $39 million due to a re-direction of the Rapid Economic Assistance funds
Upon the Board’s approval of the $39 million for the Resilience Program, staff re-engaged with the community to create a proposal solicitation process that was as accessible as possible to all community partners to be considered for distribution of funds under the Program.
In May 2021, CAO staff worked with the Human Services Department’s Upstream team sketch how Upstream could support the anticipated ARPA funded community grants program to be presented during Budget Hearings. The Upstream Team’s initial support proposal assumed a total grants program of $5-10 million. At that time, we thought there would be more department proposals moving forward; thus, we only estimated $5-10 million going directly to fund Safety Net Organizations proposals providing direct assistance to communities and individuals hardest hit by the pandemic. The initial staffing estimate increased given the expansion of the Resilience Program from our initial assumption to the $39 million that was ultimately approved by the Board. Through the previous Board items related to the use of ARPA funds (July 27, 2021, November 2, 2021, December 14, 2021 and May 24, 2022), staff has outlined an implementation strategy that emphasizes Equity-Centered Results-Based Accountability (RBA) and capacity building investments for community organizations that do not typically receive public funds and that serve historically marginalized communities. This item explains in more detail how staff will accomplish this work under the Resilience Program and is presenting a final plan for the level of resources needed to execute the previously shared implementation model.
Community Resilience Program: Accomplishments to Date
Over the course of the ARPA award period, funds invested will change the way in which County and community work together by developing new partnerships and creating ongoing resources that will reshape how we engage with community providers. This work lays a foundation that supports numerous Strategic Plan objectives as well as the Board contracting principles adopted in 2019.
Since July 2021 ARPA funding has already begun to change the nature of the County’s relationship with the community through extensive community engagement efforts. Staff have conducted over 95 trainings and community meetings to collaboratively create funding priority and process recommendations, make funding distribution recommendations, and build community capacity to implement equity-centered approaches to COVID-19 recovery.
As a result of the hundreds of hours of ARPA-funded staff in the Human Services Department and the Office of Equity, and community member time invested to date, the Resilience Program funds are being distributed to 24 contracted organizations who are partnering with 71 unique subcontractors who will complete a total of 27 different projects. Of the organizations receiving funding, the vast majority have only received nominal funding from the County, and have never received state or federal funding. It can be difficult for small or inexperienced organizations to successfully navigate the County procurement process. Under the ARPA Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) process, staff spent significant time convening interested community groups and providing technical assistance and opportunities for organizations to partner in the provision of services. Agencies with experience in administering federal funds were encouraged to partner with smaller organizations. This work changed the nature of relationships amongst local agencies, creating consortiums that we have not seen before. Subsequently, staff solicited a group of volunteers representing the communities to be served to sit on the review committees and thoughtfully evaluate the proposals. These deliberate efforts resulted in a wide dispersal of federal funds to organizations and communities that our usual processes often do not reach. The process represents a shift in how we do business and is providing lessons learned for future improvements in inclusion and accessibility.
Subsequent to the selection of the Resilience Program projects, staff immediately began providing a variety of trainings to invest in the capacity building element of the Program; this type of support will continue throughout the term of the funding agreements. It is important to note that the role of the fiscal lead agencies is to facilitate the execution of the deliverables outlined in the contract scope of work with the subcontractors. It is not their role, nor do they have the expertise, to build their own capacity or that of the subcontractors to implement Equity-Centered RBA and the additional requirements for data collection. Because the County is leveraging ARPA funds to invest in capacity building for the widest possible range of community partners, the following trainings and resources were offered to all 95 contractors and subcontractors:
• July, 2022: ARPA Resilience Program Orientation
• August, 2022: Equity-Centered RBA training
• September, 2022: Equity in Data Collection: Demographic Data
• September, 2022: Listening sessions to hear concerns from programs around collecting sensitive information from recipients
• September - November, 2022: Over 80 technical assistance and coaching appointments to support equity-centered data collection
Additionally, Equity-Centered RBA metrics for all programs are being developed and will be shared online via the Equity-Centered RBA Scorecard once all Equity-Centered RBA plans are fully executed. Plans will be available in early January 2023 and the Scorecard will be live in spring 2023. These metrics will be used to monitor the impacts of investments for each program.
