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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10221996 - SD4 h J./ D, 1. To: ' BOARD OF SUPERVISORS F&HS-03 Contra FROM: FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEECosta o, s County DATE: October 14, 1996 ---6--- eu C� T� p.• SUBJECT: PROCESS FOR ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE CHILD CARE AFFORDABILITY FUND SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. AGREE to continue allocating funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund for the 1997-98 fiscal year to the agencies and in the amounts allocated for the 1996-97 fiscal year in the Board's Order approving the Finance Committee report on this subject dated June 18, 1996 and DIRECT the County Administrator to reflect these allocations in the Preliminary County Budget for the 1997-98 fiscal year. 2. DIRECT the Social Service Director and Community Services Director, in consultation with the Child Care Task Force and Family and Children's Trust Committee, to jointly consider the most appropriate process for allocating the Child Care Affordability Fund beginning with the 1998-99 fiscal year and provide at least a status report to the 1997 Family and Human Services Committee by February 1, 1997 and for this purpose REMOVE this item as a referral to the 1996 Family and Human Services Committee and instead REFER it to the 1997 Family and Human Services Committee. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COM/T/j f/� APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): MARK DeSAULNIER JEFF SMITH ACTION OF BOARD ON October 22, 1996 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT --- ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ATTESTED October 22 , 1996 Contact: PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF cc: See Page 3 SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY F&HS-03 3. DIRECT the County Counsel to provide his opinion to the members of the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator on the following questions: A. "Do the provisions of Government Code Section 1090 or other statutes on conflict of interest prevent a potential recipient of funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund from participating on any advisory committee or body which may participate in the setting of priorities for receipt of funds, establishment of bid documents, reviewing bid responses, or recommending the allocation of funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund." B. "If the answer to question #1 is essentially yes, could a potential recipient of funds avoid a conflict of interest by: • abstaining from voting on any motion which would provide a financial benefit to the individual's agency? • abstaining from all discussion and voting on any motion which would provide a financial benefit to the individual's agency? • agreeing in advance not to apply for or accept any funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund?" -BACKGROUND: On September 17, 1996, the Board of Supervisors approved a status report from our Committee on this subject which included the following recommendations: 1. ACCEPT this report from the Family and Human Services Committee on the status of work on the process to be followed in allocating funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund for the 1997-98 fiscal year. 2. REQUEST the Child Care Task Force and the Contra Costa Child Care Council to provide their advice to the Family and Human Services Committee on the process they believe should be followed in allocating funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund for the 1997-98 fiscal year. 3. REQUEST the Child Care Task Force to forward to the Board of Supervisors at their earliest opportunity the updated Child Care Plan,the Executive Summary of which was reviewed by our Committee on September 9, 1996 and which is attached to this report. 4. REQUEST our Committee to meet again with all interested parties on this subject during the month of October and return additional recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. On October 14, 1996, our Committee met with representatives from the Child Care Task Force, the Contra Costa Child Care Council and the Family and Children's Trust Committee (FACT). Their written submissions are attached. The position of the Child Care Task Force is that we should proceed to put out bids for the funds for the 1997-98 fiscal year, that the Task Force should recommend the priorities for allocation of the funds and that FACT should manage the issuance of bids, review of the responses to those bids and recommend the allocation of the funds. -2- F&HS-03 The position of the Contra Costa Child Care Council is that we should delay putting these funds out to bid for another year, consistent with the position of the Social Service Department, which we understand to be that we should await further information on welfare reform and how it will impact the County before deciding how to allocate these funds. The position of FACT is that either it should handle the entire process, including the setting of priorities or that it should not be involved at all. They suggest this process in order to assure that the allocation process is conducted in a conflict-free environment, whereas the Child Care Task Force includes several child care providers, any of whom is a potential recipient of the funds from the Child Care Affordability Fund. The Community Services Department's representative, Wilda Davisson, agreed with the position of the Child Care Council, namely that the existing contracts should be extended for one additional year in order to better understand the impact that welfare reform will have on the whole field of child care and then decide what action to take and indicated that she was reflecting the position of the Community Services Director, Scott Tandy. In view of the varying positions being taken and the seeming difficulty of resolving them in a timely manner in,order to undertake a full bid process in preparation for the 1997-98 fiscal year, we are recommending that the contracts be continued for another year. We are then asking the Social Service Director and Community Services Director to try to work out a process in conjunction with the Child Care Task Force and FACT. We are also concerned about the issue of a potential conflict of interest on the part of those who might participate in the decision-making process, as noted by FACT. We are, therefore, asking County Counsel to provide the Board some guidance in terms of whether members of groups like the Child Care Task Force can participate in the process of allocating these funds if they are potential recipients of the funds. cc: County Administrator Social Service Director Community Services Director County Counsel Child Care Task Force (Via CAO) FACT (Via Social Service Director) -3- vY I I Collin Child Care Council "Helping parents put the pieces together." CONTRA COSTA COUNTY RECEIVED t October 3, 1996 OCT 4 1996 OFFICE OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR r To: Family and Human Services Committee Fr: Kate Ertz-Berger, Executive Director Re: Child Care Affordability Fund (1997-98 Fiscal Year) The Child Care Council suggests that for fiscal year 1997-98, the Child Care Affordability Fund be allocated in the same manner as it is currently allocated. This recommendation is n6t an endorsement of the manner in which the dollars are currently being spent, but rather support for the Department of Social Service's position as we understand it. In light of welfare reform, it seems the most prudent course would be to continue as we are for now and, when we know more, review the needs assessment work already done by the Task Force, in the context of the child care needs created by welfare reform, establish new priorities and allocate the dollars accordingly. The Child Care Council supports the Task Force's recommendations that when, and if, these dollars are put out to bid, that the Task Force is the logical entity to set priorities for their use and the FACT Committee is best equipped to manage the allocation process. cc: Child Care Task Force CONTRA COSTA CHILD CARE TASK FORCE October 3, 1996 To: Fainly and Human Service Committee Fr: Kate Ertz-Berger, Co-Chair Child Care Task Force Re: Child Care Affordability Fund (1997-98 Fiscal Year) At its September 25, 1996 meeting, the Child Care Task Force discussed the Child Care Affordability Fund and how it might be allocated for the 1997-98 fiscal year. The Task Force recommends the funds be put out to bid for the fiscal year 1997-98. Further, the Task Force believes it is in the best position to establish priorities for use of the monies and the FACT Committee is the best vehicle to do the actual allocations (issuing the RFP, screening proposals and selecting contractors). CONTRA COSTA COUNTY RECEIVED OCT 8 1996 cc: Child Care Task Force OFFICE OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR L S 50 : FAMILY AND-CHILDREN'S TRUST COMMITTEE Please reply to: FACT Staff Contra Costa County Social Service Department 40 Douglas Drive Martinez,CA 94553-4068 (510) 313-1614 October 9, 1996 Dear Supervisors Smith and DeSaulnier: On behalf of the Family and Children's Trust Committee, I wish to let you know about our current work and discuss our understanding and feelings regarding the Child Care Affordability Fund distribution process. This month the FACT Committee will launch our bi-annual Needs Assessment process which includes a widely distributed survey and three public hearings. It is by this process that we will develop the priorities for the next Request for Proposals to be distributed in February of next year. This is a very busy time for the Committee members, who are required to participate in fact-finding, analysis of data, participation in public dialogue, and development of the RFP, as well as complete site-visits to all currently funded FACT contractors. The Committee also educates itself about current activities and priorities in the County in order to evaluate FACT priorities, in light of other efforts being made in the area of services for children and families. We look for linkages to programs, Social Service Department goals, and other initiatives, such as the Family Preservation programs and the Policy Forum's priorities on "parenting" and "alcohol/drugs," as we design our focus areas. In January we will hold a bidders' conference and proceed with the proposal review and resulting recommendations to the Board in April. As you can imagine, this is intensive work for a volunteer group. At the September Family and Human Services Committee Meeting, the process for managing the distribution of the Child Care Affordability Funds was discussed by Kate Ertz- Berger. I attended this meeting at your invitation, assuming that the recommendation on the table was that a full RFP process be adopted in which FACT or a FACT-like group oversee the funding. I had anticipated a fuller discussion at that time regarding the issues related to the Child Care Affordability Funds. In fact,what occurred seemed not to require my input or that of the FACT Committee. I did, however, say that the FACT Committee wished to state clearly that they were not seeking oversight of the Child Care Affordability Funds, but did feel most strongly that a competitive and conflict-free process with public input was most important. FACT would not wish to participate in a process which did not fully reflect this approach. As matters were left, it appeared that Ms. Ertz-Berger, the Child Care Task Force, and the Child Care Council would recommend to the Family and Human THE FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S TRUST COMMITTEE IS APPOINTED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THF APPROPRIATE EXPENDITURE OF VARIOUS STATE AND LOC,9L FUNDS. s D,� Supervisors Smith and DeSaulnier October 9, 1996 Page 2 Services Committee the process to be used to distribute the funds. FACT was not asked for input nor requested to participate in developing the recommendation. I have recently been made aware that the Child Care Task Force and Ms. Ertz-Berger may be recommending a process whereby the Task Force would develop the RFP priority areas and submit them to FACT. FACT would then be responsible for developing an RFP, based on those priorities, and reviewing proposals which interested parties, including members of the Task Force and Ms. Ertz-Berger, will submit. This is not a recommendation which FACT can endorse. It is not a conflict-free process, it is likely to generate ill-will in the provider community, and it does not provide the opportunity for collaboration with other programs/projects related to children and families within the Social Service Department, nor the recently-established County priorities as developed by the Policy Forum. The FACT Committee truly believes the Child Care Task Force and the Child Care Council's efforts to update the County's Child Care Plan and their willingness to work on transitioning the Child Care Affordability Funds are laudable. The Committee also believes these groups have much experience and expertise related to child care issues. The fact remains, however, that the current proposal does not meet the Board of Supervisor's previous directives to maintain a conflict-free process when dealing with the disbursement of funds in a competitive arena, nor will it allow the kind of interface/collaboration which FACT believes is important for all future contracting. I and other members of FACT, along with staff,will attend your meeting on October 14 and will be more than happy to discuss this further. At the moment, however, the Committee's position is to refrain from participating in the allocation process as it is now being proposed. Sincerely yours, / 4d7�4; Kathleen Tabor Co-Chair, FACT cc: Claude Van Marter, Assistant County Administrator John Cullen, Social Services Director Danna Fabella, Assistant Social Services Director