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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06082004 - C.144 FHS # 2Contra -------- -----o ►; ••« TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORSCosta •;� i �• FROM: FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE rA vK't`; DATE: JUNE 812004 co County SUBJECT: OVERSIGHT OF SERVICE INTEGRATION Coe 4 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION Recommendation: ACCEPT report from the Employment and Human Services, Service Integration Team Program Manager on the activities and achievements of the Contra Costa County Service Integration Program, as recommended by the Family and Human Services Committee. Fiscal Impact: None Background: Contra Costa County's Service Integration Program is a multi-disciplinary collaboration of staff from the County Departments of Employment and Human Services, Health Services, Probation, County Administrator's Office, Mount Diablo Unified School District, West Contra Costa Unified School District, community-based organizations and neighborhood residents. The Service Integration Program is celebrating ten years of pioneering more effective and efficient models for addressing the needs of children, youth and families living is the County's most economically and socially distressed communities. This report to the Family and Human Services Committee describes the Service Integration Program as a laboratory for piloting new initiatives and developing "best practices". It highlights measurable improvements achieved in the lives of the children, families and communities served during 2003. And the report explains the Program's efforts to balance its budget and diversify fy its funding base to maintain services during these difficult budget times. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): i MK eSAULNIER J N GIOIA ACTION OF BOARD ON June 8, 2004 APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER I i i VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT None ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD AYES: NOES: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: i j ATTESTED .Tune 8, 2004 JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Contact Person: Dorothy Sansoe(5-1009) CC: CAO HSD EHSD BY: DEPUTY F Service Integration Program Contra Costa County TO: Family and Human Services Committee Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier Supervisor John Gioia FROM: Nina Goldma 4ogram Manager, Service Integration Program SUBJECT: Report on the Contra Costa County Service Integration Program DATE: May 24, 2004 RECOMMENDATIONS ACCEPT the attached report on the activities and achievements of the Contra Costa County Service Integration Program. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Contra Costa County Service Integration Program is celebrating 10 years of pioneering more effective and efficient models for addressing the needs of children, youth and families living in some of the County's most economically and socially distressed communities. A "laboratory" that tests and disseminates successful strategies, Service Integration has launched programmatic, fiscal and organizational innovations that have laid the foundations for improved services to children, families and communities countywide. Key Service Integration innovations include: Forging new paradigms of inter-agcy collaboration and creating necessary tools to support this work, including cross-agency information-sharing protocols, an integrated case management system and an effective family conferencing model. Redefinin county-community partnerships to help fundamentally shift the way in which our public agencies work with residents of low-income communities. Launching new initiatives and strate ies, such as free tax preparation services (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance), community career centers, employment- focused service delivery and the Verde Involving Parents Program. Serving as a local model of public sector "systems change" by implementing performance-based results and new strategies for leveraging public and private investments. The success of the Service Integration model is evident in the measurable improvements achieved in the lives of the children, families and communities it serves. Service Integration Program outcome measures include: 40 Douglas Drive • Martinez CA 94553 Phone 925-313-1793 Fax 925-313-1710 With 36% of its CaIWORKs participants working, the Bay Point SIT continued to lead all county offices in 2003. In 2000-2002, the Bay Point and North Richmond SITs had the two highest workforce participant rates of all districts. �Service Integration's VIP Program increased school attendance at North Richmond's Verde Elementary School from 88.9% in 1999/2000 to 93.3% in 2003/04 to date. 141 low-income Bay Point residents put $161,,449 in federal tax refunds (including $74,,357 in EITC refunds) back in their pockets thanks to the free tax preparation services offered by Bay Point Works. Due to the effectiveness of this model, the Service Integration Program has received local, state and national awards; has been the subject of articles and research studies; and frequently is represented by SIT staff at conferences as a ""best practice" model. The current fiscal crisis poses serious challenges to the Service Integration Program. To compensate, the Service Integration Program raised $536,,985 for FY 03-04 in public and private grant awards and contracts. In addition, funders already have committed $523,400 to SIT for FY 04-05 and beyond. As public and private budgets continue to constrict in upcoming years, the obstacles associated with maintaining the Service Integration Program will remain great, despite the unquestionable value of SIT services. We will persist in our efforts to seek new and creative approaches to support this important program. BACKGROUND In August 2004, the Contra Costa County Service Integration Program will celebrate 10 years of pioneering more effective and efficient strategies for addressing the needs of children, youth and families living in some of the County's most economically and socially distressed communities. Service Integration is amulti-disciplinary collaboration of staff from the Contra Costa Departments of Employment and Human Services, Health Services and Probation, the County Administrator's Office, the Mount Diablo Unified School District, the West Contra Costa Unified School District, community-based organizations and neighborhood residents. The Bay Point and North Richmond Service Integration Teams (SITS) were designed to take an innovative approach to working with families that historically have posed some of the greatest challenges to service providers: multi-problem families involved in two or more public programs who live in the County's lowest income, highest need communities. Over the past decade, the Service Integration Program has emerged as a leader at achieving measurable improvements in the lives of children and families through the delivery of multi- disciplinary, community-driven, family support services. This report to the Family and Human Services Committee of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors begins with a spotlight on the Service Integration Program's success at serving as a laboratory for piloting new initiatives and developing "best practices". The next section of the report highlights Service Integration Program activities and outcomes achieved primarily during 2003. The final section of this report describes the Service Integration Page 2, 5/17/04 Program's efforts to balance its budget and diversify its funding base to maintain services during these difficult budget times. SIT AS A LABORATORY FOR INNOVATION Since 1994, the Service Integration Program has served as a laboratory that tests and disseminates successful strategies designed to improve outcomes for low-income children, youth and families. A small, inter-agency program that draws down flexible funding from private foundations and outside contracts to complement more traditional federal, state and county funding streams, Service Integration has managed to maintain a flexibility and inventiveness unusual to public sector agencies. As a result, Service Integration has been able to launch programmatic, fiscal and organizational innovations that have laid the foundations for the development of more effective and efficient services to children, families and communities countywide. In addition to its impact locally, the Service Integration Program staff has hosted numerous site visits and provided extensive information and technical assistance on its creative strategies to help other counties and communities outside of Contra Costa address some of their most entrenched social, health and economic challenges. Service Integration Program staff has presented at numerous conferences', as well as before groups planning broader initiatives, such as the California Child Welfare Redesign System Stakeholder Group (May 2003). Due to the effectiveness of the Service Integration model, Contra Costa County has received local, statewide and national recognition, including the following awards: The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor's Commission on Women has inducted three Service Integration Program staff into the Contra Costa County Womens Hal/of Fame ("Women Creating Community" Award: North Richmond Empowerment Collaborative Project Manager — 2000, Bay Point Works Project Manager — 2002, "Women Demonstrating Leadership": Service Integration Program Manager - 2004) T Contra Costa's Verde Involving Parents (VIP) Program received the prestigious 2002 California Gold Community Award from the Counties, Cities and Schools2 Partnership over 53 applicants statewide. This award honors communities most successful in delivering programs and services through collaborative efforts. T Contra Costa received a 2002 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties in recognition of innovative programming that contributes to and enhances county government in the United States. 