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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-09-29 HHSCMINUTES OF THE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION City Clerk Conference Center 300 E. Superstition Blvd., Apache Junction, AZ September 29, 2009 - 10:00 A.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: ROBERT EVANS, CHAIRPERSON VICE CHAIRPERSON JODENE WEETER SUE CLABUESCH CHRISTA RIZZI ANDREW WHITENECK STAFF PRESENT: KATHLEEN CONNELLY, CITY CLERK JAN MASON, DEPUTY CITY CLERK 1.Call to Order/Roll Call. Chairperson Evans called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Deputy City Clerk Jan Mason called the roll and advised there was a quorum present. 2.Discussion on FY 2009-10 funding applications and procedure for reviewing applications and 3.Status report on FY 2008-09 funding recipients. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they have several requests which total. $130,400; they only have $80,000 in funding.The requests include the food bank, boys and girls club, Community Action Human Resources Agency, Community Alliance Against Family Abuse, East Valley Senior Services, Junior Achievement and Superstition Mountain Mental Health.They cannot get any more money.The budget is done and there are no more decisions to be made.They gave the packet out the last time they met and they will talk about the packets today.Staff needs to know who they want to interview and what procedures they want to follow for the interviews. Commissioner Rizzi asked what the procedures are for the interviews. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated in the past the commission has met and decided whether they wanted to interview some or all HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 1 OF 13 of the applicants.They choose a date and normally give 10 minutes for each interview with an additional 5 minutes for questions from the commission for a total of 15 minutes. Sometimes the commission deliberates on the funding immediately after the interviews, or they may come back at a later time.It depends on how many people they interview at a given time and if they are able to complete them all in one meeting or if they do it in two meetings. Commissioner Clabuesch asked if the food bank wants $14,400. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct.The letter was unclear but after she read a bit more it appears that is what they are asking for. Vice Chairperson Weeter asked why it is less than what they asked for last year when so many people are out of work. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she thinks they are smart in not asking for more than they think they can get. Deputy City Clerk Jan Mason stated that is what they received last year so she believes they are asking for the same amount as the total_funding allotment is the same. Commissioner Clabuesch asked if Community Action Human Resources Agency provided the $2,000 credit this past year at the United Food Bank. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated if it is in the letter, it would have been this past year. Commissioner Clabuesch asked if they gave some of their money to them. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they gave money from one of their other sources to them, not the city money for the purpose. Commissioner Clabuesch stated but they did for a $2,000 credit. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they might have gotten some kind of federal or state grant that allowed them to do that, or maybe even funding from a private source.She added there was not anything unusual in any of the applications this year. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 2 OF 13 Junior Achievement is back and she is still not clear on what they want to do.She stated Community Alliance Against Family Abuse did not spend all of their money.There were some paperwork issues with them.They were fine at first, but in the third quarter she had to eliminate 11 of their 43 sessions because they provided the service to clients that were not residents, and the same thing happened in the fourth quarter. That is a problem. Commissioner Clabuesch commented they would know that. They were told that and it was one of the things that had them turned down the first time they applied as they did not want to comply with that.She thought they were going into the high schools with their intervention and prevention and it was staying in the high schools in Apache Junction. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is not what they billed for.They billed for actually one on one sessions with women who needed encouragement or had self esteem issues. Commissioner Rizzi commented that it is has been a frequent problem that they go outside the rules. Commissioner Clabuesch stated they did not do that the previous year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the middle year was fine. She thinks what is happening, and it is happening in more than one organization, is that one person has the contract and another person is told to file the paperwork.She talked to one agency last week, asked if they had ever read the paperwork and was told no.She told them the city only pays so much per quarter, so if they bill us for extra, the city cannot release funds for that purpose. Chairperson Evans commented there was a leadership change at Community Alliance Against Family Abuse sometime during the year.He is very impressed with the new leadership. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the person who left apparently did not leave a lot of instructions for the people who took the funding over. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 3 OF 13 Chairperson Evans commented stuff could have fallen through the cracks. Commissioner Rizzi commented she did not mean to insinuate that it was intentional, just that it was a consistent problem for consecutive years. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it has been a problem but it is always with different people.As the chairperson said, there have been transitions mid -budget year and it makes it difficult. Chairperson Evans commented he thinks they are a much stronger organization now. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they appear to be. Commissioner Weeter stated she was involved with them not too long ago with someone from their church, and she was very impressed with the way they handled the whole situation.They gave her the mental health help that she needed, a place for her to stay, got her to a place to repair her car, and all kinds of things that the normal social service type entity would not have done.They did a beautiful job. Commissioner Rizzi stated she was surprised to hear the problems that had happened until she heard the explanation of the transition of the people working there.She knows some of the people that work in the program that are very focused on details. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she thinks new people came in and they had no idea what they had. Chairperson Evans stated he is very impressed with their new chief executive officer. Commissioner Clabuesch stated the letter from the East Valley Senior Services has the funding request at $40,000, plus $20,000 for congregate meals.On the front of the information sheet it is listed as $20,000 and $20,000. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly asked if he mentioned Ride Choice in there.Dan Taylor always throws Ride Choice in and it has nothing to do with this group.When looking at the actual pages HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 4 OF 13 submitted, it shows a total of $40,000, with $20,000 for the congregate meals on the first page and the additional $20,000 on the second page.She has talked to Dan and he understands that things have been rolled back. Chairperson Evans suggested they go to agenda item 3 as it might be able to help them. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they can move around. Chairperson Evans asked for her report on those funded last year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated there were problems with a couple of agencies, mainly on the paperwork.She is surprised Junior Achievement came back because their program seems very similar to what they proposed before and in her letter to them she explained why they were not funded.Again, it may be the case where one person gets the letter and another person files the request.There were minor issues.She was just a bit concerned about Community Alliance Against Family Abuse with their not spending all the money. Commissioner Rizzi asked how much was not spent. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she did not have the total. She will get that for them.It was enough to where Finance called her and asked her if it was right. Commissioner Rizzi commented that it was significant. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it was. Commissioner Clabuesch commented they do not really know where their money is going for Junior Achievement. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated their application states they want to do the kids in business program again.She thinks they are proposing to do it at Peralta, which is outside the city.However, she has since found out that kids from Apache Junction are bussed out there.They have never interviewed them so it is their choice if they wish to interview them now. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 5 OF 13 Commissioner Clabuesch commented she was thinking they should talk to them and find out exactly what they are doing. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the other requests are similar to what they have had before.The food bank does not change their operation very much.She is concerned because she sees people appearing on their list as clients that she has known for years, and her concern is that they have to go to the food bank. Commissioner Rizzi commented she is not proud to say it, but she has had to use it in the past. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated with the financial situation that is going on right now, there are many people who do not have jobs. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it is so widespread that if they are inclined to put some extra money some place this year, it should be here.They are reaching out throughout this entire community. Vice Chairperson Weeter thanked her for bringing that up as she was going to anyway. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it is very obvious from the reports that there is a significant need there. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated with them cutting back on so many of the retirement things, it gets a little tight if one is going to pay the bills. Commissioner Clabuesch stated there is no overtime or Saturday work.You know what you are going to get every month. Chairperson Evans commented if they did not look at interviewing Junior Achievement, Salvation Army or United Food Bank and just look at those they funded last year, it would be level funding for the agencies they funded last year as they again have $80,000.If they want to move a little over to the food bank, he would add $2,600 to them so they would have to find $2,600 in savings elsewhere. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 6 OF 13 Commissioner Rizzi asked if the Salvation Army is one of the organizations they are working with. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they did not apply this year. Commissioner Rizzi commented she did not think so. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated we started having problems with them, not just her portion of this, but also Roger Hacker and Heather Patel starting having problems with them on the transportation program.She believes they had to return the van.We were able to provide a van to them, but they did not follow the program and did not provide the transportation.We had to recover the van from them. Chairperson Evans asked what the total amount was that was allocated but not used. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented she did not tell the agency that. Chairperson Evans commented he was wondering what the number is for those agencies that did not use all of their allocation. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she would have to go back and figure it out from her paperwork. Commissioner Rizzi commented the figures that she came up with after doing some homework came to between $72,000 and $74,000. After hearing a little bit, that would leave a little extra for the food bank; they might want to make other considerations, also.She would also like to hear from Junior Achievement.She is not too concerned with interviewing the other agencies as she is pretty familiar with who they are and what they do.Their applications were self-explanatory.She would like to see if there is something they could do for Junior Achievement. Chairperson Evans asked if she made some other cuts from last year's funding to existing agencies. Commissioner Rizzi stated she did.They are just suggestions that she was going to make. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 7 OF 13 Commissioner Whiteneck commented they have seen all the other ones interviewed.It is really up to her if she wants to see certain ones as they are familiar with all of these. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated they interviewed all of them last year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they are welcome to go visit them if they need to.The type of funding they are asking for is very similar or identical to what they have asked for in the past.They know what their needs are. Commissioner Clabuesch asked if they want to talk to Community Alliance Against Family Abuse about the money they did not spend.She would like to get the amount that they turned back in.If they do not need that money, they could give it to the food bank or whatever. Vice Chairperson Weeter thought that was a good idea.She would like to know why they did not spend it. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she mentioned last time that she had a concern with Community. Alliance Against Family Abuse. Again, it is because they had new people that did not understand that this was a contract.They sent her a letter on May 12 asking if they could modify the agreement to channel the funds in a different direction.They wanted to add a new component to children participating in the Apache Junction Boys and Girls Club summer camp and after school program.Those programs are already being funded.It would have been redundant, and they cannot modify the contract 8 weeks before it ends.She thinks it is their just not being familiar with the process. There was a general consensus to interview Community Alliance Against Family Abuse. Chairperson Evans commented he is inclined to want to hear from all of them; that way they all could be funded, including Junior Achievement.He would like to hear their statement and what the economy has done to them.It has been a troubling year for all health and human services.He thinks they should commend the council for allocating $80,000 during these rough times. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 8 OF 13 City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it was hard for them to do that. Chairperson Evans stated he was sure it was for them to even do that.He thinks they should write a commendation letter to the council thanking them for the opportunity.If they also interview Junior Achievement, with it being 7 to 15 minutes apiece, it should only be a couple of hours to hear from all of them. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated they might feel like they were being left out if they were not interviewed. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is a good idea.They do not know what has been impacting them.She has seen stuff happen with the food bank and she expects everyone will have similar stories.She expected an increase for the Boys and Girls Club since they moved to new facilities but Judy understands the money is just not there.If you go back and check over the years, they have always asked for way more than what they are going to get. Chairperson Evans stated it is easier to raise money for kids than for domestic violence. Commissioner Rizzi stated that is along the lines she had been thinking. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated kids and pets. Chairperson Evans asked if they have a consensus on hearing from all the applicants.The commission agreed in consensus.He asked if they could give them a heads up on what the economy is doing to them. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she would put that in the letter. The consensus was that would be important. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly asked if they wanted the interview time to be 10 or 15 minutes. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 9 OF 13 Chairperson Evans stated they could do 10 minutes on the presentation and 5 minutes for questions. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they will interview them alphabetically so that no one thinks they are being slighted. If for some reason an agency cannot show up at that time, she lets them make their own arrangements to switch with someone. Chairperson Evans called for any other questions. Commissioner Whiteneck asked if the funding would be cut like it was last year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it will not as it is already in the budget for $80,000. Commissioner Clabuesch stated it could change next year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it could but it is at $80,000 this year.She could not imagine the city council doing it again this year at the eleventh hour. Chairperson Evans stated it might speak to them about hurrying the process as these are very unusual times. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they did the budget later than usual this year as they were waiting to see how the legislature would affect them.We are still not sure as they still do not have a budget. 4.Selection of future meeting dates. There was general discussion on the date for the interviews and deliberations.The consensus was October 19 at 1:00 p.m. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly asked if there was any additional information they would like applicants to provide.She believed their applications were pretty thorough. Chairperson Evans asked if she needs to send the same letter to everybody as he was concerned about those that did not use all their funds. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 10 OF 13 City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she does, but she can call those that did not use all their funds. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated it would be nice to know why they did not use their funds. Chairperson Evans commented he would also like to know if their process has been amended. Commissioner Whiteneck commented it might bring it to their attention a little more. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they did spend the money, but they provided the service to people that we could not reimburse them for.They definitely provided the level of service, but that particular client they could not reimburse for with city money. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented because they were out of the city. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct. Commissioner Rizzi asked what happens when there is a case when they do not use the funding. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the money has to come back to the city. Commissioner Rizzi asked if there was a time period for that. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it is by the end of the contract. Chairperson Evans asked if the money goes back into the general fund. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct.She just went through that with one of the economic development agencies. She had to get money back to the tune of almost $7,000. Chairperson Evans commented when they do the interviews they need to stress hard that they need to spend the money.If they HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 11 OF 13 do not, then that money is not provided and it will appear to the council that they do not need the money. Commissioner Clabuesch commented they do not get it back in their funds. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they do not.It goes into the general fund. Commissioner Clabuesch stated they do not get it back to give to another agency. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she thinks what happened is they ask clients if they live in the city and they say yes.She looks at the address and they do not. Vice Chairperson Weeter asked if they have someone on their staff that can check that out. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they are supposed to. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated those are the kinds of questions that we need to know. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they can always call us and ask if an address is in the city.We will let them know if it is not. Chairperson Evans commented at the level that it is happening at, with some of these case managers it is hard to tell.They may be homeless on somebody's couch and believe they live in Apache Junction.It can be challenging to figure out at the time.They should be able to watch clients throughout the year and figure out where they stay.He asked if she also provides them with a quarterly report. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she will contact them if there is something out of line. Chairperson Evans stated she tries to get them to understand. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct.With Community Alliance Against Family Abuse, she asked them if they had any other clients that they did not submit for that were in HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 12 OF 13 the city.In their case they did not.She asked for a motion on the meeting date. Vice Chairperson Weeter MOVED THAT WE HAVE IT ON OCTOBER 19 AND START AT 1:00 P.M. AND THAT WE DO ALL OF OUR BUSINESS AT THAT TIME. Commissioner Clabuesch SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. 5.Adjournment. Chairperson Evans adjourned the meeting at 10:28 p.m. Robert Evans Kathleen Connelly Chairperson City Clerk HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 PAGE 13 OF 13