City of Evanston, IL Social Services Committee, 9 Mar 2023

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From YouTube: Social Services Committee - March 9, 2023

Description

Discussion of the process used to review case management and social services applications and reports.
Find the agenda, packet and more information on the committee's web page: https://www.cityofevanston.org/government/social-services-committee

A

Actually figured out how to log into the right one this time. Okay, there.

B

It is good evening we currently have. We have now five members.

B

So I'm calling the meeting to order.

B

And with five we have a quorum now right, right and so Jessica. Can you please call the roll okay.

C

Thank you, Cheryl's Pride, here, uh Vice Cheryl, honey.

D

C

uh Ken Rowling I.

E

C

Amanda ngola I'm.

A

C

And council member Burns.

E

B

Right, it's wonderful! Thank you and I need a motion to suspend the rules and meet virtually.

D

Motion is suspend rules. Thank.

B

You Derek and I need a second second, you can uh Jessica. Can you please call the roll sure.

C

Let's pray, aye, funster, rohanian, great um Ken, Rowling.

E

C

uh Council member Burns.

C

uh Amanda ngola hi and council member Burns.

B

Wonderful we've spent at the rules we are meeting virtually. The next item on our agenda is approval of the meeting minutes from the last meeting. Those minutes minutes are attached in the packet. um Do I have any changes, then I will need a motion to adopt the minutes.

E

I'll make that emotion.

B

Thank you can I will need a second second. Thank you sure. Sorry uh Jessica. Could you please call the roll? Yes.

F

C

Frye I uh voice, Cheryl huntingin.

D

C

Great uh Ken Rowling.

E

C

Amanda nagola hi and council member Burns great thanks so.

E

Could I just make a comment um on animals I I kudos to uh whoever put these together? That was a very difficult meeting and I felt like this sums up. uh You know, got to the issues without having to go through. You know too much of The Angst and the and and everything that we all um uh dealt with so I really appreciated.

E

Reading these minutes and and having them cut to the issues and raise them very cleanly for us here, including the fact that that was those were difficult decisions to be made, and it was a difficult context in which to make those decisions, meaning there just isn't enough money to do the work that we need to do. Yeah.

B

Thank you so much Canada, wonderful minutes. As always. Our next item on the agenda is our first of two opportunities. Oh it's just our first. We typically will have a second anyway for public comment, um which we very much appreciate: feedback from the public uh Jessica. Have we had anybody for Iowa public comment, or is anybody at this moment indicating they would like to make public comment.

C

um So we have two attendees and if anyone would make public would like to speak, please raise your virtual hand.

C

uh Okay and let me just check online.

C

Nope nope, we have no public comment. All.

G

B

And then the next item we have is the application and report review process um and with that Jessica I think I hand it over to you.

C

Yes and I actually have the pleasure of handing it over to Marion she's going to man the slides for us well, I talk, so thank you.

C

B

I am just confirming we can see your slides.

C

Okay so we've gone over the agenda and we have no public comment. Marion. Would you jump to four for me? Please thanks so much okay, so I wanted to lead us through, hopefully, a robust discussion about uh our allocation process and our review process for applications.

C

um So the goal with this is to really provide a road map of the discussion to understand the reasons behind the allocation process, um the information we're looking to capture um and and the ways it would be uh best to present this information for clarity and brevity's sake for the committee to review.

C

So let's talk about the history of uh the allocation, uh the new allocation process and, let's start there next slide. Please.

C

And yep, so this uh new process really started back in um March of 2019 with the formation of the social services Corps committee, under the leadership of Kimberly Richardson staff was charged with uh creating more equity in City operations. This was following the council's goal of creating more equity in City operations and, and it was a good one, um so I I have the vision and mission statement of the social services committee, um but I also wanted to point out covid's impact, so this is sort of a living process.

C

um Although the realignment efforts started, there's a wonderful city council, member for from Kimberly, um August, 19th and I can get that information to people, uh but but really the idea of funding under these three categories to best support Evanston in Residence started in uh 2020.. So next slide. Please.

C

Okay, so these are our objectives of the allocation process and this was approved by rules committee on October 5th of 2020. But these objectives really speak to why we've asked agencies to um present either Case Management Services for funding or safety net services and and then our Support Services, which the social services committee um provided. The focus of um funding under funding for case. Excuse me funding for counseling and therapeutic services.

C

So, but really the goal is a client-centered approach right so putting the people who are participating in Services first um and reducing the stigma of Social Services and then leading with that Equity lens and we'll talk a little bit about that um in the next slide.

C

So we, when we, when this model was first approved, um it was pre-pandemic and we did not realize how much the community would need in safety net Services. It made sense to um fund public services or provide 50 of Public Services for safety net Services, given the pandemic. But really our original objective was um from the public services funding.

C

We have available uh set aside 40 for Case Management, Services 40 for safety, net services and 20 for support services, and the goal of this is really to provide continued support for the programs that are doing good work. We don't want to um interrupt those services and by providing gaps in funding, and this will ideally help us move toward a two-year or two-year funding model, which is is what we did with in 2021 and 2022..

C

um But it really is critical to note that that ongoing funding lead to stability so uh for our Case Management Services, we are yep. Thank you. The goal with providing robust case management is really for households for people or households in deepest need to have wrap around services from their case management support or their case management point of contact. So we know that you know following best practices case.

C

Management should include an intake process, needs assessment, service planning in the form of our measurable service plans and then monitoring and constant, like ongoing evaluation of how participants are, are reaching goals and um reaching self-sufficiency in the community. We also know that case management should employ like trauma-informed care and strength-based practices to best support the people people connecting to Services.

C

There need to be regular meetings and documentation of those meetings um and and really robust reporting around the referrals that case managers are making for people in the community and then whether or not those referrals are successful, so that, um if, if people aren't able to access the referrals and the additional Community needs case management case managers are there to support them through that process, and that can be anything from you know.

C

Benefits enrollment, as Cheryl's probably well knows to you, know: identification of Legal Services, child care services, Housing Services, housing notification services, um but when we talk about robust case management, it's really that breath and um diversity of of supports that we're looking for case managers to provide next slide. Please so our case management metrics are um again looking at the population serves um uh I'm. So sorry, I didn't flip. My slide um really. The goal of funding is to create capacity for these programs to serve Evanston residents, so we're looking at participant turnover.

C

We know that people's problems aren't necessarily solved in six months or a year oftentimes. It could take 18 to 24 months, but we are looking at the rate that people are are moving through Services um we're looking at the equity impact. You know, even though covet caused Great hardship to people. We don't want to lose sight of the our Equity uh model and that really means using public resources and government funds to invest in uh populations that that have been historically underserved or that have suffered from um the practices of racist institutions.

C

That's was a critical goal of this shift in our allocation process, um and, and so we want to keep sight of that, not only when we're funding case management, but also when we're funding so safety net services.

C

Otherwise, again, the goal is to for robust case management, looking at the creation of service plans and how people are moving through those service plans and connections to additional services right next slide. Please.

C

Okay, so when we're reviewing applications and reports, um these are sort of the the high level key key things that we're looking for, and we hope I hope that this information is captured in staff summaries, whether it's the summaries of applications or the summaries of um those report sheets, um but we're looking at how much money programs are asking for um what they've actually received, how those funds were allocated across their program budget, the number of total people being served and the number of Evanston residents being served and how those numbers are shifting over time.

