Title
Resolution to Ratify and Appropriate FY 24 Budget and Allocations for High Impact Grants as Part of the New Human Service Partnership - $350,183.00 Budgeted (General Fund) (8 Votes Required)
Memorandum
In 2021, the Washtenaw Coordinated Funding Partnership ended. In 2022, Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor and the Washtenaw Urban County created the New Human Services Partnership to replace Washtenaw Coordinated Funding.
The Washtenaw County and City of Ann Arbor Leadership team have been integral to the development of the New Human Services Partnership, which is working to integrate equity throughout the process, and shift the focus of human services funding to address issues of poverty, racism, and trauma as the root cause of institutional inequities.
As a reminder, the overall goals of this funding program include:
• Desire to make impact and move the needle for those facing institutional inequities, while also supporting the safety net
• Incorporate Equity throughout the process including
o Accessibility to the application process
o Community-inclusive review process
o Equity review of applicants prior to award / contracting
o Equity in service delivery
• Focus on addressing institutional racism, poverty, and trauma as root causes of institutional inequity
• Redevelop strategic framework for investing resources to be focused on an Equitable grant making and process while achieving high impact outcomes
o Outcomes/goals co-created with experts and community
o Incorporate lessons learned from COVID-19 response and previous COFU model
o Accessibility for grantees - allow for under-represented, new, or growing groups to access funding
o Ease of process - for applicants and staff
o Flexibility in funding/programming to allow for pivots and learning, including emerging needs
• Partnership continues to allow for shared communication, links to community partners, ongoing need, support in place, etc.
The New Human Services Partnership has added an enhanced evaluation and equity assessment component. A subset of the Leadership team reviewed proposals from evaluators and selected the University of Michigan School of Social Work Program Evaluation Group. The U of M Program Evaluation Group (PEG) will help each grantee conduct an equity self-assessment and will provide feedback and other forms of support to help grantees take steps to create practices that promote equity, such as developing board members and staff that represent the communities being served. All New Human Services Partnership grantees will receive intentional support that allows them to build capacity so that they can sustain the equitable practices they start during the grant period.
Additionally, grantees will need to make progress on the DEI goals set in this action plan and improve the equity practices of the organization in order to continue being funded throughout the five-year funding period. This accountability measure helps prevent grantees from neglecting their identified areas of growth and helps ensure that human services in Washtenaw County continually improve at promoting equity.
In addition to the support around equity and DEI, the U of M Program Evaluation Group will be working with all grantees around data collection, outcome creation and regular reporting on data, metrics and evaluations. PEG will also be able to provide capacity building to agencies related to data collection and reporting as well.
Detailed information on the equity framework and overall timeline can be found on the webpage here: https://www.washtenaw.org/3422/New-Human-Services-Partnership-Planning.
As part of the process, three different funding rounds were completed in 2022 and 2023:
• Safety Net Grants:
o 5-year commitments in the range of $200,000.00-250,000.00 per grantee per year (funding round completed)
• Mini- grants:
o 1-year grants to support trying new ideas, and/or supporting newer agencies up to $40,000.00 (annual funding round)
• High-Impact grants:
o 5-year commitments with an expectation of positive outcomes showing real change for households served. Funding at $330,000.00 per grantee per year (completed)
Several funding sources have been identified for the overall 5 year New Human Services Partnership including the following:
• Washtenaw County General Fund (annual) - $1,207,529.00
• City of Ann Arbor General Fund (annual) - $1,207,529.00
• Washtenaw Urban County (annual)- 15% of Annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) (estimated at $316,385.00)
• City of Ann Arbor American Rescue Plan Funds (one-time) - $1,682,630.00, administered through a subrecipient agreement with OCED
• Washtenaw Urban County Community Development Block COVID grant (CDBG-CV) one-time - $527,930.00
• Ann Arbor Township American Rescue Plan Funds (one-time) - $40,000.00 - for a mini-grant
High Impact Grant Funding
This funding rounds is intended to provide resources to change the conditions of those experiencing racism, trauma, and/or poverty in Washtenaw County. Grantees will receive up to $330,000.00 per year for 5 years to scale existing human services work.
• The City of Ann Arbor’s allocation for the High Impact Grants will provide annual funding for the Dispute Resolution Center, located at 4133 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.
