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Board of Directors Meeting
April 24, 2017
Page 1 THE CHILDREN'S TRUST
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
The Children's Trust Board of Directors Meeting was held
on Monday, April 24th, 2017, commencing at 4:04 p.m., at
3250 S.W. 3rd Avenue, United Way, Ryder Conference Room,
Miami, Florida 33129. The meeting was called to order
by Laurie Nuell, Chair.
Officers/Executive Committee
Laurie W. Nuell, Chair, At-Large Member Lileana de Moya, Vice Chair, Gubernatorial Appointee Honorable Isaac Salver, Treasurer, League of Cities Miami-Dade County Claudio Grillo, Secretary, United Way of Miami-Dade
The Board of Directors
Pam Hollingsworth, Early Learning Coalition Dr. Miguel Balsera, Gubernatorial Appointee Gilda Ferradaz, Florida Dept. of Children & Families Inson Kim, Office of the Mayor, Miami-Dade County Esther Jacobo, State Attorney Representative Miami-Dade The Honorable Orlando Prescott, Juvenile Court Division Dr. Magaly Abrahante, Designee from Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent for Miami-Dade Public Schools Karla Hernandez-Mats, United Teachers of Dade Karen Weller, Miami-Dade County Health Department Dr. Susan Neimand, Miami-Dade College Marta Perez, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Marissa Leichter, Gubernatorial Appointee Nelson Hincapie, Office of the Mayor, Dade County Kenneth C. Hoffman, Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews Mark Trowbridge, Coalition of the Chambers of Commerce Frank Manning, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Rodester Brandon, At-Large Board Member
Page 21 Commissioner Xavier Suarez,
Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners2 Tiombe-Bisa Kendrick-Dunn, Gubernatorial Appointee
Dr. Daniel Bagner, Florida International University3 Alvin Gainey, PTA/PTSA
Maria Arista-Volsky, Assistant County Attorney4 Shanika Graves, Assistant County Attorney
Leigh Kobrinski, Assistant County Attorney5
6 STAFF:
7 James Haj, President/Chief Executive Officer
8 Imran Ali
9 Anna Dilernia
10 Ana Sanchez
11 Bevone Ritchie
12 Christine Selby
13 Cravel Holmes
14 Dalia Garcia
15 Deborah Robinson
16 Diana Beltre
17 Donovan Lee-Sin
18 Emily Cardenas
19 Garnet Esters
20 Glenny Reynoso
21 Grettel Suarez
22 Gus Barreiro
23 Jennifer Richiez
24 Joanna Revelo
25 John Ise
Page 31 STAFF (continued):2 Juana Leon3 Kathleen Dexter4 Lori Katherine Hanson5 Marisela D'Windt6 Muriel Jeanty, Clerk of the Board7 Rachel Spector8 Sabine Dulcio9 Samuel McKinnon10 Stephanie Maestri11 Stephanie Sylvestre12 Talmage Thornhill-Carrillo13 Urania Vergara14 Vivianne Bohorques15 William Kirtland16 Yesenia Reyes17 Yurena Driggs18 Zafreen Jaffery1920 GUESTS:21 Michael Horne22 Betty Delgado23 Crystal Hayes24 Myra Brown25 Josephine Taveras
Page 41 GUESTS (continued):2 Luis Pagan3 Louis Cooper4 Liliana Avedano5 Jannie Russell6 Rossana Velasquez7 Andrea Wanza8 Mileyka Burgos9 Karla Gottlieb10 Samantha Quarterman11 Williamson12 Jacko13 Dan Santistelan14 Michele Lozano15 Linda Freeman16 Jackie Romillo17 Constance Collins18 Suzy Schumer19 Maria Garza20 Camila Rocha21 Ana Someillan22 Alisha Wiggins23 Robbie Tate24 Gabriela Manon25 Rita Gangi
Page 51 GUESTS (continued):2 Andrew Pocock3 Abner Reyes4 Horace Roberts5 Mirta Fuentes6 Alice Bird7 Delvin Donovan8 Milagros Hernandez9 Eileen Davis10 Julieta Hernandez11 Andrea Delman12 Dorie la Foerch13 Rick Hernandez14 Alexis Gore15 Yannet Amador16 Jeannine Schloss17 Annette Cacicedo18 Jill Ehrenreich-May19 Chandra Burgos20 Maria Hernandez21 Lindsay Dolce22 Jeanine Peterson23 Ezra Deiuveille24 Jakeisha Pearson25 Laura Varela
Page 61 GUESTS (continued):2 Vanessa Gomez3 Michael Nozile4 Allison Weinstein5678910111213141516171819202122232425
Page 71 PROCEEDINGS
2 (Recording of the meeting began at 4:04
3 p.m.)
4 MS. NUELL: I'd like to call the meeting to
5 order. I'm wondering about public comments. I saw some
6 people signing, so -- there's no one? I'm sorry. I
7 thought I saw some people signing.
8 We're going to do the approval of the March
9 13th Board of Directors minutes, Claudia.
10 MS. GRILLO: I'd like to ask if there are
11 any comments on the March minutes.
12 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
13 MS. GRILLO: Can I have a motion to approve
14 the March 13th --
15 MR. GAINEY: So moved, Gainey.
16 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: Second, Suarez.
17 MS. GRILLO: Thank you. All those in favor?
18 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
19 with "aye".)
20 MS. GRILLO: Thank you.
21 MS. NUELL: Jim.
22 MR. HAJ: Madam Chair, we have two
23 appreciations for outstanding service to the Children's
24 Trust. The first one is for Maria, who has been our
25 attorney since the Trust started 13 years ago.
Page 81 I don't know if many of you are aware that
2 this will be Maria's -- officially her last Board
3 meeting. She will be working, helping out behind the
4 scenes if we ever need it, but Shanika and Leigh will
5 now be taking over.
6 Maria, thank you for your years of service.
7 Thank you for all that you've done. In this past year,
8 I have learned a lot from you, and I know you have been
9 working diligently throughout the years to do what's
10 best for the Trust and for the children of this
11 community.
12 So we have something for you on behalf of
13 the Board to thank you for the last 13 years.
14 (WHEREUPON, there was applause and a
15 standing ovation from all in attendance.)
16 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: I have a few words so
17 I'm not done yet. Thank you, Muriel. I want to thank
18 the Children's Trust because when I started doing the
19 work of the Children's Trust, the resolution approving
20 the Children's Trust had just been passed by the County
21 Commission. Money started pouring in from the tax
22 revenue and not a single penny had gone out on the
23 street.
24 And there's only a handful of employees who
25 are here now that were there at the time. And
Page 91 literally, you know, we were a bunch -- just a group of
2 people sitting around the table trying to begin the work
3 of this Board -- of this Trust, not the Board.
4 And for me, as the lawyer, it was doing
5 everything from scratch. Everything from scratch,
6 working with the operational concerns of the ongoing
7 business of the Children's Trust, getting FRS for the
8 employes of the Children's Trust, dealing with HR
9 issues.
10 I mean, it was everything, from the
11 organizational stuff to dealing with resos and contracts
12 and RFP's and policies.
13 And to me, it's just been such an honor and
14 a privilege to have worked with so many incredibly
15 talented Board members over the years, who have been,
16 you know, in the hundreds now. But there have been some
17 very amazing ones that really worked hard on this Board.
18 And I also want to thank the opportunity to
19 have worked with the leadership, David Lawrence, Mo
20 Abety, Charles Auslander, Tiffany Bedran, and my right
21 hand, Muriel, who has been the Clerk of the Board the
22 whole time, and the numerous e-mails and calls and
23 daily, weekly.
