| 3/16/2021 |
Clark County Board of Commissioners
| Discussed as Recommended
Agenda note: DISCUSSION: Staff provided a presentation regarding the impact of the pandemic on tax revenues and the potential impact removal of the sunset provision could create; stated that at the time the sunset provision had been implemented, COVID-19 had not occurred; actions taken to support the tax revenue during the pandemic were effective to significantly bridge gaps in services for residents; programs that were intended to benefit from the sunset provision included early childhood education, reduced truancy, joint labor management and workforce training in the hospitality industry, reduced homelessness, and development in increasing capacity related to infrastructure tied to affordable housing; the COVID-19 crisis severely impacted basic needs, housing, employment, child care, education supports and intervention, and mental health services access; that a two-year window of recovery was expected in the social services realm as related to clients and individuals that had been impacted; funding to the Rainbow Dreams Academy provided much needed early childhood education services to an underserved area that consisted of families with an income below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level; the pandemic impacted the number of children that would normally have been enrolled in that Rainbow Dreams Academy, so continued growth of the program was anticipated; and that all COVID-19 challenges related to access, youth, and engagement with families provided a direct transition to the truancy.
Staff then introduced the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services Director Jack Martin, shared information on programs to reduce truancy, stated that the Truancy Prevention Outreach Program (TPOP) received $12 million in funding pre-COVID, was based on three levels of intervention, and was critical to support of current and ongoing pandemic impacts on youths; a review of truancies during the peak of the pandemic indicated that tier 3, or habitual absences, peaked to approximately 90 percent of all truancies, many of whom had no prior history of chronic absenteeism; the program began with 35 pilot schools and had grown to 160 schools; the number of school principals that communicated with TPOP with referrals continued to grow as the news of the program spread; currently approximately 60 cases were managed by one program navigator; the Departments of Family Services (DFS), Social Services (DSS), and the Clark County School District (CCSD) are partnered with TPOP; currently a parent mentor program was being developed as successful interventions had grown, as well as creation of a peer program following the same model; statistics on the TPOP program included that approximately 3,300 students had been served, 3,200 cases remained active, 80 cases were closed, and there were 170 referring schools; an additional 30 Community Navigators plus a couple additional full-time positions had recently been approved; severe high risk cases had been referred to The Harbor and DSS; advised that the details presented on the services provided were based upon a sampling of 31 percent of families served and had not been accurately captured in the data system, and that UNLV was working to solidify those numbers; and stated that the number of success stories continued to grow.
The presentation by staff continued with information relating to homelessness, housing and affordable housing during COVID-19, and continuity post CARES sustainable programming reflected a serious need in the areas of mobile outreach, crisis response and care teams, non-congregate shelter, COVID-19 transitional housing, navigation resource centers, CHAP and food insecurities; over 800 individuals and households had been placed into emergency shelter; creation of the Betterment Village, a transitional community project through a mobile home master lease, was family centered and would address evictions and homelessness, and would tie housing and workforce dollars from AB309 to work within a critical time response model, and that necessary services would be provided onsite; non-congregate shelter was provided through master lease hotel and motel programs; outreach was achieved through programs such as Clean The World for hygiene, mobile outreach through the Highway to Health program, and increased technology that supported mobile access, and ongoing prevention efforts that supported basic needs, services, and intervention; fund disbursements included $11.5 million to the Transitional Community Project, $7.8 million in support of non-congregate shelter, $800,000 for Clean The World, $400,000 towards Highway to Health, $1.5 million on technology to support mobile access, $800,000 for non-CARES eligible prevention needs; affordable housing dollars were identified and isolated for specific needs which included $8 million towards permanent supportive housing, and $2 million each to operational subsidies and critical home repair programs; stated there was the possibility of applying funds from the American Rescue Plan in conjunction with AB309 for programming; and that federal funds for the 2021 Nevada Continuum of Care Initiative had increased.
Staff continued the presentation and highlighted client centered programmatic support for current and future needs; there was a need for creation of three CARE response teams that consisted of seven full-time eligibility and social work staff per team, and would be sustained through the Family First Prevention Services Act; the pandemic created opportunities to implement practice changes that impacted the efficiency, delivery, and outcomes of services to clients; the CARE team approach would utilize a tiered methodology of best practice, trauma informed, case management (CM) models based on client needs which would include a brokerage model for service connection and navigation, strength based models for short term support needs, critical time intervention for 90-day engagements, coordination of prevention service vendors, and six-month follow ups to track stability and improvements; the CARE teams and models were important to success of programs and services through the collaborative responses and partnerships with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), law enforcement, the courts and DFS; funds would be used towards sustainability of services due to increased capacity; homelessness services established with CARES funding remained in place post December 30, 2020; affordable housing would continue to be a priority; that there were benefits to Clark County becoming an established Medicaid provider; and continued utilization of the TPOP through the 2021-2022 academic year.
In closing, staff shared a summary of the AB309 services budget which included allocations as follows: $5 million for early childhood education; $12 million for truancy prevention; $9 million for hospitality workforce training; $23 million for homelessness programs; $10 million for affordable housing incentives and gap funding; $2 million for client workforce education; $1.7 million for CARE teams and admin quality assurance personnel; and the importance of maximizing all funding resources for continued community recovery and program sustainability.
Discussion took place between the Board regarding pursuit of increased funds from Legislature; efficient use of future funding; the need for streamlined information and increased availability of real-time information in order to stay ahead of chronic truancy cases; expedited processing for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance; positive progress of multi-jurisdictional cooperation; and the importance of removing the sunset provision on sales and use tax.
Staff was directed to draft an ordinance for introduction at the April 6, 2021 Board meeting. | |
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