Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Use of District-Discretionary Measure K Funds -Supervisorial District 4
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Measure K: Adopt a resolution authorizing a one-time grant of district-discretionary Measure K funds, not to exceed $24,000 to Family Connections, to support ongoing operation of their new site in East Palo Alto in order to continue providing no-cost services to local families, and authorizing the County Executive, or designee, to execute the grant agreement.
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BACKGROUND:
Measure K is the half-cent general sales tax initially approved by San Mateo County voters in November 2012 and extended in November 2016 for a total of thirty years.
The Board of Supervisors (Board) held study sessions on Measure K expenditures and approved funds for the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 budget cycle, divided equally among the five supervisorial districts, for one-time district-discretionary needs and projects. District 4 has submitted a request to use their district-discretionary Measure K funds as shown below and described in the Project Summary section of this memorandum:
|
District/Project |
Amount |
|
District 4 (Supervisor Warren Slocum) - Family Connections: to support ongoing operation of their new site in East Palo Alto in order to continue providing no-cost services to local families. |
$24,000 |
This item is consistent with the criteria for district-discretionary Measure K funds approved by the Board in December 2018. District 4 indicates that this organization is either a public agency operating within the County or a nonprofit organization registered and in good standing with the California Attorney General. District 4 indicates that the sponsoring Board member, member’s family, and member’s supervisorial staff do not serve as an officer, director, or play a policy role for the grantee organization.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
This is a request to authorize a grant to Family Connections, and resulting grant agreement, in an amount not to exceed $24,000, to support ongoing operation of their new site in East Palo Alto. The County Executive’s Office will administer and manage the proposed agreement.
District-discretionary Measure K funding for this organization has previously been provided as listed below:
• On July 23, 2019, the Board of Supervisors approved district-discretionary Measure K funding to Family Connections in the amount of $36,000 to cover fees for use of school site space in unincorporated North Fair Oaks for preschool programming.
Family Connections began over 30 years ago as a co-op preschool model for low-income communities in San Mateo County. Its mission is to create a high-quality family learning community so underserved children and parents together become the drivers of their own success. Their program is unique - it is a tuition free parent participation early learning program exclusively serving low-income families and children. Modeled to create whole-family success, this past year, Family Connections served 628 caregivers and children from East Palo Alto, Redwood City and Daly City through their early learning classes, parent education, mental health services, and community workshops and groups. This was a significant increase of over 200 participants from the previous year.
Family Connections utilizes Average Median Income (AMI) to evaluate family income levels - AMI represents the middle point of income distribution in a specific area, highlighting the economic status of households. In utilizing AMI, of the participants Family Connections serves, 23% have an AMI that is Acutely Low, 22% are Very Low, 9% are Low, 6% are Low or Above, and only 5% are Median or Above.
This district-discretionary grant will be used to fund the following project or services:
Family Connections recently experienced unanticipated increases in the rental costs for two of their sites. In East Palo Alto, Family Connections had previously been given use of a classroom for free from the Ravenswood School District but due to district renovations, they had to find a new location and must now pay rent, an unanticipated expense in their already-challenging budget.
This Measure K grant will be used by Family Connections to pay the rent of their new site in East Palo Alto so that they can continue to maintain an East Palo Alto location and continue to offer tuition-free programming. This will help ensure the organization’s aim to help break the generational cycle of poverty by improving access to quality parent participation in early childhood education. The Measure K grant will enable Family Connections to pay rent for its East Palo Alto location for one year.
District 4 has informed the grantee organization that this grant is one-time only, and that the grantee organization will need to find other sources of funding going forward.
Total Measure K Request: Not to Exceed $24,000
The release of funds will be contingent on the execution of an agreement providing for the County’s confirmation of the expenditure of funds for the purposes stated herein. The County will disburse the funds to the following organization for the purposes described above:
Eric Valadares
Executive Director
Family Connections
2460 W. Bayshore Road, Suite 202
Palo Alto, CA 94303
evalladares@familyconnections.org <mailto:evalladares@familyconnections.org>
<https://www.familyconnections.org>
(669)254-5244
PERFORMANCE MEASURES:
|
Description |
Target |
|
Apply grant to rent at Family Connections’ new East Palo Alto site and continue to provide tuition-free programming to local families. |
Complete |
The County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the agreement and resolution as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There are sufficient Measure K funds for this specific FY 2024-25 Measure K request. These funds are budgeted in the Non-Departmental Services FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget.