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County of Volusia
Children and Families Advisory Board
Minutes of January 31, 2007 Meeting
Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center
County Council Chambers, Room 204
123 West Indiana Avenue
Deland, Fl. 32720

Quorum: Yes

Chair’s Report:
Dr. Martin introduced new Children and Families Advisory Board member Carrie Garnett. He also introduced County staff Mike Knievel, Community Services Director, Ed Jasper, Community Assistance Director, and Dona DeMarsh, Community Services Operations Manager.

Minutes:
Motion made by Deborah Denys and seconded by Dave Evans to approve minutes of March 15, 2006, July 18, 2006 and October 18, 2006. Motion passed.

Correspondence:
The Board acknowledged correspondence from the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties expressing appreciation for the financial support of the backpack program.

Old Business:
Funding Request from Keith Kennedy of Responsible Choices Outreach Center. Mr. Kennedy has requested an additional $13,452.00 from the County for unforeseen expenses. In October, 2006 the CFAB approved $500.00/month for three months to assist with services. Subsequent to that approval, the agency was damaged by the December 25, 2006 storms which forced the agency to relocate. There is still a need for financial assistance. Motion made by Mary Bruno and seconded by Deborah Denys to approve $6,500. Motion passed.

Funding Request from Frances Mobley of Mary McLeod Bethune Community Center.

Ms. Mobley of the Bethune Community Center is requesting $10,000 for the Center. This request was tabled pending the results of the County of Volusia internal audit. After reviewing the audit results Dave Evans, Chair of the Budget Sub-Committee, expressed his concerns regarding the findings. Loretta Burson and Ms. Mobley stepped to the podium and stated they thought they were going to be called up to discuss the request. They advised the Board they wished to withdraw their request for the $10,000 and wanted the Board to give the funds to Keith Kennedy of Responsible Choices. They further stated that the Center has been in a difficult situation since they were forced to relocate. Ms. Mobley stated she will continue to do the best she can to continue the Community Center. She stated she didn’t understand how the Board could bring her before the public and throw something up about her and her organization when there is another organization that makes a hundred or more times what she receives. She stated her contract stipulates that her salary and Loretta’s salary is to be paid. It was refused. Not only refused, the County made out the checks for the agency. "But why doesn’t the County do the same for the ACT Corporation with almost a half million dollars?" "Right is right and wrong is wrong." She stated

"This is beyond me." "When you pull on the personal side and you start doing things as a vendetta, it is wrong..." Loretta stated that expenses, such as utilities were paid, just not the salaries. She stated Ms. Mobley was on a private matter trying to get assistance from the County. "A call was made to the office when Ms. Mobley was requesting assistance and the suggestion was made that the assistance not be provided because of the Center." "It was a low blow to find out that someone can hunt you down privately and interject a business matter to try and get something not to happen or support on a private matter." Dave Evans stated he had no knowledge of what this matter is. Loretta stated that the agency needs the $10,000 but Mr. Kennedy needs the assistance more than Bethune Center does. "The agency is about helping, and that is what they have been about for the last 26 years." "The agency will continue." "The kids deserve to have someone to help them when they fall through the cracks."

Dave Evans stated that he doesn’t believe that anyone on the Children and Families Advisory Board has made any personal attacks against Mrs. Mobley or the Center at all. He stated the Board is here to help people, just the same as the agency. And, it is the duty of the Board, as advisors to the County Council, to recommend funding be made in accordance with County rules. There has been a recent monitoring of the agency which continues to show some deficiencies. Those are not things the Board can ignore. He apologized if she in some way feels that this is personal. It is not. The Board is strictly looking at the facts. He stated he stands by his comments regarding financial accountability. Financial accountability is critical and after reviewing the agency’s documents he does not see it.