C

That's been a big focus of this restructure, specific to case management. We are looking at again those service plans. How many are being created are people um successfully completing their service plans and and moving on to stability, um the referral process? We know that Evanston agencies in particular, work very closely together, there's evidence of that um not only in the land meetings that Ali Harnett has mentioned in past Social Service committee meetings, but also uh through the ID, the Evanston Collective, which to refresh people's memories.

C

uh The group of service providers, including Moran center youth job center Oru, who are all working and others that I have not mentioned so many others, but that are all working together to provide these wrap-around services um but critical to our our reporting and measurements. Is you know again how many referrals are are people uh receiving and how many of those referrals are successful and and leading to the additional supports people need.

C

uh Steph also looks at, and you know, presents budget and financial information um when reviewing reports. We want to make sure that that there's Financial documentation for um the way funds are allocated across program budgets and how how the agency is spending um and also, last but not least, critical I think is the way agencies are able or the way applicants are able to comply with reporting requirements. There are a lot of them, uh uh but they're they're, all critical next slide. Please.

C

So I wanted to pause here to see if there are any questions about case the case management. How we're defining sort of robust case management, the things that we're hoping to capture in our our measurements and our applications and Reporting.

A

C

What people think.

B

Any questions or comments from committee members.

E

I have a question about. um You know the in the three categories of allocations: what um I'm trying to understand more? What the support that that third category, what does that mean or or what does that Encompass right it it the other two anyway, I, don't have in front of me right here, but but could you could there be some comment on it?

E

What Support, Services I think that's what it says when I hear that I think of that's providing support to the organizations that are doing all this but I think there's there's something meant really: that's focused on members of the community or clients, as we refer to people seeking or needing and seeking services, and um so some comment on that would be helpful for me. Yes,.

C

I, you know what I appreciate your question. Thank you so much because it gives me the opportunity to also talk a little bit more about how we got ourselves, how we find ourselves here um and that idea of Support Services and really this whole new restructured allocation process um wasn't done in a vacuum. It wasn't just Community Development staff or housing and grants team staff.

C

um These this idea came from staff across City departments and then staff reaching out into the community and following best practices to ask agencies and other community stakeholders like our school districts and the Evanston Community Foundation or the Cradle to career and Evanston Advocates group. What additional? First of all? How do we best support the community, which is how the idea of case management and safety net Services came about and then what additional supports did households need to become self-sufficient right?

C

So, if you're in case management services- and you know you're you're making it but your car breaks down, maybe you just need five hundred dollars to fix your car in order to avoid crisis and remains self-sufficient, um and so in conversations with agency Representatives providing Services.

C

um They floated around many ideas were floated around about what Support, Services could look like and in fact, Amanda and another um SSC member. At the time, Damita Cravens uh participated in these conversations to hear about what participants needed to reach self-sufficiency and really thrive in the community. That was the goal to help residents thrive in the community and from those conversations, um the idea that mental health support right. We know it's a huge mood that became the focus. It was really mental health like counseling and therapeutic support.

C

uh Medication management came up as a big need, but unfortunately we were that that was not the the biggest but really from the agencies providing Services um counseling and mental health services and counseling specifically.

C

Was the biggest need sorry.

E

C

A

But I just wanted to add something to that um when we were originally working with the social services core committee, one of the things that we kept and with um our agencies, one of the things we heard is there are often things you know the case managers refer people to different kinds of services that they need, and sometimes just because of funding availability and whether people qualify under this or that or the other.

A

You know it could take forever to get them into those services, and so the purpose of having these Supportive Services that we're paying for separately is to get them rapidly into those things as well, because sometimes what happens is the delays are so long.

A

You know, like oh you're, on a list of to that can take this many people with this kind of insurance or without insurance or whatever, and so that was one of the and then, as Jessica said well with covid, pretty much mental health services and trying to get mental Wellness overwhelmed almost everybody.

A

That was the summary on that, but we we originally thought it could be a whole range of things until we looked at that we wouldn't have enough funding to provide so we concentrated, and so we were just launched, the first social service and the support services allocation earlier this year. So too, it took us a little while to get to that point. Yeah yeah.

E

So it so, it leads me to another question that I I just don't know about, and that is um in any of these programs that we we support.

E

um Is there also um like direct cash assistance that is available to people whose Heat's going to be cut off or water is going to be cut off or there's no food in the in the house or in the thing you know I, just like um I just don't know, I just don't know if that's also an option uh where people get that kind of direct service, in addition to all of the tremendous services that are already being offered right, um housing help and and mental health services and so forth.

E

So just a just a wondering.

C

Yeah, no- and you know what that's a great question in talking to the agencies, um this idea of a fund to address kind of any and all uh we we did discuss it. um We did find that there were, you know if you needed food, there were referral options.

E

Yeah there were pantries and so yeah sure right right.

C

If you needed support for utility bills or reductions, there were lots of supports available that people could gain access to if they had that strong holistic and robust case management service available to them. um Evanston.

E

So so like through referrals people could it can be on too yeah.

C

Yep we're we're a resource-rich.

E

Community yeah I've seen that in different ways and through my when my kids were in school and how we could be helping other families who needed warm clothing or whatever, but I just was wondering if, uh if that's built into the budgets of any of the kind of organizations that we support through these funds, um that they can help somebody with a rent payment when that just can't make it this month. You know thank.

A

You that's helpful.

E

That's very helpful, yeah and.

A

And in this particular ly there was enormous amounts of federal funding coming out for those.

B

Things it's going.

A

To become more of a problem now and in fact, is yeah.

E

A

Have been cut way back so you know I mean so, and I.

C

Don't mean to imply.

E

And Medicaid isn't Medicaid being cut back anyway, but yeah. Thank you. That's very helpful. I don't want to like take us off into all of the issues that we did. We just can't solve within this community, but I'm I'm curious about what are the the linkages within our community, so that um people are helped in different ways and in ways that maybe we're not always uh aware of you know uh so good.

C

No, it's a it's a great suggestion, honestly, um the the support for mental health services that it is a two-year program.

E

C

It is something that that the social services committee will certainly be reviewing in future, um with I'm sure, agency, um results and and feedback.

B

Any other I'll just say can I appreciate your line of questioning, because I think it's always important to sort of take that step.

B

Back and Jessica I appreciate this presentation to sort of remember how these three funding, sources and programs sort of fit together um and I think it is different than how we've done in the past as a city, um but it it was done with a purposeful vision and a lot of discussion um both with committee members, but also with agencies of like what their needs are and what are the the current challenges and obviously I think as we see um all of the unwinding from covet, I think we'll have reassessments and and different needs might pop up.

B

But it really was that robust case management um than connecting to those support services and those case manager agencies also having sort of those connections and relationships with the safety net um providers as well and trying to really wrap services around the most vulnerable uh members in in Evanston. So thank you for sort of putting those puzzle. Pieces together for us um I think it's very helpful.

C

Okay, so not to rush the discussion, but if we're uh moving on we're now going to talk about safety net Services shockingly, um so the social services committee has really um not had the opportunity to.

