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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - ASSET Joint Funders Meeting January 23, 2025www.storycountyasset.org ASSET & Joint Funders Minutes ISU Research Park Core Facility 1805 Collaboration Pl. Training January 23, 2025 at 5 p.m. In Attendance: Emma Cassabaum, Gloria Betcher, Mindi Heeren, Anneke Mundel, Pa Goldbeck, Mike Lazere, Sandra King, Latifah Faisal, Becky Harker, Ed Gillott, Aidan Shervheim, Linda Hagedorn, Nick Joos, Katie Shively, Jane Woodley, Karen Keil Rosser, Ashley Thompson, Joel Hochstein, Milly Agai, Juliana Nnoko, John Haila (Mayor), Nick Hoffman, Shamaree Brown, Linda Murken, Anita Rollins Virtual: Moriah Morgan, Ron Smith, Kathy Guillen, Misty Zimmerman, Bronwyn Betty- Hansen, Beth Waage, Lisa Heddens, Stephanie Spence Public: Kathy Pinkerton CALL TO ORDER – Becky Harker, Chair 5:01 PM WELCOME/ INTRODUCTIONS PUBLIC FORUM None APPROVAL OF: September 12, 2024 Joint Funder Minutes Motion to approve by Joos, seconded by Betcher. Motion passed unanimously December 12, 2024 ASSET Minutes Motion to approve by Rosser, seconded by Cassabaum. Motion passed unanimously TREASURER’S REPORT – Ron Smith Current balance is $2,129.93. This amount includes the monthly charge from Microsoft and the invoice to Hy-Vee for meals for the Hearings and Work Session nights. REPORTS Joint Funders City – Mayor Haila said that he was proud of what this process does and stated that Council puts a lot of confidence in the recommendations from the volunteers. County – Faisal thanked volunteers for their time and energy they have put into this process. United Way – Hochstein thanked volunteers and recognized that this process is a one-of-a- kind process, and it works well. ISU – Heeren thanked volunteers and thankful to ASSET for allowing ISU to be a part of this process. Administrative Team Harker stated that the Admin Team would like to get feedback from the volunteers on this www.storycountyasset.org process and if volunteers felt prepared for the process. King, thanked Funders for providing the funding and support of the ASSET process. She also thanked the volunteers for their time and input in this process. King thanked Mundel for her commitment to getting Scorecard to where it is and collecting all of the data. King thanked Schill for organizing all of the information for this process. King thanked Harker for her leadership chairing the ASSET Board. Goldbeck echoed Kings comments. Thompson spoke to being on both sides of this process as a volunteer and know leading one of the Funder organizations. Thompson thanked everyone for their time and commitment to the ASSET process. Volunteers Lazere thanked the Administrative Team for the time and work throughout the year. Gillott spoke to the length of time this process has been in existence and its success. Rosser thanked staff that spreadsheets were sent out to volunteers in advance of the Hearings. OLD BUSINESS Status of Homelessness Action Plan Goldbeck reported that the RFP for a homelessness action plan was Analytic Insight and the project has kicked off. Dr. Flowers has kicked off the first two stages, which include research around best practices and looking at funding resources and analyzing existing data. Community conversations will start in February. The goal is to have the final action plan by the end of April. She thanked the County and City for funding this project. King stated that she is excited to work with Dr. Flowers and that she brings a lot of experience and expertise in this area. NEW BUSINESS Consideration of Approval of the Volunteer recommendations for FY2025/26 Education – Ashley Thompson Thompson emphasized that these are just recommendations, and that final approval is done by each Funder Board separately. These will go to United Way on Jan 30th and the City and County on Feb 11th. YWCA did not receive funding as staff reported at the agency hearing that they are considered a student organization and will be seeking funding through ISU Student Government through their student organization process. For the Education Panel, ASSET received funding requests totaling $1,541,357 from 15 human services agencies for 29 programs and services. Requests included funding for: • Out of school (including after school and summer) programs for youth, including those with complex medical needs, • Family development and parent education programs, • Public education, awareness, and peer support programs related to mental and brain health and needs, • Youth mentoring programs, and • Employment assistance programs for youth, among others. www.storycountyasset.org For Fiscal Year 2025/2026, which runs from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, the four ASSET funders allocated a total of $1,285,024 for the Education Panel – representing a 7.4% total increase from the $1.197 million in funding that was allocated for the current FY 24/25. ASSET Funder FY 25/26 Dollars Available – Education Panel City of Ames $416,974 ISU $58,294 Story County $366,537 (general basic and local option) UWSC $443,219 TOTAL: $1,285,024 Utilizing current ASSET funder priorities and dollars made available from each funder for the upcoming FY, ASSET volunteers/board members conducted a comprehensive review of each human service agency’s submitted budgets and related information, Clear Impac t Scorecard data, ASSET liaison visits and mid-year reports, and information shared by agency leaders during the annual ASSET budget hearings held earlier this month. Following this review and evaluation, ASSET volunteers/board members are recommending a t otal FY 25/26 allocation of $1,192,078 to support 26 programs offered through 14 agencies. • This represents a slight decrease