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 2
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Measure K: Adopt a resolution authorizing a one-time grant of district-discretionary Measure K funds, not to exceed $70,000, to Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA) to support full hotline staffing and additional mental health training for hotline staff, 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.
On March 9, 2021, and March 23, 2021, the Board of Supervisors (Board) held study sessions on Measure K expenditures and anticipated revenue for fiscal years (FY) 2021-23. The Board-appointed Measure K sub-committee, consisting of Supervisor Pine and Supervisor Canepa, convened the study sessions to, among other things, work with staff to facilitate the Board’s development of Measure K priorities and continuing initiatives for FYs 2021-23. The Board approved $5 million in one-time loans or grants for the FY 2021-23 budget cycle, divided equally among the five supervisorial districts, for district-discretionary needs and projects. District 2 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 2 (Supervisor Noelia Corzo) - CORA full hotline staffing and mental health training for hotline staff |
$70,000.00 |
This item is consistent with the criteria for district-discretionary Measure K funds approved by the Board in December 2018.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
This is a request to authorize a grant to Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA), and resulting grant agreement, in an amount not to exceed $70,000, to support full hotline staffing and additional mental health training for hotline staff, and authorizing the County Executive, or designee, to execute the grant agreement. The County Executive’s Office will administer and manage the proposed agreement.
CORA has been in existence for 45 years and is the go-to agency in San Mateo County for domestic violence services. The primary access point for services at CORA is through its 24-hour hotline service. The hotline team needs to have enough staff to cover the volume of calls 24/7, 365 days a year. This means staff covering a 168-hour week. This requires a Coordinator and at least 5 staff at a bare minimum. However during peak hours the hotline needs to have more than one staff covering the lines resulting in a need for about 7-8 staff dedicated to the hotline in order to have the resources to ensure that almost all calls are answered live, with few if any going to voice mail. Adding 2 staffers for a full year would enable CORA to ensure the maximum number of calls answered live.
CORA proposes the following overall budget of $147,813 for the hotline service:
Additional Mental Health Training (2 people): $10,500
Full-time Counselors (2 people) - $93,600
Coordinator (25%) - $16,250
Measure K funds will partially fund this project; CORA is obtaining other sources of funding for the remaining project costs, including $27,463 for additional staff costs. CORA has been informed that the district-discretionary grant is one-time only and not recurring, so that other funding sources will need to be obtained going forward.
Total Measure K Request: Not to Exceed $70,000
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:
Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA)
Alyssa Wieting, Development Director
2211 Palm Ave
San Jose, CA 94403
(650) 753-4682; alyssaw@corasupport.org
PERFORMANCE MEASURES:
|
Description |
Target |
|
Add two hotline staff counselors |
Complete |
|
Mental health training for two hotline staff |
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 2022-23 Measure K request. These funds are budgeted in the Non-Departmental Services FY 2022-23 Adopted Budget.