As of November 16, 24 of the 27 programs have fully executed contracts, two programs are currently in the signature process, and one program is still involved in contract negotiations. Of the twenty-four programs with executed contracts, fourteen have submitted invoices and received payments for a total of $2.3 million through November 23, 2022 and with significantly more payments planned as work is more fully underway. Four programs have received advanced payments of 1.28M to facilitate the work, with one additional program on-track to receive advance payment by this Board date. All work is being implemented in accordance with the executed scope of work and the targeted populations identified. All contracts have a start date of July 1, 2022 for a contract period of 18 months. At the end of the 18-month contract, organizations will have the option to renew based on program outcomes from the initial contract term. All ARPA Resilience Program funds are currently allocated and may extend through December 31, 2024. ARPA funds must be fully obligated by December 31, 2024 and fully expended by December 31, 2026. Attachment A provides a list of all contractors and subcontractors as well as a description of the programs funded.
Community Resilience Program: On-going Capacity Building Efforts
County Designed Elements
The emphasis on Equity-Centered RBA and capacity building investments for community organizations was established at the July 27, 2021 Board meeting and carried through the entire development of the Resilience Program; it has been a cornerstone of your Board’s approved ARPA funding implementation plan. Equity-Centered RBA both works to achieve the intent of ARPA as well as to leverage these improvements in our County systems for long-term use and impact beyond ARPA. Your Board’s leadership has allowed for us to meet ARPA’s basic requirements and to build on them to achieve maximum impact with these recovery funds. In order to support these goals, staff will continue to support implementation of the Resilience Program by including the following elements in the ongoing contract management:
• Develop Equity-Centered RBA metrics for all contracts.
• Evaluate and manage contractors’ success in collecting new data and meeting the Equity-Centered metrics.
• Publish Equity-Centered RBA metrics on the public facing Scorecard online.
• Conduct quarterly Equity-Centered RBA “Turn the Curve” conversations, which are in-person meetings with all recipients (contractors and subcontractors) to examine performance/data trends, to establish where program changes might be needed, and to create action plans for how the changes will be implemented. These meetings provide the opportunity for real-time contract monitoring and adjustments when needed.
• Collect, analyze and evaluate demographic data to ensure these funds are reaching those most in need.
• Hold quarterly ARPA Resilience Program Learning Sessions throughout the grant award period with all contractors and subcontractors. These sessions began in November 2022 and are designed to share lessons learned across all contractors and subcontractors and to facilitate better use of equity-centered data to enhance program implementation.
As part of the contract oversight and management process, staff will analyze information gathered from contractors and subcontractors to determine if there are prioritized populations, geographic areas or specific needs that are going unmet and work as a team to course correct to ensure the widest positive impact of ARPA Resilience Program funds.
Program updates will be provided to Board Members via quarterly board memos beginning in June, 2023, and the memos will include summary information for the implemented programs, where people are being served and demographic information. Board Members will also be invited to participate in celebrating program accomplishments at program sites. Once the Scorecard is launched in the Spring 2023, Board Members will be able to access program data in real time to explore the results of the Resilience Program funding, on top of the formalized reporting from the ARPA Program staff. The Scorecard will include program performance measure data with demographic information for all programs and action plans. In addition, the scorecard will include fiscal information.
Federal Regulatory Requirements
In addition to the comprehensive implementation approach designed by the County, all 24 contractors will be subject to Federal Audit Monitoring regulations. Due to the fact that these federal guidelines were not known until their April, 2022 issue date, staff was unable to bring this recommendation forward at the May meeting. The review process was not complete until last month. The level and type of monitoring required under these regulations goes beyond the capacity of County staff, so a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued to obtain these services. Based on the RFP committee’s recommendation, the cost of this agreement will total approximately $800,000, which is included in the budget summary for this item. The agreement is available as Attachment E; staff is requesting that the Director of Human Services be given delegated authority to execute this agreement as well as any amendments to the agreement, not to exceed 10% of the contract total, and approved by County Counsel. As with other elements of the Resilience Program, emphasis will be placed on investing time and training to build capacity for the organizations to successfully comply with the federal funding regulations, which are outlined in the attached agreement.