24 I mean, it's just been, you know, a work of
25 love, a work of dedication. There's been a lot of
Page 101 challenges but there's been a lot of fun. And I think
2 we've done a lot of good things. And I'm so happy to
3 see the Children's Trust at the place it is now.
4 And I wish Jim God-speed as he continues in
5 the leadership. He has two great lawyers, Shanika and
6 Leigh, that will be doing the work of the Trust, so
7 thank you.
8 (WHEREUPON, there was applause from all in
9 attendance.)
10 MR. HAJ: And the second appreciation goes
11 to Isaac Salver. Isaac, thank you for being the Finance
12 chair and the treasurer. And Isaac's not going
13 anywhere. He's still serving on this Board. But he has
14 termed out as the treasurer and the Finance chair.
15 So, Isaac, I've been here for a year. I
16 appreciate your guidance helping me through the year,
17 all your wisdom and all the support that you've given
18 the Trust throughout the years.
19 So, Isaac, thank you. We have something for
20 you as well.
21 (WHEREUPON, there was applause and a
22 standing ovation from all in attendance.)
23 MS. NUELL: This is special just for you.
24 MR. SALVER: Because you know how much I
25 love my picture. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Page 111 (WHEREUPON, there was applause and a
2 standing ovation from all in attendance.)
3 MR. SALVER: Had I known I was getting this,
4 I would have at least tucked in my shirt.
5 MS. NUELL: We wanted to come up with
6 something special for you to -- you know, to really --
7 just as a show of gratitude to lead the Finance
8 Committee for six years and, of course, being on the
9 Board forever.
10 So you're not leaving, so you don't get the
11 exit statue. But we thought you deserved something more
12 than just a handshake, so thank you very much for
13 everything you've done.
14 MR. SALVER: Thank you.
15 MS. NUELL: I'm going to skip the next --
16 the update on Commissioner Suarez's Sunshine meeting and
17 let's go to the Nominating Committee report. Gilda.
18 MS. FERRADAZ: Good afternoon. Thank you,
19 Madam Chair. According to the by-laws of the Children's
20 Trust, the current term of the four officers to the
21 Board expire this month.
22 The Nominating Committee met on March 13th
23 and considered the desire of the current chair, vice
24 chair and secretary to continue serving in their
25 respective positions.
Page 121 The position of treasurer, as we just
2 mentioned, is vacant because the current treasurer has
3 termed out from continued service in that capacity.
4 The Nominating Committee considered two
5 nominations for the position of treasurer. One of the
6 individuals nominated for the position of treasurer has
7 withdrawn from further consideration.
8 The Committee considered all the candidates
9 and considered the e-mail recommendations that were
10 received by Jim in support of the nomination for the
11 position of treasurer.
12 After review and deliberation, the
13 Nominating Committee recommends the following slate of
14 officers for approval to the Board.
15 The Committee recommends Laurie Nuell for
16 chair, Lily De Moya for vice chair, Claudia Grillo for
17 secretary, and Ken Hoffman for treasurer.
18 Per the by-laws, the treasurer also serves
19 in the capacity of chair of the Finance Committee. The
20 by-laws also provide for the option of accepting
21 nominations from the floor for these positions.
22 A ballot with the names of the individuals
23 recommended by the Nominating Committee is being
24 distributed to each of you. And before the vote is
25 taken, I would like to ask if there are any other -- I
Page 131 guess we wait to see if there are any other nominations?
2 MR. ALI: Yes.
3 MS. FERRADAZ: Okay. So before the vote is
4 taken, I would like to ask if there are any other
5 nominations from the floor for consideration for any of
6 the positions.
7 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
8 MS. FERRADAZ: Are there any other
9 nominations besides the ones recommended by the
10 Nominating Committee?
11 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
12 MS. FERRADAZ: Okay. Hearing none --
13 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: You need a motion to
14 approve the slate.
15 MS. FERRADAZ: Hearing none, I need a motion
16 to approve the slate of officers.
17 MR. GAINEY: So moved, Gainey.
18 MS. FERRADAZ: Do we have a second?
19 MS. HOLLINGSWORTH: Second, Hollingsworth.
20 MS. FERRADAZ: All those in favor of
21 approving the slate of officers recommended by the
22 Nominating Committee, say "aye".
23 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
24 with "aye".)
25 MS. FERRADAZ: Any opposed?
Page 141 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
2 MS. FERRADAZ: Motion passes. Thank you.
3 Congratulations to all of the --
4 MS. NUELL: We're in for another two years.
5 MS. FERRADAZ: Thank you.
6 MS. NUELL: My pleasure.
7 MS. DE MOYA: Are you speaking for the rest
8 of us?
9 MS. NUELL: No, I'm just speaking for
10 myself. I try to speak for everybody but you're the one
11 who said, you know, I'm in. Anyway, it is such an honor
12 and a privilege to serve as the chair of the Board, so
13 I'm very happy and pleased to come on for another term,
14 so thank you very much.
15 I want to give a brief update on
16 Commissioner Suarez's Sunshine meeting. In March,
17 Commissioner Suarez held what's called a "Sunshine
18 meeting".
19 It's not something that we, at the
20 Children's Trust, ever utilize, so it was a little bit
21 of an unknown for us. But apparently, that's what
22 County Commissioners can do that, to call a Sunshine
23 meeting.
24 And a group of, I think, everyone on the
25 Board was invited to attend. And it was a very
Page 151 enlightening meeting. Thank you, Commissioner Suarez.
2 I think the biggest thing, honestly, that I
3 took away from it was at the top of all the paperwork
4 that we got, I'm going to quote -- this was Commissioner
5 Suarez's quote: "The best way to keep a kid from
6 falling through the cracks is to fill the cracks."
7 And I think putting all of our heads
8 together, and one of the things that we talked about so
9 much, today, for those of you -- the majority of people
10 were at the first strategic planning meeting, was a lot
11 of discussion about collaboration, cost collaboration,
12 working together with all levels, all different people.
13 Because I think everyone has the same goal
14 in mind, which is, you know, we don't want children to
15 fall through the cracks, but we also have to figure out
16 where are the cracks and how do we do that.
17 And that is working together with the people
18 in our community and also through research and really
19 understanding where the needs are and how we can all
20 work together and not duplicate services, which has been
21 a common theme in Miami for so many years.
22 And I think that we are really moving in
23 that direction. Commissioner Suarez, he presented an
24 idea that he was interested in trying to look at -- I
25 keep calling them "laptops" -- but I-Pads or tablets for
Page 161 the school system, starting at one grade and going
2 forward.
3 So, you know, it's something to think about
4 and discuss and see if there's a need and how we will --
5 you know, and the School Board, and we could bring that
6 back to committee and discuss it.
7 But I think over and above, the need of
8 really paying attention, how do we fill the cracks and
9 keeping that, I think, in our mind as we go forward, and
10 try and think of new and innovative ways to meet the
11 needs of our students and children in Miami-Dade County.
12 I don't know if everybody got this. Your
13 office put together a little, short two-pager on quotes
14 that different people said. So, I think, if everyone
15 didn't receive it, then Muriel can e-mail it to
16 everyone.
17 But it was very nice to have so many people
18 sitting at the table from different areas to have an
19 open and frank discussion on ideas. So there will be
20 more to come on this area, so thank you.
21 Do you want to add?
22 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: And I want to thank
23 you, Madam Chair, and all the other Board members who
24 were able to attend. That office is available for
25 meetings such as that. It's very easily reachable and
Page 171 there's plenty of parking and so on.
2 The budgets of the entities that we're
3 dealing with should be remembered by all of us. The
4 Trust, of course, we all know has about a hundred and
5 twenty dollar budget. The School Board is at about four
6 billion.
