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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES Family Advisory Board 2019-09-05RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, September 5, 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 5th day of September, 2019. Present: Jodi Roman Karen Randinitis Nancy Almond Sue Strom John Bryant Rachel Balduzzi Also Present:Ron Norris, Town Board Liaison Suzanna Simpson, Recording Secretary Absent: Christy DeLorme Laurie Dale Marshall Michael Moon Guests: Anthony Silverman, Larimer County Department of Health and Human Services Brian Schaffer, Crossroads Ministry Vice Chair Balduzzi called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Member Roman provided comment on behalf of a MedX member who wished to express concern about the lack of elder care and respite for the caregivers. Trustee Norris is part of an Alzheimer's caregivers support group which meets two times per month. He plans to approach a member about speaking to the Family Advisory Board. Brian Schaffer mentioned the Elderhaus, which is looking into options for Estes Park. Member Almond recommended promoting the service through the Senior Center. TRUSTEE LIAISON REPORT The Estes Valley Planning Commission reviewed and approved the Wildfire Acres development plan. The next step is to apply for permits. Trustee Norris then provided an overview of the Town Board agenda for the Sept. 10 regular meeting. LARIMER COUNTY CHILD WELFARE DATA PROJECT Anthony is working with Larimer County Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) through Foster America, a company that places individuals with different backgrounds into child welfare initiatives. They have largely been meeting with different community groups and trying to understand what resources are available and how to bring them to the community. They are reviewing child welfare data, specifically cases, how to determine what families have the greatest need and then challenge biases as County employees. This is part of the larger county objective around data. His team is available as a resource to other community groups. The board discussed the different levels of cases, from non -urgent to high risk and how that information is communicated. Currently, Anthony is putting granular data into a map and is working on getting data specific to Estes Park. Regarding community partners, he feels that the data and map should be available so partners can see where to shift their work and resources. He asked if the board would be interested in comparative data if it was available. There are some RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — September 5, 2019 — Page 2 concerns about privacy as it relates to detail around cases. Anthony will send a report on the number of cases to Chair Dale Marshall once he has a chance to compile that data. Currently data is collected for children ages 0-18 and transition -aged youth, ages 19-22. The board was also interested in data for the rural areas surrounding Estes Park, such as Drake and Glen Haven. Trustee Norris suggested that the board brainstorm what data they are looking for and how to use it, then take that information to the Town Board at a study session. There was continued discussion around comparative data, such as the school district as compared to the county, or the county to the state, as well as comparison to other urban and rural areas across the state. Member Bryant asked if there was data available for elder care. Anthony will find out who may be working on those cases, but there should be data available. He encouraged the board to email him thoughts and ideas, and he is also interested in helping with family profiles. Member Almond asked if there were any plans to bring a Child Services caseworker back to Estes Park. Anthony shared that there is potential of a shift in federal legislation, possibly including an expansion of resources, but primarily DHS is looking to partner with nonprofits to increase the community connection and move away from government intervention. CROSSROADS MINISTRY SERVICES TO FAMILIES: Brian Schaffer provided an update on the work of Crossroads Ministry. They provide more services than just food. He shared stories of local individuals and families (anonymous) who have received support from Crossroads in the way of housing assistance, addiction recovery resources, gas, and other living expenses. Crossroads works with individuals of all ages. Of the Meals on Wheels recipients, 70 percent of those individuals are aged 80 or older, while 15 percent are in their 90s. One goal is to grow into more of a structured mentoring program for adults. Brian also announced that the annual coat drive is coming up, as well as their annual fundraiser, sponsored by the Dunraven Inn. They are about to move into a new location to accommodate the Wildfire Acres development — the current Westover construction offices. They are looking forward to what that can bring — new volunteers, opportunities, and additional office space. One idea is to schedule nonprofits into that space to be available for people seeking services. One result of a focus on improved collaboration is to tackle issues including homelessness and Brian would like to stay in touch with the Family Advisory Board. As for their assistance, they have moved to a qualification criterion of 50 percent of the area median income, which provides a better opportunity for those requesting assistance. In addition, they are moving away from an "interrogation model" and refocusing efforts to balance compliance and compassion. LOCAL CHILDCARE UPDATES & DISCUSSION Nancy provided the board with the County data compiled from the Colorado Children's Campaign - Kids Count. She recently listened to a presentation specific to Larimer County and will send the PowerPoint to Executive Assistant Simpson for distribution. Some notable information from the presentation includes high teen death rates and low birth weight for the area. The data also shows how the child population is growing, ages 5-18 specifically. Child poverty has dropped in Larimer County overall, but Estes Park is 37 — 57 percent. Infant slots in childcare have been lost over the entire state, so this is a statewide issue. Teen suicide rate in the state is significant — 21 out of 100,000, but Larimer County's rates have fallen. Quick childcare updates — all of the infant/toddler slots (10) are full, 17 children taking those 10 slots. There are 2.5 — 5 full time providers — 149 children — 124 slots. Only 2 openings community -wide in preschool, 0 in infant toddler, and the waitlist at 34, with 30 being infant/toddler. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Family Advisory Board — September 5, 2019 — Page 3 Mountaintop update from Member Almond per Member DeLorme — the property is under contract with a local purchaser. Closing is the end of September. The property will be maintained as a childcare facility with the potential of expansion. Estes ECE update from Member Almond per Member Moon — the project is on hold while the organization works out a land deal. CCAP continues to be on hold — it has been frozen for 3 years. EVICS budgets $30k for scholarships, and as of the end of July they have awarded $48k, serving 34 children, with a projected expense of $70k. Of those families, 76 percent are single parent families. The EVICS board wants to keep funding and then review this line item at the end of the year. They were supposed to be filling in the gap for CCAP, but they are now covering it. Member Almond wants to be sure Town Trustees know it is an issue and can advocate. Trustee Norris recommends talking to the Town Board to explain how the problem has gotten worse. The EVICS fundraiser is Dec. 5 at Skyview. Member Roman asked about the discontinuation of the support group for parents with special needs children. Member Almond responded that EVICS funded the support group, but did not feel that they could continue to fund it, as the parents were not early childhood aged. She encouraged Member Roman to advocate at the school district level, as they received funding to support programs of that nature. Anthony weighed in that 2,023 children in the county were involved in open reporting for child welfare cases, totaling over 9% of children statewide. 96.5% were receiving in -home services. APPROVAL OF AUGUST MINUTES: It was moved and seconded (Almond/Randinitis) to approve the August meeting minutes and the motion passed unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS: Seeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:29 p.m. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Family Advisory Board will take place Thursday, October 3 at 3:30 p.m. in room 203 at Town Hall. Suzafrf a Simpson, Recording Secretary