1 Other recent presentations include: (1)"The Role of Family Resource Centers in California's Child Welfare Redesign", 2004 Pilots to Po/icy Conference, sponsored by the Foundation Consortium for California's Children and Youth and the California Department of Social Services (2/5/04); (2)"Interagency Collaboration", Promising Practices to Systems Change and Collaboration conference sponsored by First 5 California and First 5 County Commissions of the SF Bay Area (2/18/04); and (3)"Case Study of the Verde Involving Parents Program", East Bay Funders Fair sponsored by Compass Point and the Volunteer Center of Contra Costa (2/27/04). 2 CCS is a partnership of the California State Association of Counties, the League of California Cities, the California School Boards Association and the Center for Civic Renewal. Page 3, 5/17/04 5F The Foundation Consortium honored the Contra Costa Service Integration Program, along with three other programs statewide, with the 2000 Community Approach Award based on SIT's successful community-building efforts. "T The six documentaries produced to date by the Bay Point and North Richmond Teen Video Projects have won awards, including "Best Documentary" at the 'Berkeley Film and Video Festival 2002", 2nd Place and honorable mention in the documentary category at the 2000 and 2001 "Black Filmmakers International Hall of Fame" and two "Western Access Video Excellence"Awards from the Alliance for Community Media. The Service Integration Program and its various initiatives also have been the subject of articles and studies, including: North Richmond Gets Its Buses Back.,, How a Poor Community and an Urban Transit Agency Struck Up a Partnership (Institute of Governmental Studies Press, University of California, Berkeley, 1999), which focuses on NREC's successful strategy for partnering with A.C. Transit to bring night-time bus service back to North Richmond; and A Case Study on North Richmond(Abt Associates, on behalf of the Ford Foundation, 2004), which highlights the Verde Involving Parents Program as a successful model of school- community revitalization. Some of the Service Integration Program's major areas of innovation are described below: � Inter-Agency Collaboration: SIT has been at the vanguard of Contra Costa's efforts to develop effective models of collaboration and cross-program and -agency partnerships, paving the way for greater collaboration countywide. SIT has developed new organizational structures to support this collaboration at the management oversight level (e.g., the inter-agency Service Integration Executive Oversight Committee), as well as at the frontline service delivery level (e.g., multi-disciplinary teams). The infrastructure and tools established through Service Integration's partnership model (e.g., shared supervision, team decision making, etc.) and the relationships that have formed as a result have laid the groundwork for and facilitated the success of many other inter-agency initiatives. � County-Community Partnerships: SIT has redefined relationships between public agencies and residents of low-income neighborhoods while developing a viable model for bridging the all too common gap between agency "service providers" and the communities they serve. In 1997, in the wake of Federal Welfare Reform, each of the SIT sites engaged neighborhood residents in planning efforts to determine how these communities could succeed in this new policy environment. These efforts resulted in the establishment of two innovative community-building projects, Bay Point Works (BPW) and the North Richmond Empowerment Collaborative (NREC, formerly the North Richmond Employment Collaborative). Working in partnership with SIT's county staff, these community-staffed initiatives have implemented a wide range of successful services and activities designed to fill service gaps and address other interests and concerns raised by residents of Bay Point and North Richmond. This community engagement model created a template for future county-community endeavors, such as EHSD's Child Welfare Redesign. � Cross-Agency Information-Sharing: Working together, key Service Integration partner agencies (i.e., EHSD, CCHS, Probation, CAO) and County Counsel developed Page 4, 5/17/04 r ' i r , Contra Costa's first informed consent agreement for integrated services in 1994. This confidentiality release, which is renewed on an annual basis, gives permission for SIT staff from participating agencies to share information to better serve families. SIT's "Agreement to Participate"form (revised in 2002) served as the model for more recent integrated services programs, such as the mental health "Spirit of Caring" Initiative. In 2001, the County Administrator and the Directors of EHSD, CCHS and Probation invited the West Contra Costa and Mount Diablo Unified School Districts and several community-based organizations to cement their shared commitment to Service Integration by establishing Contra Costa's first official "Multi-Disciplinary Children's Services Team". This new status allows for greater information-sharing among staff to support improved outcomes for children and families. fir Holistic, Integrated Case Management System: The Service Integration Program pioneered the County's first integrated case management process. Focusing on the whole family unit, rather than just the individual, this process allows SIT staff to build upon family strengths to provide services driven by and tailored to each family's unique needs. SIT created the Family Assessment Record to support the development of comprehensive plans for addressing issues in a range of interdependent life domains, such as child care, child and adult health, transportation, school, employment and other social supports. First developed in 1995, this tool and the SIT case management process as a whole have been refined over the years to support continuous improvement and better integration of SIT services. Family Conferencing: SIT's "Family Conferencing" model brought a new way of doing business to Contra Costa County. SIT began conducting inter-agency case conferences with client families in the mid-1990s. The success of SIT family conferencing helped open the doors for similar family-focused models in Contra Costa, such as "Wraparound" in Children's Mental Health and "Team Decision Making" in Children and Family Services. Free Tax Preparation Services (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance): In 2003, the Service Integration Program piloted the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) free tax preparation model at the Bay Point and North Richmond SIT sites. Based on the success of this pilot, the Service Integration Program worked with First Five Contra Costa, United Way of the Bay Area, the IRS, EHSD, CCHS and a number of other partner agencies to launch a countywide VITA campaign in 2004. Through the 2004 Earn It! Keep It!Save It! Contra Costa Campaign, over 140 community volunteers at 13 locations across Contra Costa prepared returns for approximately 1,296 low-income Contra Costa filers, netting combined federal refunds of over $1.3 million. The March- April 2004 issue of the Chi/dren s Advocate, a publication of the Action Alliance for Children, highlighted the successes of Bay Point Works in providing free tax assistance to low-income families. The Contra Costa Times featured an article on Contra Costa's countywide VITA campaign in March 2004 (see articles in Attachment A). Community Career Centers: In May 1998, SIT's BPW project established the Bay Point Community Career Center, a forerunner to the County's One-Stop Career Center system. In January 2000, NREC established a second Community Career Center in North Richmond. The Career Centers introduced community-based employment resources delivered via a neighbor-helping-neighbor model to the communities of Bay Page 5, 5/17/04 Point and North Richmond. The Bay Point Community Career Center, which is still under the auspices of Bay Point Works, has enrolled over 3,700 members over the past six years and currently receives over 7,100 visits annually. The North Richmond Career Center, which also continues to provide valuable services to community residents, was spun off to the Neighborhood House of North Richmond in 2002. � Verde Involving Parents (VIP): Service Integration's VIP Program is a relatively new program (established in February 2001), which has quickly reaped impressive results. VIP is a team effort of parents, students, teachers and county agencies and non-profit organization staff who live and work in North Richmond, CA. Their goal: get our children to school — every day, on time and ready to learn. Due to the dramatic impact of the VIP Program on student attendance and parent involvement at Verde Elementary School, the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) committed to investing up to $125,,000 in the VIP Program during the 2003-04 school year. At the request of WCCUSD Superintendent Dr. Gloria Johnston, VIP staff is providing training and technical assistance to four other WCCUSD elementary schools to support replication of the VIP model. � Employment-Focused Service Delivery: In 1995, prior to the passage of Welfare Reform, the Service Integration Program was the first County program to implement an employment-focused service delivery model. SIT's model transitioned "eligibility workers" into "employment case managers" and tapped into the resources of all the disciplines on staff at SIT to move welfare recipients into the workforce. Due to the effectiveness of the SIT model, the SIT Program was invited to co-develop EHSD's redesign plan for restructuring its eligibility determination function into an employment-focused service delivery strategy. The success of the SIT employment- focused model is reflected in the fact that between 2000 and 2002, the SIT sites had the two highest rates of CaIWORKs participants in the labor force of all EHSD offices countywide. Bay Point has maintained the highest CaIWORKs workforce participation rate in the County since 1996. � Outcomes/Performance-Based Accountability: Service Integration spearheaded Contra Costa County's early efforts to implement performance-based accountability. In the early- and mid-1990's, the inter-agency Service Integration Management Team developed a set of meaningful outcomes that could be used to evaluate the success of the Service Integration Program by concretely measuring the program's impact on the lives of children and families. Service Integration staff has diligently tracked these program results since 1996. Service Integration's novel approach led to wider adoption of outcome measures by other county programs, laying the groundwork for outcomes measures to be included in the county budget and for the establishment in 1997 of Contra Costa's Children and Families Report Card. � Leveraging Public and Private Investments: Service Integration has designed its fiscal strategy around encouraging private foundations and other funders who do not typically support county ventures to invest in innovation in the public sector. The Service Integration Program raised $536,985 in private and public grants and contracts for FY 2003-04. For FY 04-05 and beyond, SIT has already secured $523,,400 in grants and contracts and has a number of other proposals pending and under development. Through its strong track record of capturing measurable results, Page 6, 5/17/04 promoting public-private partnerships and engaging community residents in the process of bettering their neighborhoods and their lives, the Service Integration Program has helped to convince many new funding partners that investments in the public sector can galvanize sustainable individual, family, neighborhood and systems change. ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS AND OUTCOMES A critical aspect of the Service Integration Program is its emphasis on tracking participant outcomes. Through outcomes, SIT staff members are able to evaluate their effectiveness based on measurable improvements in the lives of the children, families and communities they serve. The outcome data and activity highlights that follow are primarily for the 2003 calendar year. The SIT outcome data for the years 2000-2003 are summarized in Figure 1. WN 0&1 t AM.&PAum tc wsWtdency W& IMF M"My, m ft wX The framework for Service Integration's self-sufficiency services pre-dates both federal and state welfare reform legislation. Since late 1995, the Service Integration Program has focused on strategies that increase employability and self-sufficiency of families receiving welfare, with staff members across a// disciplines embracing an employment-focused approach to working with families. In 1997, SIT expanded its effort to support all community residents in their search for employment, through the creation of BPW and NREC. Some of the impacts of the Service Integration Program's multi-disciplinary team approach and neighborhood-involvement strategies are highlighted below: �Since adopting apro-active, community-driven approach to employment services, the SITs have maintained among the highest employment rates of CaIWORKs participants across the County (Figure 2). In 2000 - 2002, the Bay Point and North Richmond SITs had the top two workforce participant rates of all districts. In 2003, the Bay Point SIT continued to lead all Employment and Human Services District offices with 36% of its CaIWORKs participants reporting earnings. Once on par with the Antioch District Office and the county average, the work participation rates of CaIWORKs participants served by the Bay Point SIT have significantly surpassed rates at all other county offices for six years running (Figure 3). RlAfter three years of holding a close second to Bay Point, the workforce participation rates of North Richmond SIT CaIWORKs participants fell to 26% in 2003. Despite this downturn, North Richmond SIT participants maintained higher rates than their neighbors served by the Richmond district office (Figure 4). Designed and fully staffed by neighborhood residents, the Bay Point Community Career Center continues to serve as a vital community hub both for unemployed Bax Point residents seeking work and working neighborhood residents striving to advance their careers. Five days and one evening per week, neighborhood residents can search through numerous up-to-date job listings, learn how to do job searches on the Internet, create high-quality resumes with the technical guidance of BPW community Page 7, 5/17/04 FIGURE 1. SERVICE INTEGRATION PROGRAM OUTCOMES REPORT 200-1, 2002 & 2003 Summary (revised517104) Indicator 2001 2002 2003 of,SIT Cal WORKs participants BP SIT: 34% BP SIT: 38%1 BP SIT: 36% working(Monthly Average) NR SIT: 29% NR SIT: 35% NR SIT: 26% % of SIT Ca1WORKs participants entering employment BP SIT. 4/ (7) BP SIT. 4/ (5)1 BP SIT. 5/ (3) (% entering employment/ NR SIT. 5/ (5) NR SIT. 4/ (3) NR SIT. 4/ (2)# entering employment) (Monthly Average) % of SIT CPS cases that require BP SIT: 12% BP SIT: 0% BP SIT: 3% court involvement(# of cases (7/59) (0/22)2 (2/68) involving court/total cases) NR SIT: 15% NR SIT: 12% NR SIT: 14% (Annual Total (21/137) (13/113) ( of SIT CPS children who remain ° o o safelyin their homes BP SIT. 89/o BP SIT. 100/o BP SIT. 97/o # of children (129/145) (54/54)2 (144/148) ( h r who remain safely in o o o their homes/total children NR SIT. 90/o NR SIT. 93/o NR SIT. 89/o served) A nnuaT (281/312) (247/266) (255/287) l otal of SIT CPS families whose o o o children remain safelyin their BP SIT. 88/o BP SIT. 100/o BP SIT. 97/o . ,homes # of famili h (52/59) (66/68) ( es whose children o o o remain safelyin their homes/total NR SIT. 84/o NR SIT. 92/o NR SIT. 87/o families served otalAnnual T (115/137) % of school days attended by youth BP SIT: 88% BP SIT: 87% BP SIT: 78% on SIT Probation (MonthlyAverage) NR SIT: 67% NR SIT: 68% NR SIT: 62% # of violations filed on youth on SIT BP SIT: 4 violations BP SIT: 2 violations BP SIT: 10 violations probation(# of violations/# of youth (4 youth) (2 youth) (10 youth) committing violations) NR SIT: 39 violations NR SIT: 5 violations NR SIT: 14 violations (Annual Total (12youth) (4youth) 9youth) Level of violations filed on youth on BP SIT: 3 Tech., BP SIT: 1 Tech., probation (Technical, 1 Fel. 1 Mi BP SIT. 10 Tech. SIT ps. Misdemeanor or Felon NR SIT: 34 Tech. NR SIT: 2 NR SIT: 7 Tech., Felony) S Tech., 5 Mis., 2 Fel. (Annual Total 4 Fel. 2 Fel 1 Mis., . % of SIT participants served by the o ° 2 SIT PHN with a"medical home,4 BP SIT. 79% BP SIT. 81 /o BP SIT. 91% (MonthlyAverage) NR SIT: 91% NR SIT: 96%2 NR SIT: 98% of SIT participants served by the o ° SIT PHN utilizingtheir "medical BP SIT. 74/o BP SIT. 96%2 BP SIT. 78/o „s NR SIT: 70% NR SIT: 88%2 NR SIT: 96% home (Monthly Average) 1 Excludes Bay Point data for February 2002 due to technical inaccuracies. 