7 The County, sometimes we forget to mention
8 our own responsibilities in this, is seven billion all
9 together, five billion roughly in operating and about
10 two billion in capital improvements.
11 The cracks are there. We know what they
12 are. We've identified them. The Trust has done
13 amazingly well in filling in the after-school programs.
14 But we have enormous cracks, not so much from what I've
15 seen in early childhood, but I'm sure I'll be more and
16 more acquainted with that as I get more involved in the
17 Trust.
18 Apprenticeship situation is just full of
19 cracks. It's full of voids in what we can do, so how
20 many kids are able to have a career path when they
21 graduate from high school, I don't know.
22 I did get the legislature this year -- two
23 legislators to put in a request for $750,000.00.
24 $750,000.00, as a percentage of the State budget which
25 is 83 or 84 billion, is not a large amount. You would
Page 181 think that it would be easier.
2 And then, of course, what you mentioned, the
3 fact that there's a digital divide. There are kids in
4 first, second, third, fourth and fifth grade that don't
5 have tablets, don't have one of these dealies they can
6 take home with them.
7 And to the extent that they can take them
8 home, they don't have WiFi at home. Twenty five percent
9 of all people in Dade County don't have WiFi. And, I
10 would guess, in impoverished areas, it's higher than
11 that.
12 So all of us can be involved and collaborate
13 in filling in these cracks. And I'm elated that you
14 were there, Madam Chair, and the other Board members
15 that were there, and that I've seen so much
16 responsiveness.
17 Always building on the one great success
18 that we've had, and it's not the only one, but it's the
19 great success that we've had between -- among the three
20 entities, the County and the Children's Trust and the
21 School Board, which is this year, 2,000 of our young
22 people are going to have summer jobs that pay a decent
23 wage on their way to graduating from high school and
24 they're going to start building up their resumes.
25 That was at zero a couple of years ago. And
Page 191 thanks to the Trust and the School Board and the County
2 working together, we've managed to craft that. So
3 that's a great success on which we can build. Thank you
4 again.
5 MS. NUELL: You're welcome. Thank you. So
6 Lori -- I asked Lori to do a very short, simple
7 presentation on the dashboard that are included in your
8 packets and are on the I-Pad as well.
9 And since these have been new and we're just
10 figuring them out, I just thought it might be helpful,
11 as we go forward through the agenda, to understand
12 exactly how the dashboards are working and what it
13 really means.
14 DR. HANSON: So if you go to your dashboard
15 pad, I'm just going to walk you through the sections.
16 If you go to the second page of that pad, there will be
17 on the dashboard for "Knowledge Builders".
18 In the top section next to the maps, you see
19 the agency and program information, the contract amount
20 all the way to the right, and the site addresses are
21 listed as addresses as well as plotted on the County
22 map.
23 You can kind of see, there's the north, the
24 south. They have multiple sites. One site --
25 (Off the record.)
Page 201 DR. HANSON: Okay. Everybody's heart rate
2 is up now. Sorry about that. So right below the top
3 section, the bar charts on the remainder of page 1 show
4 the program progress on size, key performance components
5 over time ideally.
6 So as Laurie mentioned, we're just launching
7 into these. So you're going to see dashboards for all
8 of our youth programs, which you're getting today for
9 renewal.
10 Next meeting, you're going to see them for
11 the parenting programs. Those are the initiatives that
12 we launched this with to begin with, with the new
13 observation tools and a new process in partnership with
14 our providers.
15 That's about 75 percent of our portfolio.
16 And over this coming year, we'll be working on adding
17 dashboards for the other initiatives.
18 So the components that are in the center
19 with the bars are linked directly to our collected
20 evaluation observation data. Typically, we're going to
21 aim to have two to three bars or measurement points each
22 year.
23 With our increased focus on continuous
24 growth planning and development, we want to have more
25 frequent access to performance information than just
Page 211 sort of an annual bar.
2 So when you're looking at the bars, keep in
3 mind that they might be frequent bars and keep that in
4 mind when you're thinking about what trending looks
5 like.
6 Each component is made up of some multiple
7 related items. And if anybody has detailed questions
8 about that, like, what goes into staffing, you know,
9 feel free to ask me about that on the side. I can give
10 you more details.
11 Generally, we have a set of rules that we
12 don't produce a rating on the dashboard unless there's
13 at least two items of the components that have been
14 scored. So that's why you're going to see some of the
15 dashboards have more bars than others because we're just
16 launching this. Some things haven't yet been rated.
17 The ratings on the outcome component
18 includes -- in the outcome, I wanted to mention this
19 because it came up in the committee discussions and
20 questions about the outcome ratings.
21 The outcome component includes both the
22 proper collection of the testing data as well as the
23 actual outcome achievement results by participants. So
24 a few of the programs don't yet show an outcome rating
25 because measures in their contract have not been due for
Page 221 submission yet. So we're coming up on the end of the
2 year. Those are going to be coming to us.
3 If a program also has a distinct summer camp
4 component, you'll notice that those bars, as in this
5 example, have "SU" in the year, 2016 there. And that's
6 just to help compare summer to summer, once we have more
7 than one summer, and also to distinguish between the
8 after-school program component.
9 Not all programs will have a summer bar.
10 The ratings scale is shown to the left of the bars and
11 the bars are color-coded to match that scale.
12 If you continue on the second page, so
13 there's two pages for each of the agency dashboards.
14 You'll see the agency level fiscal health is at the top
15 of the second page. It's rated using the same scale as
16 the programmatic components but typically only on an
17 annual basis.
18 Below the rating, the date below the rating
19 shows the most recent audit date that was reviewed. And
20 based on this fiscal review, their fiscal performance
21 improvement plan status or PIP status -- you might hear
22 us abbreviate -- will also be noted at the top of that
23 page, including a narrative comment that explains the
24 results.
25 And Bill is going to talk some more about
Page 231 the fiscal PIP in just a few minutes.
2 Finally, on the second page, there's a brief
3 summary of the program performance results as well as
4 the focus of the provider's growth planning efforts.
5 These sections importantly should tell you what's going
6 on, why and what is being done to further develop the
7 program.
8 If you don't see the answers to the
9 questions that you have in this narrative, it would be
10 really great if you could communicate that to your
11 executive point person. Let us know, ask questions in
12 advance of the meeting so we can bring the information
13 that you need as the decision-makers.
14 We are also learning, and most certainly, we
15 know we're going to continue to grow the quality and
16 utility of this important tool for your decision-making.
17 So just a final note, as you recall, we
18 re-designed our metric approach and our dashboard, all
19 as an effort to ensure quality program through stronger
20 connections and partnerships with our funded providers,
21 whom we have selected through rigorous competitive
22 processes.
23 So we feel like with frequent and
24 transparent joint reviews of the program progress, we
25 will learn together with providers, understand what's
Page 241 working and what's not, and think together about how to
2 make things better.
3 So while it may be tempting, when you're
4 overwhelmed with 200 pages of dashboards to look
5 through, to flip through the dashboards and just look
6 for the yellow bars, we're asking -- we're truly aiming
7 for a more nuanced review of the program strengths and
8 needs as we work to support providers' success.
9 As always, I say, our providers' success
10 leads to the Trust's success in improving the lives of
11 children across the community.
12 So any clarifying questions about the format
13 of the dashboards that you're going to be looking at
14 today?
15 MR. SALVER: Lori, it's Isaac. I have just
16 a quick suggestion. Maybe rather than putting these
17 questions, is a provider on fiscal PIP, why don't you
18 put it on page 1 in the lower right-hand corner unless
19 that's reserved for something else in the future.
20 DR. HANSON: On the first page?
21 MR. SALVER: Yes, the first page.
22 DR. HANSON: Well, we wanted to keep the
23 status with the comments. And some of the comments get
24 long and don't fit on the first page. But we can look
25 at it. We can look at where we have space.
Page 251 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: Lori, I agree with
2 Isaac's point, because from a legal perspective, it's
3 important for the Board members to know the issues about
4 fiscal PIP and they should not be buried in the second
5 page. They should be flagged upfront.
6 DR. HANSON: Of course. We're not burying
7 anything. Absolutely, we have a separate resolution for
8 every single agency that has a fiscal PIP, so they're in
9 a separate resolution and the dashboard is presented
10 separately from the group of the other dashboards
11 whenever there's a fiscal PIP issue.
12 We can see -- we've tried different ways.
13 We didn't want to split the bars across the page, so
14 we've tried to fit the information as much as we can.
15 We'll look at how we can rearrange the information and
16 maybe put it with the agency information at the top.
17 Maybe we can shrink the map or move the map.
18 MR. HOFFMAN: Can I ask a question. These
19 are very helpful and I think it really does give us a
20 good snapshot of what's going on in the agencies.
21 But can we get them -- is there a reason we
22 can't get them to be part of the -- at least behind the
23 respective agendas because I, for one, gave up on
24 looking at the dashboard because I do things
25 electronically and you can't really relate them to the
Page 261 specific resolutions.
2 So I don't know if there was a reason we
3 didn't do that and just package them all together.
4 MR. HAJ: Ken, we'll look into it and see if
5 we can put them behind for an easy read.
6 DR. ABRAHANTE: And I have one question,
7 Lori. Just to refresh my memory, a little bit of a
8 definition of the difference between, for example,
9 "emerging" and "advancing". I know, I mean,
10 connotation-wise, you understand, but is it based on
11 percentage of accomplishment or --
12 DR. HANSON: We do have definitions for all
13 the levels. I do not have them in front of me. I can
14 send them to you. Essentially, we consider "advancing"
15 to be an "A". If you're "mastering", you're "A+".
16 So we really are not aiming to see everyone
17 at "mastering", and that's an adjustment in the views of
18 our providers. Many of our providers are always happy
19 to see themselves at the top rating.
20 But we're really saying, "advancing" -- if
21 you're at "advancing", you're meeting all of your
22 requirements, you're meeting all of your contractual
23 obligations. So I thank you for asking that question.
24 And so "emerging", you know, would be just
25 below that. So not far off but moving towards meeting
Page 271 all of those obligations. And then "struggling" may
2 have a little bit more farther to grow and get there.
3 DR. PEREZ: Is that a subjective or is that
4 a percentage? And also, would it be possible to have,
5 like, a little legend about what they're meeting on each
6 page so that it's easier for us to refer to it when
7 we're approving something? And again --
8 DR. HANSON: I'm sorry. Can you repeat the
9 second part of your --
10 DR. PEREZ: Could we have, like, a little
11 legend at the bottom so that we would know what is meant
12 by the "mastering", "advancing", "emerging" and
13 "struggling".
14 DR. HANSON: Sure.
15 DR. PEREZ: And also what that measure would
16 be, or is it just that when we say an "A", well, that's
17 still -- is it a subjective measure or is it a --
18 DR. HANSON: No. These are objective
19 measures. They're pulled from various aspects of our
20 data, the data that we collect about participants, as
21 well as the data that we collect about the direct
22 observations of the activities that are going on in the
23 programs.
24 So I could provide you with the detailed
25 sheet. It's on our website, actually, that shows all of
Page 281 the specific items, how everything is scored and
2 weighted. Some items weight heavier than others, and
3 then how those are all then calculated up into the bars.
4 DR. PEREZ: It would be very helpful if when
5 we are approving something for any of these vendors,
6 that we would have that information -- this information,
7 what's stated before, and also what the information
8 means for us to be able to assess the contracts. Thank
9 you.
10 MS. NUELL: No questions? Thank you, Lori.
11 I just want to reiterate that the dashboard, you know,
12 we've been working on this for about nine months now, I
13 think, since our Board retreat last year.
14 And I just want to reiterate that this is --
15 this is not a report card. And I think the ones we used
16 before were more of a report card. But this is not a
17 report card.
18 And I think it's fantastic because these are
19 the kinds of things we've been looking at. You know,
20 the staff is working in partnership with our providers
21 and you identifying all of these things.
22 And so it's just a way to see, where are you
23 now, where are you going, how can we improve, that sort
24 of thing. So I think it's really important. And I
25 think it's just kind of easy to look at it.
Page 291 And I did it. That's why I was actually,
2 you know, it was explained to me. Because, you know,
3 you said, oh, there's two yellows, well, that's bad.
4 But it's, like, no, it's not bad, we're working
5 together.
6 And I think that's really important that we
7 understand that and that it's just a little map or a
8 dashboard to know what's happening. And then in that
9 second page at the bottom, it has the little growth
10 plan, so that we know that staff is working with our
11 organizations.
12 And I'm sure there's times that people have
13 a "master" and it goes down based on, you know,
14 something. But our staff knows what's going on with
15 each of our providers. So this is just a little
16 guideline for us to know what's happening and it's the
17 course of the year.
18 So it isn't, like, year 2015, 2016, 2017
19 where you're saying, oh, wow, it's not improving. This
20 is every three months is being reported. So I think
21 it's great.
22 And I think a big difference from before,
23 too, was it was an informational thing. This is related
24 and tied to the work and the programs that we're
25 funding. So, you know, I think it's been a big change
Page 301 and it is evolving and we're trying to make it as
2 pertinent and easy for us to understand as Board members
3 to be able to know what's going on as we vote on
4 funding, so thank you, Lori.
5 MS. DE MOYA: Excuse me. I have a question.
6 Lori, when we used to get the resolutions before we went
7 to the dashboard format, there used to be a page
8 attached after the resolutions that would give us
9 certain information.
10 And some of those charts that we used to get
11 would give us the percentage of children with
12 disabilities that were being served by the program.
13 After the strategic plan and it was included
14 that it would be 10 percent of children with
15 disabilities being served, my assumption was that that
16 didn't need to be there anymore because that was -- we
17 were supposed to assume that they were doing it.
18 Otherwise, it would be reported as they're not doing it.
19 So during the Programs Committee meeting, I
20 believe I brought up the question. And as I looked at
21 these in preparation for the staff meeting, I just
22 happened to pick one out in particular, which is
23 Miami-Dade County, that program.
24 And then in the results summary, it clearly
25 says that they have to continue to focus on public
Page 311 recruitment of children with disabilities and that their
2 growth planning will focus on improving children with
3 disabilities recruitment, engagement and success
4 stories.
5 So it makes me feel like we almost went
6 backwards in knowing whether or not any program is
7 meeting the mandate of the 10 percent, because now we
8 have to read into it to know whether they are or they're
9 not, where before, there was a percentage. We knew if
10 they were under or below -- I mean, below or above the
11 10 percent. So I kind of don't like that.
12 DR. HANSON: So we still are giving you that
13 information in the population-focus bar. That's where
14 the services to children with disabilities is reflected.
15 So I'm trying to find the dashboard that you're
16 referencing --
17 MS. DE MOYA: It's on page 73.
18 DR. HANSON: So that's where you would see
19 that reflected. And for these programs that you're
20 seeing today, that's really the only information that's
21 in that bar.
22 When we have other programs, like, next time
23 around, some parenting programs have other eligibility
24 criteria that we have to meet for enrollment, that gets
25 also included in the population-focus, are they serving
Page 321 the intended population that they're supposed to serve.
2 But for our youth programs, which are pretty
3 much universal, the one thing that goes into this is
4 children with disabilities -- services to children with
5 disabilities. So you would see that reflected there,
6 you know, if they were not in a -- you know, which
7 category they're weighted in based on that.
8 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. Thank you. I didn't --
9 that wasn't clear to me before.
10 DR. HANSON: Yes. So maybe we need to -- we
11 went through it a few months back but it wasn't relevant
12 at the time. So maybe we could provide everyone with a
13 fact sheet maybe about the basic items that are within
14 each of the five categories. That might be helpful for
15 context.
16 MS. DE MOYA: Yes, that would be helpful.
17 Thank you.
18 MS. NUELL: All right. So I think we'll go
19 ahead and move to the Finance Committee meeting report.
20 MR. SALVER: Thank you very much, Madam
21 Chair. First and foremost, I want to congratulate Ken,
22 the newest member of our Executive Board. Ken and I
23 have been working very closely for the last couple of
24 years anyway. I know that not only are you certainly
25 capable of fulfilling the role as chair of the Finance
Page 331 Committee but I know that it's something that you desire
2 to do and I congratulate you.
3 It's a little bit painful leaving after six
4 years but it's been an honor to serve with each and
5 every one of you that are active and, of course, members
6 that have rolled off the Board in general.
7 Before we get to the resolutions, you know,
8 we had the Finance Committee earlier this month, and we
9 had the opportunity to discuss kind of in-depth the way
10 the staff are handling the programs that are on a fiscal
11 PIP.
12 And I'd like to introduce Bill Kirtland, who
13 is our CFO, who will give a brief overview as to the PIP
14 programs and how we handle it.
15 MR. KIRTLAND: Thank you, Isaac. I
16 appreciate the opportunity just to speak briefly to
17 providers on fiscal PIP, as we commonly use the acronym.
18 I just want to take a moment that every Board member can
19 understand exactly what we are referring to when we use
20 that terminology.
21 And the fiscal PIP program is our fiscal
22 performance improvement plan program. And fortunately,
23 over the past few years, we have seen or have had the
24 benefit of seeing organizations -- many of our
25 organizations that we work with improve their financial
Page 341 standing over the past two to three years.
2 There used to be a time where we were
3 looking at fiscal PIP providers maybe in the amounts of
4 a dozen or less providers. Now we are looking at
5 substantial improvement amongst providers without audit
6 findings or sufficient deficiencies and improved fiscal
7 health, such as their solvency and liquidity.
8 And now we are down to a status of about
9 three fiscal performance improvement providers, and two
10 of them of which we will be discussing in the Finance
11 Committee report in Resolutions 2017-72 and 2017-73.
12 I wanted to speak briefly to Knowledge
13 Builders of Florida and Multi-Ethnic Youth Group
14 Association specifically. We are separately disclosing
15 these resolutions because they are listed on our fiscal
16 performance improvement plan.
17 You'll see in the dashboard and on the body
18 of the resolution that we specifically disclosed that
19 they are on a fiscal performance improvement plan and
20 the reasons as to why they were originally placed on the
21 PIP and the outlook of that organization financially.
22 We will be bringing these resolutions
23 separately, not because of our ongoing concerns
24 necessarily with the providers being placed on a fiscal
25 performance improvement plan.
Page 351 I've had the opportunity to meet with the
2 accounting staff of the two organizations. We did see
3 improvements made for these two organizations since
4 their last audit year.
5 The reasons that originally brought them
6 onto a fiscal performance improvement plan, they have
7 since then been able to either abolish the reasons that
8 brought them on fiscal PIP many years ago or have
9 improved their fiscal solvency issues.
10 A challenge we face when assessing the
11 fiscal health of any organization is that the financial
12 report, the audited financial reports we're reviewing
13 are almost a full year in arrears. So it's an ongoing
14 challenge to be kept up-to-date with the most recent
15 financial information.
16 We are assessing these two organizations and
17 seeing improvement dated as of December 31st, 2015.
18 Knowing the date that it is today, December 31st, 2016
19 has come and gone and we're expecting a new audit report
20 from these organizations within the next couple of
21 months.
22 The meetings that I've had with staff from
23 these two organizations have shown preliminary currently
24 unaudited numbers that continue to show improvement. So
25 as for now, as a cautionary measure, until we receive
Page 361 more updated audited financial statements, it's our
2 recommendation to continue these organizations on a
3 fiscal PIP until we see more improvement has been
4 reported on a preliminary basis to the Children's Trust.
5 MR. SALVER: Thanks, Bill. I appreciate
6 that. And I'd like to add a small footnote. During our
7 committee meeting, one of the main problems that we
8 discussed when an organization is targeted -- not
9 "targeted", I shouldn't use that word -- identified for
10 a fiscal PIP, is payroll taxes.
11 I know that the Board at-large has discussed
12 organizations that have a problem that involves payroll
13 taxes. And I know that I, for one, am very sensitive to
14 organizations that have a problem with the remission of
15 payroll taxes.
16 Is it correct, because the way I understand
17 it, if an organization is behind in their payroll taxes,
18 they're like automatically put on a fiscal PIP? Is that
19 accurate?
20 MR. KIRTLAND: That's accurate. We have it
21 written into our core contract that if a payroll tax
22 issue does arise, that we need to be notified of that
23 issue and it's an automatic qualifier for being placed
24 on a fiscal performance improvement plan.
25 As you know, we reimburse invoices on a
Page 371 monthly basis. And from that point on out of learning
2 of a payroll tax issue, we expect to be kept -- to be
3 informed or to be kept within the same line of
4 communication as our providers and whatever
5 communication they're having with the IRS so that we can
6 be kept fully up-to-date as to what progress they've
7 made as to satisfying any accrued debt with the IRS.
8 But it is an automatic qualifier to be placed on a
9 fiscal performance improvement plan.
10 MR. SALVER: Okay, great. Were there any
11 other questions on the presentation and the concept of
12 organizations that are placed on fiscal PIP?
13 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
14 MR. SALVER: If not, we'll just go on to the
15 resolutions from the Finance Committee. Resolution
16 2017-71, this is a contract amendment to reflect a name
17 change by Human Services Coalition, Inc. to Catalyst
18 Miami, Inc., for the existing and future contracts.
19 The supporting information is on page 8.
20 Jim, did you want to talk a little bit about this just
21 to give a brief explanation as to what happened.
22 MR. HAJ: Again, I think this is purely
23 administrative. It's just a name change and legally we
24 have to bring it back to the Board.
25 MR. SALVER: Okay, great.
Page 381 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: Move the item.
2 MR. SALVER: Okay. So there's been a
3 motion. Is there a second?
4 MR. GAINEY: Gainey.
5 MR. BRANDON: Brandon.
6 MR. SALVER: Okay. It's been moved and
7 seconded. Are there any recusals?
8 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
9 MR. SALVER: Any questions or discussion?
10 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
11 MR. SALVER: Hearing none, all those in
12 favor, say "aye".
13 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
14 with "aye".)
15 MR. SALVER: Anybody opposed?
16 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
17 MR. SALVER: It passes unanimously. Next
18 Resolution is 2017-72, authorization to negotiate and
19 execute a third and final contract renewal with
20 Knowledge Builders of Florida to deliver an after-school
21 and summer camp program for elementary and middle school
22 children, contract renewal to be for a term of 12 months
23 commencing August 1st, 2017 and ending July 31st, 2018,
24 in a total amount not to exceed $138,127.00. The
25 provider was placed on a fiscal performance improvement
Page 391 plan on June 28th, 2012 and will continue to be
2 monitored during this contract renewal period.
3 The backup documents are on pages 9 and 10
4 and the dashboard pages 1 through 3.
5 Do I have a motion and a second for
6 discussion?
7 MR. GAINEY: So moved, Gainey.
8 MR. SALVER: Okay. It's been moved. Is
9 there a second?
10 MR. HOFFMAN: Second, Hoffman.
11 MR. SALVER: Okay. It's been moved and
12 seconded. Are there any recusals?
13 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: Who seconded?
14 MR. HOFFMAN: Hoffman.
15 MR. SALVER: Okay, so you need to fill out
16 the recusal paperwork. Are there any questions or
17 discussion on this resolution?
18 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: No, there were no
19 recusals.
20 MR. SALVER: You're going like that. My
21 attorney says "no".
22 MS. GRAVES: No, we're just saying "no
23 recusals".
24 MR. SALVER: Oh, there were no recusals,
25 okay. Okay. So there are no recusals. Any questions
Page 401 or comments?
2 MS. DE MOYA: I have a comment. As chairman
3 of the Program Services Committee, I feel the need to
4 get on the record that -- or put on the record, these
5 resolutions were brought forth at the Program Services
6 Committee meeting, even though they are under the
7 Finance Committee.
8 And there was concern about the fact that
9 Knowledge Builders, in particular, has been on a fiscal
10 improvement plan since 2012. Bill addressed the issue.
11 There was a representative here from the organization
12 who spoke to the committee.
13 And we understand that we certainly do not
14 want to stop services at this point during this contract
15 because of the need and the service that is provided to
16 these children. But we strongly recommend that it is --
17 that we keep an eye on continuing to fund programs that
18 are consistently on fiscal improvement plans for this
19 long a period of time.
20 Even though we completely understand, and I
21 understand that the last audit was 2015, and we have
22 confidence in your recommendation as staff, but I want
23 to note for the record that it was discussed on the
24 level of the Programs Committee, and so was this next
25 one, so that I don't have to repeat myself, which is
Page 411 MEYGA, which is Resolution 2017-73.
2 MR. SALVER: Thank you. Are there any other
3 questions or comments?
4 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
5 MR. SALVER: Hearing none, all those in
6 favor, say "aye".
7 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
8 with "aye".)
9 MR. SALVER: Is there anyone opposed?
10 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
11 MR. SALVER: Okay. It passes unanimously.
12 Resolution 2017-73, authorization to negotiate and
13 execute a third and final contract renewal with
14 Multi-Ethnic Youth Group Association, Inc., to deliver
15 an after-school and summer camp program for elementary
16 and middle school children. Contract renewal to be for
17 a term of 12 months commencing August 1st, 2017 and
18 ending July 31st, 2018, in a total amount not to exceed
19 $111,600.00.
20 Provider has repeatedly been on a fiscal
21 performance improvement plan since the contract period
22 dated August 1st, 2015 through July 31st, 2016 and again
23 for the contract period dated August 1st, 2015 through
24 July 31st, 2017 and will continue to be monitored during
25 this contract renewal period.
Page 421 The background and the agenda are pages 11
2 and 12 and dashboard pages 4 through 6.
3 Do I have a motion and a second?
4 MR. HOFFMAN: So moved, Hoffman.
5 MR. GAINEY: Gainey, second.
6 MR. SALVER: Okay. It's been moved and
7 seconded. Are there any recusals prior to discussion?
8 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
9 MR. SALVER: Okay. Hearing none, are there
10 any questions or comments? Yes, Dr. Perez.
11 DR. PEREZ: Thank you. Besides to support
12 what the vice chair has said, I would just -- it seems
13 that many of the things that we are approving today are
14 for after-school programs.
15 And having just been at the retreat, I think
16 it was Commissioner Suarez who mentioned what percent of
17 our budget is about after-school care. And I think the
18 concern many of us at the early childhood is also
19 perhaps not proportional when the after-school and some
20 of the after-school care, particularly, there are other
21 agencies that can provide it. For example, some of our
22 schools can provide it.
23 So I think that's something that going
24 forward, we should consider as an organization.
25 MR. SALVER: Just clarify a little bit what
Page 431 you're implying. In other words, let's say if one day,
2 the Trust staff decides that a program should no longer
3 be funded because of issues fiscally, that the School
4 Board has an alternative to the kids that are being
5 serviced by the program through Miami-Dade County Public
6 Schools after-school programs?
7 DR. PEREZ: Perhaps, because there are
8 schools that have after-school programs that are not
9 funded by the Children's Trust. And as we go forward
10 and look at the percentages that we are using for
11 after-school -- the percentage of our budget that we are
12 using for after-school programs versus the percentages
13 for early childhood, we should keep in mind that there
14 are other alternatives for after-school programs
15 whereas, I think, there are not as many for the early
16 childhood initiatives.
17 MR. SALVER: Thank you. Are there any other
18 questions? Yes, Judge.
19 JUDGE PRESCOTT: First, I'd like to go on
20 the record and say that I agree with Ms. De Moya and the
21 Programs Committee.
22 My question is this. Notwithstanding the
23 fact that we do not have the financial records since
24 2015, but as far as programming is concerned, they are
25 on point with providing the programs and services that
Page 441 they're supposed to, they're meeting all of their other
2 objectives, that is correct?
3 MR. HAJ: That is correct.
4 JUDGE PRESCOTT: Thank you.
5 MR. SALVER: And just to again clarify Judge
6 Prescott's comments, I don't think -- I think what Bill
7 said was that we haven't received, like, an audit report
8 since September 30th, 2015 -- December 2015.
9 However, the finance department does --
10 Bill, can you explain exactly what you guys collect in
11 the interim periods where you don't have an audit
12 report.
13 JUDGE PRESCOTT: That was not my concern.
14 He has that. I just wanted to make sure that
15 notwithstanding the finances, that they're doing
16 everything else that they're supposed to do and meeting
17 all of their other benchmarks.
18 MR. SALVER: Right, right. But I got from
19 your comments that we might not have any financial
20 information from them since the last audit report. But
21 I think staff does collect monthly profit and loss, you
22 know, income and the bank statements or canceled checks
23 and stuff like that, right?
24 MR. KIRTLAND: I'll speak to it briefly.
25 Right, when a provider is placed on performance
Page 451 improvement plan, we do collect monthly financial
2 statements. They are unaudited numbers, so there's only
3 a limited amount of assurance you can put upon those
4 numbers reviewing them. But they do allow you some
5 analysis or some indication of the direction of the
6 organization.
7 We're also requiring organizations to submit
8 full backup documentation with monthly invoices to
9 ensure that everything is accurate that we're receiving.
10 So there is additional requirements in-between audited
11 financial reporting periods.
12 MR. SALVER: Right. So you're basically
13 internally auditing month to month the transactions --
14 the financial transactions of the organizations.
15 MR. HAJ: If I may, Judge, they are doing
16 quality programs in very high-need neighborhoods. We
17 are supporting them. They are showing improvement. And
18 that's why it's back in front of you.
19 JUDGE PRESCOTT: I understand that some of
20 our smaller organizations might have problems
21 financially to come up-to-speed. And that's what the
22 Trust would do to assist them in doing that, with
23 capacity-building and everything else.
24 But I just wanted to make sure that
25 notwithstanding that, that they're doing everything else
Page 461 that they're tapped to do. Thank you.
2 MR. SALVER: Thank you. So there were no
3 recusals. Any further questions or comments?
4 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
5 MR. SALVER: Hearing none, all those in
6 favor, say "aye".
7 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
8 with "aye".)
9 MR. SALVER: Anyone opposed?
10 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
11 MR. SALVER: Okay. It passes unanimously.
12 And that's the Finance Committee report, Madam Chair.
13 MS. NUELL: Thank you very much. I
14 appreciate it. All right. Lily, the Program Services &
15 Childhood Health Committee meeting report.
16 MS. DE MOYA: Resolution 2017-74 -- by the
17 way, from 74 to 84, they're divided into different
18 groups but it's all -- no, I'm sorry, not 74 and 75 --
19 but then there's a whole group that is after-school care
20 programs but they are divided so that they wouldn't all
21 be under one resolution.