Attachment G provides a list of capacity building and technical support services that will be provided by the County as well as the federal monitoring contractor mentioned above. This helps illustrate the role of the County versus the contractor and is also a single snapshot of the total capacity building and technical support services that are being offered to our community partners under this program. Through the innovative NOFA process described previously, the County was able to fund organizations that have not frequently (if ever) been the recipients of government funding. Through a series of trainings and listening sessions and over 80 coaching and technical assistance programs, County staff have worked with these organizations to build individual and collective skills to collect participant data, demonstrate success and build commitments to continuous quality improvement.
Federal compliance monitoring will provide the 24 contactors with the information and tools required to successfully comply with federal funding requirements and confirm they have strong internal management systems and financial and internal controls. This will build organizational capacity and ensure they are better positioned to compete for federal funding in the future. In addition, the capacity building training session on applying for and administering federal funds provided by the federal compliance monitoring contractor for local Community-Based Organizations and County staff will ensure they are better positioned to compete for federal funding in the future.
Creating Long-Term Benefits with Short-term Funds
It is unlikely that the County will see this level of funding again in the future. The ARPA program is structured such that funds will both get to organizations serving high needs communities, while also being leveraged to create long-term benefits for community groups as well as County operations. Examples of these long-term investments are as follows:
1. Equity-Centered Results-Based Accountability utilizes data at the program level to examine how multiple programs might contribute to a population level indicator like life expectancy at birth. The community and County are using the Portrait of Sonoma County (Human Development Index) to track these longer-term changes at the population level. The value of the ARPA Resilience Program effort is that program level data can be used to articulate shorter-term impacts and real-time program changes can be implemented. These data can then help articulate where efforts might be focused to create longer-term change at the population level articulated above.
2. This process has begun to change the way that Sonoma County government, businesses, non-profits, and schools do business. Building on the groundwork laid by Upstream Investments that changed our culture from looking at program outputs to looking at program outcomes, the ARPA Resilience Program is deepening that shift through capacity building dedicated toward demographic data collection. Through this work, we begin to understand what supports and programs are truly successful for unique populations. By looking at program level data by demographics and the associated needs assessment data, the County can use this information as a guide for how and where future investments will be made. These data and the stories coming from the data can also be used by the contracted partners to better position themselves for future funding.
3. Through the Portrait of Sonoma and COVID-19 data collected by the Sonoma County Department of Health Services we know that communities of color suffered disproportionately negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with these communities to design and implement recovery supports begins to ensure that the communities experiencing the greatest need are receiving the greatest amount of culturally supportive relief and resources. The capacity building being provided by the ARPA team better position these organizations to ensure the communities experiencing the greatest needs are at the center of all equity efforts beyond the ARPA Resilience Program.
4. The Resilience Program will create a platform for better collecting demographic data that will be used for future County equity efforts and to meet the goals set forth in the Board’s strategic plan. The platform includes two data systems that will be built to be replicated for future projects. Future projects will have a reduced cost and shorter implementation time because the platform built for the Resilience Program will be leveraged. In addition, training materials and equity-centered technical assistance methodologies will be used beyond this investment. Lastly, the County process for implementing active contract management through Turn the Curve conversations will be documented and can be replicated. All these elements build both the capacity of the County and community-based organizations to better track impacts of investments and be better positioned to compete for future funding.
5. Through the innovative NOFA process described previously, the County was able to fund organizations that have not frequently (if ever) been the recipients of government funding. Through a series of trainings and listening sessions and over 80 coaching and technical assistance programs, County staff have worked with these organizations to build individual and collective skills to collect participant data, demonstrate success and build commitments to continuous quality improvement.