2 Partial year data. Position was unfilled for part of the year. 3 Excludes school attendance of probationers whose whereabouts are unknown. 4 A patient with a medical home is defined as a patient with access to care that is known to him or her. 5"Utilization of a Medical Home"is defined as(1)for the well population:within periodicity for their age group; (2)for the unwell population: following through with recommendations from their medical home. %9£ %9Z /o8Z — o _ O m0 ° Z N s /o NE O m V %8Z M 0 (yocz � vi — (1) 0 O � m � o$£ z v i � AMR 0) Lmcu _ O o 0 4� m ° 75 N V CL U •C� % £ 4) o 0 Z N a L cu > L U- O %� E o Lm O cu 4' O %LZ Q N %5Z N a %5Z cu %OZ .O _0 42 4) 1:3 _ %L£ cm_ 0 O Ecn °09£ £ O . O V 4� ° O /o Z£ U N N •� .— Lm m % Z 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 CD M OM N N T- LO O O Bu npom slued io rped sNljoMIs� jo % %LC o% Z 4? O 4— CN 0 OX)LZ (D cu cu c 0 C) 4.j 6! U) %ez CN CU cu 0 C/) 0 CL C C CU :3 cu Jc L. %9z 0 0 SOO CN L. C/) cn 0 L. C/) CU (D 4-1 (D C: CD _0 -C — 0 0 0 cm C/) ., D. 0p 0 (1) 4. > (D >N cu 0 Co cn 0 M� %6 -C 1f -4--f (D c =3 4-0 0 0 a) co E Jc -C C: wft*^ L. Q? C� 0 %9z 0 C 0 "a #--j E MIN o a) 0 0 0 0 =3 cu a) 0 a) %6z, CU CN C/) vI.-AC- *.a cu (D 00 C: 0 cu otz r 0 %t cu C CO (D 0 C LL C/) ol a 0 cn zovz E E C2. t f m c coo C: CU CL :3 s_- 0. CL 0 %CZ moi 0 C) ti CL-0 .0 (D (D C/) 0 v cn %�z IF 0-) cu co c: CL-0 c 0 0 0 %! z cu CY) 0 0) �5 co %ft �: a) 0)-o CU = =3 (0 o (m x w cr) U. *0*-Ro *0*-Ro 0 0 0 i �� LO C) LO CD LO CD -) CD q;;r qq* co co CN CN *bU!Njom sluediolped sN�IoMjeo jo % a a 0 staff, develop their typing or computer software skills and conduct practice interviews with BPW staff. As an example of small favors making p a g a big difference: the BPW Career Center is the sole vendor of public bus tickets in all of Bay Point. This service alone saves countless residents from having to travel 30 miles roundtrip to Antioch to make these purchases. The Career Center also sells U.S. Postage stamps. High usage numbers indicate the tremendous g g acceptance and success of the Career Center (Figure 5). Since opening its doors to the public in May 1998, the Bay Point Community Career Center has developed a membership base of over 3,700. In 2003 alone, 617 new members ioined the Career Center. The Career Center received over 7,100 member visits in 2003. Em to ment rates of Career Center mem - - p v tiers collected 30 , 90- and 180 days after their visits to the Bay Point Community Career Center indicate that many community residents are working as a result of visiting the Career Center -- and are keeping_the jobs they find. 2003 follow-up data, which are lower than in previous years, also reflect the increasing challenges facing Bay Point residents as a result of the current economic downturn. In 2003: • 28% of the members successfully contacted 30 days after their visit to the Career Center reported that they were employed (1,,143 members were successfully contacted; 315 members reported that they were employed). • 32% of the members successfully contacted 90 days after their visit to the Career Center reported that they were employed (793 members were successfully contacted; 254 reported that they were employed). • 29% of the members successfully contacted 180 days after their visit to the Career Center reported that they were employed (586 members were successfully contacted; 171 reported that they were employed). OThe North Richmond Famil Service y S ce Centers Family Apparel Shop and the Bay Point Community Clothes Closet continue to provide community residents with free clothing_ for work, emergencies and other daily wear. Both receive areat deal of support g pp from EHSD's Volunteer and Emergency Services Team in Action, along with many donations from other friends of SIT. In May 2003 BPW and N RE „ " ' y , _ d C both sponsored Working Mothers Day � Caregivers Celebrations" to honor parents who are successfully balancing the responsibilities of raising children with those of workin . This was the 4t" annual Working Mothers' Day event sponsored by N REC and the 3r a n n ua I event sponsored by BPW. 00n Ma 20t" 2003 BPW " ' May sponsored Summer Fest Job Fair 2003 which was aimed primarily at helpingouuth 16 years old and older find summer work. 62 job seekers and 10 employers (including: Mt. Diablo Regional YMCA, Federal Express, Delta Community Tech Center, Vector Marketing, Home Depot, UPS, Kaiser Permanente, Contra Costa County Office of Education, Contra Costa Community Services Department and the U.S. Navy) participated in the event. BPW received positive Page 8, 5/17/04 a feedback from job seekers and employers alike and confirmed at least five job placements resulting from the event. In January2003 the Service ' e Integration Program launched a plot aimed at encouraging low-income residents living in the SIT communities to take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit. The Earned Income and Child Tax Credits are under-utilized opportunities to significantly increase the resources of low-income working families. Working in partnership with the AARP Foundation's Tax Aide Program and the Internal Revenue Service, the Service Integration Program provided 17 hours of intensive training to Service Integration staff and community partners. Through this pilot, the Bay Point and North Richmond Family Service Centers provided free tax preparation for 25 filers. Federal and state refunds resulting from these returns totaled $46,946. EITC and child care credits accounted for $34,418 of these refunds. In its second year serving as aVITA site,, Bay Pont Works prepared 141 tax returns for low-income neighborhood residents3 from February — April 2004. Byrovidin this p 9 service, BPW staff helped put $161,449 in federal tax refunds back in the pockets of Bav Point residents, including $74,357 in EITC refunds. Improve %mtty functionling The Service Integration approach emphasizes earlier intervention and greater client contact, allowing SIT staff to get involved with families before situations reach crisis levels. In addition, SIT staff members typically stay involved with families longer, providing "informal" services to ensure that families safely make the transition to better functioning. Through intensive contact with other community service providers, SIT staff is able to keep a closer eye on participant families to make sure that children are obtaining needed health care services, attending school and are living safely in their own homes. Family functioning outcomes indicate the continued success of this approach: A notableercenta e f children p g o c dren served by the SIT child welfare workers have been successfully maintained in their homes. In 2003, 89% of the 287 children served by the North Richmond SIT's two child welfare workers remained at home and 97% of the 148 children served by the Bay Point SIT's child welfare worker remained at home (see Figure 1). Durina 2003 Bay Point SIT youth on probation attended school on average 78/ of school days each month. North Richmond SIT youth on probation attended school on average 62% of school days each month (Figure 1). In 2003 91% of the SIT clients sere ' ed by the Bay Pont Public Health Nurse (PHN) and 98% of the SIT clients served by North Richmond PHN had a "medical home".4 3 The average adjusted gross income of filers served by Bay Point Works was $14,565. 4 Having a"medical home"is defined as having medical insurance and/or having a regular medical provider. Also, this is partial year data, as both positions were unfilled at different points throughout the year. Page 9, 5/17/04 78% of all clients served by the Bay Point Public Health Nurse and 96% of all clients served by the North Richmond Public Health Nurse utilized their medical homes.5 RIWith a grant from First Five Contra Costa and in partnership with Volunteer and Emergency Services Team In Action, the Bay Point and North Richmond SITs sponsored five parent-child workshops during the months of November and December 2003 which were attended by 94 children, ages 0-5, and their parents. Parents and children participated in presentations on child safety, learned about baby massage and participated in a wide range of parent-child activities that they can incorporate into their home lives, such as dancing, arts and crafts projects and storytelling (see attached photos). Each family left with a "toolkit" of toys valued at $60. In 2003, the Bay Point SIT and East County Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services co-sponsored four sessions of the Parent Project, an award-winning program designed for parents of strong-willed or out-of-control children. 