C

Sink our teeth into um this definition of safety net services and what it can, what we would Define as a basic need uh again to to your point about covid, uh the needs were were pretty uh exposed right, the need for immediate shelter, food uh safety.

C

um A lot of resources went to support those needs, um but, as we hopefully recover from the pandemic um in thinking about what our residents need, we could expand I like to think of it. You know based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs right once there are basic food and shelter and safety requirements are met. Then we we can start to look at um other other forms of support and bringing in our equity lens.

C

We can look at what the supports might might be for our bipoc populations, whether it's um education assistance, because we know that institutions of government, education uh and physical care are have been historically um racist in their practices, and so any sort of supports that would minimize that damage uh could be important.

C

Workforce Development, although this is also being looked at in other areas of the city, but really our definition of a safety net. What what constitutes a safety net service is immediate access to resources to prevent a person or household from falling into uh destabilization due to a recent hardship. Typically, these crises are not only immediate but also time limited.

C

You know, the head of household loses a job and then needs needs, um rent support or food and access to you know, Workforce Development or somebody recovering from a medical procedure again might have limited mobility and need food. um We're also looking at the ways: safety net providers, Target marginalized populations. So do our safety net providers have Spanish-speaking staff? Do they have a plan to address or to to better support, limited English speakers in our community? Are the services being provided on a sliding scale or at no cost to participants um and then again how?

C

How are they able to report the service hours or the units of service that that are being provided and and can that reporting uh measure the services to Evanston residents and the broader population? uh Next slide, please?

C

Okay! So in looking at some of these metrics um I realize I spoke about them in the last slide, but but they are still uh pertinent. um How quickly can safety net providers link um participants to Services? What kind of demand is there uh in the community and what is the provider's capacity just to take on or provide more services to more participants um and and really drilling down to understand what what we're measuring what services are being offered and um how we're measuring the impact on the household um next slide?

C

Please so the way we've we've been doing. This is to again present this information. Around um funds received uh funds requested versus funds, received um services to to the population um and again, accessibility or ways that the providers are overcoming potential barriers to Services um how City funds or any awards are applied to the program budget and how funds are allocated, um and this ties into you know the agency's ability to comply with reporting requirements.

C

So this is oh I I believe that that this is the information that staff is reporting in those summaries, whether they're application, summaries or report summaries.

C

um But again, this is why we're here tonight to talk about this and to um come up with with better ways to make sure we're giving you the committee members, the information um you need to make the funding decisions or the allocation decisions. So yeah, let's pause here and are there any questions around safety net services.

B

I don't know if this is the time and I it can be later, but one thing I think I would like to request or or have a sort of discussion around is when so on. The reporting I mean.

B

Obviously you at the staff, see that reporting um and have you know the ability to sort of review it more and a familiarity with what is um adequate, high quality reporting and what is reporting where there are there's less adequacy, perhaps or or challenges, or maybe it's not meeting our our federal requirements, or perhaps um it took you a lot of effort behind the scenes to pull out what you needed right, like that happens in a way where we may not see it and I, do wonder if there's a possibility for um in future or War uh awarding sessions where we're sort of going through this, and even just sort of updating and Reporting, where we can get um in a more clear fashion um or in a fashion where I could understand if there are concerns or um opportunities for the grantees to improve their operational components of that I think you know we understand, or at least I understand.

B

Very you know: I can look at the stuff of how many members they're surveying and how many you know, some of that I understand very quickly. I mean it's, um but on the operational opportunities or strengths, I think highlighting some of that um could be beneficial, at least for me as a Committee Member.

C

I appreciate that I and staff appreciate that tremendously and I think yeah we. That is something that we're going to be talking about uh tonight and in in future meetings. How staff can provide uh more substantive um information about everything, just detailed. So thank.

G

You can I ask a follow-up question to that comment because I think it's um very interesting. um We have discussed best way to be able to provide that in an easy, digestible fashion. It's it's currently mentioned, but um in Jessica's reporting and I was wondering.

G

Is this a question of having some because there's some nuances as you've kind of pointed out in your question? It is a question of mentioning a little Narrative of what potential challenges are happening or what's going on with the reporting, the compliance or would it also be helpful to have kind of a general either like a street light kind of system? You know green, yellow or red or or some kind of like it meets expectation.

G

It could use Improvement like some general, very high level, on top of what we're providing to give you that Glimpse very quickly.

B

I will speak for myself. I would like some signaling of sorts, um because sometimes in the narrative, when I'm reading, all of the narratives I can't always okay, discern green versus, yellow versus red I'll use your street light. But, like you know, um or maybe you know, your term meets, and you know whatever maybe I would like some sort of signaling I, also think it could help frame our discussions potentially um but I'll. That's my that's my um perception or preference, but welcome feedback from the committee.

A

And an interesting thing is um in Zoom grants in the past, we've had a staff scoring tool that we have used and we can go back to that which really looked at all those things like okay, do they have their operational ducks in a row?

A

Basically- um and you know, are we spending hours chasing people, or you know, and and everybody knows that any organization can have you know there can be a report period That's challenging for I mean so it's not it's not nitpicky in, but overall and and over the years I mean at one point it's going back to the when cdbg was allocated separately.

A

um At one point, we had to um really go over that you know when we were giving people very small grants. For example, we were spending all the time on their Grant and they couldn't even do the reporting. You know that type of thing, and so it really it there. There are situations where I think we could.

A

We could look at reinstituting that and I think that's one of the tools we can talk about, um because we do have a scoring tool both for the programmatic part and the sort of operational parts, and we've used that in the past, and we can go back to that. But even that can be really really challenging. When how many applications do we get when you each have all those to do so. We've got maybe some things we can talk about about ways.

A

We could try to lessen the burden on individuals, and maybe we can I think Jessica's got a couple slides to show us that maybe we could show you kind of potential formats, or these are ways we've been doing it to give you ideas of how we can improve that, but then also then start sort of brainstorming about. How can we reduce the?

A

How can we help not only give you information better, but maybe look at ways to um make um the whole review process um more manageable for individuals by breaking into different groups, that kind of stuff.

B

Thank you so much Sarah and Jessica and Marion. Thank you any other comments or questions. Ken.

E

Nope I'm good I'm good thanks.

A

C

um Yeah, the next two slides sort of talk about or or illustrate, a proposed template for um case management and then safetynet reporting, whether it's on the application or ongoing um Services, as evidenced by the the reports that that agencies submit um and again the goal is to present this information in a very streamlined and consistent way.

C

um So that information is accessible to committee members and um Marion. Could you would you mind looking at the safetynet report format? Also, um so safetynet is very similar to case management, because we are measuring a lot of the same um key points in terms of residents, served or population served um budgets and how funds are applied. uh The the two main differences are in the referrals, the service plans and the referrals per case management and the service hours and the accessibility of services for um safety net um Marion.

C

Would you mind going to the next slide? Please and I can also say that this document is available in the packet, along with examples of the way staff has summarized not only applications but reports in the past.

C

um But really this is this is the slide Gerald's fry, where we can pause and and talk about um ways to evaluate um the services that the city is funding.

C

um I know that there has been a discussion about perhaps a rubric or um the score tool, Sarah mentioned um or forming a working group, or maybe several working groups to divide up applications. If there was the appetite uh to do that, so it really.

C

um The goal in this meeting is for the committee to decide the depth or level of review that that we feel we can commit to and then for staff to really hear the critical supports that that would be useful to members and then to move forward under that model. So in the packet you know again, we talked about um the score: the scoring tool in Zoom grants being the the biggest and and um most time consuming way.

C

um Similarly, staff could present a rubric um for the committee to review. We could talk about that at a future meeting um and then some more streamlined processes uh which include the spreadsheets that committee members submitted um with the goal of really capturing um applications that that committee members felt.

C

Best followed are our funding model and and wanted to to support um and then at what levels, uh what levels that support would take in terms of allocation suggestions, um but but we have, we have lots of options. So Sarah can I see your hand, sorry book, nope, you're,.

A

Muted, yeah um and I really what I I think is a challenge and and I over the years done a lot of different application reviews for different organizations um when I work for the YMCA I was one of the people who got called by the. Why of the USA? Hey we've got this: will you be a grant reader? You know, and- and you know so and I was on the United Way board for a number of years- and you know so. It's like, and one of the things that I really would like to hear is.

A

If there are ways we can oh well and also talking about some of the ways, other groups have done this: the mental health board. When it was that organization that was, it was named that um you would make a a subcommittee, it would be, they would be generally two people who would everyone would have all the information and review things, but two people would really delve into it and come up with a these.

A

Are our recommendations and how and why and and they would look at um when the in some cases, the all the members were using, that scoring tool and zoom grants and they would look at the average score in the average funding and they'd come up with all these kind of to start it off and give some rationale. So because one of the huge things is, the challenge is you've got all this information and it's an enormous challenge to do it.

A

Another thing, although I think it's very difficult, because we'd have to then break the funding into finite amounts would be to even consider having um things reviewed and discussed on different days, because it's also overwhelming, or maybe there have to be two days or a day where there's discussion, you know two meetings, because so what we're really trying to do is just get your ideas on what might work best.

A

Could maybe some people review safety net and some people review case management and, and everyone can read and and score if they you know, obviously, but but really delve into. You know to reduce the those are the types of things that I was thinking of, I mean I. Remember when we were doing things for the YMCA, it was generally they they would do a random allocation of um okay grants to people.

A

So every Grant was read by at least three and scored by at least three people, but they weren't all lined up so it you know. In other words, it made it more. So things like that and I don't know. If those are things that the committee thinks would be helpful. uh You know it is.

A

Even if you all have time to study every single thing in detail and I know many. You all spend many hours at it. It still is, it can be just overwhelming and and maybe that's a way of looking at things- I don't know, but those are the types of things we're hoping. Maybe we can um get insight from and it doesn't have to be decided at this minute. But if, if you even have ideas on what might work best, then maybe we can think about that and provide more information.

B

No very very helpful, Sarah and Jessica um interested in feedback from the perfect 10 go right ahead.

E

um A few thoughts I don't have a recommendation, but uh yet but I I'm, very I'd be very interested in helping sort through, what's the most reasonable and and doable process for really a limited amount of money that we have to really address the much greater needs. So that's just background um and- um and my experience with the last go-around was- was frustrating for me, because I I realized that we were coming. We each had different perspectives or starting points looking at those applications, um all of which were worthy and needed.

E

You know, but but we start up a different and and I. It was hard for me to like jump onto somebody else's perspective, because I couldn't I didn't review the proposals of the applications with the same okay. So that's that um a couple things strike me that we might want to factor into here and and one is um there, there's there's sort of a scr to me.

E

There would be a sort of a screening for eligible organizations period uh uh coming into you know, requesting These funds, I I see the um and I really agree with the the criteria for this funding going forward is about our. Are these programs? Are these organizations? Are they client centered? You know? Are they are they in my mind, are they representative of the people of people in our community uh who they are serving or they are delivering services, so I'm wondering if there isn't uh some vetting process? This is very tough. To do.

E

I've been in the funding world for 40 years in different ways, but but there's like who's eligible, you know to come in and to say we do this great work in this community now I, there's no aspersions on any agency organization that I've seen so far in you know in the social services uh committee, purview, they're, all terrific, but but uh but I I recall um when we were looking at the the social, the support services re requesting.

E

We moved some not as long established organizations some who were newer and who were more rooted in different communities. They were moved into consideration and that's a legitimate thing. You know who serves our communities the best who's connected to them, so I'm just wondering if there's some way to like think about how do we vet the organizations themselves?

E

You know that's going to be fraught with multiple issues right, you know, we've got organizations that are 10, 20, 30, 100 years old right, you know, and how do you say, they're still legitimately connected to these guidelines that that that um you know preceded my time on the committee and my time I mean I I've been in Everest in a long time, but you know focus on historically um you know a isolated communities, communities that suffer from structural racism and all of that right, that's that's a real charge for us to so I think that that's one area, I I I I.

E

What I would find helpful as a Committee Member, is that we would agree that um this is going to be a bit arbitrary, but that there's like four or five criteria or filters. We want to put on to a uh applicants and it is arbitrary. We know it doesn't cover everything that an agency or an organization does and has in their mission and has in their heart and all of that right, but there's some arbitrariness.

E

We might have to do do and then we experiment that with that that doesn't seem to be the right one, the second time around we do. We change it, but I I would be comfortable with us at least agreeing that there's five Essentials or there's whatever. That number is and that's kind of how we want to read and look at these proposals and then I, like the thought. uh The third thing I don't know shut up is um um the the the the notion of a working group.

E

You know bringing a set of recommendations to us. um That's my thought. Yeah.

B

No thank you very much. Ken uh Vice, chair, rohanian and then I see your hand as well as Amanda.

D

Thank you, chair yeah. This reminds me a bit of um some of the work that I do or some of the work that I've seen happen at my current company, where, when we're vetting um contracts with third-party providers granted, these are um kind of different scope and a different purpose.

D

um We, um you know as part of the standard template reform when we're pushing through the the proposal for consideration from leadership. It's there are. We use third-party rating agencies for those providers that we are evaluating, potentially getting into contract with whether it's done in Brad street and of some of these names they're familiar with folks on the call or um uh like Moody's rating system right, Moody's and Pitch the accredited bureaus there. There are equivalents for non-profits and Charities. There's one called charity navigator that actually I remember I've looked at before and I'm.

D

Actually, it's funny I'm pulling up some of the agencies that we've worked with in the past on here, and they are on here uh the ones that are based in Evanston, and so you see ratings for these Charities um there's as much detail about them as much as possible.

D

I think it tries like the rating system tries to normalize to a kind of an Apples to Apples comparison between Charities uh as much as possible, too so I think it's, maybe if it's deciding on if this is if this is Meaningful, to have a third party check um and if these Charities are rated incorporating that into the applications themselves as well, not for the agency to fill out but for us to view and consume. As members is, okay organization a submits their application, they say all these things.

D

Well, what does the third party assessor also say about them, because that can be important as well as well as what Ken's talking about, which is our own framework that we devise uh with multiple filters, how do all those triangulate and how all those compare and tell the story? None of that made sense. Absolutely.

