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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Family Advisory Board 2019-05-02RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, May 2, 2019 Minutes of a regular meeting of the Family Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Room 203 of the Estes Park Town Hall, on the 2nd day of May, 2019. Present: Laurie Dale Marshall Michael Moon Karen Randinitis Jodi Roman Nancy Almond Andrea Escorcia — Youth in Action Also Present:Ron Norris, Town Board Liaison Carlie Bangs, Town Board Trustee Travis Machalek, Assistant Town Administrator Suzanna Simpson, Recording Secretary Absent: Rachel Balduzzi John Bryant Guests: Grant Stump, United Way of Larimer County Heather O'Hayre, Larimer County Christy DeLorme, Mountaintop Preschool Chair Marshall called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None FAMILY CONNECTION OPPORTUNITIES: Chair Marshall reminded the group that the Estes Park Mountain Festival is tomorrow. Trustee Bangs will be there in the afternoon and offered to engage with parents if the opportunity arises, including an invite to the next meeting or other informal discussion about the Family Advisory Board. Another connection opportunity is story time at the Estes Valley Library, which takes place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Library staff will also be at the open gym playgroup at the Estes Valley Community Center for a story time/structured activity following the open gym, each Wednesday. Member Roman spoke with a realtor recently about the Community Resource Guide and recommended that realtors use that resource for prospective buyers. Chair Marshall asked for a follow-up to confirm that they will include that with closing documents. Chair Marshall also asked Executive Assistant Simpson to be sure that the Family Advisory Board is listed as a resource. Trustee Bangs announced the update on full -day kindergarten — that it has passed and will be implemented for the 2019/2020 school year. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek mentioned that the board may want to talk to Member Bryant about potential impacts on school finances. TRUSTEE LIAISON REPORT: Trustee Norris announced that there are three applicants for the Family Advisory Board. Staff is working to set up interviews. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — May 2, 2019 — Page 2 The strategic planning process for the Town is underway. There have been two meetings. This process is looking at 2020, identifying definable goals, both short- and long-term. Next year's goals will be the basis for the 2020 budget and are open to advocacy. CHILDCARE AND HOUSING TASK FORCE UPDATE: Trustee Bangs shared that many of the conversations with the focus groups have been centered on housing — key stakeholders losing employees because of lack of available housing. To date, the task force has met with 20 different groups. Two focus group meetings were held Monday and Tuesday night of this week. There seems to be an overall lack of awareness about the childcare issue. There will be a community open house -style presentation of suggested recommendations and getting feedback May 22 5:30 — 7 p.m., which is open to the public. The last strategic planning session included transportation issues. Recommendations included increasing year-round transportation and developing a more robust shuttle system, which impacts families. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek added that the task force is planning to give recommendations to go to Town Board at the June 11 study session, for integration into the strategic plan. This will complete the work of the task force. Trustee Norris asked if there should be something on the Family Advisory Board's June 6 agenda to review and discuss the proposed recommendations, and the board agreed. Chair Marshall asked to go back to the transportation item and inquired about the impact of the newly adopted Complete Streets Policy. Trustee Bangs is the Town Board liaison to the Transportation Advisory Board, so she provided an update — the focus is for building and developing streets to be accessible not just for cars, but multi -modal, including bike lanes and wider sidewalks. This is intended to slow traffic. It was passed as a policy and Public Works is already implementing elements of this on current streets undergoing repairs, such as Fourth Street. The adoption of the Complete Streets policy demonstrates what an advisory board can do to influence town policy. Executive Assistant Simpson advised the board to visit www.estes.org/transportationstudies to learn more. UPDATE ON CCAP Heather O'Hayre, Deputy Director Health and Human Services provided an update on the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), focusing specifically on the low- income recipients, changes over the last five years, waitlist data, and allocation percentages (11% of overall CCAP funding is county). The waitlist reached its highest number in November at close to 300. The State has implemented a new computer system and they are unable to pull reports at this time. The County is serving less than 603 low income children and have not been able to add families to the program due to the waitlist. HB18-3035 revamped CCAP — prior to this, counties could choose the entry and exit income threshold for their programs. Counties no longer have that flexibility. One significant change is that the income qualification will be based on the state median income instead of the federal poverty level. In addition, emergency supplemental funding can only be requested within the year. When families are reaching the income exit threshold, they will now have 12 months of a safety net instead of six months - State funding will have to cover that difference. A special geographic difference committee that is forming will include Larimer County and other resort and ski town areas. The State wants to receive the results of this research in February, 2020 to impact the 2020 allocation. Trustee Bangs asked how the committee is getting representation. Heather responded that the committee is made up only of state and county department representatives, but that they will reach out across the county to gather input. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — May 2, 2019 — Page 3 Out of the identified "big 10 counties" across the state, Larimer County has the second smallest CCAP eligible population, but the aging population is growing. More research is being done to determine the reasons why and propose mitigation factors. Christy DeLorme inquired as to where the numbers were coming from. Heather replied that they are taken from census data. Governor Polis is providing a $6 million grant to counties and other entities to improve census accuracy. Regional housing authorities are working together to apply as a group. Member Almond stated that EVICS used to require all families seeking assistance from them to apply for CCAP, but discontinued that practice due to the additional stress involved. Heather stated that they are looking at changing language from "waitlist" to "freeze" to more accurately represent the funding situation and manage expectations. Chair Marshall stated that in Estes Park, housing issues are something employers can easily report on, but there is no clear connection or data with childcare. It is understood that many in the community "make do" and she would like to know what is happening in the County. Heather responded that their data is primarily anecdotal as well, such as hearing that some families keep older children home from school. Child -welfare expenses have tripled over the last couple of years. Income is not what is moving families out of the program, and in fact some parents have declined pay raises in order to stay on the program. Family that are leaving the area are typically the only ones leaving the program. Larimer County is doing a campaign to clarify misconceptions around daycare choices, as well as all -day kindergarten. Heather went on to talk about the County's strategic plan, which focuses on three goals — Infrastructure, Programs and Services, and Workforce Readiness. Discussion took place about the Childcare Needs Assessment (CAN). Heather inquired about the cost, experience with the consultant, and duration of the process. Members Almond and Moon commented that it took six months from start to finish and both English and Spanish options were available electronically and as a handout. There were 358 responses with a good mix of the population being represented. They were hopeful that one specific need would rise to the top as a result, but that did not happen. An interesting data point was that 70% of parents would choose a different provider if they had options. Chair Marshall asked if there was any way for the Family Advisory Board to engage with the County strategic plan. Heather responded that ideas for the goals identified could be sent to her and that Commissioner Kefalas would be happy to come talk to the Board. Trustee Norris invited Heather to the June 11 study session. Looking for supporting documents to CNA. Robin Carrier is heading up the team on childcare. APPROVAL OF APRIL MINUTES: It was moved and seconded (Moon/Randinitis) to approve the April meeting minutes and the motion passes unanimously. 2019 FOCUS AREA DISCUSSION: Chair Marshall led the conversation by recalling a conversation with Assistant Town Administrator Machalek where he asked the question "what kind of community do we want to be?" She would like to consider that question as the frame of reference for the focus area. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek stated that the comprehensive plan would be the entry point for those suggestions and goals. Trustee Norris explained that RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — May 2, 2019 — Page 4 the County and Town boards are not yet aligned and have to agree to work together or to do separate plans, but both options come with controversy. Chair Marshall asked if there was anything that the community or organizations could do to move the process along. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek stated that the County has an obligation to serve every citizen who resides within Larimer County, so each individual in the room has a voice in the process. Chair Marshall asked how the board could identify the specific questions to ask the community for the data collection process. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek recommended talking with the Transportation Advisory Board, as they have been successful at bringing forth initiatives which affect Town policy. Member Moon stated that the Family Advisory Board could ,also meet twice a month for an undetermined amount of time to focus the discussion on this topic. Member Roman compiled a list of the community groups/sectors that the Family Advisory Board wants to reach. Trustee Norris urged the Board to consider training for and determining the structure for the community interviews. Discussion continued on how to identify the topics to bring before the community to form the desired picture of challenges facing families. Assistant Town Administrator Machalek stated that the focus area is where these items will filter through. It was agreed that a second meeting for the month of May would be scheduled with a time limit of an hour and a half. Executive Assistant Simpson will put together a Doodle poll to send to the board. OTHER BUSINESS: Seeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:24 p.m. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Family Advisory Board would take place Thursday, June 6 at 3:30 p.m. in room 203 at Town Hall. Suzanna Simpson, Recording Secretary