Loretta Burson agreed with Mr. Evans’ comments and stated she appreciated the audit and the purpose of the audit to show the agency where they need improvement. She stated they have improved in all areas and they do have fundraisers. The agency accountant is present and can verify that have met County’s requests from the Center. Ms. Mobley stated that the Board did not have to believe them and when she refers to the Board she is not speaking of the CFAB. She is speaking of Volusia County. She cautioned the board in saying they don’t believe her until they really know both sides of the story. "With regard to the audit there are explanations behind the items that should have been added as to why funding was spent for certain items and the corrections or recommendations that could be made." She stated she agreed with the majority of the audit, however, a lot of dollars were earmarked for services for children and families. Dave Evans advised that if she has a problem with the audit, she needs to take it up with the auditor and the County since they commissioned it. Ms. Plummer stated she addressed the audit because Mr. Evans brought it up. Brenda Bryant of QuickLink Consulting stated she was contracted by the Bethune Center prior to the audit, prior to any funds being withheld. She stated that Ms. Mobley and Loretta were aware that there were some situations that existed due to a prior bookkeeper. "However, the Director is still responsible." Ms. Bryant stated that they were a year and a half behind when she was contracted to assist. "All records have been updated and provided to the County through December 31, 2006." "There is currently a system to keep records updated." "With regard to the audit, there was a question as to why the agency paid a ticket." She stated the ticket was for an 18 year volunteer who worked all summer with no pay. She stated she would have paid the ticket as a legitimate expense.

Deborah Denys stated that she was surprised that Ms. Bryant, as a CPA, would believe paying the ticket would be a legitimate expense. Ms. Bryant stated the volunteer was on business for the Center when he got the ticket. Deborah Denys stated there must be fiscal accountability . Putting the audit aside and considering the most recent monitoring, which was done this week, Ms. Denys quoted monitoring results as follows:

Item 1: Compliance with contract requirements? No.

The agency has not complied with contract requirements with regard to Letter Contract CS-7019 Item II

Services: Agency has failed to prove that services, as described in their application, have been provided.

Item 2: Ensure delivery of services?

No. The agency has failed to provide substantial evidence of delivery of services as described in their

application.

Item 3: Document program success?

No. The agency has failed to provide substantial evidence of program success.

She further stated that when schools were called today to verify the if the agency is picking up children and verifying participation, the results were not good. The bottom line is, in being good stewards with what the CFAB is tasked to do, the agency completed an application, and stated what they were going to do, and the money was granted based on t hose outcomes. When the outcomes aren’t achieved, let alone cannot be documented, even report cards cannot be documented for the students, when given the processes to begin with, as a Board member, she cannot support the current funding request. Loretta Burson stated that she understood what Ms. Denys was saying. She stated that the information that Ms. Denys was looking at was the original budget. There is a revised budget which shows half the cost. The programmic part was going to be met under the original cost of the program. The original cost was twice as much as stipulated until the revised version. The revised costs excluded the parents. The agency is only addressing the children.

Deborah Denys stated the bottom line is that when County staff contacted schools with the following results:

Turie T. Small – No children are being picked up by MMB

Osceola Elementary – 2 children take the bus home and then go to MMB

Westside Elementary – No children are being picked up by MMB

Hurst Elementary – No children are being picked up by MMB

Holly Hill Elementary – 1 child started last Friday 1/26, and 4 children on Monday, 1/29 and mother only authorized for one day

Palm Terrace Elementary – No children are being picked up by MMB

Ms. Denys stated that everyone can’t be wrong. This information is not just coming from County staff, but other providers. Ms. Burson stated that all of the children are not being picked up. Some are being dropped off. Children are being served on a daily basis at the Center. Ms. Mobley stated that some children come only one or two days a week. She stated that it was impossible that Holly Hill Elementary reported that no children were attending the Center. Ms. Mobley stated that children move around from school to school. When the County checks, we can’t necessarily verify attendance by the child’s name. Maybe that explains the discrepancy. Ms. Mobley states she picks up children from six schools. She also stated that County Staff, Peggy Johnson, did a follow-up monitoring on Tuesday, January 30 and asked the children their names. Ms. Mobley asked that staff communicate with her. Ms. Burson stated that the agency will continue to serve children. They have three to four children in college now as a result of their program. They will continue to serve children as they have done for the last 26 years.

Mary Bruno stated that the Board wants the Agency to continue to provide services. The new location is not as convenient as the previous location and she is aware that lots of things have happened during this time However, if the County continues to fund the agency, so that they can stay on their feet, the Board has to get to the bottom of the monitoring reports. It pays to work with cooperatively with County Staff to make sure that everything is in good shape the next time grant cycle comes around. She stated that money is not always the easiest thing for people who love children to take care of. Ms. Mobley is very good at loving children and taking care of them, and she wants her to continue to do so. But she needs to be able to handle County tax dollars because the Board has a responsibility, just as the County Council does, to represent and assure that the tax dollars are being spent appropriately. The Board also has a responsibility from the Human Service side to try and provide as many services to this community as they can. And certainly the childcare the agency provides for students that are very much at risk and the academic enhancements are very critical to this community. But, the agency has to be able to assure that the services are being delivered correctly and appropriately. What we are saying to the agency is to work the County Staff and the Board so we can get the agency on target so that when their program comes forward next year we’re not going to say we can’t fund you.