B

B

F

Are on mute, Amanda, yeah. Sorry got me right when one of my kids was asking a question: um yeah I have a couple thoughts too and I I, like a lot of the things that have been said already: I really um I, like the idea that you brought up earlier um Samantha about you, know having some kind of uh rating system or whatever just to talk about some of that administrative piece.

F

um I also think it is important for each of us on the committee to review um all of the applications. I just think if we have some kind of background knowledge and the summaries that the staff completed were extremely helpful as I compare the time you know between you know, reading everything in the zoom grants versus the summaries that you invited. So that was really helpful, um but you know, in addition to everyone having some kind of foundational knowledge about each of the agencies.

F

I would support having maybe two or three people zoom in or hone in get a deeper dive into each of them, and maybe they're able to do a presentation or you know, make some recommendations.

F

um But one thing I'm really honing in on also is what you said can about everyone having a different perspective. You know reflecting on our conversation last time and I think um I think that's something we should be more transparent about on the committee like I personally, don't know the backgrounds of anybody on the committee. You know what are the values that we're bringing to this? What what are our professional or personal interests in this, um so that that can help inform you know what it is that we're deciding?

F

So maybe that's just a piece of uh of us getting to know each other better or a part of the discussion um to help us discern the.

H

F

um Yeah I think that was all I wanted to say thanks.

B

Beautiful Amanda council member Burns.

H

um Thank you yeah, so um not to confuse uh the working group that I'm going to talk about with the working group that could, potentially, um you know, evaluate the the different applicants and provide recommendations, um but I think also.

H

The memo talked about a working group just to figure this part out, um and so first and foremost, I just want to say, I not only support it, but I would with volunteer to participate in that I think it's um I think in order to figure this all out, we really need to um you know dedicate an hour or two to just kind of working through this and and um and perhaps even looking I think that was said earlier.

H

Looking at uh existing models that other communities are are using and maybe even other organizations um foundations perhaps are using so.

E

That's one two: what's.

H

What's really important to me to the to the last question about kind of values of just what lens were using.

H

um It's really important to me that, whatever process we put in place that um we're helping or we're incentivizing organizations to improve uh what they do to improve the delivery of services that ultimately leads to better outcomes and I'm, not I, don't feel confident. Yet that.

E

We're doing that like I, think.

H

We we have some things in place that that that look great I think the switch from what we're doing before to now really centering around.

H

Measuring you know, outcomes and trying to hone in on case management and safety net was was the right decision, so I think we have some really I think we're in a we're in a good place right now, but I think we still need there's still a few pieces missing in order for us in order for me personally to feel confident that we've set up an incentive structure that that organizations are going to improve and that people it's going to lead to people living.

H

You know healthier, better lives and I'm, not I'm, not there yet and I wanna I wanna. Be there because I think this, you know, while it's not a ton of money, it is, um it does represent uh um a significant it's. It's significant enough to where people I mean at the last meeting were really you know challenged with not having enough of it right. So it certainly it represents.

H

uh um uh uh You know a significant part of funding in Evanston, and so I just want to feel better about that, so I would love to participate in the working group. Just to think more about. You know this. These initial questions and.

B

That's all chair, thank you. Thank you. So much councilmember, Burns Jessica your hand, is up.

C

Yes, thank you so much so you know again. These are excellent points. um I know, Sarah, Marion and I are all taking notes and I'm looking forward to reviewing them, um but just as I hear people talking about, um can you mentioned getting on the same page and um council member Birds you talked about it also.

C

um Would it be helpful if perhaps at a very foundational level, um there were two slides uh about the information that we capture from case management and safetynet, um and and might we go back and revisit those slides because they do outline again the very basic information that we're trying to capture um and we would be happy to um council, member Burns, Point, um add other um or or let me say this, because this restructure is new.

C

We we recognize that the first couple of years um and the committee even talked about this- we're really going to be years of of just Gathering sort of Baseline information for the agencies um to assess who they're serving how they're providing Services. What robust case management looks like versus. You know what the safety net needs are in the community and we've seen such an incredible shift in in um just those needs alone.

C

Over the past couple of years, that I would say, I agree with council, member, Burns and I'm sure other committee members feel the same way that we're working to build that map and understand um what those Services look like and who is being served and how? First so we are um yeah working on on filling out that picture um and and the first step to that is um part of the restructured process right rather than funding all of the agencies for doing the good work that they do.

C

um Part of our shift was was really looking at these agencies and saying like Okay. Now we want to review um the services provided under these two very specific categories, um and- and these are the um points of information we're looking for to kind of build that map. So could we pause in the conversation for a minute and perhaps go back to um slides, 12 and then 17 for Committee Member review to to let staff know if that information, that's currently really being captured at a high level?

C

Is is enough to build out that picture I'm sure it's not. Let me just again start by saying I'm sure it's not. But um what else would the committee like to see?

C

uh We might not be able to capture it in in the first five years or the first you know number of years, but but I agree that it's really important to look at Community impact on a much broader, longer term scale and that's part of why our our allocation model has shifted the way it has, because one of the components is is providing that stability of services, so that we can see how people and households progress. Sorry, I'll, stop no.

B

No, no, no Jessica, uh council member burns. Your hand is up.

H

Yeah sorry now I was just gonna say: I I um I mean certainly if, um if, if anybody has comments um to provide now, uh they should do so. I just think a better I I think a better venue is probably taking it away from this meeting.

H

Putting it you know, I, don't know how many of us can meet um without you know, triggering the Oma requirements, but I I think we will get more out of this conversation if we had some time to um additional time to think about it and again, I I think sometimes just using um I'm really interested to know uh to see what Derek mentioned.

H

um Both uh you know that the company that he works for is using, but also I, think he Derek. You mentioned that she found something that other organizations other cities tools, that uh cities are using, but I think with um with more of that type of information in front of me, I could I could participate more in in this uh exercise. In addition to that, um you know, I just would like to think a bit more about, because, like some of my concerns are um you know, I think reporting is really important and I know.

H

Previously. We've heard that some organizations, um you know struggle with reporting in a way that that may be beneficial for our process and so I I think when we but I do think that that's an important thing that we should measure for and that we either help organizations figure out how to you know, capture and maintain debtor data and present data better or you know, I, don't know if they should continue to get funding right.

H

um You know how are they keeping their records so that, when we're auditing them, we actually can uh more ease more easily identify whether or not the funds are being used appropriately. If you're, not you know, keeping your records good enough, uh where we can learn what we need to from auditing, it I think that's something that should um impact your score.

H

Ultimately, so that I have a lot of those questions um and I, don't know how we can better work that into the process, but I think it should be a part of the process in a more meaningful way and um so I have some kind of random thoughts flying around but I. Think. If we took this to another venue to a working group, we could we could get a lot out of it.

B

I I, agree and I'm trying to recall, although Jessica can correct me, I do believe our initial sort of reporting structure might have started with a working group. I might have been on it um and then I I think um this week is all blur. But um it's almost like.

H

Sort of thing, yeah, yeah.

B

um All right so dare Vice chair honey, you had had your hand up is no longer up. I just want to make sure that I I don't skip over you. You were next on my list, but your hand is down down.

