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* Human Services Program Overview and Process Review Underway.
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Staff: |
Department: |
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Loryn Clark, Executive Director |
Housing and Community |
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Sarah Vinas, Assistant Director |
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Jackie Thompson, Human Services Coordinator |
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Overview: The purpose of this report is to provide the Council with an overview of the existing Human Services Program funding process and to propose modifications to the process.
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Recommendation(s): |
That the Council receive this report.
Background
• In 1981 the Council established the Human Services Program <http://www.townofchapelhill.org/town-hall/government/boards-commissions/standing-boards-commissions/human-services/agency-funding> to provide grants to local nonprofit organizations that address the community’s human service needs.
• The Town of Chapel Hill’s Human Services funding process is coordinated with that of the Town of Carrboro and Orange County. The three governments use the same application and have synchronized their submission deadlines. Each elected board makes funding decisions independently.
• The Human Services Advisory Board reviews applications and makes recommendations to the Town Council annually for funding.
• The charge of the Advisory Board is to: assess human service needs of Chapel Hill residents, identify service gaps and ways to fill them, and advise the Town Council on funding needs at the beginning of the budget cycle.
• Additional details about the current Human Services Program process is attached.
Key Issues
• There is ongoing interest from the Town Council to refine and further streamline the Human Service funding process and for programs funded to be more results oriented.
• The Human Services Program currently funds dozens of agencies at varied amounts who work on a broad range of issues. There may be opportunities to deepen the impact by redesigning the program to focus on specific outcomes and results on specific community issues.
• Our priority areas are also broad - safety net services, education, and health- and it could be helpful to include specific goals or outcome measures.
• We believe continuing to simplify our application process could reduce the amount of time agency staff spends on preparing applications, and the time Town staff and Advisory Board members spend reviewing applications.
Proposed Evaluation Process
Staff has designed a process to evaluate the Human Services Program, using a design thinking approach. The intended outcome of the process is to establish:
• a results-driven funding process that achieves the goals of the Town and is responsive to the community's greatest needs;
• clearly defined funding priority areas, goals, and outcome measures that are shared regularly with the Council and community; and
• a streamlined funding process that does not unduly burden nonprofit agencies, the Human Services Advisory Board or staff and maintains the collaborative, cross-jurisdictional spirit of the current process
Staff will use the following methodology to evaluate the program:
• review of 2020 Comprehensive Plan and Council goals to identify synergies for potential priority areas;
• research national best practices from other communities with similar funding programs;
• ask the Human Services Advisory Board to vet the priority areas and create draft goals and outcome measures;
• organize focus groups with Human Service Agency partners to review goas and outcome measures and provide; and
• review of Census and other data sources (school system, health department).
We will return to the Council in April with a proposed Human Services Program design. The proposal will include recommended priority areas for funding and a funding evaluation process focused on establishing goals and outcome measures. If approved, we would implement the new program model for the FY19-20 funding cycle that would begin in the Fall of 2018.
Fiscal Impact/Resources: The Council considers Human Services funding during the annual budget process. The amount allocated for Human Services Program for FY18 is $419,500. An allocation for FY 19 will be considered by the Council during the upcoming discussions of the budget.
Council Goals:
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Create a Place for Everyone |
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Develop Good Places, New Spaces |
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Support Community Prosperity |
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Nurture Our Community |
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Facilitate Getting Around |
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Grow Town and Gown Collaboration |
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Attachments: |
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• Human Services Performance Agreement History |
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• Human Services Funding Allocations |
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• Human Services Program Improvement Design Proposal Presentation |
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting. |
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By receiving the report, the Council accepts a report that provides the Council with an overview of the existing Human Services Program funding process and proposes modifications to the process.