6. Federal compliance monitoring will provide the 24 contactors with the information and tools required to successfully comply with federal funding requirements and confirm they have strong internal management systems and financial and internal controls. This will build organizational capacity and ensure they are better positioned to compete for federal funding in the future.
7. The capacity building training session provided by the federal compliance monitoring contractor to local Community-Based Organizations as well as County staff on applying for and administering federal funds will also ensure they are better positioned to compete for federal funding in the future.
Staff Resources
The implementation of the Resilience Program is a significant effort designed to position the County, contractors and subcontractors for future success. As indicated at the May 24, 2022 board meeting, staff anticipated needing to re-evaluate the level of resources required to carry out the vision for the capacity-building elements of the Resilience Program once the final number and type of community contracts were known. The initial staffing for the Resilience Program was developed based on a $5-10 million investment for approximately 10 programs. This scope has increased to 27 total programs with 95 fiscal leads and subcontractors combined for a total investment of $39 million.
A total of 6.0 FTE has been allocated to support the implementation of the ARPA program based on this initial scope, including the Resilience Program as well as all other elements outlined in the executive summary. The current staffing is outlined below:
a) 2.0 Department Analysts in the Office of Equity: Focused on reviewing, evaluating and interpreting demographic data; implementing community engagement for the program as a whole to help community members understand what resources are being provided; and evaluating where there are still critical gaps in services. These positions also support communications about the projects to the Board and community.
b) 2.0 Program Planning and Evaluation analyst in Human Services: Focused on administrative components of contract management and reporting for the 24 contracts. This is consistent with staffing levels for contract management in general within HSD.
c) 1.0 Accounting Technician in Human Services: This position helps ensure that invoices are paid in a timely fashion and tracks budget to actuals for all of the 27 projects.
d) 1.0 Administrative Aide in Human Services: This position provides administrative support to the Program Planning and Evaluation analyst who is focused on the administrative components of contract management, and coordinates all meetings, trainings and quarterly in-person community learning events.
Based on the number of approximately 95 contractors and subcontractors or sub-recipients identified, staff has determined a total of 9.0 FTEs will be required to fully execute all elements of the $96 million ARPA award process.
New Staff Needed ($1,405,114 for the entire term)
e) 1.0 Administrative Aide in Human Services: This position will provide technical support to the Shared Outcomes Measurement. Due to the different types of data required under this program (federal program data; performance measure data; demographic data; financial data), three different IT systems will be utilized. This position will focus on data integration behind the scenes and will provide direct support to contracts and subcontractors entering data into the systems.
f) 1.0 Program Planning and Evaluation Analysts in Human Services: This position supports regular review of program performance measures and associated action plans to address program gaps. This position facilitates regular Turn the Curve meetings (active contract management) with all fiscal leads and subcontractors. This includes technical assistance for performance metrics and data collection. This additional allocation is needed to support the large number of contractors and subcontractors and to maintain the frequency of interaction outlined in this Board item.
g) 1.0 Admin Aide in Human Services: This position will provide administrative support for the Equity-Centered RBA implementation, data management of the public facing dashboard, and support for translation and interpretation needs across all trainings, materials and data systems.
The existing Upstream Investments staff within the Human Services Department (3.75 FTE) are working on managing the implementation of RBA for County contracts (including data collection), the Upstream Shared Outcomes Measurement System (Apricot) for 6 project sites with more sites coming online, Upstream training and capacity building program outside of ARPA, the Portfolio of Model Upstream Programs, Policy committee oversight and general initiative management and outreach as well ad hoc support to the four HSD program divisions. Given these commitments and priorities, it is difficult to wholly repurpose these staff to support the Resilience Program.