D

I was just going to respond to a councilmember uh burns on the uh website that I found that scores non-profits and Charities. It's a public website. It's called charity, Navigator and I was typing in some of the names of our agencies that we work with and they were on there. They had evaluations and ratings from this third party website. So if that's something that we weave into our our reports and reviews in the future could add another dimension of information.

B

Thank you, Vice chairwani and Ken.

E

Thank you, um I um I want to respond to Bobby's council member Bobby's uh Burns um comments about the the the the the slides 12 and it's 17.. I I feel like that kind of information, um uh just as you suggested um council member uh would be best in as we think through. What's the kind of information we need I think so that could be part of the working stuff second point or the the the the further work to come up with what what what's the criteria?

E

What's the screen or whatever it is we're going to call our our process for um reviewing um uh applications, um I uh I just lost. My second thought. uh Sorry, um uh the third thought that I wanted to share is is not connected to some of the earlier things.

E

We've said, although maybe tangentially to what council member Burns has said, um and that is um well I'll tell you what my experience was so at at the last meeting, I thought I saw some Flags in the staff assessments and about the what was going on in within some organizations I. Since our conversations, our work is totally in the public realm I don't feel comfortable in like picking at one or the other Organization for some perceived or some or questions I I on a couple of levels. I'm I'm very concerned about that one is.

E

um This is not a pile on thing and I. Don't want to be, and I I've lived in this world for 50 years of of organizations so forth and I don't want to cause um competition or people trying to bad mouth it. So that's one possible negative thing and the other thing is like I. Don't want to put some organization, you know uh on the spot when we have 40 people from the community and us we're like so I I'm.

E

Looking for some way is there so I I understand we're fully transparent and I want us to be that way, but there's got to be a way to deal with um difficult issues within an organization um that um you know that that should be dealt with, including are they meeting our bipoc guidelines? Are you know? Are they you know? Okay, so, and and I'll just share one on I've spent a lot of years as a staff person and running foundations. You know and there's there's a certain level of um of um of.

E

um There is a good level of confidentiality in your relationships to to organizations and to internal issues, and and that's so, a staff role is often to like figure that out and and deal with that and make that as part of their recommendations um to the the board, or in this case the committee so I'm just very sensitive about you, know, calling somebody to task and a open meeting when I don't know if I know the right stuff, you know so and it's just that's an issue.

E

I've been struggling with, there's a level of confidentiality and there's a level of um of transparency that we have to deal with right in in the foundations that I worked with. We never shared each each other's proposals with other with other groups. You know we consider that their intellectual property and their their their their their their their work. You know, and it wasn't out there for somebody else to critique or something so anyway.

E

That's my my thinking, I'm just struggling with that no.

B

And I think can um that I think that was why I don't know if we're coming at it from the same page, but that was why I also sort of saw it like I couldn't tell always is this a flag? Am I meeting am I reading this as a flag because of my own perception and that's sort of where, like a signal, would be helpful for me um or uh grading or I I. Think that's for the working group to decide, but I I, um I.

C

B

Like a bigger flash or a brighter light, so that I, because I, don't I too just didn't, want.

B

To say is this an issue and then nobody else thought it was an issue and I just it was my perception of what I was reading as opposed to just very blunt. This is an issue you don't this doesn't mean adequacy or you know whatever it may be. Council member Burns.

H

Yeah and then this is kind of back to Ken's earlier point, but I think that's why it's important to have uh you know those kind of hard and fast criteria so that people don't feel like things are being applied unfairly or um unequally. I mean.

E

I think that's important.

H

It's tough because you know once you start enforcing it, everyone won't make the cut, but I think it also helps to do this in a way that that uh makes it easier because because it came to your point, you know this is definitely different than a private organization. It does have to be transparent, I, don't think any of these discussions meet the um closed session.

H

You know requirements and so, um and so we have to find other ways around it and I think one way to do that again is just to create those hard and fast criteria and and hold every group accountable to it. It you know, and so there's no, um you know favoring any organization over another.

B

Yeah and I before Jessica, I, just gonna, say and making that very clear to the applicants beforehand. So they know our expectations and there's that transparency I think you know I and I. I I think that's important um and will set us up as an organization as a sorry as a committee um for success in future rounds as well. Jessica yeah.

C

Yes, thank you. You know, I was going to say, uh I appreciate all of these points uh and agree with them, and it's also challenging for staff. However, because this is my role and because I we do have conversations with agencies um around reporting in compliance um I.

C

Actually, um while I recognize the challenges of the public process, um I personally see it as a benefit in my role, because when I do um make statements about agencies, um those agencies are required to come to meetings and review the packets and review the summaries and I tell them. You know if, if I'm misrepresenting anything, um this is your opportunity to to chime in and set the record straight.

C

So I I do see a way for um staff to provide a more robust analysis, which is something that I think that I've heard committee members ask for um and certainly be very transparent with agencies prior to having a public conversation, um but also continually inviting agencies or welcoming them into the process, so that if there are um misrepresentations that they are there to correct the record- or you know, talk to talk about challenges- um and you know that's one of the other um gray areas in in the reporting or the way information is presented by staff to two members.

C

That's why we need that narrative section tell us about staff turnover or a loss of funding in other areas that led to program disruption or any anything else.

C

um So I think that while it might be uncomfortable, we have a lot of opportunity to grow in this area in ways that are respectful um to the agencies, because you know I say.

H

C

Too I'm a Fifth Ward member I'm, a parent in the Evanston community and my background- is in Social Services I, love all of the agencies and and know that they do great work and mean that very sincerely um what we can all have these conversations. We can't all have these conversations as.

B

Well, wonderful, thank you. I would like, if you, if the committee will indulge me and just sort of trying to summarize sort of what I've heard in next steps, I'm going to try to pull in every string um and grade it together and if I miss something um and I'll add my few little strings at the end. Most of you, you guys all covered very similar things of in my in my process.

B

um So, first and foremost, we need a working group for just what are those um reports and some reasons or what do we need um and the process I heard council, member Burns, um volunteer and I thought I kind of heard Ken, but I might be okay um and we have two um unless anybody objects, I think that's a that we can only have two without violating open meetings act and so that that's two.

H

um Derek wants to uh participate. I'm happy to you, know kind of look at their work as.

E

Well, because I think I was on.

H

The last working group um that that had a crackhead there so Derek if you want to participate, I'm happy to um yeah I'm, happy to to relinquish my seat at that table and you can participate.

E

So that was actually going to be my question before is: is there any way we can have a working group uh that has more than a couple of us? uh Oh wow,.

D

We could, it would just have to be public right.

B

D

We would have to host a meeting which yeah well.

E

I would be yeah frankly, I'd be comfortable with that I mean what I, what I'd want to say in the working group was not directly um aimed at somebody or.

H

Any one organization yeah.

A

E

It's really about setting the criteria for what how we're going to view the application process. I I, would be totally comfortable with that I I'm. This is I, don't have anything. That's happened with what I consider confidential or.

H

E

H

I also think we'll get more out of it if everybody that wants to participate.

E

Participates, that's kind of my thinking, yeah. Sorry! No! That's that's also how.

H

I feel yeah all.

A

Right um I just need to recognize establishing a working group with more than two people means we have to have um agendas posted 48 hours in advance. We have to have minutes, we have to have that and frankly, we are really strapped staff time right now, so that could be a challenge. I'm, not saying it can't be done, but I think we need to make sure that we are well prepared so that the meetings are productive and we get the most out of them.