31 families (representing 81 children) successfully completed the sessions (which ranged from 7- 10 weeks/24-30 hours) and gained concrete skills for stamping out behavior problems and ushering their children safely through adolescence. WO UpaiW cnmmunwiW capa to support children and I WS In addition to maintaining acommunity-driven approach to service development, the Service Integration Program has provided substantial training and mentoring opportunities to community staff hired through the neighborhood-building collaboratives. In addition, Service Integration is spearheading a number of other community-building projects and local efforts that meet the broader needs of families in Bay Point, North Richmond and San Pablo. Both neighborhood-building collaboratives continue to be overseen by community residents. Since January 1999, NREC has been run by Annie King-Meredith, a lifelong North Richmond resident who successfully completed an intensive mentorship program. Eva Garcia, also a neighborhood resident, succeeded the original Project Manager to become the first community member to run Bay Point Works in January 2000. In late 2003, with the support of the S.H. Cowell Foundation, SIT was able to create two permanent, benefited "Neighborhood Services Coordinator" positions -- a significant step forward in institutionalizing the role of community leadership in the County's service delivery structure. Approximately one-third of Service Integration Program staff members are residents of the SIT communities. Bay Point Works has a staff of eight community residents. NREC has a staff of seven community residents and/or parents of students at Verde Elementary School. In addition, an increasing number of permanent county staff taking at positions at SIT live in the SIT neighborhoods. 5 "Utilization of a Medical Home" is defined as (1)for the well population: within periodicity for their age group; (2) for the unwell population: following through with recommendations from their medical provider. Page 10, 5/17/04 Bay Pand North Richmond SIT Teams Sponsor Interactive Parent-Child Workshops ------------------- Arts r J: craf �.!��..JJ 2yy' >x 1 �4�4:j'�'r,x'f�•� od' Yak'?Y a r trv' J " '' .. 4 x Dancing ......... - G:r fF: � l l�lw,�" ',€�� ++.r�Jt'♦ x�� ..,, y,a,,YjY rk �K`. �a = I nteractive Play M.IS n" a F. Yi io A- } 4 a , � Y After threeY ears NREC's VIP Program continues to dramatically im rove school attendance rates at North Richmond's Verde Elementary School. The VIP Program is a joint initiative of N REC and North Richmond's Verde Elementary School aimed at increasing student attendance, improving student behavior and enhancing parent involvement at what in 2000 was the lowest performing elementary school in the State of California. While attendance rates among all elementary schools in West Contra Costa Unified School District have remained relatively stable over the past few years, increasing from 94% in 1999/2000 to 94.5% in 2003/2004 to date, Verde's average monthly attendance rate rose from 88.9% the year prior to VIP implementation to 93.3% during the 2003104 school year to date (Figure 6). In total, the VIP Program's Family Partners have decreased full day absences from a monthly average of 644 in 1999/2000 to 332 in 2003/04 to date. As a result, the VIP program increased Verde's Average Daily Attendance (ADA) revenue by over $266,000 between February 2001 and April 2004. In fall 2003 VIP successful) launched its new Student and Family Peacemaking Y Y 9 Project, which works with students and their families on improving communication skills" kiIIs, developing greater empathy and learning to peacefully resolve conflicts. With the support of VIP's training and ongoing coaching, Verde teachers now deliver the "Second Step" anti-violence curriculum in their classrooms for 20-30 minutes a week. In March 2004, 26 Verde parents completed VIP's first 6-week, 12-hour workshop on how to work with their own children on building empathy, improving impulse control and resolving conflicts peacefully. VIP also has trained and implemented a Student Peacemaker component at Verde, where upper grade students serve as peer conflict managers on the playground, in the lunchroom and in their classrooms. During spring 2003� the VIP Program entered into a very successful partnershipwith Diane Mintz, a Berkeley real estate broker, who wanted to sponsor the costs of sending Verde students to overnight summer camp. VIP recruited completed applications for and prepared 54 Verde students who went on to spend 6 days at Camp Loma Mar in Pescadero. Many of these students had never been away from home before and all of them requested to go back to camp the following year. In March 2004, VIP staff worked with Ms. Mintz once again to recruit and send 137 Verde students and family members to a weekend "Family Camp" at Camp Loma Mar. We are currently signing students up for the summer 2004 camp session. Burgeoning parent involvement at Verde School has resulted in concrete 9 9 improvements in the community. Parent participants in VIP's twice weekly Coffee Club took the lead rallying the Public Works Department to install stop signs and new school crossing sig nage around the Verde Campus. Approximately 100 Verde parents signed a request to the Board of Supervisors to back these improvements, which were implemented during the 2003 winter vacation. RIAs a result of VIP and the man other excellent efforts underway at Verde Verde Y Y , students have experienced tremendous gains in academic achievement. The Academic Performance Index (API) has been used to measure school level academic success since 1999. As shown in Table 1 below, in 1999, Verde School had a base API Page 11, 5/17/04 .......... .................... (1) O 0000—� O � o 00 0 N M M O co 111 s. co U N c4 Mam-of 0 � O ?70 N � 0) �; %0.- 0 w;;,CLO 0) c cn y �cr) � ■ 0 � *goo it N ow 0000a 00 oho CL. U00td � N � -_ wa O o � � N O � ILO O ............... � r' � Q 0 o p LOCA o pp o p LOouos lo ................... ... .......................... CD o apua��� sly P u�,uou�ip score of 315 (the lowest in the State). In 2004, Verde's growth API score rose to 584. Verde's increase over the past year alone was the greatest of all schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, among the three greatest in the Bay Area and among the 50 greatest across the State. Formerly the lowest performing school in the State of California, Verde's 2003 test scores place its academic performance higher than eight other elementary schools in the district (all of which also improved over the past year, but not by as large a margin). Table 1. Verde's Academic Performance Index (API),, 1999-2004 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 API froth Score 346 339 410 570 584 API Base Score 315 346 360 447 573 Annual Change in API Scores* +31 -7 +50 +123 +11 Cumulative Change in API Scores since +31 +24 ++95 +255 +269 Base Year 1999 *Comparison of prior year base score to current year growth score. OThe North Richmond SIT piloted its first "Summer Fun and Adventure Group" co-led by the team's Juvenile Probation Officer, Children's Mental Health Counselor and Employment Specialist Supervisor. This project targeted youth who were involved with two or more SIT disciplines and were badly in need of enhanced social skills. Through this group, 14 North Richmond and Old Town youth participated in a number of field trips and, as a grand finale, a two-day overnight camping trip. Two 15-year- old North Richmond residents gained valuable work experience by serving as paid "Youth Mentors." A number of agencies helped sponsor this effort, including Juvenile Hall Auxiliary, Children's Mental Health and the Bay Area Wilderness Leadership Program. For the 5thY ear in a row Bay Point Works sp onsored the summer Youth Achievement Program during August 2003. This program was designed to provide activities for low- income community youth with working parents during the period between the end of summer school and the beginning of the school year. Bay Point Works sponsored two YAP sessions and served a total of 38 youth ages 7-17. Activities included a life skills course and various field trips. Both the Ba Point and North Richmond SITs launched "Girls Groups" in h Bay G oups the past several months. The Bay Point Girls Group, held at Riverview Middle School, is a collaboration with the Mount Diablo Unified School District, New Connections and the Fred Finch Program. This bi-weekly group serves nine "at-risk" girls, grades six-eight. Through presentations, structured discussions and community projects, the participating girls have gained tools and skills to better prepare them for the difficult Page 12, 5/17/04 situations they are likely to face as well as to help them transition smoothly to the next grade level. The North Richmond Girls Group, hosted at the North Richmond SIT, is supervised by the SIT staff and interns. The purpose of this group is to provide these young girls with the skills and knowledge they need to build their self-esteem and serve as positive role models to their peers. The wonderful response to this pilot initiative has convinced SIT staff to initiative on-going groups in the summer and the upcoming school year. OThe Bay Point and North Richmond SITS held a