Agenda Item #13.1
For Council Meeting of: September 24, 2024
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DONTE WATSON, DIRECTOR, RECREATION AND PARKS
SUBJECT: MEASURE H (2022) CHOICE CYCLE XII GRANT PROGRAM FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Recreation and Parks Department, Violence Prevention Partnership, that the Council, by resolution: 1) adopt the yearly funding recommendations of the Grant Review Team for the Measure H (2022) CHOICE Cycle XII Grant Program with Year Two funding contingent on successful completion of Year One and Year Three funding contingent on successful completion of Year Two; and 2) authorize the City Manager or designee to approve and execute the funding agreements and any amendments with CHOICE Cycle XII approved providers.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff will present the funding recommendations from the Grant Review Team for the Measure H (2022) CHOICE Cycle XII Grant Program. This item fulfills Council Goal, “Provide for community safety, valued City services, and open government,” by leading, mobilizing, and aligning community resources to create safe and healthy environments where all youth are empowered to reach their full potential and all community members thrive. The Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership invests in and partners with local non-profits and organizations, with an emphasis on workforce development, diversion and re-entry, street outreach, whole family support, and pro-social activities, 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. In 2022, with the expiration of Measure O just two-years away, Santa Rosa voters approved Measure H, extending the quarter-cent Transaction and Use Tax for another 20 years. Now known as the Public Safety and Prevention Tax (PSAP), the sales tax provides an estimated $10 million in revenue each year, providing critical funding for public safety services.
The PSAP 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. The Community Helping Our Indispensable Children Excel (CHOICE) Grant Program was established in 2006 and the first Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process was initiated for organizations and schools to fulfill the sales tax requirement.
From January through May 2023, The Partnership undertook its fourth strategic planning process to revisit its mission, vision, values, and strategies to identify areas for improvement and change for the period of 2023-2028. This strategic planning process included data collection and analysis through surveys, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and workshops with community members and partners, complemented by extensive research of evidence-informed practices and programming, with an emphasis on evidence-informed practices. This work culminated in a final community meeting on June 27, 2023 where The Partnership presented the draft strategic plan to attendees and received feedback on the proposed strategic focus areas. At this meeting, community members were provided with the opportunity to prioritize potential program areas for future funding. The final plan was approved by the Policy Team on July 19, 2023 and Partnership staff utilized the plan’s strategic focus areas to develop the CHOICE Cycle XII Grant Program.
In alignment with the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, the City of Santa Rosa (City) released the CHOICE Cycle XII Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on April 4, 2024. The purpose of the RFQ was to identify qualified community-based organizations to provide youth and gang violence prevention and intervention services in five categories:
Workforce Development
Re-Entry and Diversion
Street Outreach and Intervention
Whole Family Support
Pro-Social Activities
All proposals were required to contribute a 20% match (cash or up to 50% in-kind) of requested funding. This match requirement is intended to increase the sustainability of the funded programs by reducing the reliance on PSAP funds over time. In addition, all applications had to clearly identify where services would be implemented with the City’s Equity Priority Communities.
The CHOICE Cycle XII Grant Program will be a three-year cycle, starting January 1, 2025 and ending on December 31, 2027.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
Not applicable.
ANALYSIS
The City received 28 applications from 20 agencies in response to the CHOICE Cycle XII RFQ. Agencies submitted budgets for one year of funding, with requests totaling $3,902,543 per year, exceeding the available funding of $750,000 per year or $2,250,000 for the three-year funding cycle. Funding of Year Two programming is contingent upon the successful completion of Year One and funding for Year Three programming is contingent upon successful completion of Year Two, as outlined in Exhibit B to the Resolution– Cycle XII Funding Agreement Template.
Cycle XII Funding Recommendations were established on June 6, 2024, by a seven-member Grant Review Team, comprised of representatives from multiple sectors of the community.
Sonoma County Juvenile Probation Office
Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office
Sonoma County Office of Education
City of Santa Rosa Police Department
City of Santa Rosa Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Office – Community Engagement Community Member Representative
Youth Representative
Following the convening on June 6, 2024, the CHOICE Cycle XII Grant Review Team’s funding recommendations were presented and reviewed by the Violence Prevention Program Manager, Deputy Director of Recreation, Director of Recreation and Parks, and Assistant City Manager.
Staff has participated in funding agreement negotiations with each organization recommended for funding by the CHOICE Cycle XII 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 XII 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.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The action is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines 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 no further environmental review is required.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – CHOICE Cycle XII Grant Reviewer Rating Form Attachment 2 – CHOICE Cycle XII Funding Recommendations Resolution/Exhibit A - CHOICE Cycle XII Funding Recommendations Resolution/Exhibit B - CHOICE Cycle XII Funding Agreement Template
PRESENTER
Danielle Garduño, Violence Prevention Program Manager
MEASURE H CYCLE XII CHOICE GRANT PROGRAM FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS PAGE 3 OF 3
MEASURE H CYCLE XII CHOICE GRANT PROGRAM FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS PAGE 1 OF 5