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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06222010 - C.84RECOMMENDATION(S): Accept a report from the Employment and Human Services Committee on the current status of the Child Care Affordability Fund and Approve and Authorize the Employment an Human Services Director to execute a contract with the Contra Costa Child Care Council to provide child care subsidies in the amount of $250,000 for the period of July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011 as recommended by the Family and Human Services Committee. FISCAL IMPACT: The funding for these child care subsidies is provided by funds contributed by County employees to their Dependent Care Accounts and left unclaimed. BACKGROUND: In 1991, the Board of Supervisors earmarked $250,000 of Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from the Embassy Suites Hotel to support/expand county-wide child care for low-income families. In 1997, the Board approved a recommendation from the Family and Human Services Committee that the Family and Children’s Trust Committee (FACT) be responsible for establishing priorities for use of the Child Care Affordability funds, developing and managing the competitive process for awarding these monies, and APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 06/22/2010 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor ABSENT:Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Supervisor Contact: Dorothy Sansoe, 925-335-1009 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: June 22, 2010 David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: KATHERINE SINCLAIR, Deputy cc: C. 84 To:Board of Supervisors From:Family and Human Services Committee Date:June 22, 2010 Contra Costa County Subject:2010-11 Child Care Affordability Funding Allocation monitoring the resulting programs for contract compliance and achievement of outcomes. In 2002, the Board approved a two-year funding cycle for disbursement of the funds. Effective July 1, 2008 the 2008-2009 County budget modified the funding stream such that Childcare Affordability funds would no longer be generated from the revenue of the Transient Occupancy Tax but, instead, be funded by residual funds in the County Employee’s Dependent Care Account. The $250,000 appropriation for Child Care Affordability is now transferred to EHSD each year from the Dependent Care account, to support the Childcare Affordability contracts. The resulting change in the funding stream created an unanticipated situation that the Committee addressed in January, 2009 when it elected to continue funding its current contract and future contracts at the same $250,000 level until the funds were exhausted. It is anticipated that the Child Care Affordability funds will be depleted by the end of FY2012-2013. The following report details the activities of the FACT Committee since its last presentation to FHS. BACKGROUND: (CONT'D) NEEDS ASSESSMENT In August, 2009, staff to the FACT Committee met with FHS to outline a process for determining the priorities for the forthcoming 2010-2011 Child Care Affordability Request for Proposal (RFP). The FACT Committee conducted a needs assessment process in the fall of 2009. Meetings were held with key stakeholders in the county’s child care network and web-based and in-person questionnaires (in Spanish and English) were administered to over 250 professionals, parents, and other community members. The FACT Committee received a total of one hundred and ten (110) respondents to the survey of which twenty-nine (29) were from a parent or grandparent. Additionally, the FACT Committee invited a variety of Stakeholders to discuss current, pressing, child care needs, gaps and challenges that could best be met with Child Care Affordability funding. Stakeholders included representation from the Employment & Human Services Department, Children & Family Services, the Child Care Council, Professional Association of Childhood Educators, the First Five Commission, and the Child Abuse Prevention Council. A review of both processes revealed an overarching theme in the current landscape of childcare and its relevant challenges. Parents and providers alike expressed that the current state of the economy has made it very difficult for the working poor and parents who are in school and or training programs to access quality childcare. The greatest area of need was for families with toddler and preschool aged children (2-5 years). As in past needs assessments, both families/community members and the “professionals” were clear that subsidy support needed to be “parent-choice” (with respect to type of child care). Accordingly, the FACT Committee identified following priority for the 2010-2011 RFP: The provision of parent-choice child care subsidies for low-income working parents and/or parents in school or work training programs who have toddlers needing child care or children who would benefit from preschool enrollment. Low income working families and/or unemployed parents in school or work training programs constitute a group with significant unmet child care needs. The wages of low income working parents often put them marginally above the income eligibility cut-offs for federal or state supported child care. Without child care services, one or both parents can be forced to give up their employment in order to stay home and care for their children. Likewise, parents who are attempting to remain in school or parents enrolled in work training programs cannot continue those endeavors or meet their school or work commitments if child care is not available to them. commitments if child care is not available to them. In each of these situations, the complexity of the family circumstances requires flexible care-giving placements. The FACT Committee sought applicants for the RFP who could provide a range of child care options, including licensed and exempt child care settings and center-based care, so that parents could choose the highest quality of child care that best suits their individual needs. Additionally, the FACT Committee continues to require an established set of guiding principles for all programs supported by FACT funds. All programs will strive to: 1. Strengthen families and their ability to nurture, support and care for their children; 2. Recognize and value the diversity of families and promote access to services for all families; 3. Support implementation of programs that use the best that research and experience have to offer; 4. Support and encourage collaboration that leverages resources, enhances services, and links systems, and 5. Encourage community and consumer participation in program development, implementation and assessment. RFP PROCESS, 2010 Using the above priorities and principles, the FACT Committee and the Contracts Unit of EHSD developed RFP #1113, which was approved by County Counsel and the Board for release in March, 2010. The RFP was released on March 12, 2010 via all local newspapers, email announcements to a list of current child care agencies/programs, and was also posted on the EHSD web.