A

So I think maybe that would be a way to approach that, maybe because we really are I mean we've got a lot of um things on our plate. In addition to including um just um going to be getting out all the grant agreements and stuff like that that get our people funded so and- and we can also it's not something- we have to do instantly because we're not going to be having another round of applications.

A

So I just want to also point out that I think we can be very thoughtful and and about timing on this too, because I don't have a problem with having an extra meeting or two and have more people, um but I think that I just want to make sure that we are able to help. You all make those as productive as possible.

B

Thank you, Sarah Marion. You also had your. Was it the same.

G

Yeah mostly concerned for bandwidths and um staff being able to support a public meeting yeah.

H

Independent chair, depending on what we have on our net for our next meeting, I mean we could just make it a discussion at our next meeting. Yeah.

B

That was what I I was I.

E

Don't know if Ken that was your yeah, that's where I was going to go. uh I, don't know, I, don't know what the agendas look like. But what, if we dedicated an hour of the next meeting or something to the working group, uh to doing this very thing.

B

I, don't think I mean Marion.

G

Yeah the other thing as well. That could be it. We could consider kind of a hybrid where there's a little bit of a working group of two people, prepping some conversation, and then we bring it back to the committee as a conversation and then maybe they go back. There's flexibility there that can work to be worked out as well.

B

Yeah I think that's what we've done in the past, where the working group kind of comes and presents back to the full committee um Jessica. Do we have for the next.

C

That could absolutely be a topic for the next agenda.

B

So why don't we? Does anybody object to doing that? That way we all can participate? We don't have a robust agenda that will be our agenda I'm, just nobody objecting. So that's what we'll do we'll streamline some staff effort there. So thank you guys so we'll discuss that through the working group or sorry through the committee.

B

um I also heard um you know, sort of the process of both from Ken's without priorities and then um from council member Burns of standards and I. Think that on both ends makes a lot of sense and I.

B

Think the priority component might also tie that discussion might help so Amanda to sort of understanding where we're all coming from, as we sort of discuss those priorities um that might sort of naturally and organically lead to sort of some of that conversation, um Amanda, I, I, hope um and I think that all makes sense and that might be I think we start with what the reporting is I.

B

Can we start with some of those standards, some of those um development or determination of um I'm, going to call them continue with your street light analogy, um but um then we can also move on to priorities and make it really clear to applicants with a good amount of lead time.

B

This is what we're looking at. These are our priorities. These are standards, um and this is what we're sort of going to be. You know discussing over the next next year.

B

um The other thing I I, think that I would like, and it was sort of something I think we're going to be discussing next month. But I do like that summary um that visual summary, where I actually would find it, the most helpful, isn't necessarily on the the scoring, but in the discussion as a Committee Member I was I. You know like that very simple um sort of one pager. If you will there was visually sort of straightforward to me as we're discussing it.

B

um It would be helpful because sort of scrolling through the application or even the more um text, Heavy, summary, isn't and I'm thinking, mainly because of me I've got the agenda up. I've got these other things that I I'm I feel like I have to ask things that I I know the answer to but I can't pull easily and if that sort of summary page um would be very helpful for just discussion.

B

um So I I I really like that idea. um Hopefully nobody objects to it, um but uh those are some of the things I'm hearing um I, don't if I've missed anything from this discussion, I'm gonna, pause and just make sure.

B

Okay, so the next steps we'll discuss um we'll discuss the um I'm sorry.

B

We will discuss the process or the the stuff on slide, 12 and 17. um and uh and just sort of discuss as a group.

B

um What is missing what we like what we might want, tweaked um and sort of go from there and I suspect that will be a robust discussion and we might then lead into sort of process and priorities and standards into the next discussion, but that's just a an assumption based off of the content we have before us.

B

um The any any other comments. I know we got a question: I want to pause and see if there's anything from the committee members or from staff before we go to potential public comment.

B

I'm not seeing anything so. Oh yes, council, member, Burns, yeah.

H

Just quickly I think something Sarah said um uh it struck me as something that's really important. That and you know I would encourage you know, staff to just reach, um or even us, to provide some feedback now, perhaps and even I guess in between meetings but um to provide input to staff about what we need in order to have the most productive discussion around this, because I do think um a bit of preparation and and input from us would help um staff to prepare.

H

You know provide any information um you know in the next packet for us, so I don't know if that's something we do now, or probably it's better off us sending. Maybe our individual thoughts but uh I do think that's important to get that information to staff as soon as we can.

B

I I agree, council, member and I think um you know with the with the recognition we're gonna have that broader discussion. I, don't know if we want to do just a working group or there are two folks and they to have a call with Jessica or if everybody just who has who wants to and has the capacity to send in individual comments.

B

I, don't know if that's harder or easier for Jessica or harder or easier for committee members, but um I do think um if there are some folks that can do a little bit of leg work um or want to do a little bit of legwork uh before and help staff um sort of have share our thoughts um before the next committee. Our discussion will probably be more robust and um maybe efficient as well.

E

uh Ken, so I would just suggest uh resending uh the the document, the memorandum that you sent this time for this meeting, which listed the criteria for reviewing case management. You know that the background, the history stuff and then I think reminding us of those of those 12 and number 12 and 17., just as starters of uh and I'm saying that, from my perspective of looking to want to set a set of screens right, uh um uh you know wanting to set a set of five six criteria.

E

That's where I'm coming from you know but I'm that so that would be helpful to me. Maybe others have other other angles they want to work on. But uh that would be helpful to me.

A

Sarah, would it be helpful um for us just to um even just have copies of things like the scoring tools that have been that are in Zoom grants, for example, just so that you have.

A

You know, because one of the things we have to make sure of is that we also once we decide what we want, what our criteria are, then we need to make go back and make sure that for our next round of applications, we are getting capturing the data correctly too, but there are, you know we could I think we could print out in some relatively legible format.

A

So you don't have pages of stuff the the scoring questions we've had in the past and also the ones that we've had that staff have used, because there are a bunch of things that we look at um and part of it is because of Any time we're looking at federal funds.

A

You know hey, we got to check to see if they have a single audit and if they have a single audit, we have to check to see if there are findings and that sort of thing and that's kind of what um uh Vice Cheryl hanyan is it's one of those pretty objective measures that is like? Are they handling?

A

um You know another organization, assessment of organization? Now, not all of our organizations have a single audit because you have to have 750 000 or more of federal funding expended in your fiscal year. So but but that's one of the things we look at, we we also we get there um financial statements and we look again for Auditors comments and things like that, and so you see on that things. They're, like audit, you know any comments.

A

If there were, we do provide those things when we see them, or else we say that it's a clean audit, so so it just gives you a little more idea of what types of things we've looked at at the past and whether or not they're useful or not,.

A

And I think that those sorts of things could be in a whatever we decide. We need staff to look at and score. It could be um combined in a way that what the committee is talking about not then like discussing absolute specifics that could be.

A

You know that we just don't want to get into the details in a public meeting just because- and of course obviously there could be you know, but it would be a like a scores based on these things and, and it doesn't have to give everybody um a breakout of every little thing. Does that make sense? Yes,.

