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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11031998 - SD3 SD.3 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this Carder on November 3, 1998, by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Uilkema, Gerber, DeSaulnier, Canciamilla and Rogers NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None SUBJECT: Community Services Department Report On this date, the Board heard Tony Colon, Community Services Director, present a report on his department's performance. The Board discussed the matter and took the following action: ACCEPTED the report on departmental performance from Tony Colon, Community Services Director. 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. ATITESTFA N©VE?CCber 3.- 1998 til Batchelor,CliKk of the oard u sand ty ' inistrator BY Patricia Molloy,beputy Cle c.c. CAO Community Services 1 .: � f� � � ,� �;.�,� �, � � R 14 1 �� _ �. � �r� ��,�� � � �., ���. �, � �� ,���, ,,. 9 � � � . s { COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMEN Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Rogers District 1 Jim Rogers District 2 Gayle B. Uilkerna District 3 Donna Gerber District 4 Mark De Saulnier District 5 Joe Canciamilla' County Administrator Phil Batchelor Chief Assistant County Administrator Scott Tandy Department Management Executive Director Tony Colon Administrative Services Officer At Prince Program Manager, Child Development Wilda Davisson Program Manager, Child Nutrition Claire Maxwell Director, Head Start Pat Stroh TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW A. Departmental Responsibilities ....................................... 1 B. Organizational Structure ................................................. 2 SECTION 11 RESOURCES A. Financial Resources ....................................................... 7 B. Personnel Resources ...................................................... 8 C. Affirmative Action ............................................................ 9 D. Sick leave ................................................................ 9 E. Staff Development ...........................................................10 F. Automation ............................................................. ...... 11 SECTION III CUSTOMER SERVICES A. Service Delivery System ......................................... ........ 12 B. Customer Profile .............................................................. 14 C. Customer Relationships .................................................. 14 D. Funding sources .............................................................. 15 SECTI'O'N IV ANNUAL PERFORMANCE A. Performance Indicators ........................................... 16 B. Accomplishments ................................................. ... ...... 16 SECTION V CHALLENGES AND NEW DIRECTIONS A. Challenges .............................................................. ........ 18 B. New Directions ......... ... .....................................................18 SECTION 1: DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW A. Department Responsibilities MISSION STATEMENT The Department's mission is to ".. provide comprehensive quality services to program eligible County families and individuals that over time: 1. limit and/or prevent economic dependence 2. support families to move out of poverty into self-sufficiency, and 3. provide a comprehensive support environment to prevent families from falling into poverty. The Department will complete phase one of its single point of access model in December 1998, when all its services will be available to eligible families through one single intake process: mm Hamad -,,irt and U hid ., . CoPr" er�rt don Irnmtar&- , k: t i apnt5, V ii sic onf1- f�'I"9 Ire st ► c t4 d s, + l 1'th, c r � rw JuiA 'rraIijifl 1 A. Departmental Responsibilities (continued) The Department acts on behalf of the Board of Supervisors as the Federally Designated Community Action Agency for Contra Costa County. With an annual budget of$17.8 million and over 400 employees, the Department is charged with the responsibility and task of assisting and empowering families to move from poverty to self-sufficiency by providing the following program services: + Head Start, Child Care and State Pre-school, + Family Services and Referrals, • Job Training, Job Development, Job Placement, • Homelessness prevention/intervention, • Senior care, + Nutritious meals for children, • Emergency food and shelter, • Weatherization and utility bill assistance, and • Referrals to other human service agencies for customer support services and/or programs of benefit to our clients. B. Organizational Structure The Department currently consists of five divisions providing the following program services: Child Development Division Wilda Davisson, Program Manager + provides over 182,000 days of subsidized, quality child care each year to 850 children in twelve centers, and 2 offers 79,800 days of State Preschool to 480 children in 20 classrooms Child Nutrition Division Claire Maxwell, Program Manager • provides approximately 7,851 nutritious meals to children each day in our Child Development and Head Start Divisions, and • educates approximately 1,487 parents a year in nutrition through flyers, newsletters and direct contact. Community Action Division Al Prince, ASO • linking five Community Based Organizations under programmatic and fiscal supervision to serve the'low income population throughout the County, • serving 2,400 low income County residents per year, • placing clients in available jobs, • training clients in employment skills, • providing senior care, • mentoring prospective employees, • providing latch key programs, and • providing emergency food and shelter. 