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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999 04-22 HHSCMINUTES OF THE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING City Conference Center 1001 N. Idaho Road, Apache Junction, AZ April 22, 1999- 3:00 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: CAROL CRANMER, VICE CHAIRPERSON CARMEN HUERTA RUTH WATERS 1.Call to Order/Attendance. STAFF PRESENT: KATHLEEN CONNELLY, CITY CLERK OTHERS PRESENT COUNCILMEMBER URICH,COUNCIL LIAISON Vice Chairperson Cranmer called the meeting to order at 3:20 p.m.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly called the roll and advised there was a quorum present.Chairperson Barker and Commissioner Bennett were absent. 2.Discussion on FY 1999-2000 funding applications and procedure for reviewing applications. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she had given them the applications received this year, and in most cases she had given them the applicant's complete packet.She did not include the bylaws and articles of incorporation for some agencies as they were very thick; they are all basically the same.There are a total of seven applicants, two less than last year.The total funding requested is $115,000,but that does not include St. George's as they did not specify a dollar amount.However, since they did not comply last year, they are ineligible.No audits were ever received from them. Vice Chairperson Cranmer asked if they were aware of the problem.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly advised she had sent them a letter.Commissioner Huerta asked if the funding had been withheld in the last quarter.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the funding had been withheld in the last two quarters; ever since they have been out of compliance with the contract.A certified public accountant had contacted her and told her he could not do the audit as they do not have sufficient records.Vice HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 1 OF 8 Chairperson Cranmer stated they may want to look at it as an inappropriate application and go from there.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they did not comply with the ordinance and there is no provision for them.Vice Chairperson Cranmer suggested they work with another agency to help their people. Commissioner Huerta asked when her term expired.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated her term expires in 2000.She stated she did not want to be reappointed, she plans on applying for case work at St. George's.She will attempt to straighten them out. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly gave them an overview of the applications.She commented a reminder letter had been sent out advising them of the application deadline.The city sent letters to St. George's, the Salvation Army, the Reach Out Food Bank, Superstition Mountain Mental Health, Against Abuse, Community Action Human Resources Agency, Mesa Senior Center, United Way, Apache Junction Boys and Girls Club, the Little League and Project Help.Almost all of them did not include a line item budget; it is not required but it was requested.Some may have them, some may not.Commissioner Huerta asked how much they would be allotted.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she believes the base amount will be $78,000 again. She had given them a copy of the letter from Central Arizona Shelter Services which states they will be unable to comply with the ordinance, so they are ineligible also. The applications are in alphabetical order in the packet. She commented the Food Bank did very well in reporting this year,their in -city addresses far exceed the dollars they are receiving, and they had very few out -of -city addresses in their reporting.She was impressed with their charts.The reports are very detailed.The only "complaint" she heard was people expressing their wish that they would stay open more hours, which is probably a combination of the volunteers and food available.They are asking for $17,500 and they were given $15,000 during the current year. The Boys and Girls Club of the East Valley, formerly known as the Boys and Girls Club of Apache Junction,is requesting $30,000 to support one full time program staff position.This is a large increase over the current year's $9,000.Commissioner Waters believes they are trying to stay open longer hours, which had been a complaint. They had been closing at 7:00 p.m.Commissioner Huerta wanted to clarify if they had been included last year;she recalled that they had not.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they were included last year, it was the year before that they had not been included and the council had added them.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated the current year funding was to fund the summer program specifically.She asked if that had been accomplished.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she would have to ask HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 2 OF 8 them that at the interview.She commented the people preparing this year's request are from the East Valley organization, not from Apache Junction.She is not sure they understand the relationship in what they are asked to do and what they are expected to do.They were given $9,000 in the current year.She received a letter from their bookkeeper requesting all checks, correspondence and reports be mailed directly to them.The city attorney stated the contract is with the Apache Junction club and that is where the money has to go.If it changes this year, then it will go to the East Valley organization.It is unknown who will be coming to speak to the commission, and the reporting has been very good.Councilmember Urich stated she wished they had more people on the corporate board of directors from this area.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there are no Apache Junction addresses on there.Councilmember Urich stated there is one from Apache Junction.Commissioner Huerta asked if the audit is from the whole East Valley.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there are some pages in there that are specific to Apache Junction.She added there is a page in there titled "Boys and Girls Club of the East Valley,Apache Junction Branch. from 7/1/97 to 12/31/98" that near the bottom of the page states " all funds from town of Apache Junction allocated for program operating expenses including,but not limited to, program staff salaries, program supplies, occupancy and other program expenses" - she does not know what that means.She would prefer to see something turned in that says "$9,000 - City of Apache Junction", and then show each entry.There is no unit cost here.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated there is no report here on how many children they served.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she gets that detail on her quarterly reports.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated she would be interested in knowing if they had increased their activity.Commissioner Huerta stated she would look at this application very closely.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she would give them the report for the third quarter if they wanted it.Vice Chairperson Cranmer wanted to make sure they were specific.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented they had written down the name and address.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated that was alright, then.Commissioner Waters commented they are closed on Saturday, believing that should be a family day.However, they have had numerous requests from parents to be open on Saturdays and they are considering it.She added they are trying to work it where the younger kids have to be out of there by seven, with the older kids able to stay until nine or ten.She commented their statistics on teen pregnancy showed that 57% of the girls in Pinal County high schools are pregnant. Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated that sounded accurate when you considered Coolidge, Casa Grande and Eloy would be included.The pregnancy rate in Apache Junction has gone down, as well as that of the state.The rate that has gone up is the second pregnancy rate in teenage girls.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she would write them and ask for an actual breakdown as to what was charged to the city, including dollar amounts,and a summary of the attendance.Vice Chairperson Cranmer believed that should be a stipulation for their payment,also.City Clerk HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22,1999 PAGE 3 OF 8 Kathleen Connelly commented they may want to stipulate exactly what the money is to be used for in the contract.At this point, it appears their intent is to staff a position.Commissioner Waters commented this report does not even resemble the one they had ready for United Way.Vice Chairperson Cranmer agreed that this report is very generic.Commissioner Waters stated they got accepted into the national organization as of December, and they are looking for larger quarters and are looking towards the multi -generational center being built.Commissioner Waters believes they have a good program, but they only touch a minuscule amount of kids in the area. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the next applicant was St. George's.There are two problems: they missed the October 1,1998, deadline to provide the city with a certified audit report and because one was not ready, they were unable to submit it for the funding application this year.The application is badly insufficient; it is not even close to what the ordinance requires.Commissioner Waters asked if they balked at providing names and addresses last year.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they were okay on that.She has checked with the attorney and he had determined they are ineligible for funding this year.They have yet to comply with the prior contract. Commissioner Waters asked if they will be showing up for an interview.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they will not be asked to be interviewed.She added they did not include a requested amount, so she has no idea what they were asking for.She commented it has been difficult working with them. The next applicant was Community Action Human Resources Agency, and they were asking for $12,000 for home repairs and $10,000 for a case manager program.The home repairs keeps up with the past requests, the latter is new.They describe what the program is,and basically it is for administrative charges with a salary. Commissioner Huerta commented she believed they asked for the same thing last year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly agreed, but it was not as nicely prepared.She had a problem with them in the first quarter as the person who was doing the fund disbursement included a portion of her salary as a charge.The employee called the city to see if she could do that and was told she could not; the city will pay for appliance or the actual repair.Staff time cannot be charged.The employee then sent a revised report and the city has had no problems since.However, they were almost a week late in getting the third quarter report in.She would call Mary Lou and let her know that this was a problem.Councilmember Urich wondered if they had a change in staff.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented some of the things in the case management program might overlap with the Food Bank.In addition, they talk about disbursing items to homless persons, so there is some question as to whether these homeless people really live in Apache Junction.They also talk about assisting with emergency shelter in the form of payments to local motels; there is overlap between what other agencies have been providing and what they were providing.She has been HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 4 OF 8 told that the Salvation Army and St. George's are working better together.She added every time she gets a list from them on who they have assisted, she gives the list to John Petroff to see if they have been assisted elsewhere.Vice Chairperson Cranmer asked if the Food Bank was supposed to be keeping in contact with St.George's. Commissioner Huerta stated they were, along with the Salvation Army.Commissioner Waters stated the Salvation Army does not give anyone the total amount they need; they just give them a portion and refer them to the other agencies.Commissioner Huerta commented each agency will pay part of the electric bill, especially if it is a high electric bill, or if it will be turned off.The same also occurs with rent.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented some of the case management section could already be done by the mental health center, such as domestic referrals and alcohol abuse. The emergency services provider committee, since it is listed, may be part of the staff funding they are looking for, and she does not believe they should be funding someone to attend committee meetings.Vice Chairperson Cranmer agreed;some of these services are provided by the mental health center and Child Protective Services.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she did not know if this was a layer on top of their services or if something was missing.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated they are only servicing 20 families; she wondered if it was possible to teach them how to budget. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly asked if Project Help was still helping families learn how to do that.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated they are not.Commissioner Waters stated this is something she thought should be done when public funds are disbursed; these people with limited funds should be taught how to budget, what to buy and how to stretch their dollar.Vice Chairperson Cranmer believes Community Action Human Resources Agency deals a lot with the elderly, and they do lose function on how to do these things.She wondered if a case manager might be the person to check on these things.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly suggested they would need more information from them on this position.Councilmember Urich questioned their audit report which is dated June 30, 1997.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they are always behind. The current one came in at the end of the process; they are very slow.Commissioner Waters stated she would like to see it required that those people receiving funding must attend training on how to use what they are getting.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated they are gradually being cut back; people will learn out of necessity.She would like to see what the position does before she makes a final decision.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there is a comment wherein it states "a $10,000 grant is requested to be used only for direct financial assistance to eligible Apache Junction families with minor children".Vice Chairperson Carol Cranmer commented the $10,000 was supposed to be for a case manager; she asked if that comes out of the $12,000.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it does not as the $12,000 is for the home repairs.It appears that while they are calling it case management, it is actually for direct financial assistance.The question is what do they mean by that;is it administrative or actually helping them.With St. George's being ineligible, there will HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 5 OF 8 be a gap with payments to local motels unless additional monies are given to the Salvation Army.Commissioner Huerta stated the Salvation Army does not do that. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there are a lot of unanswered questions here.She added they do make sure that the people receiving assistance are qualified. Councilmember Urich asked if any of their board members were from Apache Junction. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there is one member from Mesa, but otherwise they are primarily from Casa Grande, Florence and Coolidge.Councilmember Urich commented she wished they would have more people from the local community. Commissioner Huerta commented the member from Mesa is on there because she started on the board while she was living here.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated most of their meetings could be down in Coolidge and people from this area may not want to travel there. The next applicant was Mesa Senior Services,who operates the Apache Junction Senior Center.They are requesting $20,000; they received $17,000 in the current year.The record keeping has been very good and the local director and head director keep in contact with her on a regular basis.Councilmember Urich again expressed a concern that there was no one on the board from Apache Junction.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they do have one from Apache Junction, but Councilmember Urich commented that person does not live within the city limits.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they serve people well beyond the level of funding that they receive from the city.She believes they might also transport people down to the multi- generational center in Mesa for different programs, or they might in the future since they just opened.She added they are now preparing the meals at the new center and bringing them here.Commissioner Waters commented they are now a lot closer and the meals are arriving hot. (Tape changeover, some of meeting was lost during this exchange.) (The Salvation Army application was now being discussed.)City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she was not certain what they were asking for in their funding. Disbursement of client needs and administration costs are listed.She stated they can recommend to the council that the funding go into certain categories, with so much for emergency assistance and so much for medical assistance.Commissioner Huerta stated they had done that every time they have funded them; she suggested putting them on a trial basis for two quarters.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly reminded them that they had done that with some of the contracts for the current year; if the agency did not perform adequately, the funding was to be stopped and given to somebody else.Commissioner Huerta suggested that they put specifically what the money will be used for, that they provide a list of people who were helped with their current addresses,and that they give proof of residence.Vice Chairperson Cranmer HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 6 OF 8 commented the names are not really necessary,but they do have to have a city address.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly remarked she only gets initials and an address from the Food Bank and the mental health center,which is adequate.Vice Chairperson Cranmer commented that would be appropriate. The final applicant was Superstition Mountain Mental Health Center, for which Vice Chairperson Cranmer has a conflict of interest.Vice Chairperson Cranmer stated she would not say anything and would leave as soon as the commission started to talk in earnest about the applicant.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented she needed to stay in order to make up the quorum,but she cannot say anything.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they are requesting $18,000, they were given $15,000 in the current year.It is for basically the same services.All of their reports were complete.Commissioner Waters commented a board member from the United way recommended zero funding for them this year, feeling they were adequately funded by the government.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they were funded $2.4 million, but that is a very specific service contract.Commissioner Huerta commented they have discussed for several years that they needed to start weaning some of these organizations off of this funding,as new ones are always coming up.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they have something about that in their cover letter, recognizing the city is having to fund them less over the years in order to fund other areas.There was general discussion as to when human services funding started, at it is believed to have started in 1990.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the police department was experiencing some problems with them as people with difficulties were being told to call the police department and they would come and pick them up, even if they were outside the city limits.She has not heard of this going on any more, but she would check on it.Councilmember Urich commented they have fewer miscellaneous categories this year.Commissioner Huerta commented that their funding has decreased from $30,000 in the first year down to $15,000 in the current year.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly surmised they have increased the number of their funding sources over the years.Commissioner Huerta asked what the information and referral funding was for.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is for the network meetings;other agencies have learned about additional grants available at those meetings and they have been able to apply for them.Commissioner Huerta asked if there were any problems with the reports, and City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there were no problems with the reports.In their summary, they show what the city has provided and what their actual costs were.Councilmember Urich suggested they request an accounting of all the money funded to all of the applicants be designated on one sheet so that they would not have to search through all the paperwork; that there be a recap sheet. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly remarked this is the fewest number of applicants the HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 7 OF 8 commission has had.Councilmember Urich remarked there are no new ones.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented they sent letters out to several new ones but they did not respond. 3.Status report on FY 1998-99 funding recipients. There was no discussion. 4.Selection of future meeting dates. There was general discussion on when the next meeting should be scheduled.City Clerk Kathleen Connelly suggested they might want to review the applications at the next meeting.Commissioner Huerta stated if they have any questions, they can then get the answers from Kathy.The other two commissioners should have picked up their packets by then and had the opportunity to read them.After the next meeting they should be picking a date for the interviews, and after that they will make their recommendations.It was decided to schedule the next meeting on Wednesday, April 28, 1999, starting at 4:00 p.m. 5.Commission requests for future agenda items. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she would determine from the city manager if the funding would be at $78,000 for FY 1999-2000.Commissioner Water recalled him stating he would like to have it remain the same as last year. 7.Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m. Ed Barker Chairperson Kathleen Connelly City Clerk HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 22, 1999 PAGE 8 OF 8