Carrie Garnett stated that it seems there have been several opportunities for the Agency to document that they have addressed the audit with the financial issues and that they are serving children as proposed in their grant application. It’s not County staff’s burden to prove that they are serving children, it is the agency’s burden to prove that they are serving children. And it seems like the agency has not met any of those outcomes. Loretta Burson advised that the agency had provided financial reports through December 31, 2006. Mary Bruno advised that the Board was asking about attendance records to verify children were being served. It’s the recordkeeping piece that seems to be the problem that the Board can’t justify. Brenda Bryant stated that she thinks the problem is communication. She feels that Loretta did not understand what information the County was requesting. She stated the outcomes are documented and she requested the County give Ms. Mobley and Loretta more time to produce them.

Deborah Denys stated there have been multiple opportunities to that end and referred to the Children and Families Advisory Board minutes of July 18, 2006, six months ago. Minutes state "Deborah Denys asks if this the appropriate time to pull the funding for the three programs mentioned Bethune Center being one of them". " Deborah Denys made a motion that funding for ….. and the Bethune Center Have a Chance program be held in suspense until issues are successfully resolved as deemed by the Board." There have been multiple requests from the Board, multiple opportunities, and stated if she knew she had a program in serving the community that was at risk, she were be going above and beyond to dot every "i" and cross every "t". Keeping things in perspective, the Board has on several occasions put in stop gap measures in and stopped just short of stopping the funding to advise the agency that the Board knows what they are doing in the Community. The agency came before the Board with the same request to help them communicate. However, it is not the Board’s job to put the agency’s business practices in place. It’s the agency’s responsibility to do what they said they were going to do when they applied to the County for funding. She further stated in her opinion that this has not been achieved. It’s recorded and has been accepted as official minutes of this Board and she feels the Board has gone above and beyond to assist the agency.

Loretta Burson stated they are working on their issues and everything in the audit has been addressed. The agency has been funded for several years. The problems started when they had to relocate.

Deborah Denys made a motion that the County discontinue funding of the Bethune Community Center Have-A-Chance Program based on the current monitoring. Motion seconded by Mary Bruno. MaryLou Mirino stated she appreciated the agency hired an accountant and possibly that will help in the future. She stated that the Board has to be accountable to the County Council. Motion passed.

County Manager

Dr. Martin introduced the County Manager, Jim Dinneen and Deputy County Manager Matt Greeson. Mr. Dinneen expressed appreciation to the Board members for their service and dedication. Some of the most important work we do is in the Human Services area and he believes the burden is going to get bigger and a lot tougher. He advised that the County Council is planning to hold a strategic goal setting session. One of the areas that we need strategic goals for is the community services area, and the whole nature and delivery of social services throughout the County. He stated that partnerships between the cities and the County are critical. He stated County government and Boards, like the Children and Families Advisory Boards, need to start asking bigger questions about where do we go from here. The County and the Board need to look at what’s going on, in terms of human services, and in some cases, what’s important. A greater and greater burden is being pushed down to the local level.

Mr. Dinneen stated that as the county becomes more urbanized, there will be additional issues to deal with. The resources are starting to disappear. We need to stay connected and be advocates on how to set strategic goals from a community services standpoint. We need to understand what’s coming, and determine the best use of resources that we have. Mr. Dinneen expressed the fact that in his experience, almost universally, no matter how good they are, community services agencies tend to be more focused on the delivery of services, and the clients, than having a good business model. We have to become more effective and more efficient with the resources. This will require more coordination between agencies. There is no overall governance of the agencies. Some agencies chase the money and not necessarily the need. The business community needs to be invested in community services. County government cannot do it alone.

Dr. Martin stated that with the need for services increasing, the Board had been considering a way to sun set some of the agencies that are recipients of funds, and asked what input could the Manager provide to assist the Board with that effort. Mr. Dinneen replied that we are real good at starting things, but real bad at ending them. This is a difficult thing to tackle. One way is to have people outside of the service provider that understand the services, to get involved. You have to look at outcome measures. This is absolutely in keeping with the thinking of the County Council. You have to ask the question, what are we getting efficiently for the dollars, and in some cases with regard to sun setting, did things change and there is a better way to do things? Or, should they be phased out and what they do blended in with somebody else? It’s a constant renewal process. Agencies coming to the County for funding should come with the understanding that every year is a new year. They need to prove what they are doing, always show what they are producing, and how they can show their efficiencies and partnerships, and how there are more productive. If the agencies come with the understanding that it isn’t just a constant, that this is our base and all we ever have to talk about is what we add, that’s healthy. The downside is it involves a lot more work.

