Agenda Item #14.3
For Council Meeting of: June 7, 2022
CITY OF SANTA ROSA CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MAGALI TELLES, DIRECTOR
OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
SUBJECT: MEASURE O (2004) CYCLE XI CHOICE GRANT PROGRAM FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Office of Community Engagement that the Council, by resolution: 1) adopt the yearly funding recommendations of the Grant Review Team for the Measure O (2004) CHOICE Cycle XI Grant Program with year two and three funding contingent on successful completion of year one; 2) direct staff to enter into funding agreements with approved providers; and 3) authorize the City Manager or designee to approve and execute the funding agreements and any amendments with CHOICE Cycle XI approved providers.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff will present the funding recommendations from the Grant Review Team for the Measure O (2004) CHOICE Cycle XI Grant Program. This item fulfills Council Goal, “Provide for community safety, valued City services, and open government,” by strengthening youth and families and building a healthy and resilient community by leading, mobilizing and aligning our community resources. The Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership invests in and partners with local non-profits and organizations, with an emphasis on school readiness, student engagement and truancy prevention, and workforce development, in addition to a comprehensive array of social services and collaborative opportunities to support high-need areas of Santa Rosa.
BACKGROUND
In November 2004, Santa Rosa voters passed a Transaction and Use tax measure (Measure O) to fund critical public safety improvements in Police, Fire and Violence Prevention/Intervention Services. Expected to generate an average of $7 million of revenue per year for 20 years, the sales tax provides Gang Prevention/Intervention Services with roughly $1.4 million per year to fund crucial youth development programs and other activities designed to address the community’s youth and gang violence prevention and intervention needs. The share of Measure O (2004) dedicated for Gang Prevention/Intervention Services is allocated between Recreation’s Neighborhood Services Division and the Violence Prevention Partnership (The Partnership), formerly the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force.
Measure O (2004) stipulates that grant funding shall be provided to organizations for youth and parenting programs which focus on gang and anti-violence education, prevention and intervention, community safety, and a comprehensive array of social services in high need neighborhoods.
In 2006, The Partnership established the annual Community Helping Our Indispensable Children Excel (CHOICE) Grant Program and issued its first Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process for organizations and schools to fulfill this Measure O (2004) requirement. Beginning with CHOICE Cycle VII in 2013, Council approved a shift from one-year funding cycles to a two-year funding term for the CHOICE Grant Program.
From fall 2016 through summer 2017, The Partnership undertook its third strategic planning process to revisit its Mission, Vision, and Values to identify key strategies for the period of 2017-2022. The strategic planning process included data gathering and analysis through surveys and focus groups with community members and partners, complemented by extensive research of evidence-informed practices and programming, with an emphasis on performance-based outcomes.
After extensive analysis of previous strategic plan efforts and Strategy Recommendations identified in the 2016 Community Safety Scorecard (Scorecard), in addition to public input from over 1,000 surveys and focus groups with community members and partners, four of the 10 Scorecard Strategy Recommendations were prioritized and incorporated into the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan and the CHOICE Cycle XI Grant Program Request for Qualification (RFQ).
For more information about the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan, Community Safety Scorecard, or the CHOICE Cycle XI Grant Program Request for Qualification, visit www.srcity.org/ThePartnership.
In alignment with the Strategic Plan and Scorecard, on January 10, 2022, the City of Santa Rosa released the CHOICE Cycle XI RFQ to identify community-based organizations and school districts qualified to provide youth and gang violence prevention and intervention services in four funding categories:
Category One: School Readiness
Category Two: Student Engagement & Truancy Prevention
Category Three: Street Outreach & Mediation
Category Four: Workforce Development
For CHOICE Cycle XI, all proposals were required to contribute a 50% match (cash or up to 25% of in-kind) of requested funding. This match requirement is intended to increase the sustainability of the funded programs by reducing the reliance on Measure O (2004) funding in order to sustain programming. In addition, all applications had to clearly identify services for residents of high-need areas as identified in the Community Safety Scorecard.
This is the last Cycle for CHOICE Measure O (2004), therefore it will be 2 and a half year funding cycle. The intention is that year 3 is half a year and will be half the funding of year 1.
A complete copy of the RFQ can be found at https://srcity.org/DocumentCenter/View/35643/CHOICE-CYCLE-XI-RFQ-FINAL Attachment 1 – Reviewer Rating Form summarizes the evaluation criteria used by the Grant Review Team.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
Not applicable ANALYSIS
The City received 17 applications from 15 agencies in response to the CHOICE Cycle XI RFQ. Agencies submitted budgets for one year of funding, with requests totaling $2,063,090 per year, exceeding the available funding of $750,000 per year or $1,875,000 for the two and a half year funding cycle. Funding of the Cycle XI Year Two and Three is contingent upon the successful completion of Year One requirements outlined in Exhibit B to the Resolution– Cycle XI Funding Agreement Template.
Cycle XI Funding Recommendations were established on April 5, 2022, by a seven-member Grant Review Team, comprised of representatives from multiple sectors of the community.
Bridget Beck – Sonoma County Probation
John Cregan – Santa Rosa Police
Anna Trunnell – Santa Rosa City Schools
Hector Rico – Roseland School District
Leslie Graves – Community Advisory Board
Jesus Rosales – Verity
Jeff Tibbetts – Santa Rosa Recreation
Following the convening on April 5, 2022, the CHOICE Cycle XI Grant Review Team’s funding recommendations were presented and reviewed by the Violence Prevention Partnership Policy Team on May 18, 2022.
Staff has participated in funding agreement negotiations with each organization recommended for funding by the CHOICE Cycle XI Grant Review Team. Attachment 2 outlines the organizations recommended for funding; the recommended amount of the funding agreement compared to the amount requested; and a brief description of the recommended services provided.
A contracted evaluation team, assisted by City staff, will thoroughly monitor and evaluate the quantitative and qualitative performance of funded organizations throughout the duration of the CHOICE Cycle XI funding agreements, with a contingency of Years Two and Three funding based upon available funds, satisfactory performance of scopes of work, completion of the required outcomes and measurements of each funding agreement, and subject to the discretion of the City Manager or Designee.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this action does not have a fiscal impact on the General Fund or Measure O (2004).
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Council finds that the proposed action is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under section 15061(b)(3) and 15378 in that there is no possibility that the implementation of this action may have significant effects on the environment, and that no further environmental review is required.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable NOTIFICATION
Not applicable
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Cycle XI Grant Reviewer Rating Form
Attachment 2 – Cycle XI Funding Recommendations
Resolution/Exhibit A - CHOICE Cycle XI Funding Recommendations Resolution/Exhibit B - CHOICE Cycle XI Funding Agreement Template
CONTACT
Magali Telles
[email protected]
(707) 543-4634
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