3 Head Start Division Pat Stroh, Head Start Director • serves 1,465 children of very low income families in 24 centers County-wide; • 427 of the above referenced children are currently receiving full day, full year services; • supports parents to move from welfare to self-sufficiency utilizing parent involvement, volunteer services, direct employment and referred job opportunities; • provides health services for children through standing referrals with CHDP or through direct payments, and • refers more than 150 Special Needs children to resources for direct treatment and providing Individual Education Plans for these children in the classrooms. Housing & Energy Assistance Division Al Prince, ASO • serving approximately 8,200 low income County residents per year in cooperation with the State and PG & E with utility bill assistance, • providing stability to these and other householdswith monetary assistance for utilities bills, • defusing emergencies through emergency utility bill assistance, and • supporting families to move into self-sufficiency through budget counseling and energy conservation education. • weatherizing approximately 600 households per year via the Department's collaborative understanding with the County Building Inspection Division 4 Organizational Chart An organizational chart for the Department is attached (see attachment number one). Partnerships The Department has developed over the years a number of highly successful partnerships and collaborative efforts with a multitude of community--based organizations to increase and improve our service capacity, efficiency and effectiveness. Ongoing examples include: v/ Increased effectiveness of five Community Services Block Grant contracts to provide job training and placement, emergency shelter, and elder care in identified communities of need. ✓ Expanded services of two long standing Head Start delegate Agency contracts with First Baptist Church and Bayo Vista and added two new contracts with the City of Martinez and Greater Richmond Social Services. ✓ Continued seven State Pre-School contracts in neighborhoods of need. ✓ Closed escrow on Balboa School in partnership with the Northern California Council of the Communities. ✓ Supported "Welcome Home Baby" through Early Head Start funding and planning assistance to serve 234 families through in-home visitation. ✓ Supported "Family Nett' through planning assistance and 1999 funding to implement an interactive TV show informing parents of child education, parenting and development. 5 ✓ Educated 1,600 family members about nutrition strategies to combat anemia. The Anemia Project became a national pilot model. ✓ Implemented child care partnerships with the Social Service Department to serve 204 infants/toddlers and 300 pre-school children full-day, year round in 1999. ✓ Graduated 120 CalWORKs participants through the "Education in Childcare" pilot project to start family day care businesses in collaboration with Social Service Department and Regional Occupational Program (Contra Costa County Officeof Education). ✓ Supported re-instatement of Child Care Local Planning Council to conduct community assessment and planning of a child care network. Some of the Department's efforts to link clients to needed services provided by other County departments are: • the Child Health and disability Prevention Program (CHDP) providing medical and dental screening and treatment to children; • the Polia.Forum Task Force on Child Care and Parenting planning seamless services for child care, • the Women. Infants, Children Program (WIC) - Nutrition program for pregnant mothers, infants and children providing food and nutrition education, • the Private Industry Council (PIC) for Job Training and Placement Programs for unemployed or displaced workers. • the Department of Social Services and County Office of Education to support the restructuring of the Local Planning Council to comply with AB 1642. 6 • the Building Inspection Division to provide weatherizaton services at no cost to the County's General Fund. • the Health Services Department to provide vouchers for homeless families with children in conjunction with the County's 1997 and 1998 Winter Relief Programs. In addition, Divisions within the Community Services Department are in the process of combining different program and funding sources through the "Child Start" concept to provide full day, full year child development services to CaIWORKS families. SECTION 11 RESOURCES A. Financial Resources The Department is unique in that approximately 99 percent of its funding is secured via eleven separate contracts with four non- County funding sources. The Board approved Departmental budget for FY 1998-99 by divisions is as follows: Department Approved Projected Divisions FY 98199 Budget FY 99100Budget Community Action $ 8031634 $ 8441000 