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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12092003 - C109 Re, 00 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS _ CONTRA ,0 "rJi • ' f :�. �-�" ,� COSTA FROM■ John Sweeten . _-'�I(, Yom:• � County Administrator �,;_ •r' : z is-P COUNTY r DATE: December 9, 2003 SUBJECT: Children and Families Policy Forum 2003 Annual Report SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT the Children and Families Policy Forum 2003 Annual Report. BACKGROUND/REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION�S�: The Contra Costa Children and Families Policy Forum was established by the Board of Supervisors in 1996 as a means to inform and engage citizens, community service providers, foundations, private sector partners and local government representatives in activities that improve the health, safety, well-being, economic strength and quality of life in the County's children, families and communities. The Policy Forum Executive Committee actively oversees some efforts, endorses or supports others, and sponsors or coordinates still others. its most visible project is the Children's Report Card, which measures how children are doing in Contra Costa County using 24 other data indicators. The most recent version was published this year. The Children's Report Card can be used as a foundation for policy development, an informative community tool and a resource for understanding and prioritizing community needs. On June 18, 2002 the Board issued Resolution No. 2002/377 stating that all advisory bodies must provide an annual report to the Board of Supervisors. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: y SIGNATURE:09! "RtCOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD C9MMITTEE PROVE OTHER (::1.54 SIGNATURE{S}: ACTION OF BOAR f APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED ' Qftlrw VOTE OF SUPERVISORS y 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: Devorah Levine 335-1017 ATTESTED cc: Devorah Levine,CAO JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Policy Forum Executive Committee(via CAO) AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR r BY DEPUTY 2003 ANNUAL REPORT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES POLICY FORUM "All Contra Costa County children will reach adulthood having experienced a safe,healthy,nurturing childhood which prepares them to be responsible,contributing members of the community." Vision statement—Contra Costa County Children and Families Policy Forum Advisory Body Name: Children and Families Policy Forum AdvisoryBody Meeting Time/Location: Executive Committee meets 7-8 times a year/ Summit y g Center, Martinez; General Policy Forum traditionally meets 3-4 times a year(no general policy forum meeting was held this year). Chair(during the reporting period): John Sweeten, County Administrator Staffp erson(during the reporting period): Devorah Levine, Interim Staff to the Policy Forum Reporting Period: January 2003 —November 2003 I and U. Activities and Accomplishments PolicyForum activities and accomplishments for 2003 included significant milestones: p Children's Report Card The third edition of the Children's Report Card was released in June 2003. Its four community outcomes and 24 data indicators were developed through collaborative efforts of more than 40 representatives of government and community service agencies serving on the Executive Committee and Project Oversight Committee. This edition of the Report Card included format changes, a data development agenda, and emphasized use of the Report Card as a powerful communication and planning tool. Funding p for the Report Card was provided by Policy Forum member commitments. The Report Card is available on line through the Office of Education at www.cocoschools.or To date,over 700 copies of the report card have been distributed. Parenting Task Force The Parenting Task Force is a Policy Forum subcommittee that was instituted to provide information, education, and networking opportunities for professionals and volunteers involved in parent education. Four workshops were held this year: "Involving Fathers" with speakers on strategies for getting men involved in their children's lives and a panel of young fathers from the Rubicon program(January 2003); "Strategies for Kindergarten Readiness", a joint effort with staff of the First 5 Commission(April 2003); "Cultural Perspectives on Parenting", an overview of cultural diversity and discipline with diversity(July 2003); and "Childhood Depression" (October 2003). Each of the four workshops had between 40—60 participants and was very well received. Anagreement with CCTV permitted the taping of every workshop, and subsequent airing at least twice on the local TV channel. This has expended workshop access to professionals/parents who were unable to attend the workshop. In addition, the Parenting Task Force developed an agreement with Mt Diablo Adult Education to allow the Task Force to receive up to $4.00 per participant to help defray the costs of 1(ids are Everfbody's Business• sponsoring the workshops, and Continuing Education Units will now be available for nurses to attend relevant workshops as well. CCFuture Contra Costa Future (CCFuture), a public/private '"partnership/investment strategy" supported by the Policy Forum, is designed to maximize and leverage public/private resources, and demonstrates that prevention and early intervention programs can achieve better outcomes for children and their families. Highlights of activities and achievements include the following: Data Archive In January 2003, Executive Committee authorized the Children's Mental Health Department's System of Care Planning and Policy Council to oversee the transition and maintenance of the Data Archive from the contractor to the department. That process is currently underway. The The Inter-Azency Fiscal Strategy i ne Fiscal Work Group assisted the Health Services Department and the Employment and Human Services Department better understand how each department's funding streams would