Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Dave Pine, District 1
Supervisor Carole Groom, District 2
Subject: 2023 Summer Enrichment Grant Program
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing:
A) An allocation of $3,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the 2023 Summer Enrichment Grant Program; and
B) The County Executive, or designee, to amend the existing agreement with the SMCU Community Fund to include administration of the 2023 Summer Enrichment Grant Program in exchange for fees in the amount of $29,500 for a term ending April 30, 2023.
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BACKGROUND:
On February 8, 2022, the Board of Supervisors allocated $3,300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the 2022 Summer Enrichment Grant Program (2022 Program). The 2022 Program had three main goals:
• Expand access to summer enrichment programs in school districts with high numbers of socially and economically disadvantaged (SED) students, which are defined here as students whose annual household income is less than 65% of the Area Median Income <https://housing.smcgov.org/sites/housing.smcgov.org/files/2020x%20Income%20Limits%20revised%2004272020.pdf>.
• Develop students’ social and emotional skills, which for many young people have been impacted due to isolation and distance learning during the pandemic.
• Reinspire and propel learning to counterbalance the loss of learning opportunities also due to the pandemic and distance learning.
The 2022 Program distributed $3,068,819 to 41 grantees that provided summer programming to 6,767 children and youth. The funds were distributed countywide based on the percentage of SED students in each of four geographic areas of the County-North, Central, South and Coastside.
In May 2022, the Silicon Valley Community Fund granted the County $50,000 to help fund an evaluation of the 2022 Program. The County matched the grant amount and, after a competitive procurement process, selected Harder and Company (Harder) to conduct the evaluation. As part of its assessment, Harder interviewed 10 grantees, conducted a survey completed by 659 parents/caregivers, and convened a parent/caregiver focus group to collect data regarding the 2022 Program.
Harder found that the 2022 Program succeeded in providing new and accessible summer enrichment programs to the intended SED population, that the children who participated made significant progress socially and emotionally, and that parents and providers both greatly benefited from the 2022 Program. Data from the Harder evaluation also demonstrated that:
• Over 50% of the students served were SED and 20% were English language learners.
• 1,186 students were first-time participants in a summer enrichment program.
• 56% of the funds were used to provide scholarships to 2,092 students.
• The cities with the highest number of participants were East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, South San Francisco, and Daly City.
• Parents and providers reported that over 85% of participating students developed the ability to say “sorry” when hurt or upset, became good listeners, found it easier to get along with others, learned to respect decisions made by the group, and became more open to sharing with others - all key benchmarks in social and emotional development.
• The grantees used the grant funds to hire 327 additional staff to pay higher staff salaries.
While the 2022 Program made significant progress toward achieving its three main goals (described above), more work remains, as many SED students continue to struggle academically, socially, and emotionally as a result of the pandemic.
In addition, like others in the childcare industry, many local non-profit and small business providers of summer enrichment programs serving SED students have themselves suffered negative impacts as a result of the pandemic. These providers were required to close or operate at reduced capacity during the pandemic and, although many programs have now reopened, the return to pre-pandemic enrollment and staffing levels has been slow. Many providers have suffered decreased revenue, financial insecurity, increased costs due to compliance with public health requirements, reduced capacity to weather financial hardship, and challenges covering payroll, rent or mortgage, and other operating costs. As a consequence, aiding the non-profit and small business providers of these summer enrichment programs is also a necessary response to the negative economic consequences of the pandemic.
DISCUSSION
Given these ongoing pandemic-related impacts, staff is proposing an allocation of ARPA funds to provide a second year of summer enrichment grants in furtherance of the Board’s desire to increase summer enrichment programming for SED students.
The 2023 Summer Enrichment Grant Program (2023 Program) would provide $3,000,000 in ARPA funds to be made available for two types of grants to qualifying summer enrichment providers:
• Grants to local government and school district providers of summer enrichment programming for SED students; and
• Direct assistance grants to COVID-impacted local nonprofit (meaning 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) tax exempt organizations) and local for-profit small business (meaning those with 25 or fewer full-time employees) providers of summer enrichment programming to SED students.
The base grant amounts to qualifying summer enrichment program providers (local government/school district providers and impacted non-profit and small business providers) will be generally determined according to the number of student slots in their respective programs. This entails a focus on the number of children who can attend the program on any given day rather than the total number of children served, such that the potential grant award categories will be as follows:
• Providers with up to 25 slots: $15,000
• Providers with 26 to 75 slots: $35,000
• Providers with 76 to 200 slots: $75,000
• Providers with 201 or more slots: $100,000
The distribution of grants between impacted organizations (non-profits and small businesses) and public entity providers will vary depending on the pool of qualified, eligible applicants. Similar to the 2022 Program, funds will be distributed countywide based on the percentage of SED students in each of four geographic areas of the County-North, Central, South and Coastside-with flexibility to adjust the distribution based on greater-need areas. In addition, base grant amounts may be increased or reallocated depending on the number of qualified applicants and selected provider needs.
Grant recipients will be required to submit a written report detailing the number of SED children served and other performance metrics.
In order to be eligible, grant applicants must:
• Be located in San Mateo County
• Provide summer enrichment programs that span at least 4 weeks (20 days) and offer at least 4 hours of programming per day
• Serve school-age children (rising kindergarten - rising 12 grade)
• Provide self-attestation of compliance with current licensing, health and safety, and background check requirements
In accordance with applicable procurement requirements under ARPA, County staff employed informal procurement methods to select the SMCU Community Fund as the responsible provider available to meet the County’s requirements for distributing grant funds under the 2022 Program. Accordingly, it is recommended that the Board authorize the County Executive, or designee(s), to amend its existing agreement with SMCU Community Fund to include administration of the 2023 Program in exchange for fees in the amount of $29,500 for a term ending April 30, 2023.
If the 2023 Program is approved by the Board, applications will open December 2, 2022, and close January 9, 2023. Grant funds would be distributed by March 2023.
The County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the resolution authorizing the 2023 Program.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The 2023 Program, including $2,970,500 for grants and $29,500 for administration fees, for a total of $3,000,000, will be funded exclusively with ARPA funds to the extent available and eligible. However, to the extent appropriate, these costs may ultimately be covered by reimbursement from funds provided through other state and/or federal funds that may be made available in connection with the County's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These ARPA funds are included in the FY 2022-23 adopted budget.