• The remaining $20,183.00 will support the University of Michigan Program Evaluation Group (UM PEG)’s contract funding for evaluation services.
• Total funding round allocation from the City of Ann Arbor is $350,185.00 annually for 5 years.
• Year 1 will allow for the opportunity to create a strategic plan for scaling agency’s innovation and allow time to create an evaluation plan to measure the outcomes of the project, while stabilizing existing programming.
• Year 2-5 will be used to implement innovation and track outcomes.
• Organizations must prove that they have:
o Existing equity processes embedded throughout the organization and proposed program/initiative
o Proven long-standing history of providing quality community-based service in Washtenaw County
o Play a significant role in the local human services system
Prior to the Request for proposals opening, OCED staff provided 6 prep sessions for those groups interested in learning how to apply for funding through the County’s RFP process. The Request for Proposals was released on December 22, 2022. The Request for Proposals was due on March 8, 2023. We received twenty (20) submissions. Eighteen (18) were eligible for review.
During this application period OCED recruited and trained members of the community to review applications and provide feedback on which applicants should be awarded funding. Community reviewers were recruited through various channels and selected for three phases of the review process - equity review, focus group review, and content expert review.
OCED staff reviewed the proposals for basic eligibility, including length of time serving Washtenaw County, however, OCED staff did not score the proposals. OCED staff facilitated the community review process, but the final recommendations were made by the Community Reviewers.
All reviewers participated in training, which included review of the New Human Services Partnership, High Impact Grant scoring rubrics, and training on the biases reviewers can bring to scoring. The reviewers were incredibly thoughtful and intentional in their discussions and considerations, working to bring in equity considerations as well as local knowledge. We want to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for their commitment to this process. Those recommendations follow:
Staff
Prepared by: Pam Smith, Human Services Program Administrator,
Office of Community & Economic Development
Katie Hoffman-Pariyar, Human Services Policy Specialist
Office of Community & Economic Development
Reviewed by: Derek Delacourt, Community Services Area Administrator
Approved by: Milton Dohoney Jr., City Administrator
Body
Whereas, In the past, Ann Arbor City Council has allocated funding to community-based organizations for the purpose of delivering important human services to Ann Arbor and County residents;
Whereas, The Coordinated Funding partnership was the previous means by which this funding was allocated, and this process ended on June 30, 2021, and the New Human Services Partnership was created to fill the gap in collaborative human services funding;
Whereas, There are three funding rounds for the New Human Services Partnership, and the third, High Impact, represents 29% of combined funding from all partners and sources;
Whereas, The Ann Arbor City Council approved distributing funding based on its previous budgeted allocation of $1,207,529.00 annually for all three funding rounds of the New Human Services Partnership;
Whereas, The New Human Services Partnership is funded by Washtenaw County General Funds, City of Ann Arbor General Funds, City of Ann Arbor American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, Ann Arbor Township American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, Washtenaw Urban County CDBG and CDBG-CV funds;
Whereas, Of the total funding allocated, the anticipated amount of funding to be used for the High Impact Grant program is $990,000.00;
Whereas, The organizations listed below were selected by volunteer community reviewers, who are representative of the diversity of our community; and
Whereas, The Ann Arbor City Council approves the funding recommendation made by the Office of Community and Economic Development based on the community review process for RFP 8419;
RESOLVED, That the Ann Arbor City Council hereby approve the funding recommendations for the New Human Services Partnership High Impact Funding Round to Dispute Resolution Center and the University of Michigan Program Evaluation Group (UM PEG) for RFP 8419 High Impact Grant funding in the amounts listed below;
• Dispute Resolution Center, $330,000.00
• University of Michigan Program Evaluation Group (UM PEG), $20,183.00
RESOLVED, That the Ann Arbor City Council hereby approve funding up to $350,183.00 of the $1,207,529.00 allocated to the New Human Services Partnership for the High Impact Grant funding round to the above listed agencies;
RESOLVED, That the Mayor and City Council authorize the City Administrator to direct the Washtenaw County Office of Community & Economic Development to negotiate contractual agreements with the funded entities subject to approval as to substance by the City Administrator, and subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney; and
RESOLVED, That these agreements may be achieved through delegation of contracts and administration of funds to Washtenaw County on the City’s behalf.