constitute sustainable funding required by the other department's programs. By August 2003,the Health Services Department and Employment and Human Services completed an inter-department agreement to allow Welcome Home Baby to bill Medicaid's Targeted Case Management for reimbursing paraprofessionals' home visits to families and Medicaid Administrative Activities claiming for all outreach and project efforts to enroll and support families use of Medi-Cal. Praeram Performance Software Both Welcome Home Baby(WHB) and Spirit of Caring (SOC) have obtained and *installed Program Performance Software able to document: ✓ Who is served(demographics, severity, and geographical location) ✓ What services are provided and what intensity of services are provided, ✓ Outcomes of services provided, and ✓ Cost of serving families to achieve the outcomes. Reinvestment Strategy CCFuture's strategy is to pursue all relevant categorical funding sources to help sustain the two pilot programs as current funding sources decline. Because Contra Costa County is coping with a large budget deficit and is not in a position to guarantee that county general fund dollars will be available to sustain prevention programs,regardless of their accomplishments,the Board approved the creation of a Children's "Future Fund". The Fund will initially include revenues from the new transient occupancy taxes generated from the Renaissance Hotel Center at the Pleasant Hill BART station. Efforts are underway to des*19 n/identity a grant administration structure for the funds that focus programs on documenting results. An advisory ballot measure is also under exploration. AfterschooNAII(AS4AII) Afterschool4AII is a countywide initiative, endorsed and supported by the Policy Forum, to expand the size and quality of the County's after school system. Six school districts and sixteen schools *in the County completed their second year of after school programming in 2002-03 serving approximately 1,500 students. Student surveys administered at the end of the school year indicated: • 76%of student respondents indicated that there was someone at the after-school program who could help them when they needed it; lCids are EVertbody I s Business C, 75%responded that they were doing better in school since attending AS4AII programs; • 87%of respondents agreed that AS4AII programs respect their culture/heritage. Despite a net decrease of$200,000 in funding this year AS4AII expanded to two additional schools. The Policy Forum contributed$6,000 from their Community Approach Award to offer enhanced arts and culture activities. CBO Callacit-y-BudI ding The Center for Community-based Organizations of Contra Costa, a project endorsed/supported by the Policy Forum, is the first countywide association of nonprofits to convene three sectors—private, public and nonprofit—on behalf of community-based organizations and the people they serve. Expected results include more effective and efficient contracts management, improved functioning across departments, improved CBO functioning, and better service to the community. This year accomplishments include: • Board members, Executive Directors, and line staff of more than 60 non-profit organizations participated in the creation of the center. The Center incorporated as a public benefit corporation and applied for 501(c){3) status. Creation of a Board of Directors. Launched a website providing information and referrals for non-profits in Contra Costa County. PSSF (formerly Family Preservation and Sunvort Program) The PSSF program, endorsed/supported by the Policy Forum, works to offer human services in East and West Contra Costa. Through the first half of the year five PSSF collaborations reached more than 1,500 people with a variety of services that strengthen families and communities. Following are just a few examples from the first half of the year: 100%of the relative caregivers participating in support groups continued to care for and nurture the children in their homes, thus avoiding placement disruption and entry into nonrelative foster care. Children participating in academic tutoring, self-esteem building and substance abuse prevention %-1 activities, and/or recreational and educational field trips, demonstrated increased placement stability. Almost 90%of the children who received intensive family preservation services remained stable in their original placement or moved to a lower level of care. Through the housing specialist,ten families in the child welfare system secured safe, affordable housing, and twenty are still working towards stable housing. Reexamining Pu Prompted by the difficult budgetary year coupled with significant loss of staffm resources dedicated to the Policy Forum(with the departure of Chris Linville, Deputy CAO and staff to the Policy Forum and Jason Crapo, Management Analyst and staff to the Fiscal Work Group)the Executive Committee of the Policy Forum has taken this opportunity to reassess its purpose and strategies. We anticipate reporting on the outcome of this assessment to the Board in Spring 2004. 111. Attendance/Representation The Policy Forum currently consists of 40 members from county government, cities, schools, non-profits, employers, consumers, health care, and higher education. No general forum meetings were held this year. 0 ids are EVeNbody's Business C 17 The Policy Forum Executive committee consists of 18 members,primarily agency heads from county, juvenile justice, law enforcement, and education. Quorums were achieved at three meetings during this reporting period IV. ming/Certification Training was provided to members and to non-profits and community members through the Parenting Task Force Workshops. V. Proposed Work Plan/objectives for Next Year The Policy Forum is in the process of reassessing its purpose and strategies. The Executive Committee will be holding a planning retreat M" December to complete this assessment process and identify objectives for the coming year. We anticipate reporting a proposed work plan and objectives to the Board in Spring 2004. K'ds are fiVe"body I s Business 'i