of 0.38% in total allocations from the current FY 24/25. Now, let’s review a breakdown by Funders and the ASSET volunteers’ recommendations and updated information from the update my predecessor, Jean Kresse, provided you last year: Agency Notes • The Boys Scouts, who previously requested and received allocations through the ASSET process for a number of years, again this year decided not to submit a request for funding. As you may recall, Jean shared last year that the Boys Scouts were, at the time, considering submitting a request for FY 25/26. Ultimately, they did not request funding and are not participating in the ASSET process. • UCC Preschool, which is on page 2 of the Education Panel Report. As you will see in the Financial Stability panel, UCC’s child care programs are reflected there; Preschool is reflected in the Education panel as this represents an educational program and scope that is different from licensed child care services. Funder Notes • Story County – Provides funding through general basic (or “gb”) and location option (or “lo”) dollars. LO allocation is $972, General Basic current allocation is $333,847. Of this, $32,690 in unallocated funds were transferred to the Financial Stability Work Team. These funds support 13 programs from 8 agencies. As a reminder, due to changes enacted by the Iowa Governor and State Legislature in recent years, counties no longer fund programs and services specific to mental health. • United Way of Story County – current allocation is $439,619. They had $3,600 in www.storycountyasset.org unallocated funds that were transferred to the Financial Stability Work Team. These funds support 24 programs from 13 agencies. • ISU Student Government – current allocation is $58,294. These funds support 9 programs from 7 agencies. • City of Ames – current allocation is $360,318. They had $56,656 in unallocated funds that were transferred to the Financial Stability Work Team. These funds support 18 programs from 9 agencies. Of note: • 19 (of 29) programs were funded at 90% or higher of their requests. • Of the remaining 10 programs, 4 still received significant increases from FY 24/25 to recommended funding for FY 25/26, including:  The out of school summer programming and supported employment programs under All Aboard for Kids, who volunteers have recommended a total increase of $9,841 from FY 24/25 to 25/26  Camp Fire, who volunteer have recommended an increase of nearly $2,500 for their out of school program – representing a 7.3% increase from last year’s allocation  The Community Academy, who volunteers have recommended an increase in $17,500 (from $29,500 to $47,000) for their Summer Experience Program, representing a 59.32% increase . Additional notable changes include: • The Community Academy's Out of School Program is new for FY26 and was funded at $7,820 (request was $30,000). • YSS Employment Assistance for Youth saw a decrease from $41,963 to $21,579, representing a 48.58% reduction • YWCA, which confirmed their status as an ISU Student Organization (as a reminder for the group, ASSET does not fund ISU Student Organizations) and ISU Student Government recommended to volunteers that the Y should be seeking funding through ISU channels and processes. Subsequently, ASSET volunteers made the recommendation to not purchase services from the YWCA for FY 25/26. The funding recommendations reflect careful consideration of program performance, community needs, and available resources while maintaining support for critical education services in Story County. Financial Stability – Pa Goldbeck Goldbeck reported funding was recommended for 17 agencies and 32 services. The total FY25 allocated amount for Financial Stability is $2,416,000. The total FY26 requests for Financial Stability is $3,120,633. Goldbeck reported there were two services considered from Prairie Flower Children’s Center (also a new ASSET agency). The total recommendation for the new agency is $30,585 for daycare and school age services. Goldbeck reported there were four services zero funded. Volunteers expressed that they would like the Funder Staff to continue engaging with The Bridge Home since they are an www.storycountyasset.org important community partner. The four services zero funded included • The Bridge Home, Rapid-Rehousing • The Bridge Home, Emergency Shelter • The Bridge Home, Supportive Housing • YSS Emergency Shelter – Rosedale. YSS, however, did not request anything for this service given their recent transition in opening the Ember Campus. Goldbeck reported that volunteers recommended that HIRTA funds be sequestered to ensure the agency is aware they need to submitting timely data and that they need to participation in the ASSET process. Goldbeck reported that YSS received an overall reduction of 34.5% in Financial Stability, mostly due to the unknowns related to the transition the organization is experiencing with opening the Ember Campus. Goldbeck reported that any remaining unallocated funds were reserved for basic needs except for ISU Student Government. ISU Student Government dollars will be returned to ISU Government per their normal process. Heddens stated she is on the HIRTA board and asked if HIRTA needs to make an appointment with ASSET Funders before the allocations are taken to each Funder board. Goldbeck stated that they do not need to meet with Funder staff in advance of recommendations being presented to Funders, but rather, HIRTA could meet afterwards with Funder staff to resolve any concerns. Heddens also mentioned that she has requested a regular meeting with HIRTA leadership to make sure data is collected and reported. Haila said that if HIRTA doesn’t provide this service in the community, CyRide would need to step in and provide the service, and it will be at a much higher rate, which would have a big effect on the community. Betcher asked if it could be a possibility for agencies to attend hearings virtually if they aren’t able to make them in person. Goldbeck responded ASSET Funder Staff can look into that for the future cycle. Health – Sandra King The Health Work Team met on Thursday, January 16, 2025, 29 services from nine agencies were recommended for funding. Overall, over 85% of the requests were recommended funding for a total of $1,419,762 (of this amount, $532,613 – County; $318,502 United Way; $ 40,307 – ISU; and $528,340 - City). The total represents 28% of the $5,100,101 total allocated ASSET funding recommendation for FY26 (excluding unallocated funds). The $1,419,762 is slightly more than last FY’s Health funding of $1,412,400. Some additional notes on funding requests— Most requests were funded at a level of 86% or more of the amount requested. Of the five www.storycountyasset.org services that were funded below this level. I’ll provide some additional info regarding funding for those services. The five services funded below 86% of the requested amount include: 1. Primary Health Care – Community Clinics – Pediatrics/OB GYN/Behavioral Health: Requested $144,889; $4,606 recommended, which is about 6% of the request. This is a NEW service for which ASSET still has some questions regarding whether ASSET is the appropriate funder. 2. Primary Health Care – Dental Navigator: Requested $39,715, $2,545 recommended, which is about 18% of the request. This is also a NEW service, and ASSET has questions about whether it is the appropriate funder. Initially, ASSET was told that Primary Health Care’s funding requests would decrease over the years as local dollars wouldn’t be needed as much, but that has not happened. As Vol unteers work to stretch limited funds for a variety of worthy services, fewer dollars are left for new services. 3. YSS Crisis Intervention – Rosedale Crisis: Requested $5,250; $3,250 recommended, which is about $62% of the request. For this one, we’re waiting to see how the state will fund this service. YSS is making changes in how it provides the service. NOTE: The City is the only Funder for this service. 4. YSS Service Coordination – Requested $38,981; $24,332 recommended, which is about 62% of the request. This is a service where the budget request is likely outdated. Therefore, there is a lack of confidence that the request is based on actual need and may be a request that continues to be submitted each year but could possibly be studied and adjusted. 5. YSS Substance Use Disorder Outpatient Treatment: Requested $25,000; $19,000 recommended, which is 76% of the request. This is a service for which YSS has had trouble drawing down the funds, so there is concern that the request may not match the need. Sequestered Funds: Two agencies had funds sequestered. 1. NAMI – Activity & Resource Center/Wellness Center: $24,345 requested; $21,000 recommended. Volunteers raised concerns about the perceived lack of understanding of the ASSET process and the agency’s budget by this agency. Therefore, Funder Staff will meet with the Executive Director (Roxanne) to go through the process and encourage her to seek assistance from someone (Lisa Heddens) who has both led NAMI and successfully gone through the ASSET process. www.storycountyasset.org 2. YSS – Mental Health Outpatient Treatment – The total requested amount is $112,482. Volunteers recommended a total of $103,091. There remains several unanswered questions related to this service, hence the sequestration recommendation. Similar to some of YSS’ other services, this is one where ASSET needs to ensure the agency is requesting the level of funding that is needed. While the ASSET Board doesn’t dispute the need for mental health services, there is concern around the lack of utilization of this particular service. More information is needed to understand what marketing materials are available to bring awareness to this service and or processes, if any, are put in place if the service is not being utilized. Funding Not Recommended – One Agency – The Bridge Home: The Bridge Home – Service Coordination – Rapid Rehousing – there was one agency for which funding was not recommended. The Bridge Home was not funded in FY25, and the Volunteers were not comfortable funding the agency at this time for FY26. However, funds are being set aside for basic needs, which could be accessed by any ASSET agency, including The Bridge Home. Unallocated or Remaining Funds – Unallocated Funds (to be returned to Funder) – ISU - $2,975 (to be added to the $11 from Financial Stability). Unallocated Funds (Designated for Basic Needs) – County - $9,484 (which is included in the County’s total unallocated of $118,915 and added to the City’s $43,244 = $162,915. Motion to sequester funds from Financial Stability Hochstein 2nd Joos. Approved unanimously. Motion to sequester funds from Health Hagedorn, 2nd by Gillott. Approved unanimously. Motion to sequester City and UW funds for Mental health and op treatment Gillott, 2nd Joos. Approved Unanimously. Motion to approve all funding recommendations Hochstein 2nd Joos. Approved unanimously. Goldbeck pointed out that the City did approve a 5% increase to ASSET ($96,229), and this amount has been reserved for continuous improvement and housing needs. Haila stated that in a meeting with agencies they found that a lot of agencies were unaware of what other agencies provided. The City and County are in discussions for creating a position for case management across the community and agencies. Overview of the process Will discuss at a future meeting. ADDITIONAL ITEMS None www.storycountyasset.org Meeting adjourned at 6:12 pm