Mary Bruno suggested that a strategic planning process really take place that looks at the surveys by One Voice and examine the Community Agenda and believes that the County has not taken the lead in the past. The agencies have. The Board needs to take the lead the strategic planning, not to reinvent the wheel, but to look at groundwork already done. We need to target the services that are critical in the community. There have been agencies that have "followed the money". This was probably one of the most difficult nights, to take the action we just took, but we have to be accountable. We have to be able to do that. We have to help the agencies to be better at the fiscal piece. She cautioned that the human/caring side be balanced with the fiscal/money side, because we are talking about people. Mr. Dinneen stated that engaging the business community could assist the agencies to help with the recordkeeping. Possibly a loaned accountant could help.

Matt Greeson offered additional thoughts on the budget process. Considering the fact that 75 new applicants attended the application workshop than the year before, and the fact that there will not be a per capita rate increase, the Board has to make tough value judgments about what’ s most important to fund. And, secondly, one way may be to create a first tier A list and a second tier B list. The A list would be those programs that must be funded. Then there is second tier or B list. For example. the Volusia Forever Program identifies properties that we have to get for environmental protection. Then, there are other properties, that if we could get them, it would be great. The Board is called upon to differentiate between those that are most important for the County to fund. If you had the money, you’d love to fund agencies on the second tier or B list.

Dr. Martin and the Board expressed appreciation to Mr. Dinneen and Matt Greeson for their time.

New Business:
African American Museum of the Arts - Irene Johnson of the African American Museum of the Arts has requested a restructuring of the program components. Instead of separate programs of dance and music, change to one general program called Developing Youth Through the Arts. Dave Evans asked that the agency re-submit a program application and budget supporting the change. Dave Evans made a motion to approve the change. Motion seconded by Deborah Denys. Motion passed.

Great Kids Club - Sandra Rakes of Great Kids has requested modification of their contract by restructuring their Holly Hill program to free up funding so that McInnis Elementary School in DeLeon Springs can be served. Request is for $8,915 from the Center program be reallocated to a new program in DeLeon Springs. Dave Evans asked that the agency re-submit a program application and budget supporting the change. Dave Evans made a motion to approve the change. Motion seconded by Karen Bourbonnais. Motion passed.

Summer Camp - Dave Evans advised the Board that Summer Camp has been extended from eight weeks to ten weeks and the cost is increased from $45.00/week to $50.00/week. Previously the Board funded $320.00 of the $360.00 fee which provided camp for 507 children. The Board discussed whether they should pay the additional costs or continue to pay the $40.00 per child. Mary Bruno advised the Board that the change is because of the extended school calendar. Staff advised that last year we had approximately 800 applicants and we served 507. Carrie Garnett questioned if there are any concessions for families that have more than one child. Staff advised there are no concessions. Families at the 150% poverty level or below are eligible. Deborah Denys asked if there are other funding sources for camp. Staff advised there are other camps available. MaryLou Mirino suggested that the cut-off age be increased be changed to 15. Karen Bourbonnais stated she didn ’t want to leave out the early teenagers. Carrie Garnett stated she would rather serve more children and have the families pay the increase. Motion made by MaryLou Mirino to reduce age for scholarships to age 14. Motion seconded by Mary Bruno. Motion passed. Motion made by Deborah Denys to keep scholarship funding at the $40.00 level. Motion seconded by Mary Bruno. Motion passed. Motion made by Dr. Martin to approve the Summer Camp Provider application. Motion seconded by Mary Bruno. Motion passed.

Public Participation:

Donna Jensen – Grace House Pregnancy Resource Center – thanks for support from Board and County staff. She advised they may have to move to larger building.

Keith Kennedy – Responsible Choices Outreach Center – thanks for support from Board and County staff and especially appreciates support of small grassroots agencies.

Advisory Board Participation:

Board welcomed Carrie Garnett to the Board.

Dr. Martin stated he has enjoyed working on the Board.

Adjourned: 7:20 pm

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