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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 05032005 - C53 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ,��.^-g=---�..,o� r *: FROM: John Sweeten Count Administrator Costa DATE: May 3, 2005 •�ovK-'�`; County SUBJECT: Community Services Department Monthly Update 573 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S�: ACCEPT update on the operations of the Community Services Department. FISCAL IMPACT: No impact from this update. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION (S): Attached is the second monthly report on the operations of the Community Services Department. This report includes updates on fiscal, personnel, grant applications, and program issues. On March 1, 2005 the Board of Supervisors received a report from Human Resource Practitioners (HRP) on the Community Services Department management review. HRP made a number of recommendations for consideration by the Board to enhance the chances of preventing incidents from occurring at the County's Head Start childcare centers. To enhance oversight of the Community Services Department the County Administrator is conducting monthly meetings with the department to receive updates on program issues and to plan and/or authorize actions that may be needed. To ensure they remain updated regarding p g g the status of the program, the Board of Supervisors directed the Count Administrator, or his Y designee, to provide them with a monthly status report. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES GNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOA MMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON d ffoo 41 APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE o A AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN _UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD AYES: NOES: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED CONTACT: JOHN 8WEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND cc: Scott Tandy COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Dorothy Sansoe BY ,DEPUTY To: j John Sweeten, County Administrator N,R n t O,1 A C U N I Y From: Scott Tandy, Interim Executive Director COMMUNITY SERVICES { DEPARTMENT Subject: • Monthly Report Date: April 22, 2005 Scott Tandy Interim Executive Director Patricia Stroh,PhD To continue ongoing communication with the County Administrator regarding Program Services issues pertaining to the Head Start program and the Community Services Director Department,I am submitting the following report: A. Fiscal Report 1. The Policy Council considered for approval on April 20, 2005 the fiscal year 2005/2006 contract with the Antioch Partnership(Kid's Club.) 2. The Policy Council considered but took no action on the Family Services Reorganization and Reduction in Work Force(RIF)for 34 Family Advocates. Instead, a special meeting of the Policy Council was set for April 27,2005 to further consider the proposed reorganization. B. Personnel Report 1. Current Staring Activities a. Interviews for the new CSD Personnel Administrator were held on Wednesday,March 16 and Mickey Williams has been appointed. b. The executive search continues for the Community Services Executive Director with a closing date of April 29, 2005. c. One Assistant Manager was hired to help work with the Policy Council and parents,Katherine Owen. d. A total of 14 teaching positions are vacant in the department as follows: 3 Master Teachers; 3 Teachers; 6 Associate Teachers; and 2 Infant/Toddler Teachers. e. Twenty-three employees are out on FMLA, LOA or Worker's Compensation. The department is working on a plan to address the vacancy problem. Additionally,we are now utilizing an interim sick leave policy(pending adoption of County's revised policy)which we understand will be applicable to all departments in the near future. 2425 Bisso Lane Drive,Suite 26Q Concord,California 94520 Tel 925 646 5540 Fax 925 646 5904 www.ccccsd.org John Sweeten Page Two April 22, 2005 2. Labor Relations a. The Department conducted the Meet and Confer process with Local One to discuss the impact of the reduction in force of 34 Family Advocate positions. Meetings have also been held to discuss better and more efficient ways to work together. 3. Ongoing Personnel Activities a. The department continues to implement an improved professional development system for all classifications in accordance with the special Federal Review. b. Site Supervisors and Managers received training on"Managing with Impact" which focuses on how to better manage employees. C. Status of Appeal of Unusual Incident 3/8/05 1. As previously reported in a memo to you and others dated March 31, 2005, CSD initiated the 1St step of a seven-step appeal process of an unusual incident erroneously reported by mid-management to State Community Care Licensing. Our position in the appeal is that no child was left without supervision by a qualified teacher. We plan to go through the remaining six steps of the state process, as necessary, to validate the fact that there was no reportable incident. With regard to our other 18 sites serving over 2,500 children daily,we have not had any reports of unusual incidents since January. D. Grants Development 1. CSD is collaborating with Catholic Charities, Contra Costa College, and West Ed in an effort to secure a Federal Department of Education grant that would bring in in approximately$2.7 million over three years. These funds would enhance early childhood education opportunities in West County, and provide language support to students for whom English is a second language. 