Head Start $ 1015201867 $147700,000 Housing and Energy $ 4601515 $ 506,000 Child Nutrition $ 938,622 $ 1,042,000 Child Development $ 5,159,557 $ 5,400,000 Total Appropriations $ 17,8831195 $22,492,000 Federal and State revenue $ 17,662,673 $22,271,478 Net County Cost: $ 220,522 $ 220,522 7 Given the recent funding awards for both the Head Start and Early Start program, the start-up funds necessary to put both programs into operation will increase this year's budget to approximately $22 million, and will remain at this level through FY 99-00. In addition, most Divisional budgets should also experience modest financial growth ranging anywhere from two percent to ten percent, depending upon the respective funding source. Eby Personnel Resources Presently, the Department has a total of 390 employees. The total number of staff based on the 9125198 payroll is as follows: Admin 10 E Adrnin Housing 1 ■Housing Comm. Action 2 13Comm. Action �r Child Dev 214 (Child Dev Child Nutr 19 1 0 Child Nutr Head Start 144 0'Head Start TOTAL 390 Permanent 328 Temporary 82 Staffing requirements for most of the Department's divisions are regulated by the funding source providing support for program operations. 8 C. Affirmative Action The work force in the Department truly reflects the diversity of the families and communities served by the Department. Currently, the Department either meets or exceeds most Contra Costa County benchmarks. The Department's latest statistics (1997) are as follows: EMPLOYEE BREAKDOWN Category Number Department Labor Contra Percentage Force in Costa Percent* County Population Male 20 8.1% 54.8% 54.5% Female 226 91.9% 45.2% 45.51° African- 97 39.4% 7.8% 9% American American i 1 .4% .7% 1% Alaskan Indian Asian 1 Pacific 36 14.6% 10.6% 9% Islander Caucasian 52 21.1% 55.6% 70°l° Hispanic 59 24.0% 10.6% 11% Totals 246 100.0% 100% 100% * Percentages of labor force are statewide D. Sick Leave According to the latest Departmental sick leave reports distributed by Human Resources for the period of January 1, 1998 through March 31, 1998, employees used approximately 83.4% of their sick leave earned during the period in review. This represents a modest improvement over the 1997 percentage of 85.5 %. Given staffs proximity to so many children during last year's cold and flu season, the percentage of usage should not be surprising. In 9 addition, the Department is implementing a corrective action plan in program year 1998/1999 that follows three steps: a) Management training in the correct methods of using the Contra Costa County Sick Leave Policy. b) Monthly Sick Leave reports to detect patterns of absenteeism. c) Corrective actions to remedy patterns of absenteeism and publishing impact studies of excessive sick leave. The objective is to reduce sick leave impact and excessive absenteeism over time and in strict adherence to the Memorandum Of Understanding with the Union Local One. E. Staff Development The Department has enjoyed a long tradition of recruiting clients who are serving in a volunteer capacity in the classroom to entry-level employment positions within the Department. In some cases, former clients achieve positions on the mid-management level. This dynamic has created a continuous staff development need across all staffing levels and categories. A staff development "ladder" was implemented that both enables and empowers motivated employees to improve their personal and employment possibilities. Particularly, staff development has become crucial to the operation and licensing of child care centers to follow the California Child Development Metrix. One Departmental objective is to increase the focus on program excellence through individual staff development. This supports the Department's goal to develop and maintain a workplace environment that fosters and supports staff creativity, development and understanding of the Department's mission and purpose. This will include a new intensive training program for new managers and employees, but also a more thorough overview and analysis of management and staff performance on a bi-annual basis to foster and promote Individual and Departmental excellence. Utilizing a new Management Assessment and Performance tool, managers will be required on an ongoing basis to improve their job performance on a number of pre-determined performance categories. 10 Training and technical assistance will be made available through a number of program options to promote and support ongoing improvement. F. Automation The Department continues to move forward towards its goal of becoming fully automated. As promised in the 1997 Annual Performance Review, 1998 CSBG funds were utilized to automate the Department's administrative offices. 