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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDisability Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/13/2021 Human Services & Housing Funding Board REGULAR MEETING October 13, 2021 at 5:30 PM Remote/ZOOM due to COVID-19 10/13/2021 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER • At 5:32 PM the meeting was called to order by Josh Johnson. 2. ROLL CALL • Board Members Present o Josh Johnson, Chair o Olga Duvall, Vice Chair o Sara Maranowicz o Steve Backsen o Mike Kulisheck o Pat Hastings • Board Members Excused o Ethnie Treick • Board Members Absent o Nick Verni-Lau • Staff Members Present o Adam Molzer, Staff Liaison, Social Sustainability - City of Fort Collins o Kleena Brown, Social Sustainability – City of Fort Collins For further information, details and insight, and audio recording, resources are available by contacting the HSHF-Board staff liaison. 3. AGENDA REVIEW Josh Johnson read remote session instructions for the Human Services & Housing Funding Board and public attendees. Adam Molzer reviewed agenda. The Board accepted the agenda without modification. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None present. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – September 8, 2021 Regular Meeting Olga Duvall moved to approve the minutes. Sara Maranowicz seconded approval. Motion approved with roll call. Passed unanimously. DocuSign Envelope ID: 58FAFB83-DCEC-446C-A2A3-D2D9246FCC3D Human Services & Housing Funding Board REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING 10/13/2021 – MINUTES Page 2 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Council Liaison Invitation Josh Johnson reported that he and Adam Molzer completed the necessary steps to invite Councilmember Tricia Canonico to the November 10th Board meeting. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. American Rescue Plan Act Updates Adam Molzer reiterated from last month’s meeting that the City of Fort Collins has $28 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and the City Council has authorized up to 15% for short-term, immediate needs. Adam also reminded the Board that they are welcome to participate in recovery plan engagement. There are also funds in the City Manager’s 2022 recommended budget for an increase in funding for the competitive funding process, which City Council will further consider and vote on in November. Adam is also working on additional budget items to help community partners further. b. 2021 Annual Report and 2022 Work Plan Adam Molzer reminded the Board that the annual Work Plan for 2022 is due in November. Adam will start the draft to review and modify with the Board in the November meeting. Adam also reminded the Board that the Annual Report is due in January, and that he will start a draft for the Board to review, modify, and add to. c. FY22 Competitive Process Improvements Adam Molzer facilitated a discussion regarding improvements to the upcoming FY22 grant process due to the funding model changes from predominantly HUD and Federal to mostly City funding. In preparation for today’s meeting, Adam sent out visuals and details of proposed improvements. There are smaller improvements being considered, like simplifying or removing the Triple Bottom Line related questions; however, the three larger process improvement suggestions were: • Allow 10% of funding awards towards indirect and administrative costs More of an administrative change that allows grantees to claim up to 10% for overhead and administrative costs of the award. The 10% should not be a factor in funding recommendation amounts, since permitted across all grantees. This is a common best practice with many funders. • Increase the minimum grant amounts for HSP programs to $15,000 Current minimum is $5000; moving up to promote more substantive progress towards City and community objectives. Out of the 39 programs recommended last time, only 9 were below $15,000, with one at $14,000. Out of the 45 funding requests last year, only 4 were below $15,000. Board Members raised concerns regarding how the minimum amount will result in more organizations receiving no funds and whether it will disproportionally impact organizations supporting areas around inequities and race. Adam shared the list of organizations that received less than $15,000 in the 2021 grant cycle. Adam also shared that there may be an additional $150,000 in funds available in the 2022 Competitive Process but will be specifically earmarked for DocuSign Envelope ID: 58FAFB83-DCEC-446C-A2A3-D2D9246FCC3D Human Services & Housing Funding Board REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING 10/13/2021 – MINUTES Page 3 COVID related programs; however, this means that some requests will be flagged as COVID specific and can be paid from these funds. Steve Backsen also raised concerns about artificial inflation of requests to reach the minimum threshold. • Fund the HUD Consolidated Plan goals for the term of the Plan with programs best aligned and eligible to manage HUD CDBG funding Larger structural change. This would separate out the HUD Consolidated Plan funding applications and extract them out of the of the rest of the HSP program proposals. This would follow a separate application process, allowing targeted questions, and follows a more percent- based process to better accommodate the slight funding changes each year. This would be a 3- year funding commitment, then be a 5-year funding cycle. This should help stabilize funding for CDBG recipients, reduce grant writing burden for nonprofits, and follows a cleaner administrative process. Adam shared the goals of the Consolidated Plans and how the Board can balance out which programs move to just the HUD funds and which can move to just the City funds. Adam and team has discussed this plan with 5 of the CDBG-eligible agencies and received favorable responses. One more agency is scheduled to visit with. Board members raised questions around the loss of flexibility, enforcing the separation of funds in future years, as well as whether long cycles may perpetuate existing inequalities. Steve Backsen motioned to endorse the extractions of CDBG Public Service funding from the larger funding pool; dedicating those funds to eligible programs for FY22-23-24. Olga Duvall seconded. Motion approved with roll call. Passed unanimously. • Adam Molzer also reported to the Board that the $2.6 Million home funds from ARPA can be paid out through 2030, so there’s time to more fully engage and assess the best way to spend. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS None 9. STAFF REPORTS Adam Molzer shared that a Super Issues Meeting will take place on the evening of November 17th and topics will include the City’s Strategic Plan and Recovery Plan. Adam also shared that a new ‘Poverty in Fort Collins’ document was created by City staff, and that he would share it with the group for reference. 10. OTHER BUSINESS Grantee Client Story Adam Molzer shared a brief impact story submitted by The Center for Family Outreach in their recent quarterly report. 11. NEXT MEETING a. Wednesday, November 10, 2021 | 5:30pm | Location: ZOOM DocuSign Envelope ID: 58FAFB83-DCEC-446C-A2A3-D2D9246FCC3D Human Services & Housing Funding Board REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING 10/13/2021 – MINUTES Page 4 12. ADJOURNMENT Josh Johnson adjourned meeting at 7:18 PM. Minutes were finalized and approved by the HSHF-Board on ____________________ City of Fort Collins Staff Liaison: ____________________________________________ Adam Molzer DocuSign Envelope ID: 58FAFB83-DCEC-446C-A2A3-D2D9246FCC3D November 10, 2021