October 26, 2004

SUBJECT: FY 2004/2005 - Recommendations for General Fund Supported Outside Group Funding Projects and Budget Modification No. 13  

REPORT IN BRIEF

This is the second year of a two-year funding cycle for Outside Groups receiving General funds.  Every two years the City solicits and receives applications from non-profit organizations serving Sunnyvale residents.  City funding for these agencies is from the City's General Fund.  Through periodic reporting requirements, staff monitors the operation of each funded agency, as well as its progress in meeting contracted service levels to Sunnyvale residents.

The Housing and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has completed a review of agency performance for FY 2003/2004, the first year of services in a two-year application cycle, and makes the following recommendations on agency funding levels for FY 2004/2005 based on prior year performance and ongoing community needs. HHSC recommends that Bill Wilson Center receive $16,750, and that Sunnyvale Community Services receive $18,750, both at increased support levels due to exceptionally high levels of accomplishment.  HHSC recommends a decrease of funding of $2,000 to Live Oak Adult Services which would lower their funding to $28,000, due to a 30% reduction in the number of Sunnyvale participants,  a reduction in funding to Leadership Sunnyvale to $2,500, and FY 2003/2004 funding levels for all other agencies.

Staff concurs with the recommendations of the HHSC with the exception that staff recommends that Leadership Sunnyvale receive funding of $5,000 as awarded for FY 2003/04.

BACKGROUND

Seven non-profit human service agencies are currently provided financial support from the City’s General Fund to provide a wide variety of services that benefit Sunnyvale residents.  Services range from emergency and financial assistance to family and youth counseling services.  Other social services provided to Sunnyvale residents include after school art, leadership training and adult day care.  These services help residents who may have no other place to turn to for assistance, and improve on the overall quality of life in the community by helping those who need assistance. 

Every two years the City solicits and receives applications from non-profit organizations serving Sunnyvale residents.  City funding comes from federal Community Development Block Grant funds and from the City's General Fund. 

Three years ago, the process for awarding General Funds to outside groups was reviewed, and the procedure was modified.  In prior years, all outside groups requesting funding from the City, both federal funding and City General Fund, would submit proposals at the same time, scheduled to meet the federal requirements for funding awards.  The process for the allocation to outside groups requesting General Funds was combined with the federally funded agency allocations.   However, this process occurred prior to the adoption of the budget by City Council.  It was unclear to the outside groups applying for funds, as well as to the Housing staff and HHSC, the amount Council intended to allocate for these services.

Under the modified procedure, the City Manager no longer includes the grants to individual agencies in the budget; rather, she recommends a total amount to be used to fund outside group agencies from the General Fund.  After budget adoption by the City Council, staff begins the process to request proposals bi-annually.  Agencies then submit their funding requests to the City for review by staff and the HHSC.   Recommendations for funding individual agencies are submitted to City Council, and following Council approval, the City Manager is authorized to enter into a contract with each agency.

In accordance with the new procedure, seven agencies were awarded $118,298 in FY 2003/2004, the first year of a two-year funding cycle.  

EXISTING POLICY

In 1981, the Council adopted the Human Services and Outside Group Funding Policies in recognition of the need for community services in the City which are not directly provided by the City or other public agencies.  The Human Services Policy, Attachment B, provides guidelines for addressing funding requests for outside agencies seeking City funding support.

DISCUSSION

Staff monitors performance of each agency and provides an annual report (see Attachment D) to the HHSC.  Five of the seven agencies met or exceeded their performance goals for the year.  The two agencies which failed to meet their performance goals were Family and Children’s Services and Live Oak Adult Day Care.

Family and Childrens Services was unable to meet its performance goals. FY 2003/2004 was the first year of funding for this agency that provides counseling services to troubled youth and their families at the Columbia Neighborhood Center.  Housing Division and Columbia staff has met with the agency to discuss the issues related to unmet goals.   At the end of the fourth quarter, Family and Childrens Services had provided 67% of the youth counseling sessions and served 73% of the anticipated number of youth.  Agency staff served 67 family members (22% of anticipated family members) by providing 11% of the anticipated counseling sessions to family members.

Live Oak Adult Day Care was unable to meet a goal of serving 35 Sunnyvale residents attending their facility. During the past year 25 Sunnyvale residents were served resulting in meeting 71% of the goal. The agency relocated from a Sunnyvale site to a site in Cupertino. 

A summary of each proposed program which provides a detailed description is included in Attachment C.   Attachment D contains performance summaries for agencies with City contracts during FY 2003/04, FY 2002/03 and FY 2001/02.  

Housing and Human Services Commission Analysis

The Housing and Human Services Commission reviewed the mid-year performance of Outside Group Agencies receiving General funds at the July 28^th, 2004 Commission meeting.  The Commission reviewed the performance of each agency and considered the current community needs and benefits addressed by the services each agency provides.  All agencies, with the exception of Family and Childrens Services and Live Oak Adult Day Care, had met or exceeded all performance goals included in their contracts.  Family and Childrens services had started late and was impacted further by the holiday seasonal and school year.   Staff of Columbia Neighborhood Center and the agency staff presented information to the Commission about the performance this year. 

The Housing and Human Services Commission (HHSC) compared the allocation of funds in FY 2003/04 to the population that was served and the community need that was addressed by the performance of the service by each agency receiving funding.

The HHSC made the following recommendations by determining the ranking of the following community needs; ranked first was Childrens Services, ranked second was Family Services, Emergency Services and Senior services ranked equally as third and fourth and Community Building ranked fifth.

• Childrens Services - Recommended to continue the same level of funding as FY 2003/2004:

a. Family and Children’s Services   $30,000

HHSC recommended continuing the same level of funding to Family and Children Services even though the agency had not met its performance goals for FY2003/2004.  This was the first year of funding for this agency, which provides counseling services to troubled youth and families at the Columbia Neighborhood Center. The Executive Director of the agency and Columbia staff presented a report to the Commission describing the initial startup delays the agency experienced; including contract delays, hiring delays,   winter holidays and coordination with the school schedule.  The schools refer children for these services.  The Commission determined that the delayed startup during the winter holidays was the primary cause for the low numbers achieved.  The 3^rd and 4^th quarters indicate substantial accomplishments and clear indication that services are now being utilized by the community.  Therefore, the HHSC recommended continued support of the agency for FY 2004/2005.

b. Euphrat Museum of Art $12,298

c. Junior Achievement $10,000

• Family Counseling - HHSC recommended a $1,750 increase in funding for Bill Wilson Center, from $15,000 in FY 2003/2004 to $16,750 in FY 2004/2005.  This service was ranked as the second highest community need and the agency had achieved extremely high levels of service in Sunnyvale.

a. Bill Wilson Center $16,750 

• Emergency Services and Senior Services ranked equally as 3^rd and 4^th community service needs:

a. Live Oak Services $28,000

HHSC recommended a $2,000 decrease in funding for Live Oak Services, from $30,000 in FY 2003/2004 to $28,000 in FY 2004/2005.  The agency met the contractual goals for the total number of hours of service to be provided.  

However, the agency provided services to 30% less Sunnyvale residents than proposed.  HHSC recognized that this is a much needed program that effectively serves community needs, but expressed concern that the agency hadn’t served as many Sunnyvale residents as proposed and would like to see this increased. The Commission encouraged the agency to work with staff to undertake outreach activities to increase awareness and participation by this community.

b. Sunnyvale Community Services $18,750

HHSC recommended a $2,750 increase in funding for Community Services, from $16,000 in FY 2003/2004 to $18,750 in FY 2004/2005.  

HHSC felt that this service is critically needed during the current difficult economic times, and that many families that receive the benefit of the program are at risk of financial ruin.

• Community Building was ranked 5^th of  the community service needs:

Leadership Sunnyvale $2,500 

HHSC recommended a $2,500 decrease in funding for Leadership Sunnyvale, from $5,000 in FY 2003/2004 to $2,500 in FY 2004/2005.

Leadership Sunnyvale met all performance goals during FY 2003/04.   However, the HHSC recommended funding support at a reduced level.  The Commission felt that the community need for the other services at this time is great.  The programs that service the needs of populations at risk or with high risk factors are critical at this time.

The Commission felt that Leadership Sunnyvale had not demonstrated a need for a significant increase in funding (Commission recommended $2,500 in FY 2003/04).  The Commission felt that the agency had not used City funding to service populations that could not independently afford the service.  The Commission wished to encourage the agency to outreach into at-risk communities, and the Commission stated that this would enhance the program by specifically targeting and encouraging lower income residents of Sunnyvale to participate, thereby expanding the economic and ethnic diversity of the participants.  

The following chart summarizes prior year requests of funds, actual funding levels for all General Fund outside group agencies, funding requests for FY 2004/05 from the agencies, and the HHSC recommendations: 

Agency Name  &  Activity	FY 2002/03 Award	FY 2003/04 Award	FY 2004/05 Agency Request	FY 2004/05 HHSC Recom.
Bill Wilson Center Counseling	15,227	15,000	16,750	16,750
Euphrat Museum of Art After School Art	12,298	12,298	12,298	12,298
Junior Achievement Career and Eco. Educ	10,000	10,000	11,703	10,000
Leadership Sunnyvale  Leadership Training	5,000	5,000	10,000	2,500
Live Oak Adult Day Services  Adult Day Care	40,000	30,000	45,000	28,000
Sunnyvale Community Services Comm.Holiday Ctr.	0	16,000	25,000	18,750
Family & Children’s Services @ Columbia Ctr. Services	0	30,000	39,500	30,000
Total	82,525*	118,298**	160,251	118,298***
*Does not include agencies not currently funded, total funding of $133,178 occurred in FY 2002/03. ** Council budgeted an additional $22,822 for funding support to outside groups, if needed during the FY 2003/04 year. ***Recommendations are based on FY 2003/04 budget and do not include a 1% inflation factor that was added in the FY 2004/05 budget.

FISCAL IMPACT
The adopted FY 2004/2005 budget for Human Services Outside Group Funding Support General Fund projects is $142,531. This includes a 1% inflation factor and an amount of $23,050 in “outside group contingency” funds, which was set aside by Council action on October 14, 2003 (RTC 03-354).  An inflation factor is applied to projects in the 10 year Projects Plan to account for the effects of inflation on the costs of goods and services. 

Staff concurs with the recommendations of the HHSC with the exception of Leadership Sunnyvale.  Staff recommends that Leadership Sunnyvale receive $5,000, which is the same as the FY 2003/2004 funding award.  The increase in funding for Sunnyvale Community Services-Holiday Center and Bill Wilson Center are balanced by a reduction in funding for Live Oak Adult Day Services, use of the Human Services Outside Group contingency funds, and retaining the funding level for all other agencies at the FY 2003/2004 level, without the 1% inflation adjustment.  Council approval of Budget Modification No. 13 would reallocate the resources among the agencies so that the fiscal impact to the General Fund would be cost neutral.