B

Yeah I think at this point I think including some of that and recognizing we may get through some of it all of it, and we might spend a lot of time. You know, but I do think it could be very helpful and.

A

We do have things like in our application. One of the things is we ask for the applicants to outline their Staffing, because you know one of the things um Ken that you brought up is: are they reaching people?

A

One of the kind of measures of is: do you have staff um that mirror the population you're trying to work with, and- and you know we- we talked about that in some cases, but we can talk about those sorts of things too, because those are ways that we can maybe be better at presenting that information um more comprehensively to the uh or in a in a no matter.

A

How many times you read the applications I think it is helpful to have a summary, because it's like anything else, if, if, when you're in a discussion, those all those little details are the hard things to come up with and make sure that we're putting the the correct things into the summaries. For you.

H

Thank you. Yes, sir I have one last thought on this um I think comparing what the the criteria we use now with. Maybe previous criteria would help in the same way that you know you I think just like a quick comparison chart. So we can quickly see like what what we're doing now is maybe different than what we've previously done or the other way around, um and then also comparing it with um with maybe some other cities and organizations uh measuring tools and again putting it all in the charts.

H

So we can quickly scan it to see. You know what are some some quick things that we might want to add to our scoring tool um that other places are doing that we might not be doing but it'll.

E

I think it'll help.

H

Kind of drum up conversation a lot more than if we um are expected to come up with some of those things on the Fly. Because again, you know, there's so many examples of this, because every city, every most foundations, they're doing this and so I think we can um I I. Think we can. If, with a little bit of research, we can um have those organ through those organizations that first come up with somebody, some quick things that we might want to add to our process and then um the.

E

Other thought is I'd.

H

Love to know, especially around like is is so it's not just like. Are you keeping records, but it's I also want to get a better sense of next meeting. Are we evaluating around like the way in which they keep their records right like? Are you keeping it in a way? That's that that meets uh some some type of standard, so not just checking them, say: Yep they're keeping records, but again what are the are they holding to some standard of keeping records and same thing for case management plan?

H

Again, it's not just if you're you're keeping case management plans, but again are you holding to some standard because I can think of you know I, don't think every every case management plan is is equal. I think some are are probably better than others, and so it would be interesting to see what level of detail we're measuring each area in and then some we may be measuring. You know more detail than others, but I'd like to have a better sense of that at the next meeting. That.

A

Is something thank you, councilmember Burns, for bringing that up? One of the things we have not been doing a great deal of, and actually any of um really um since the start of the pandemic is site visits where staff looks at those sorts of things, and that is something we will reinstitute, because that's a really important part of our monitoring process and um but we have historically done- is a risk assessment. You know when you see other red flags like reporting problems or things don't seem to match up and stuff like that.

A

You know you, you prioritize based on that and that's one of the things. Actually, we historically have been required to have by cdbg, but um but I think that that's the type of situation where we can really look at case plans and go through, and this is something that you know like how. How are these things working out? And you know what kind of results are we seeing and and I think that would be a helpful thing that and and that takes some years of people- I mean you know, especially 2021.

A

We didn't have any measures like that, because everybody was just trying to function. You know in 2021, but 2022 our agencies. You know many everybody started stabilizing more and we're going to see that and I think that that's an important part of our information that we can get because we're not just saying we're funding you to do your good work. As Jessica said we're saying we're asking agencies to do work in a way that we're saying is going to result in what we think is best for.

H

A

And so then we have to measure it by looking by getting into some of those details and staff can do that.

B

B

Any other comments.

B

Oh Jessica I'm, sorry.

C

Sad um Can to your point: I can post the slide. The slides will be posted on the Committee website, and I can also send them out to all for deeper review. um Sarah mentioned and she's absolutely correct. We do have um template versions of the case management and safety net applications and those score questions. uh I I want to let this body know um that, even though we've experienced some challenges and shifts to our timeline, we're actually absolutely on track uh in terms of where other recommending bodies have been in this time period.

C

uh Typically after allocations were made toward the end of the Year, everyone would take a collective breath and then around March April, um particularly Mental Health Board, would would review the applications and score questions to really see what we're capturing, how uh we're we're assessing performance um and then, whether or not we want to make any changes in terms of what we're capturing for the next application cycle and and Sarah is absolutely correct. uh We are on a two-year cycle.

C

I have slides that talk about it, uh but we do have not only the time to have these conversations around what what we want to measure and what the committee would like to look at. But we have plenty of time to then advertise the results of those conversations to agencies well before the Fuller application for 2025, which doesn't mean that we won't be assessing 2023 results moving into 2024, um but but any big changes would would happen in the middle of 2024 for the 2025 application cycle.

C

So I hope, there's comfort in in this idea that uh all recommended the recommending bodies of the past. You know take this time in Spring to review the application and and the um assessments and um before we we move topics. I I still am a little bit unsure as to whether or not we're the committee is going to form a working group or send suggestions to staff. But I just wanted to put out there that I am happy to work with this group, in whatever way uh would be would be most supportive and beneficial.

C

Send me emails, anytime or a form of working group and and we can move forward in that way uh with the working group presenting their recommendations at our next meeting. But you know, let me know what I can do. Thank you.

B

E

So I am not volunteering for a working group prior to the next uh uh so uh committee meeting.

B

Perfect, do you want to do emails and calls to the Jessica and we'll discuss next week or next week? Oh gosh, not next month, um Sarah, one.

A

Last question um we have a one of our attendees is asking: will the committee meet in person for this upcoming process? Discussion and um I just wanted to note that, as of May, we have we'll be going back to in person for sure, but the com, the the committee, can determine whether it wants to have the April meeting um virtual or whether you want to start in person. So I didn't want to respond to Patrick for you, and that is since we don't have a all members.

A

I, don't know if you want how the how the members here feel about that. If you want us to ask about that or how you want to approach that.

B

B

If there's no objection to staying in Virtual or one more month, I may be out of town that day, I will be able to join. Virtually I will not be able to join in person. I'll be in Springfield I would much rather be in Evanston. um uh That would be my own like.

B

That would be my one, but you guys can go without me. It just this particular topic. I would like to be there, but.

H

Yeah I think remote. um Unless uh you know Patrick is I feel like sometimes or remote has been made. Meetings more accessible, hopefully to from people, and so um for. A topic is important to this. I think I will go with the with remote, because it's more accessible for people to participate and join wherever they are so I think one more remote meeting makes sense before the the um the main mandate kicks in or whatever.

A

Do as well is check with our legal staff um when it is possible, if it's in your rules to have um a member who can't come in person attend virtually as long as there is a quorum, and so those are things that I think we have to follow up internally to see, because I would, if we could maintain that flexibility for members who are unable to come in person as long as we have Quorum but could join virtually. That would be good. It might be phone virtual only because we don't always have very good.

A

You know we're not doing hybrid, but I mean I, think that could still be valuable.

D

Thank you absolutely.

B

All right so April will stay virtual and beyond that we will figure it out.

B

um Any other public comment.

B

And with that I want to thank you all for your service. I think our guests, um I would like to adjourn. Have a very good evening. Everybody and a wonderful weekend. Hi.

D

Everybody everybody.

E

Take care be well bye.