-site. A mandatory Bidders Conference was held on March 29, 2010 and proposals were due April 21, 2010. There was one respondent to the RFP, the Contra Costa Child Care Council. The FACT Committee undertook a rigorous evaluation and scoring process of the proposal and the Fiscal Department of EHSD reviewed and scored the financial information. The proposal was scored very highly by all FACT members as well as the Fiscal Department. At the open Rating and Review meeting held on May 6, 2010, FACT Committee members voted unanimously to recommend the Contra Costa Child Care Council for funding ($250,000) for FY 2010-2011. The FACT Committee followed an extensive, equitable and open process in the conduct of the needs assessment, RFP development, and the rating and review of the submitted proposal. The FACT Committee is recommending that a contract is awarded to Contra Costa Child Care Council for one year with the possibility of renewal pending the availability of funds, satisfactory contract compliance, and achievement of outcomes. FACT MONITORING PROCESS Over the years, FACT Committee members and staff have developed a thorough and consistent monitoring process for contractors that focus on financial accountability, collection and analysis of performance and outcome data and assessments of direct project “operations” and program quality via comprehensive site-visits by teams of Committee members. The monitoring process includes the following: Financial Monitoring Project expenditures are tracked by FACT staff and the Contracts Unit of EHSD on a monthly basis to ensure contactors are adhering to all budgetary requirements. Back-up documentation of line-item expenditures is reviewed before payments are authorized. Any significant variation in a line item from the approved budget must be resolved and changes approved in writing before payment will be authorized. This close monitoring assists in the detection of any possible over/under-spending and allows mid-contract adjustments to be made rather than end-of-the-year adjustments that often have implications for the following fiscal year. Performance and Outcome Assessment Contractors are required to complete a bi-annual assessment questionnaire specifically developed to document their progress toward meeting both the service delivery and outcome objectives of the project as stated in their proposals. These include descriptions of program philosophy, outreach, intake, service provision, termination and follow-up procedures, in addition to the quantitative indicators of contract compliance (i.e. numbers of families served, demographic information, etc.). Project Site-Visits Teams of FACT members/staff conduct site-visits to each project. The site-visits provide an opportunity to follow-up on any issues or questions that surfaced when reviewing the data forms and allow team members to see and understand the programs’ operations in more depth than can be captured through the submitted data alone. In particular, team members conduct facility assessments and have the opportunity to interact with both the administrative and line staff of the programs to discuss the successes and challenges facing the programs. Having staff members “walk” them through a typical day provides invaluable information about the breadth of services available. FACT has always viewed these site-visits as a monitoring tool, but equally importantly, a mechanism for providing technical assistance to the project staff when issues of concern have been observed, or when staff articulate problems with which they have been grappling. Over time, FACT Committee members have worked with many contractors that have encountered most of the same service delivery problems and can share solutions that have proved successful elsewhere. Developing cooperative relationships with the contractors to jointly focus on improved service delivery has been a hallmark of FACT’s approach to program oversight. CURRENT CONTRACTOR REPORTS Contra Costa Child Care Council provides parent-choice subsidies for families based on the priorities developed from the 2008 FACT Needs Assessment which determined that the highest priority for services was “the provision of parent-choice child care subsidies for families with open child welfare system cases and for homeless families with children where the provision of child care could prevent out-of-home placement, maintain a stable relative-caregiver placement, or improve the development of homeless children. In addition to administering the subsidy program, Contra Costa Child Care Council provides the families receiving assistance: 1) free workshops, education and resources to parents to help them build strong families and make the best child care choices; 2) free child care referrals to give parents choices and help parent meet their life/work needs; and 3) free or minimal cost training foe child care providers to help them build sustainable businesses and to provide quality, healthy, and age-appropriate care, including caring for children with special needs. Over the past year, 70 children from 40 families have received much needed supportive childcare assistance from the Council. The average age for children receiving childcare services is 3.4 years, with the youngest child being 6 months old and the oldest being twelve years. 50% of child care providers are Licensed Child Care Centers, while 41% are Family Childcare Homes and 6% of the children are cared for by an approved relative. Child care providers are geographically located throughout the entire county with Central County having a majority of service providers at 48%. East and Far East hosts 37% of all service providers and West County hosts 15%. The FACT Committee believes that Contra Costa Child Care Council has provided exemplary services to children and their families as indicated by data collection, contract monitoring, and site-visits. At this time, the Council has successfully met their goals and objectives of their contract obligations. The FACT Committee strongly endorses Contra Costa Child Care Council as the successful bidder of the Child Care Affordability Funds RFP FY 2010 process and hopes the Family and Human Services Committee agrees to forward this recommendation to the full Board for approval.