22 So Resolution 2017-74, authorization to
23 negotiate and execute a third and final contract with
24 Nova Southeastern University, Inc., for program and
25 professional development support services for Children's
Page 471 Trust providers and staff, each for a term of 13 months,
2 in a total amount not to exceed $713,000.00.
3 Motion for approval?
4 MS. HOLLINGSWORTH: So moved, Hollingsworth.
5 MS. DE MOYA: Second?
6 MR. GAINEY: Gainey.
7 MS. DE MOYA: Any recusals?
8 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
9 MS. DE MOYA: Questions or discussion?
10 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: Question.
11 MS. DE MOYA: Commissioner.
12 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: "Professional
13 development support services for Children's Trust
14 providers and staff", what does that mean?
15 MR. HAJ: They provide technical assistance
16 with differentiated instructions as well as other skills
17 to elevate -- part of our goal is to elevate the
18 programs, and we are assisting in elevating the academic
19 as well as the fitness and there are other areas.
20 And if I could ask Lori or Rachel to chime
21 in on that as well.
22 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: Just as a -- I'm
23 sorry?
24 MS. DE MOYA: Go ahead.
25 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: As a comment and for
Page 481 the future, I'll be voting for items that are direct
2 services to the children of Dade County but generally
3 against ones that are I consider are not.
4 But that doesn't reflect that I have
5 extensive knowledge of this particular item or the worth
6 of it. As I get more into the Children's Trust, I guess
7 I'll try to figure out if all of these professional
8 development support services are as important as direct
9 services to the children.
10 DR. HANSON: We have had Project Rise in
11 place as well as the next resolution in front of you,
12 for the All Children Together Resource Network, almost
13 since the beginning of our direct service investment in
14 after-school and youth programs, the reason being that
15 we're setting very high standards.
16 So, yes, these programs keep kids in safe
17 environments, but they also provide evidence-based
18 literacy instruction and support. They also provide
19 differentiated instruction for kids who are struggling.
20 They also provide research-based practices
21 around fitness and keeping kids active so that they get
22 hopefully close to their daily recommended requirement
23 of activity level.
24 And then we also know that whenever you get
25 large groups of kids together and they've had a long,
Page 491 stressful day at school, they have a lot of energy and
2 you need to have appropriate class and group behavior
3 management techniques to keep the kids on-task and
4 engaged.
5 All of those things are skills and skill
6 sets that need to be built. They exceed the capacity of
7 sometimes the staff who are able to be hired. The
8 direct care staff don't get training necessarily in some
9 of these factors when they're coming out of their --
10 maybe some of them have come out of college degrees but
11 many times, since the direct care staff don't have
12 advanced degrees.
13 So they're getting oriented to the
14 requirements of our programs and they also -- programs
15 can also receive on-site coaching and observation and
16 feedback that fits in with our whole progress growth
17 planning with providers where we can say what's working,
18 what's not working and how can we just make things
19 better so that we make a difference for kids in
20 meaningful ways, in addition to keeping them in safe
21 environments.
22 MS. DE MOYA: Any other questions?
23 MS. KENDRICK-DUNN: I have a comment. I
24 know that I spoke to Stephanie about this yesterday.
25 But I was just -- the amount, for me, of this and the
Page 501 next one is a lot.
2 And I was just wondering, I know -- I'm just
3 wondering if maybe some of the professional development
4 services that are needed for some of the providers,
5 like, differentiated instruction and effective homework
6 assistance and academic support, etc., if there was ever
7 the thought of looking at any of the trainings that are
8 provided by Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
9 I don't know if any of the trainings that
10 are provided to all the faculty and staff there, if some
11 of it could be cross-referenced and maybe some of it --
12 maybe they would, I don't know, memorandum of
13 understanding or some kind of partnership can develop.
14 But to keep in mind that I believe the
15 school district receives some federal funding to make
16 sure that their entire staff is trained. So I just
17 wanted to -- maybe to look at other creative ways of
18 bringing this cost down, because this is close to a
19 million dollars for professional development, and to see
20 if any type of way that maybe looking at alternatives to
21 paying out this kind of money.
22 DR. HANSON: I think that's a great idea to
23 leverage when we can. We would love to -- if there's a
24 connection that you can offer us to talk with the people
25 at the district about sharing training.
Page 511 Many of the teachers who are -- the
2 certified teachers who are part of our programs
3 participate in some of this training because you don't
4 have to be a certified reading teacher to work in our
5 programs, so sometimes, we might have teachers from
6 other fields, and so they do still need to get
7 up-to-speed on the reading factors. But if we could
8 leverage that, that would be wonderful.
9 We also, though, we have been doing a lot to
10 kind of capitalize on using on-line trainings and
11 cutting back on the kind of group training, which we
12 know doesn't really change behavior in the real world
13 setting.
14 So we've really reduced that and the craft
15 is really shifting to having trained specialists be
16 on-site in the program with the staff and being able to
17 model some of the things that work and observe what's
18 happening and give kind of real-time feedback. And so
19 that's where the costs go higher. So I would love to
20 explore how we could collaborate on that with the
21 district.
22 DR. PEREZ: I think that when we've had
23 discussions about this before, which have been
24 considerable, we've mentioned that there are agencies
25 who do this.
Page 521 The Beacon Council, the Chambers of
2 Commerce, they provide professional development for
3 agencies or companies that need it. And I think that
4 the Commissioner's point is well-taken and has been
5 something that many of us agree that these monies should
6 be used for children, not for agencies.
7 And I think that we should try and move on
8 that and get Chambers of Commerce and all of those
9 things -- all of those kinds of agencies involved in
10 helping rather than us spending what I believe our
11 colleague has said, it's $713,000.00 and then the other
12 one is $788,000.00, which is close to a million
13 and-a-half. Thank you.
14 MR. SALVER: I have a question. If I may, I
15 have a question for Lori. Lori, when you look at the
16 statistics regarding the organizations that are taken
17 advantage of this Project Rise and similar investments
18 that the Trust has made, do you see their dashboards
19 increasing in performance or moving towards "mastery"?
20 DR. HANSON: That's a great question. Thank
21 you, Isaac. We have looked at our data in the way that
22 we used to collect metrics and tried to do that type of
23 analysis.
24 And we have seen that those agencies that
25 have gotten intensive on-site (indiscernible) that were
Page 531 previously using results-based accountability and turned
2 the curve facilitation with agencies, we did see
3 improvements in those. Those were -- you know, they're
4 smaller numbers of agencies that can get those more
5 intensive services.
6 We're really looking forward because one of
7 the things that Project Rise did with us over the past
8 year was develop the specialized observation tool that
9 we're using in our metrics framework now, and they also
10 train all of our contract staff to do those specialized
11 observations in a reliable manner.
12 And they're going to be helping us now
13 analyze this first round of data that we have that's in
14 these dashboards to really take a closer look at that.
15 So, absolutely, that's a great point.
16 MS. DE MOYA: Any other questions?
17 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
18 MS. DE MOYA: So just to piggyback on Dr.
19 Perez, we have discussed this several times at the
20 Program Services Committee. And staff has been
21 responsive and we've had meetings and talked about how
22 do we look at both ACT and Project Rise and see how we
23 can leverage resources and build more of a resource
24 network.
25 So it's something that's in the process and
Page 541 it's being worked on and staff has been very open to
2 looking to see how we could collaborate with other
3 agencies. Because like Dr. Perez said, there are
4 agencies that do these trainings in the community that
5 we could partner with.
