DRAFT

City of Lawrence

Social Service Funding Advisory Board Meeting

February 27, 2018 Minutes    

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Burdett Loomis, Ranelle Fischer, Alice Lieberman, Steven Davis, Galenea Miller, Lea Roselyn

 

MEMBERS ABSENT:

None

 

STAFF PRESENT:

Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager; Danielle Buschkoetter, Management Assistant

 

PUBLIC PRESENT:

None

 

Call to Order

Loomis called the meeting to order at 10:05.

 

Approve Minutes

A motion to approve minutes from October 23, 2017 was made by Loomis and seconded by Lieberman. The motion passed 5-0. Fischer was absent for vote.

 

Elect New Chair

Loomis called for nominations for chair and vice-chair. Miller nominated Loomis for chair and Roselyn for vice-chair. Loomis and Roselyn accepted the nominations. Davis moved to elect Loomis and Roselyn and chair and vice-chair respectively. The motion was seconded by Lieberman and passed 6-0.

 

Review 2019 Application Form

Prior to review of the 2019 applications, Loomis asked for an update on the consolidation effort that will impact the board. Buschkoetter noted that per the City Commission direction, a recommendation will be brought forward in mid-2018 to consolidate the Social Service Funding Advisory Board and the Community Development Advisory Committee. She added that they will be able to go through this allocation process as they have done in the past, the recommendation will follow the 2019 application cycle.

 

Davis asked if the board would be responsible for allocating the funds from the affordable housing sales tax initiative that will go into effect in 2019. Toomay indicated that those funds will be allocated by the Affordable Housing Advisory Board.

 

Davis asked if housing related agencies that apply for general funds through the outside agency process would be asked to apply for funds through the Affordable Housing Advisory Board. Toomay noted that in the past, staff has not asked agencies to apply for funds from one process or another.

 

Loomis asked Buschkoetter to review the 2019 Application form. Buschkoetter indicated that generally the form is the same as 2018 with the exception of an additional question that seeks to understand if agencies are receiving City funds from another funding sources, per previous direction from the board.

 

Roselyn asked if the intention of the question was to get a bigger picture. Davis indicated that some agencies receive funds from multiple sources and the Board was interested in knowing that when they were asked to make funding recommendations.

 

Roselyn asked if that would have any bearing on how the Board makes funding recommendations noting that if it will have a significant impact, that agencies need to be made aware of that. She added that written guidelines may help agencies understand the expectations of the Board.

 

Loomis noted that coming up with a formal policy is difficult given the varied nature of requests. Fischer added that they look at it as one piece of information that they use when making recommendations.

 

Davis noted that there are a number of agencies that are not getting those other benefits from the City and it is valuable information to have. Miller noted that the Board looks at the program requesting funds more than the agency.

 

Davis moved to approve the 2019 Application Form. The motion was seconded by Fischer and passed 6-0.

 

Review 2017 Annual Reports

Davis asked about the Lawrence Community Shelter and if they received full funds in 2017. Toomay indicated that when the City received their request for their second half allocation of funds, the City requested their 2016 financial audit. Upon receipt of the 2016 financial audit all remaining funds were released.

 

Davis noted that as of the Social Service Funding Advisory Board meeting, Lawrence Community Shelter and Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center had not submitted their 2017 annual reports. Buschkoetter noted that staff had been in contact with the Lawrence Community Shelter about the annual reports.

 

Davis indicated that the final question on the annual report regarding the budget was not overly helpful and was generally a very generic answer. He added that it might make sense to update that question in the future to get a better answer.

 

Lieberman noted that the Board just changed the annual report form for 2017 so it might make sense to keep it the same for now and give it some more stability given they have changed the process greatly in the past few years.

 

Davis also noted that some of the answers were repetitive, especially for agencies that received funds from both general and special alcohol funds. Roselyn added that some of the reports look very similar to the reports submitted in 2016.

 

Toomay asked the Board if there were any reports that raised red flags. The Board noted that some of the reports were generic and could have benefited from more data and more detail in general. Adding that some reports seem to be copy and pasted from year to year.

 

The Board noted that the Douglas County Dental Clinic was an example of a great report and that they wanted to see more reports with that level of detail. They added that the narrative of the success stories was helpful and meaningful.

 

The Board agreed that specific details were helpful in the report and much better than broad generalizations that did not seem to tie back to the specific program that received funding.  

 

Lieberman noted while some of the reports are very generic the board still needed to keep in mind that the services the agencies provide are more important and some agencies may not have much reporting capacity.

 

Davis added that in the future the Board may want to consider waiving the reporting requirement for agencies that receive funds under a certain threshold.

 

Roselyn asked if agencies miss the deadline for submitting their annual report, are they eligible for funds the following year. Davis noted that they are eligible and that reports should be encouraged even after the deadline because they are good for the public to have access to.

 

Roselyn asked if agencies are held accountable for missed reports (or reports that are copy and pasted year after year) or for not reaching stated goals and objectives in the previous year.

 

The Board agreed that they need to take into account missed deadlines and whether stated goals were achieved when making recommendations in the future.

 

Roselyn noted that the United Way uses a standardized matrix that includes an accountability metric that will be reduced if deadlines are missed or reports do not meet expectations. Loomis indicated that the Board has discussed a matrix in the past and as opted out of it because they receive a wide range of applications and needs from agencies.

 

Loomis stated that the Board should make note of agencies that did not submit a report on time or did not meet the report expectations and if that is going to impact future recommendations, they need to be clear about it at the time recommendations are made.

 

Roselyn noted that the agencies that receive funding provide impactful services, but they still should be held accountable for the public dollars they receive.

 

The Board agreed to forward on an annual report to the City Commission that outlines the following: highlight the Douglas County Dental Clinic for an excellent annual report; agencies that missed the deadline to submit a report; and outline why an annual report is required.

 

Next Meeting—May 17, 2018

The Board will review the 2019 requests for funding and ask agencies follow-up questions as appropriate via phone call. May 22, 2018 will be a follow-up meeting where the Board will finalize funding recommendations to forward on to the City Commission.    

 

Public Comment

Loomis called for public comment, no public comment was given.

 

Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by Lieberman and seconded by Fisher. The motion passed 6-0.