number of other community events throughout the year, which were widely attended and well received. Events sponsored by the North Richmond SIT and/or VIP included grade level family dinners at Verde School throughout the year (see attached photos), an "I Have a Dream" essay contest in celebration of Black History Month (2/03)', a Cinco de Mayo drawing contest (5/03),, the second annual Verde School Field Day (6/03),, among many others. The Bay Point SIT's most smashing success in 2003, with 300-400 community residents in attendance, was its fifth annual Community Picnic at Anuta Park. Residents participated in raffles and games and enjoyed hot dogs. Turn out was so high that the Bay Point SIT staff had to make two additional grocery store runs during the event. � Both the Bay Point and North Richmond SITs worked hard to ensure that the 2003 holidays were safe and joyful in the SIT communities (see attached photos). The Family Service Center's contributions included: • On October 30th, the North Richmond SITeam sponsored a 'Safe Halloween" event for 25 children from SIT families. Children came in costumes and participated in cupcake and Halloween bag decorating activities. Each family left with a photograph of their children. • The Bay Point SIT partnered with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department and the San Francisco 49ers to host is second annual toy drive. SIT volunteers and 49er team members collected gifts from Walnut Creek shoppers and sports enthusiasts who gleefully exchanged toys for autographed photos, footballs and other items. As a result, SIT was able to provide 156 SIT families with Christmas tom. So many toys were donated that the Sheriff's Department was able to give a toy to every child that attended its Bay Point holiday dinner on December 13tH • The North Richmond SIT distributed holiday backpacks stuffed to the brim with brand new toys, clothes and school supplies to 86 students at Verde School. These gifts were donated by students from the Head-Royce School in Oakland. In partnership with Volunteer Services, the North Richmond SIT distributed Christmas toys to many other needy families. On December 15"', 2003, NREC premiered the third in a three-part series on the history of North Richmond, the final project of 13 youth who participated in the 10- week Teen Video Academy during summer/fall 2001. Approximately 80 people were welcomed to the neighborhood premiere by Supervisor John Gioia. Page 13, 5/17/04 VIP Family Eves + "�r �i er rener5 En o Singing Liits � 4 F"7� Nw Ile i WMA RM r. .'Y F '' 4TH & 5-m Gre "'Family Cooking Niybt/ t 7-7 R �Y pi.sr k 4 >3/ F' �:HOLIDAY 64�v: n�44.d,<','L� EVENTS y4.4t:4.ec, "mak^4Y4Fe:� 6 r y::..... b E3. d y..: SIT Helps Community chiren Enjoy "'Safe"'Halloween �S g XnRS t{ San Francisco 49er5 Team Up with Bay Point SIT 4 and CCC ShCrifPs Department Secon AnnualTo y Drive F YsBu�,. k �t R 4 F �F•�i4Z.'i k4' Igor Richmond Holi�ayBackpacks Gifted StUdCM15from 5 Hea -Royce School x Zwzs rs Fa =F' ny i;p0/Lt/S 'bT a6ed 4e we s4:)a[oad 6uiplinq-A4iunwwo:) orvq s,_LIS 'Alael!wis •wa4sAs )Ganilap a:)inaas pazilea4ua:) `leuoi�ipea� aaow e o} uan�aa o� saris �S aye �e pauoi��s-ono �e4s �uno� 4uauewaad aney 4ey4 s4uaw:pedap Iquno:) aye uo aanssaad 6uiseanui sa4eaa:) 4i:)Uap :)ilgnd ayl •wea6oad uoi4ea6a4uI a:)inaaS aye o4 sa6ualley:) snoiaas sasod sisin le:)sg 4uaaan:) aul :sa6ualle4:) -sweat uoqea6a4uI aoin.ias onn4 s,e4so:) ea4uo:)jo laonn aye woad 6ui4insaa „s4soD papione„ pue s6uines a�ge�i�uenb-uou aye �o awos �o uoissn�sip e y�inn spua uoipas siyl •�apow uoi�ea6a�uI a�in.ias aye o� �uaw�i�.uwo� s,e�so� ea�uo� u�inn pa�ei�osse sanuanaa pue s4so:) aye sa4eln:)Ie:) pue 'quaw�jedap A.4unoo aldi��nw }o s�a6pnq auk 6uouae papinip aae wea60ad uoqea6a4uI a:)inaas aye jo s4so:) aye nnoy saq!axap 41 •4uawuoainua le�sg 4uaaan� aye ui wea60ad uoi4ea6a4uI a:)inaas aye 6uoej sa6ualleu:) Aal auk jo awos sauipno uoipas sial S3WI19NI9N3101tlH:) NI SW"J4lid 9NINIt/1St1S •aeaA 6uiwo:) aye ui sai4iun:poddo diysao4uaw asau4 6uinui4uo:) o4 paeNuoj �ooj pue suoi4ngia4uo:) aiay4 aoj suaa4ui ano o4 lnja4ea6 aae aM •sminaas paseq-A4iunwwo:) jo amen aye aziu6o:)aa o4 pue swa4sAs A4iunwwo:) pue Aliwej xaldwoo 4noge uaeal o} A4iun:poddo anbiun p p2u aeaA siy} suaa4ui MSW anon pue MS9 auo an0 'ZOOZ 4sn6ny ui paysilge4sa sem we16oad diysuaa4ui IS ayl uiaqllann - iunwwo:) pue - Iiwel @AOJCIWI 04 jani:Paga aau4a o4 Jaonn sai:)ua e pue sauilosip 4uaaa:gip Apuew SSOnI :ge4s aaaynn japow ani�ap a�inaas uewny e a�uaiaa xa ue:) quapn4s �aonn jpoOS Ianal saolay:)eq pue saa4sew aaaynn s4uauaa:)ejIuSU.124U1 le:)ol mal aye jo auo se anaas nnou o4 pnoia si wea oad uoqea a4uI a:)inaas ayl p •IooPs apaaA anaas 4pu4 SlU2.l 0.1 iusaau�ed ao3 000 OOZ pa�eu isap eaay e8 auk 10 pM pa4!u fl auk ':poga sp Aq paziuenleE) •saapunj :)ilqn pU2 SUOgp.10 .10D SU0142pUf10l a4eAua woad sani4e4uasaa as 6T papnl:)ui Juana aye ui slue i:)i:ped oswejooia asay4 jo 11e jo laonn auk ase:)nnoys 04 Juana ue papeaqjeacis iysaau:Ped sn wed Iiwej apaaA aye '£OOZ Iiady uI •sa14inipe 4uio[ 6uipunel pue sminaas 6upsixa 6ui4euipaoo:) aapaq Aq ssa:):)ns 4uapn4s a4owoad 04 sania4s „diysaau:ped sndwe:) Aliwej apaaA,, siyl •sailiwel aiay4 pue looy:)s ke4uawa13 apaaA W quapn4s o4 sa:)inaas apinoad oynn ge4s apaaA pue saoua6e 4goad-uou pue :)ilgnd 'saapinoad a:)inaas A.4iunwwo:) jo uoi4eaogello:) e paysilge4sa wea6oad uoqea6a4uI a:)inaaS aye 'wea6oad dIA aye Jo Vonn auk uodn 6uipling p •s4uana A4iunwwo:) ao[ew s,Md9 30 uoi4quawaldwi pue 6uuenopo �. y wasw � wi8i � iM 4ui6d e8 4ey4 swea oa aye aano loa4uo:) pue 4n ui AP4!unwwo:) jo Ianal 4ua4sisuo:) e aansua 04 JeaA e sawn pj paw o4 sanuquoo paeog JUOSIAPy iunwwoD sVoM 4uiod Aeg aul •AGo4siy s,4UlOd Ap8 pue wjU auk uo uoissn:)sip 6uol-anoy ApniI e ui a4edi:)i:ped o4 paAe4s s.iagwaw a:)uaipny •4:)a[oad aye aoJ Vonn 4ue4sisse uoi:pnpoad pue 6uiuiea4 jo sanoy pg anisua4ui aye pa4aldwo:) oynn quedopied 44noA xis aye o4 sa4eopjao pa4uasaad a:)!.4o s,aanoIE) aosin.iadns •aauuip lqiunwwo:) �:)npod pue 6uivaaa:)s aye papuape a�doad pg aanp •4�a,ad oapiA uaal leuU pue paiy4 s,Md9 do ��npoa aye 4uiod e9 �o o4siy auk uo e}uauan:)op paiy4 ski paaaiwaa Md9 1$00Z 'y;L tipnue[ up risk due to diminishing public and private funds. BPW and NREC, which in many ways have emerged as the heart of Contra Costa's Service Integration model, historically have been funded through two key mechanisms: (1) discretionary county funding; and (2) a small number of grants from private foundations. With the recent economic downturn, discretionary county funding has been severely reduced and many private funders are contracting their investments. SIT Costs and Revenues: An inter-agency program, the Service Integration Program's costs are spread across the budgets of three county departments (Employment and Human services, Health Services and Probation), as well as in a separate budget unit for the Service Integration Program (described here as the "SIT budget'. Staff members assigned by their departments to work at one of the program's Family Service Centers remain within their department's budget, but their work is jointly overseen by the Service Integration Program and their"home" departments. The separate SIT budget primarily includes expenditures and revenues associated with Bay Point Works and the North Richmond Empowerment Collaborative, some personnel expenses not absorbed by the departments (such as partial costs of the SIT Substance Abuse/Mental Health Counselor, Bilingual Outreach Worker and Probation Officers) and additional SIT overhead and administrative costs. The Service Integration Program prepares a combined report of expenditures and revenues of all participating departments for the annual Children and Families Budget. The most recent Children and Families Budget for FY 02/03 calculated combined gross expenditures for SIT at $3.4 million. Just under $2.7 million of this total was financed through federal and state funding, grants and contracts, leaving a total net county cost of $772,,000. Were SIT not in place, however, the participating departments would still need to maintain most of the personnel currently assigned to SIT to provide mandated services and/or consistent levels of service to the clients currently served by SIT. After accounting for the marginal costs of SIT (such as additional facility and support staff costs), we estimate that if SIT did not exist the participating county departments would still have to shoulder $468.,438 (or 61%) of the $772.,000 in net county costs presented above. In terms of net county resources, the SIT budget has become far leaner in recent years. The vast majority of the SIT budget's resources sustain SIT's neighborhood-building projects, BPW and NREC. The projected FY 2004-05 budgets for BPW and NREC total approximately $543.,414. The wages, benefits/employer costs and expenses of the 15 neighborhood residents who staff these projects (along with stipends to neighborhood residents who participate in various BPW- and NREC-sponsored courses and workgroups) will account for between 80% and 90% of the FY 04-05 BPW and NREC budgets. Over the past three years, the net county cost allocated to the SIT budget was reduced by $100.