2. Sites are applying for First 5 Family Friendly grants. E. Economic Opportunity Council(EOC) 1. There is a concentrated effort to restructure and revitalize the EOC. At the 4/14/05 meeting, new goals and a new Mission Statement were discussed. It is important M John Sweeten Page Three April 22, 2005 that the Department support the EOC and help publicize its work in the community. To that end, a new Community Action Plan(CAP)newsletter is in place (see attached) and the EOC will be featured in the May department newsletter. 2. The EOC is working on developing the 2006-2007 Community Action Plan, and is scheduling public forums for members of the low-income community to help shape the focus of the CAP plan,which is a requirement of the Community Services Block Grant each year. A large team of eight members attended the CAP Work Group on April 7, 2005. F. Week of the Young Child 1. Several CSD sites hosted"Week of the Young Child" events for the children, parents, and community members from April 3 - 9. 2. Supervisor Piepho participated in the CSD events in her district in Brentwood. 3. The Mayor of Richmond, Irma Anderson, visited the Balboa site in Richmond. G. Program Information Response(PIR)to ACF 1. The PIR response is due to ACF by April 28, 2005. The six key indicators needing improvement are as follows: a. Full enrollment: Although our program is at 96.58% and is higher than the State, Regional and National averages,the target for enrollment is 100%. b. Children medically screened c. Children receiving medical treatment d. Children completing dental exams e. Children receiving dental treatment f. Head Start and Early Head Start children professionally diagnosed with a disability 2. We are revamping our system for enrollment and comprehensive services by reorganizing staff into four comprehensive services hubs, which will improve our statistics by enabling more specialized and skilled staff devoted to these functions. For the areas involving medical/dental screening and treatment, conditions such as the scarcity of dentists accepting Medi-Cal, continue to present challenges for the program. H. Curriculum and Training 1. Karen Haigh, a consultant and author,will visit GMIII in Richmond April 28 and 29 to provide training and technical assistance to the staff in the Reggio f John Sweeten Page Four April 22, 2005 approach. Her program, Chicago Commons,mirrors GMIII in terms of demographic makeup and the community setting. 2. Staff continue to be trained in extensive 8-10 hour behavioral management training. This training will be completed by August 2005. I. Special Proi ects 1. Responses to the recommendations in the management study conducted by Dave Macowiak, of HRP Associates,will be completed next week and a copy will be made available to the County Administrator. 2. The National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC) accreditation process begins for five sites and the kick-off meeting will be next week. 3. We are revitalizing our Teacher Assistant Trainee (TAT)program and are in the process of ordering growth plans for our existing TATs. I Enrollment 1. Enrollment for April is as follows: Early Head Start: 211 Head Start/Blended: 19457 State CDE Only: 340 Home Base: 159 Total Enrollment: 98% English Language Learners: 55% of Enrolled Children Spanish Speakers: 89% of English Language Learners K. Recruitment 1. We have been in the process of a countywide recruiting effort in all districts and have distributed 14,000 flyers the week of April 11. Also, contacts were made to low-performing elementary schools throughout the county and several school districts approved the distribution of flyers at elementary schools. We will be setting up a phone bank to manage client response calls and have placed 75 new clients on our waiting list in two days. 2. The Brentwood Press has asked for flyers to distribute, and ConocoPhillips in Rodeo is placing a recruitment flyer inside their monthly newsletter for distribution to three West County cities. r John Sweeten Page Five April 22, 2005 3 . The following school districts have been contacted in regard to recruitment: District 1- Supervisor Gioia West Contra Costa Unified School District District 2—Supervisor Uilkema John Swett Unified School District Martinez Unified School District West Contra Costa Unified School District District 3—Supervisor Piepho Brentwood Union School District Byron Union Knightsen District 4—Supervisor DeSaulnier Mt. Diablo Unified School District District 5—Supervisor Glover Mt. Diablo Unified School District(for Bay Point) Pittsburg Unified School District Antioch Unified School District Oakley Union Elementary School District Cc: Pat Stroh, Program Services Director Policy Council Family&Human Services Committee a Addendum to Monthly Report John Sweeten, County Administrator April 22, 2005 A special Policy Council meeting was held on April 27, 2005 to consider Reorganization of the Family Services and Reduction in Force of 34 Family Advocate positions. It was approved as follows: 19 approved, 3 disapproved and no abstentions. 4