1998 Head Start funds were also secured to automate Head Start administrative offices. Despite this, a lot of work still needs to be done. For example, budget constraints have forced most of our Child Development Division staff to function without computers, and almost all staff lacks e-mail and data sharing capabilities that are commonplace in most County Departments. In addition, many staff members who have computers require additional vocational training in order to properly use them. By the end of the year, 1998 CSBG funds will be expended to connect the CSD offices and sites to a Department Wide Area Network. The Department is also in the process of establishing a web page in early 1999 to improve existing datalinks with our clients, staff, and other human service organizations. Further, the Department is working with CompUSA to develop a curriculum of classes that aft computer users in the Department will have to complete as part of their employment expectations and evaluations. Finally, the State Department of Community Services and Development plans to convert the program intake process for the LIHEAP program to a fully automated, on-line "paperiessylsystem in 1999. This will be the Department's first program that uses state-of- the art computer technology to perform intake and eligibility services on line. 11 SECTION III CUSTOMER SERVICES A. Service Delivery System The Department provides a wide range of program services to an extremely diverse spectrum of customers in an industry that is currently encountering tremendous changes within its service delivery structure. The Department's customer base can be classified into three major areas of emphasis: • Our clients ■ Our funding sources ■ The taxpayers The Department administers an array of human services programs that successfully enable its clients to move from poverty to self sufficiency in accordance with the contractual expectations of the funding sources, and in concert with the program expectations of the taxpayers. Currently, the Department provides program services to clients through 42 different locations countywide. Services include, but are not limited to the following: • Head Start, Child Care and State pre-school, • Family Services and Referrals, • Job Training, Job Development, Job Placement, • Homelessness prevention/intervention, • Senior care, 12 • Nutritious meals for children, • Emergency Food and Shelter, • Weatherization and utility bill assistance, and • Referrals to other human services programs. One of the major challenges in the delivery of services is the diversity of eligibility requirements between our programs. All programs are funded from different sources for different reasons, and have significant differences in both eligibility standards and criteria. Here are but three examples: • Weatherization: 150 % of Federal Poverty Guidelines. • ChildDevelopment 75 % of State median income. • Head Start 50 % of Federal median income. The diversity of program eligibility requirements, combined with a lack of a Department-wide computerized intake system, forced the Department to decentralize its customer service delivery system to the division level. While effective in that program services are indeed being delivered to the poor, the current decentralized system is far from being as efficient as it can and should be. Both clients and staff are forced to go from division to division to seek and secure needed services that could be made available through just one contact point with one person. With the advent of the Department's seamless service delivery model using a single point of contact, both clients and staff are able to concentrate on strategies to move needing families in Contra Costa County toward self-sufficiency. 13 B. Customer Profile CHILDREN SERVICES African - American 26.1 %8 American Indian /Alaskan 0.2 % Asian 3.2 % Caucasian 20.1 % Hispanic 44.3 % Native Hawaiian/Pacific Isl. 6.2 % Disabled 10.2 % COMMUNITY ACTION Energy Burden Clients under age of 60 49.6% Ene[gy Burden clients over the age of 60 30.6% Disabled 19.7% C. Customer Relationships • Participation: Head Start parents participate in shared decision making to steer the program. • Satisfaction: Parent surveys, client satisfaction surveys and client needs assessments are conducted annually. The Head Start Program conducts annual community assessments, making this information available to all other programs and Community Agencies. • Seamless services: Programs collaborate to provide seamless services through a single point of contact. Services include child care, child health, employment, nutrition, community resource referrals, utility bill assistance, attic insulation, weather-stripping, broken glass replaced, ceiling fans, as well as adult education in literacy, budgeting and career strategies to move families towards self-sufficiency. 14 D. Funding sources The Department's service delivery system uses the following funds from the Federal, State and local sources: Program Funding Source Funding Agency(s) Head Start Federal ✓ Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families Child Development State, Local ✓ State department of Education, ✓ Contra Costa Community College District Child Nutrition Federal, State ✓ HUD, ✓ Department of Education Housing & Energy State ✓ Department of Community Services and Development Community Action State ✓ Department of Community Services and Development Administration Local, State, Federal ✓ All of the above funding agencies, ✓ County General Fund 15 SECTION IV ANNUAL. PERFORMANCE A. Performance Indicators Tools for monitoring performance are: a Annual audits of contracts; ♦ tin-site program reviews by our funding sources; ♦ In-house reviews by CSD monitoring staff, Division staff; ♦ Annual performance review by Board of Supervisors; ♦ Annual performance review by County Administrator; ♦ Feedback from customers; ♦ Feedback from funding sources; * Feedback from staff. B. Accomplishments Compliance issues Direct services are fully compliant with Head Start Federal Regulations. v" Fully compliant with State Department of Community Services and Development regulations for the Community Services Block Grant, Department of Energy, Low Income Housing & Energy Assistance Programs and Mentoring contracts ✓' Up-to-date with all program, fiscal and close-out reports. 