#000 -- from $274,,939 in FY 00-01 to $174.,939 in FY 03-04. During this same period, due to the success and expansion of BPW and NREC, SIT budget expenditures increased by $188,665 — from $485,,287 in FY 00-01 to a projected $673,,952 in FY 03-04. To compensate, Service Integration Program staff has worked hard to raise funds via outside grants, contracts and awards. As illustrated in Table 2, the Service Integration Program secured $536.,985 for FY 03-04 from private foundations, public grant awards and contracts. Page 15, 5/17/04 Table 2. Service Integration Program Grant & Contract Revenue FY 03-04, FY 04-05 & FY 05-06 REVENUE SOURCE AMOUNT TYPE IFY 03-04 COMMITTED GRANTS & CONTRACTS S.H. Cowell Foundation $ 137,454 Foundation Grant West Contra Costa Unified School District $ 125,000 Contract Keller Canyon Mitigation Funds $ 30,000 Award of Local Funds Deferred Grant Revenue from FY 02-03 $ 100,819 Foundation Grant Zellerbach Family Foundation $ 54,412 Foundation Grant Community Development Block Grant Program $ 33,000 Federal Funding San Francisco Foundation $ 25,000 Foundation Grant Wayne & Gladys Valley Foundation $ 25,000 Foundation Grant Conflict Resolution Panels $ 4,000 Contract Pettus Foundation $ 21300 Foundation Grant FY 03-04 Committed Grants & Contracts Subtotal $ 536 985 FY 04-05 & 05-06 COMMITTED GRANTS & CONTRACTS** S.H. Cowell Foundation $ 270,000 Foundation Grant West Contra Costa Unified School District* $ 125,000 Contract Zellerbach Family Foundation $ 46,000 Foundation Grant United Way of the Bay Area $ 40,000 Foundation Grant Pettus Foundation $ 5,000 Foundation Grant McKesson Foundation $ 4,400 Corporate Grant Community Development Block Grant Program $ 33,000 Federal Funding FY 04-05 & 05-06 Committed Grants 8 Contracts Subtotal $ 523 400 TOTAL COMMITTED GRANTS & CONTRACTS $ 190609385 "Pending confirmation from the WCCUSD Superintendent. *'`A number of other proposals have been submitted and are in the process of being submitted, including renewals of prior year grants and applications to new foundations. We are hopeful that these solicitations will reap additional grant awards for FY 04-05 and beyond. Funders have already committed an additional $523,400 to SIT for FY 0405 and beyond.6 We are hopeful that some other funders who generously supported SIT in FY 03-04 will continue to do so in FY 04-05. For example: � Service Integration will be inviting the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation to continue its initial investment of $25,,000 in VIP in late May 2004. � The San Francisco Foundation has given approval to the Service Integration Program to apply for $20,,000 on behalf of VIP in June 2004. � In FY 02-03 and FY 03-04, the Service Integration Program's Bay Point Works Community Career Center received funding of $30,000 from Keller Canyon Mitigation Funds. We will be submitting a proposal for FY 04-05 Keller Canyon Mitigation Funds as well. In addition, the Service Integration Program has a number of proposals to other funders pending or under development. In terms of the community-building projects, our greatest challenge for FY 04-05 will be garnering sufficient support for Bay Point Works. We are in the process of trying to introduce a number of new funders to BPW, with a particular focus on several more recent and/or expanding initiatives, including: � BPW's Youth Achievement and Possibilities/gap (YAP/gap) Program, which provides free educational and enrichment activities to the children of low-income working parents to help fill the ""gaps" in the school calendars when parents are working and their children are on school vacation. � BPW's emerging Family Assets and Community Economic Success (FACES) Initiative, which will build upon BPW's strengths and past success to assist low-income Bay Point families — and their community — to accumulate and maintain assets that gain value over time. We are hopeful that these new initiatives will help harvest the support we need to maintain the many services that BPW brings to the community. Savings/Avoided Costs: What this section does not and cannot quantify is the substantial savings and avoided costs resulting from the outstanding prevention, early intervention and intensive services work performed by the staff of Contra Costa's two Service Integration Teams. Just a few examples follow: � Because we know that failure to attend school is an early indicator of youth disaffection, SIT's Employment Specialists, VIP staff and Juvenile Probation Officers intervene when it comes to staff's attention that a child of a participant family is failing to attend school on a regular basis. These early interventions have helped numerous youth get back on track and avoid future run-ins with the law (or more tragic fates). 6 Please note that this estimate assumes that the WCCUSD will continue to invest$125,000 in the VIP Program in FY 04-05. Page 16, 5/17/04 � The many parenting classes and activities sponsored by both SIT sites have helped parents of some of the County's most vulnerable children become more nurturing and learn to better manage the inevitable frustrations associated with parenthood. � Seamless linkages with and the convenient community location of mental health and substance abuse counseling have allowed individuals who otherwise may have remained isolated and underserved with far greater access to these vital supports. � SIT staff members' close relationship with and knowledge of the families and communities they serve have fostered earlier child welfare referrals and, we suspect, less need for court intervention. Unfortunately, we have no effective tool for measuring the avoided costs of circumstances that SIT services very likely helped avert. We remain confident, however, that over the past 10 years SIT services have notably improved school attendance, increased community employment, helped youth and families stay out of court, enticed drug-addicted and mentally ill individuals to seek treatment and brought many other significant benefits to the communities of Bay Point, North Richmond and San Pablo. As public and private budgets continue to constrict in upcoming years, we know that the obstacles associated with maintaining the Service Integration Program will remain great, despite the unquestionable value of our services. We will persist in our efforts to seek new and creative approaches to support these important services. Page 17, 5/17/04 ATTACHMENT A. VITA ARTICLES Page 18, 5/17/04 br"1 hteruture is a ig Tax assistance programs boost family incomes . ........................................................ By Melia Franklin Terrilynn Kopitar didn't owe any taxes for 2002--or for the previous two years.'I know I didn't have to pay,so I didn't file taxes,'says Kopitar, 111111FRI r 1�1111 M NN amother of four in Bay Point,a working-class community in Contra 0 Costa County. As a former CalWORKs participant fumed student, she worked part time,and her income was too low to owe. But with free tax assistance from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)program at Bay Point Family Service Center,a family resource center, Kopitar received an unexpected$6;600 boost:tax refunds for the post three years. Kopitar says she had no idea"that,as a low-income wage-eamer(less than$34,692 a year)supporting one child(the others are grown),she quo ified for a$2,547 federal Earned Income Tax Credit(EiTC)refund and more in child tax credits. She admits it.was."hard not to go out and spend it right away-4 wanted to just go shoppingl"Instead,she used part of the refund to pay off$2,600 in student loans."That was a huge ton of bricks lifted off my shoulders."Her next stop isgetting my transmission fixed on my car—I've'been borrowing nV father's car."'With the tax credit money,.says Kopitar,'I'll be a lot more independent and I'm not in debt so much.My future isaTittle brighter." "if you have any earnings,you may not owe, but you U can get money back from the government." C: —Nina Goldman, Contra Costa County Service Integration Manager Q0es****e#e 44****46 s4s*#*,e**o.so*of.**0000emoo*4 eo.olo" **see 416*11* Families:A.1boost out of poverty Anuixtea* g number of family resource centers(FRCS)like Bay Point have been oil basting VITA programs as part-of a national strategy to help boost low-income fami- lies out ofpoverty through the ffl '--"one of the most effective antipovertyprograInS 08 .0 available,"wcmftg to Nina Goldman,service integration manager for Contra Costa �Z Pow,tiset in Contra Costa Cairn: tax assistance grogram. County. tInfaMmately, 10 to 15 percent of eligible families don't claim-the ErM–dike Kopitar,they don't know about it in Contra Costa County,some$8 million in tax Z -a"tg go unclaimed each year. 