Term Limited Expansions
The current ARPA funded positions are scheduled to end December 31, 2024. Given that the Resilience Program contracts are scheduled to end no later than December 31, 2024, all positions are requested to be time-limited until June 30, 2025. The staffing date extends six months beyond the contract end date in order to complete all closeout and reporting requirements, finalize materials that can be used in the future, and develop a final report to the Board. Further, as time limited end dates approach, there will be a natural attrition; positions that are vacated with a few months of June 30, 2025 will not be filled, but allowing all allocations to have the June 30 end date is a practical tool to allow for ease of administration for the final few months of this program.
Other Additional Resources Needed ($1,639,632)
In addition to the new and term-extended positions noted above, funding is needed to secure multi-department coordination support from the County Administrator’s Office and multi-department ARPA reporting support from Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector, as well as increased IT costs and engagement of external provider for Federal Compliance Audit Monitoring and CBO Training Services. These are described in more detail below.
The combined total of additional staffing costs plus these other costs is approximately $3 million. This is explained in the context of the overall ARPA budget in the next section.
1. Overall project management support: ARPA funding to finance a 0.5 existing FTE at the County Administrator’s Office - responsible for overseeing all elements of the ARPA program ($337,685).
2. County Auditor support for basic ARPA reporting ($130,853: ARPA funding to finance a 0.25 existing FTE at the Auditor’s Disaster Finance team - ensures all reported information submitted meets federal timelines and requirements; this pertains only to ensuring our required reports are filed on time and is unrelated to the Federal Compliance Monitoring contract oriented to subrecipient monitoring.
3. Additional Information Technology Platform costs ($291,094): in order to collect information needed for demographic and performance data and to ensure financial costing is executed properly to meet federal requirements, three different data platforms are needed. Increased licensing costs, Information Services Department support for online systems and funding for software support is needed.
4. Federal Compliance Audit Monitoring Contract, as described above: $800,000 plus 10% contingency for a total possible cost of $880,000.
Funding Summary and Source
The total new costs proposed to fully administer this program through June 30, 2025 is approximately $3 million, as follows:
|
Item |
Cost |
|
New Staffing Resources |
$1,405,114 |
|
Funding for existing CAO and Audit multi-department ARPA coordination services |
$468,538 |
|
Additional IT licensing costs |
$291,094 |
|
Feder Compliance Monitoring costs ($800,000 contract + 10% contingency) |
$880,000 |
|
Total |
$3,044,746 |
A detailed budget is available as Attachment B.
As indicated in the Executive Summary, the Board approved a grand total of $23,808,265 for COVID Response through 6/30/25. Of the total assigned amount, approximately $17 million was anticipated to be needed in FY21-22. However, $7.6 million of the estimated expenses and/or obligations did not materialize as expected during last fiscal year. Staff is recommending that $3 million of the $7.6 million be redirected from the COVID response line item (as defined on attachment D of the 12/14/21 board item 45 <https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=10330604&GUID=E0740A7F-F6D9-48AE-99BB-3502A950256B>). This leaves $4.6 million available from unrealized FY 21/22 COVID response cost. The unused amount plus the $4.7 million already included in the FY 2022-23 budget, will provide over $8 million in ARPA funds specifically for COVID response as defined on 12/14/21.
Next Steps
As the Resilience Program gets fully underway, staff anticipates collecting important information about community need and what outcomes the funds invested achieve.
• Spring 2023, program data will be publicly available via the Scorecard.
• May 2023, informational Board item on the Resilience Program progress. This will include an overview of the Turn the Curve meetings, examples of programmatic changes that have been made to help contractors ensure they are meeting deliverables, and information about people served disaggregated by demographics to include, but not limited to, race/ethnicity and geography. The programmatic changes will be addressed within the approved contract amounts for each program and will not result in new resource requests. In addition, this information will be used to inform contract renewals.
• August 2023, staff will return with an update that will include a summary of the Equity-Centered RBA metrics for all programs to determine if there are prioritized populations, geographic areas or specific needs that are going unmet.
• August 2024, Board program update
• December 31, 2024, contracts expire
• Late Spring 2025 full Resilience Program Board report
Prior Board Actions:
5/24/22: File #2022-0376, approved 27 department and community proposals for ARPA funding; authorized Director of Human Services Department, or designee, to execute contracts with selected organizations.