16 ✓ Closed out FY 1997-98 Departmental Budget with a $300,000 surplus. ✓ Preliminary audit assessments for FY 1997-98 report no questioned or disallowed costs ✓ Implemented new system of fiscal controls through centralized accounting to protect county General Fund. ✓ Collaborated with the Economic Opportunity Council to re- organize the Department for single point of access. ✓ Began to Integrate Head Start and Child Development programs to allow common and time-efficient intakefor eligible families. ✓ Restored credibility with State Government, Federal Government, and the public. Grant Awards ✓ Historic and unprecedented award of $3.3 million of Early Head Start funds toward a collaborative project with Child Development and Social Service Department to serve 234 infants and toddlers as well as their families. ✓ Head Start Expansion of $960,000 to serve 120 children and their families full day, year round. ✓ These grants include $ 3.7 million start up Head Start funds for seven new facilities and XX playgrounds. ✓ Contra Costa County Community Development Department awarded 17,000 toward the Richmond Central Kitchen Project of the Child Nutrition Division. ✓ California State Department of Education awarded $ 283,000 toward full day, year round pre-school services. 17 ✓ California State Department of Education awarded $ 30,000 in One Time Only funds to renovate Powers pre-school facility. ✓ California State Department of Education awarded $ 16,000 for instructional materials and supplies. ✓ On behalf of the Contra Costa Mentodng Initiative, applied for and were awarded $ 63,000 toward mentoring programs for at- risk Contra Costa County youth to reduce gang violence, drug/alcohol abuse and teen pregnancies. SECTION V CHALLENGES AND NEW DIRECTIONS A. Challenge Continuing changes in the CalWORKs social environment demand a responsive, flexible and changing program structure to deliver adequate services. B. Opportunity ✓ Integration of services makes available all existing Departmental, interdepartmental and contractors' resources to clients in their neighborhoods, through a single point of access. ✓ New program op#ions are explored to expand program operation hours. Centralized intake reduces response time from clients' requests to delivery of services and ensures timely crisis intervention. Community Action focuses expansion efforts on job creation, housing/shelter and family services. Part-day child care programs need to be converted to full day without increase of funding in order to serve CalWORKs clients and the working poor. 18 A. Challenge Exempt child care for CalWORKs participants draws children from all existing child care centers delivering subsidized child care. This causes under-enrollment in centers where professional staff supports child development with developmentally appropriate education methods, ongoing assessments, and intervention strategies. Children on exempt care are subject to supervision by unlicensed non- professionals without any monitoring for child abuse or neglect, developmental delay or malnutrition. B. Opportunity Collaborate with County policy makers and Local One to lobby for changes. Lobby on Federal and State levels to leverage strategies to utilize existing subsidized child care to support CaIWORKs participants. A. Challenge Differences in eligibility requirements for three childcare programs make intake procedures complex and application processes of seamless services difficult. B. Opportunity ✓ Lobby on State and Federal level to standardize and adjust eligibility requirements. ✓ Link with Child Development J Head Start State Collaborative to support State policies for the development of seamless;services. 19 A. Challenge Lack of adequate licensable facilities in neighborhoods of need and lengthy planning processes for construction of new facilities delay or make impossible adequate implementation of needed services in neighborhoods. B. Opportunity ✓ Streamline the facilities development timeline. ✓ Seek additional State and Federal dollars for facilities. 20 Attachment Number One: Organizational Chart x� CL z IsI 32 �. f2gi0 ----------------------------- w o � x RECEIVED NOV - 3 1998 CEl tIC B MFSU DRS CC). Provide comprehensive quality services to program eligible County families and individuals that over time: Hmdt and prevent economic dependence support families to move toward self- sufficiency elfsuiriency provide a comprehensive support system � A y x Y � t l •A ...............................................,.�.....,...... ..w,,...,._..._.:....,.,....... e r ' II i y rte:. c r.. Zr o Ar u�x. kAS C3 � . � . . ... � . . . . o � s . . a � . .. . . . 2 . m : + . . .. . % .- .. . .. m . . � . - . . ... » E . . . . .. o � . /� - � ue / Changes ! .� \ \ � a O ' \ - Exempt child care � . � \ 7 \ Differing eligib . . » . 2 £ 2 # . 0Licensable Facilities �� ° } 5