Public Hearing: YES ☐ NO ☒ Department: Human Services
SUBJECT:
Title
Commission District(s): All
Awarding of 2018 Human Services Grants- Fund 250 Cost Center 67510. Cost to the County is $617,808
Body
Information Contact: Damon Scott, Human Services Department Director
Phone Number: (404) 270-1178
PURPOSE:
To award forty (40) Human Services Grant for 2018 in an amount not to exceed $617,808. The grant period for all grants will be one year form the date of BOC approval.
NEED/IMPACT:
In the County’s 2018 Adopted Budget, $617,808 was approved for Human Services Grants to support the work of local non-profits. The services areas designated for the awards include, youth, family/human services, elderly, disability, homelessness, and advocacy/planning and education. There were 111 organizations in attendance at the Human Services Grants Orientation Workshop this year. All attendees of this workshop received a copy of the 2018 Human Services Grant Application Instructions & Program Guidelines, which included a list of every question on the Individual Rating Form (the tool used to score grant applications). The Grants Team also offered all attendees a personal meeting at the office to receive technical assistance on their proposed submissions.
The Department received sixty-nine (69) grant applications and three (3) of these did not meet the minimum threshold requirements (submitted on time, measurable number of DeKalb residents to be served, two years of proven service in DeKalb, verified Georgia non-profit status, verified 501© 3 status, established board of directors, and a current financial audit by a licensed Certified Public Accountant). The Human Services Coordinating Committee (HSCC) is responsible for reviewing all grant applications. The committee is comprised of subject matter experts, who are all professional DeKalb County employees representing a variety of county departments. All members of the HSCC have a minimum of two years of experience reviewing grant applications and over half of this year’s team members have seven or more years of experience evaluating grants.
The Grant Program, Grant Evaluation Policy (#300), states that “grant applications must have a composite score of 80 to be recommended for funding”. The evaluation process is designed to ensure that all applications are scored fairly. In order to balance out differences in scoring styles, each application is read and scored independently by 3 different members of the HSCC. A composite score is obtained by averaging the individual scores of the three reviewers for each grant application. The HSCC has recommended that funding be allocated to forty (40) organizations whose applications received a composite score of 80 or more. The Human Services Grant Awards will assist individuals and families with a variety of supports and services that will enhance their quality of life which will in turn lead to viable, sustainable neighborhoods and communities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The transfer of funds from the General Fund to the Human Services Grant Fund will help avoid the delay of payments to the non-profit agencies. There is no fiscal impact, as this action only transfers already appropriated funds.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
Award the Human Services Grants for 2018 in an amount not to exceed $617,808. Authorize disbursements under the terms of the grant agreement and authorize the Chief Executive Officer to execute all necessary documents.