'fhm is d&huge pot of money that poor people are entitled W----up to$4,204 for Tips for success:. a tnafed couple with two or more children,says Goldman,who oversees Bay Point. Running a VITA campaign is an Incredibly rewarding,wonderful initia- 0 F=Wly Service Center and North Richmond/San Pablo FRC.The message is simple: taus,"says Judy Schwartz,administrator of Fremont FRC,which ran 14 VITA �" k f 'U you have any earnings,you may not owe,but you can get money back from the sites last year.'But its also"a huge amount of work."VITA veterans advise: s. is Start small:.'Get your feet wet"With d small-scale pilot before launching LAS yem in a pilot program with 25 families,Bay Point and North Richmond FRCS bwugbt families$47,000.in tax refunds,an average of$2,000 per family.This year, a major campaign,-says Goldman. n Reach out early:"If you really want to get families out of the predatory Contra Costa County hopes to reach 735 families-and bring in$1 million,with help financial marketyou have toget to them early,'says Wakeling.Otherwise fromfroma countywide partnership and the United Way of the Bay Area's new Earn Its ,many Will go to tax preparation services,which charge high fees and lure Keep 10$ave It.1 campaign.(See p.16 for more on tax credits.) clients into high-interest"refund anticipation loa*ns.if a Work with partners:Market the service through public and nonprofit FRCS: Building relationships ageneses,programs like CalWORks,jcommunity organizations and events, Many FRCS,like Bay Point,see the VITA program as"a step toward financial lit- s Hire a coordinator:Most VITA sites hire a part-time coordinator,October sly.It's an opportunity to talk about asset-building,bank accounts,and free financial through April;to recruit volunteers,work with the IRS,and coordinate com- planning classes,"says Goldman.Families feet comfortable going to the FRC for help, muniti outreach. • no K*tan because"they know it's a community-friendly place! The ErrC is"a tremendous draw in for the Other work we waist ID do with families,"says Stewart Wakeling,executive director of Community The research shows: tnerslip for Farnihis in San Joaquin County.Last year the partnership ran a pilot W Money matters!By the time they get to kindergarten,children in low- VITA WoVam that brought 400 families about'$1,000 each in refunds. income families log behind other kids-in academic,social,and physical �,,, When fkWhes come in for the tax assistance,Wakeling says,,we use the opportu- development(National Center for Children in.P6verty). sity to belp them establish a conventional banking relationship,"fming them from • costly check-cashing services and money orders;Then,"in a relational,way,over n'The Earned Income Tax Credit lifts more children out of poverty than any dW ft FRC.may offer families help in going over their bills and cutting umeces- other government program(Center for Budget and Policy Priorities). tq a Programs that increased families'economic resources by$1,200 to.. my,costs."We try not to be judgmentaV'Wakeling says, or they'll ■never come $4,000 per year(over what they had been on welfaire)had positive effects on the development of children the preschool and elementary school -In general,FRCS underestimate the importance of improving families'financial situations:'Wakeling adds."R6-search shows that as a family'syears(Future of Families).financial position. 9 After an experiment that increased poor families'income's by-about improves,the well-being of the children improves." $4,400 a year for three years,children'scored its well on school tests'as 0 For Kopitar,filing her taxes."helped get me back in the loop."She has a bank children from families with twice the income.Even small increases in family Point.'I'm look- account now,and this year,she'll be a volunteer tax preparer At Bay Po resources led to improvements in yo'u-ng children's*ability to identify colors at i ing forward to doing the same thing for another family,"she says. n.- and letters and to understand more word (Harvard Graduate School of 01 Education) For details on sources,email aggiegnO-Achildren.grg VITA provides free,IRS-certified tax assistance at.community and gov- emment sites.Call the IRS at 1,800-TAX-1 040 for a site near you. The IRS provides free training and certification to VITA volunteer tax preo, payers,as well as computers and software for instant`6-filing." Volunteer tax preparers are certified by the IRS t3fter 12 hours of Ther family resource center(FRC),part of an innbv'cdive strategy-to pro- classes."Anybody who knows how to use a computer and is eager to learn mote healthy families and communities,is a worm and welcoming com- can do it,"says Fremont volunteer Johnny Yee. munity hub that engages families in a variety of programs and-activities Un-ited Way of the Bay Area provides leadership,publicity,'and some that build on their strengths and meet basic I needs.-FRCs respond to what financial support to VITA sites in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San the community says 4 needs and often work in partnership With other'com- YS Francisco counties.www 'tkee0itsaveit.org munity agencies. 10 MARCH APRIL.2004 • As CONTRA COSTA • BAY AREA .FRIDAY, APRIL 2 2004_ ContraCo staTimes OKI}>`.' Jji^..r. '.�%s r N�t:tv J'.J ::¢;.a•<^,<3 y.yf.. is iii $k �3f y ,r yx 4y.��. ,Er'1'sX•. Y °..e, +f Q vyY:2f y � :'i^,y.<Y.a.:.i, aX.:;t i�N Ji<+'•��k• s"%+' J' ?.. ' fk .h Jk}Jar ��?'� b;: 'i'J{�•• ?•�r><. r r � I J Y.ii y. l%Y'r<M� iYJ IQ` JIX . • l`�'}s'�l/ata '. < EDDIE LEDESMA/TIMES NINA GOLDMAN,right,service integration manager for the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department,helps low-income taxpayers file their income tax returns at the San Pablo One Stop office on Wednesday. p p 0 Low-income families in tax refunds. quite the level of business we've and individuals canet "That's all money that could had" g be going into our local economy This is the,first year for the assistance With flliI]gS; here,but isn t, said Nina Gold- Contra.Costa program,although some find out there is man,service integration manager there were pilot centers last year for the Contra Costa County Em- in Bay Point and North Richmond. money Waiting for Mem ployment and.Human Services A partnership of public-and pri- Department. vete organizations,including the •By Sandy Meff nan Contra Costa County has 12 United Way of the Bay Area,Con- TnES STA"MUM Volunteer Income Tax Assistance I tra Costa County,the Internal Rev- Most people dread tax season, centers operating in churches, enue Service and the city of Rich- but,hundreds of low-income in- nonprofit agencies and county mond,sponsors thero . dividuals and families have re- buildings.Many are open at night Alameda County h X24 ad- ceived a welcome surprise as a and on weekends.They will re' vice centers;up from 14 last year. result of free tax advice at cen- main open until April 15. y p � Translators are available for ters throughout the East Bay. IMore than 160 volunteers those who need it. Volunteers in Contra Costa have each completed 20 hours of Antioch resident Joy Fryman, and Alameda counties are help- training to assist people,boning who has a disabled husband and ing people apply for tax credits -up on the Earned Income Tax,` four children,discovered she will that can put money into pocket- child tax and other credits. w get$2,034 back after receiving books,instead of taking it out. "The volunteers love it,"Gold- As of mid-March, Contra advice from the OPTIC center. Local groups launched the man said.-"To be able to sit down Costa volunteers had helped 642 That's her largest refund ever. program after realizing many with someone and do their taxes people. Money is tight for the family people fail to claim the Earned for free and tell them they're get- Using a conservative estimate, because of her husband's injury. Income Tax Credit,even though ting back$4,000 results in a lot that has generated more than This really helped•me out be- they qualify. of hugs and kisses." $770,000 in federal tax refunds, cause we got behind in our bills," It can generate up to$4,204 Pittsburg resident Roberta da Goldman said. ' Fryman said "I paid off a few for individuals and families with Silva,a single mother'of two,re-. "These sites are,hopping,"she credit cards and now.things are income below$34,692. ceived tax advice at OPTIC;a• said. I dont thunk we expected looking up." Even people who ewe no nonprofit organization in Anti- taxes may be eligible: och that provides:job-trainitig to, Federal officials designed the low-income residents.:' -She credit as an anti-poverty mea- learned.she will get more than sure:::Yet.many people know lit- $4,000 back. tle about it. "I probably would have been In Contra Costa County alone, able to get-more'last year,If I the Internal Revenue Service es- 'knew all the 4aws,"da Silva said. timates 8,623 eligible people "I think the information needs to. failed to apply for the credit in• get out there that they do offer .. 2001,missing out on$4.7 million this service."