Peoria Standard

The Peoria Human Resources Commission met April 15.

The commission keeps citizens informed of social service programs provided by the city of Peoria and social service agencies, as well as provides officers and departments within the city expert advice and assistance in evaluating and coordinating social service programs.

Here are the minutes of the meeting as provided by the Peoria Human Resources Commission: 

CALL TO ORDER

The Regular Meeting was held by the Human Resources Commission (HRC) in Room 404 at City Hall, 419 Fulton St., Peoria, Illinois, on April 15, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. Chairperson Nancy Rakoff called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m.

ROLL CALL

Roll call showed the following Commissioners were present: Nancy Rakoff, Mark Brown, Farrell Davies, Shandra Hennessey, Patrick Kirchhofer, Josh Moore, and Judy Oakford – 7.

Absent: Brett Kolditz, Greg Stout, and Nancy Venzon – 3

Council Liaison Present: None

City Staff Present: Kathryn Murphy, Dakota Reed

Others present: None

MINUTES

The minutes for the March 18, 2016 meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Judy Oakford moved that the minutes be approved; seconded by Commissioner Patrick Kirchhofer. The minutes were approved unanimously by viva voce vote 7 to 0.

OLD BUSINESS

A. Status of 2016 Grants

Staff Member Murphy notified the Commissioners that the first quarter reports were due on Monday, April 11, 2016, and provided an excel sheet with accomplishments for each grantee. In reviewing the handout, she noted that grantees vary on the strategy of how they request funds for reimbursement with some doing even quarters and others asking for reimbursement for one or two quarters only. Grantees will not be reimbursed until the City received money from HUD in July or August.

B. Commission Vacancies

Staff Member Murphy provided the Commission with information on the Commission vacancies. She explained that the mayor selected three (3) people to be appointed to the Commission. They are on the City Council agenda for approval on April 26.

Commissioner Rakoff clarified that there will be an orientation for the new Commissioners. Staff Member Murphy confirmed that they will be attending an orientation to review the Commission procedures and provide an overview of the current work before the Commission.

C. Discussion/Possible Action 2017 Public Service Application and Evaluation Process

Staff Member Murphy outlined changed made to the 2017 application based on the previous discussion of the Commission. She asked if together the Commission could review the items outlined in the December minutes to make improvements to the 2017 application. The order of the budget charts beginning on page 10 was changed in order to allow for automatic calculation of the total budget sheet and question nine (9) on page four (4) of the application was expanded to include the qualifications of the staff to be paid by CDBG funding.

Staff Member Murphy addressed the next item on page two (2) of the application, which documents the outcomes that have been achieved by the programs. Commissioner Davies commented that maintaining a grade is not a positive outcome if the student was already failing. Commissioner Davies and Commissioner Rakoff added that the application needs to more clearly outline our definition of outcomes vs outputs as well as stress the need for facts to describe the need for the program. Question three (3) on page three (3) was expanded to include the need for the program to include facts and the instructions for the logic model were edited to reflect the need for facts in the brief description of the need. Commissioner Rakoff noted that these items should be stressed at the mandatory application training session.

Staff Member Murphy asked the Commission to clarify if there should be a section in the evaluation for City Staff to provide input. Commissioner Davies confirmed that City Staff should provide their consideration if it is related. Commissioner Rakoff noted that the Commission is evaluating previously funded programs on their performance outcomes. Staff Member Murphy explained that a brief summary can be provided of the grant performance and submitted to the Commission with the 2017 applications. She noted that this could be similar to what was provided in 2015 with the progress report submitted by grantees for the second year of the two year grants. It would be limited to only two quarters as the applications tentatively scheduled to be due in September. Commissioner Rakoff clarified with City Staff that this would be feasible; Staff Member Murphy confirms that she could include this with the application packet provided for Commissioners.

Commissioner Davies noted that question three (3) on page two (2) does not provide information on the previous year's goals. Only providing outcomes does not allow for clarity on if the program goals were met. She suggested amending question three (3) to include language asking what did the grantee project and what did the program accomplish. Staff Member Murphy noted that this would be altered.

Staff Member Murphy asked about the item that suggested a tiered system to rank applications. The Scoring would be ranked into a tier system and the Commission would decide on funding from there.

Commissioner Rakoff mentioned that this year there were few obvious breaks in scoring, as opposed to previous years which had big gaps between rankings. The applications would be placed into tiers by their evaluation scores according to predetermined breaks in the average score. Commissioner Rakoff asked the City Staff if Commissioners would continue to give a recommended dollar amount with the ranking. Staff Member Murphy recommended that the Commission not include recommended dollar amount in order to follow HUD guidance, but rely on the ranking number for each organization to determine the funding amount. Commissioner Josh Moore noted that if the Commissioner relies on the rankings to determine funding, then the breaks in funding amounts should be made when the Commission is making funding recommendations rather than in advance. The Commission agreed that the recommended funding amount can be removed from the evaluation form and no predetermined tiers will be established.

Staff Member Murphy asked the Commission about the maximum grant amount request for 2017. Commissioner Josh Moore suggested that ten (10) percent of the total funds would be sufficient for a maximum request. The Commission's total funds for 2017 are approximately $224,000, making the maximum eligible request $22,000. Commissioner Rakoff agrees that ten (10) percent sounds reasonable for the maximum amount the Commission will fund a single organization, but the maximum grant request should be slightly higher. Instead of a percentage, Commissioner Josh Moore also suggested a flat number of $30,000. Given the percentage for each grantee can be adjusted by the Commission according to the ranking, Commissioner Josh Moore stated that giving a flat amount for a maximum may allow the Commission more flexibility. Commissioner Rakoff, Commissioner Davies, and Commissioner Oakford stated their agreement with this approach. The Commission agreed upon $30,000 as the maximum to be included in the updated version of the application.

Commissioner Kirchhofer suggested maintaining the minimum grant award of $7,000. The Commission agreed that $7,000 is an appropriate minimum grant award amount.

Staff Member Murphy stated she will incorporate all of the changes in an updated draft to be presented and possibly approved at the next meeting.

D. Discussion/Possible Action on 2017 Priority Recommendations

Staff Member Murphy presented the Power Point presentation regarding requested area statistics to the Commission. The Commission discussed the data presented and asked for additional information including clarification on what is included in the monthly housing costs, Housing Cost Burden rate compared to the State of Illinois, and reading and math scores by individual high school.

Commissioner Rakoff explained that Commission would not take action on priorities this meeting, but present this information at the next meeting when the new Commissioners will be present. The

Commission can then decide how to selecting priorities.

Staff Member Murphy noted that the next meeting will be on Friday, May 20, 2016.

New Business

A. Other Business

Staff Member Murphy announced that the Community Development Department has released applications for the CDBG Roof Repair Program. Applications are due on Wednesday, April 27" and are on a first come, first serve basis.

B. Citizen Comments

There were no citizens present to address the Commission.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION: Commissioner Josh Moore motioned to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Commissioner Oakford. The motion was approved unanimously viva voce vote 7 to 0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:42 a.m.