12/14/21: File # 2021‐1386, provided direction for funding on County items and approved Community Investment funding areas and funding amounts.
12/7/21: COVID‐19 Emergency Response Strategy, Appropriations and Delegated Authority Update
11/2/21: File # 2021‐1197, received ARPA Funding Plan implementation update and provided staff direction for 12/14/21 meeting; received presentation and reports on COVID‐19 economic impact from Dr. Rob Eyler and Dr. Marlene Orozco; authorized the Director of the Human Services Department to execute a contract with the selected vendor from the RFP for Enterprise Resource Planning System process to support compliance with ARPA funded county programs.
9/14/21: File # 2021‐0828, received County department preliminary proposals with recommendations for funding. Board determined that community input should be heard prior to making department allocations.
7/27/21: File # 2021‐0730, received an update on Community Funding portion of ARPA implementation, including a focus on Equity-Centered RBA. Allocated resources for ARPA implementation.
Strategic Plan Alignment
This program aligns with, and will help accelerate the County’s work on a number of Strategic Plan objectives, including:
• OE1-5 Objective 5: Align procurement and grant guidelines with strategic priorities and racial equity principles.
• HSC1-2 Objective 2: Identify gaps in the Safety Net system of services and identify areas where departments can address those gaps directly, and seek guidance from the Board when additional resources and/or policy direction is needed.
• HSC1-3 Objective 3: Create a “no wrong door” approach where clients who need services across multiple departments and programs are able to access the array of services needed regardless of where they enter the system.
• HSC2-1 Objective 1: Safety Net departments will begin tracking data using results-based accountability (RBA) for key programs to establish common outcome measures, such as increased service access and utilization by communities of color, or decreased homelessness.
• HSC2-3 Objective 3: Identify and eliminate data gaps for underrepresented groups, and collaborate with the community to implement measures to mitigate the negative impacts caused by the lack of access to services by racial and ethnic groups that are disproportionately under-served by 2026.
• RESJ1-4 Objective 4: Develop a shared understanding of key racial equity concepts across the County and its leadership.
• RESJ3-1 Objective 2: Establish regular and publicly available reports on racial equity in County policies, programs, and services.
• RESJ 4-2 Objective 2: Collaborate with community members and stakeholder groups to develop racial equity strategies for County emergency response, economic recovery and resiliency planning efforts.
• RESJ 4-3 Objective 3: Begin implementing strategies for regular community engagement to guide racial equity efforts.
FISCAL SUMMARY
|
Expenditures |
FY22-23 Adopted |
FY 23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$680,673 |
$1,194,464 |
$1,164,610 |
|
Total Expenditures |
$680,673 |
$1,194,464 |
$1,164,610 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
$680,673 |
$1,194,464 |
$1,164,610 |
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$680,673 |
$1,194,464 |
$1,164,610 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The total funding requested to fully support and implement the Resilience Program is approximately $3 million for a period of 2.5 years. Recommended funding is from part of the FY 21/22 unspent COVID Response ARPA allocation approved by the Board on 12/14/2021. See attachment B.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
Program Planning and Evaluation Analyst |
$6,753-$8,209 |
1.00 |
0.00 |
|
Administrative Aide |
$4,939-$6,003 |
2.00 |
0.00 |
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Human Services will be adding 1.0 FTE Program Planning and Evaluation Analyst, and 2.0 FTE Administrative Aides. These positions, and all others previously approved through ARPA funding will be time-limited and will end on June 30, 2025.
Attachments:
Attachment A: List of contractors, subcontractors and program description
Attachment B: Detailed Budget
Attachment C: Budget Resolution
Attachment D: Position Resolution
Attachment E: Federal Compliance Monitoring Agreement
REVISED Attachment E: Federal Compliance Monitoring Agreement
Attachment F: Federal Compliance Monitoring Proposal
Attachment G: Summary of County and contractor capacity building and technical support services
Attachment H: Staffing Summary
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None