6 Just as an example, we've got inclusion of
7 children with disabilities. That's the first one under
8 Project Rise. And then the next resolution is all about
9 inclusion of children with disabilities. So right
10 there, you're seeing an overlap of services, but it's
11 being worked on. Thank you for all of your comments.
12 MS. NUELL: I don't think we voted.
13 MS. DE MOYA: We haven't voted, right?
14 Okay. All those in favor?
15 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
16 with "aye".)
17 MS. DE MOYA: Any opposed?
18 DR. PEREZ: Opposed.
19 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: Yes.
20 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: You have two "no" votes.
21 MS. NUELL: Two "no's".
22 MS. DE MOYA: Resolution 2017-75,
23 authorization to negotiate and execute a third and final
24 contract with Advocacy Network on Disabilities, Inc.,
25 for program and professional development support
Page 551 services for Children's Trust providers and staff, each
2 for a term of 12 months, in a total amount not to exceed
3 $788,000.00. Motion for approval?
4 MR. GAINEY: So moved, Gainey.
5 MS. DE MOYA: I know, you want me to say it
6 different. Tell me again. Motion for discussion. I've
7 been at this for how many years now. And every time I
8 say it, he gives me a look.
9 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. Did I get a first?
10 Second?
11 MR. BRANDON: Second, Brandon.
12 MS. DE MOYA: Recusals?
13 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
14 MS. DE MOYA: Questions or discussion?
15 MS. KENDRICK-DUNN: I did have some
16 discussion. It's probably going to be similar to the
17 last resolution. I just wanted to mention, as far as
18 children with disabilities, I think probably in our
19 County, the largest provider probably for children with
20 disabilities, if it's not, it's close, it has to be
21 Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
22 And I'm just -- I have to go back and say,
23 looking at the training, because we have teachers that
24 have to deal with kids with disabilities; psychologists,
25 social workers.
Page 561 We have many, many, many, many trainings. I
2 go to some of them myself. Because we also, you know,
3 all of the people that have to work with these children,
4 behavior management teachers, SPED chairs, whatever, I'm
5 just wondering, with the kids with disabilities, and
6 who's going to have better -- who's going to have the
7 most, I don't know, knowledge about this than the local
8 education agency, that this is what we do.
9 And we are responsible by federal law to
10 deal with, you know, all of the children from birth to
11 21 that have disabilities, which means that then the
12 School Board has to make sure that their faculty and
13 staff are trained well and all the time for this.
14 So just considering in the future, you know,
15 looking at the trainings that the school district offers
16 and using their resources, you know, our staffing
17 specialists.
18 For example, this is including children into
19 classrooms with disabilities. I'm sure that we can, you
20 know, it can be -- that same skill set can be used, you
21 know, outside. You know, we have many people trained in
22 our district to do this work.
23 MS. DE MOYA: Any other questions, comments?
24 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: I just want to say, I
25 echo those sentiments exactly.
Page 571 MS. NUELL: Anyone else?
2 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
3 MS. DE MOYA: All those in favor?
4 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
5 with "aye".)
6 MS. DE MOYA: Opposed?
7 DR. PEREZ: Opposed.
8 COMMISSIONER SUAREZ: Suarez.
9 MS. HERNANDEZ-MATS: Hernandez-Mats.
10 MS. DE MOYA: Did we get all the opposed?
11 There was three. Resolution 2017-76, authorization to
12 negotiate and execute contracts with eight providers
13 selected following a competitive solicitation for early
14 childhood community research demonstration projects
15 focused on implementing and evaluating programs of
16 high-need populations to support early childhood
17 development.
18 The providers recommended for funding are
19 listed below, in a combined total amount of
20 $2,056,000.00, and each contract will be for a term of
21 15 months commencing May 1st, 2017 and ending July 31st,
22 2018, with three possible 12-month renewals.
23 Motion for discussion?
24 MR. HINCAPIE: So moved, Hincapie.
25 MS. DE MOYA: Second?
Page 581 DR. PEREZ: Second, Perez.
2 MS. DE MOYA: Recusals?
3 DR. BAGNER: Bagner.
4 MS. DE MOYA: Questions, discussion?
5 MS. HOLLINGSWORTH: Madam Vice-Chair, if I
6 may. Speaking as a member of the early childhood work
7 group that was convened during the summer of 2016, I'd
8 really like to take this opportunity to express how
9 pleased I am about the resolutions that we're
10 considering.
11 We considered these resolutions favorably in
12 the Programs Committee meeting and we're now about to
13 discuss here. You'll recall that that work group was
14 made up of Board members and included staff and
15 stakeholders and community partners, all of whom
16 participated in the discussion.
17 And that work group provided -- we were
18 provided with a wealth of background information,
19 materials. We observed presentations by content
20 experts.
21 And the conversations over the summer were
22 both rigorous and rich. And at the end, the work group
23 overwhelmingly recommended that emphasis be placed on
24 evidence and research-based practice in innovating
25 programs accompanied by evaluation.
Page 591 And I do think that that was captured
2 accurately in the subsequent RFP's, and that's exactly
3 what we're being recommended today. It's a full range
4 of programs, all focused in the birth-to-five space, all
5 accompanied by rich research and evaluation.
6 So I just want to extend my thanks. I do
7 believe that the ideas and the concept of the community
8 research demonstration projects is coming to life. I've
9 had an opportunity to thoroughly review all of the
10 recommendations and I find them to be both innovative
11 and also meeting the challenge of the work group, and
12 thank you.
13 MS. DE MOYA: Thank you very much for your
14 comments. And we know that Dr. Bagner echoes, even
15 though he can't speak.
16 DR. PEREZ: Point of order, Madam Chair.
17 Madam Chair, point of order. Unfortunately, I should
18 have recused myself, so I must withdraw my second. So
19 you need to --
20 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. So we'll just go back.
21 Who was the first motion for discussion?
22 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: The motion was made by
23 Hincapie.
24 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. So now we need a
25 second.
Page 601 JUDGE PRESCOTT: Prescott, second.
2 MS. DE MOYA: Prescott, second. Recusals,
3 Dr. Perez and Dr. Bagner.
4 MS. NUELL: You have to say why.
5 MS. DE MOYA: That's right. You need to
6 state the reason for your recusal.
7 DR. BAGNER: I'm employed by FIU which is
8 one of the --
9 DR. PEREZ: And we are involved in some of
10 these as well. The School District is involved in some
11 of these as well.
12 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. Any questions?
13 MS. NUELL: I have a question. So I just
14 was wondering. I guess I didn't notice it before. So
15 this resolution and the next one and there's probably
16 more. Anyway, this is for a term of 15 months ending
17 July 31st, 2018 with three possible 12-month renewals.
18 So I just wanted to ask about that, because
19 I thought, you know, we then are putting out new
20 solicitations but these would --
21 MS. SYLVESTRE: So the reason why this is 15
22 months is so that we can get through -- there's a
23 planning phase and then put us on the funding cycle that
24 most of our contracts are on August 1st, and help us get
25 through the next year, the last year of the current
Page 611 funding cycle, and this will align to the first year of
2 their cycle.
3 And then there's three more years of the new
4 funding cycle that we're going to release in the fall so
5 that we're working towards having our entire portfolio
6 be on an August 1st start date, which makes it easier
7 for us to understand and bring renewals and know when
8 you're supposed to renew.
9 So instead of having us have resos and
10 contracts renewing throughout the year, we want to have
11 it just one time through the year.
12 MS. NUELL: I understand that, but I just
13 was questioning the additional three possible 12-month
14 renewals. Does that mean it won't go through the RFP
15 process or --
16 MS. SYLVESTRE: No.
17 MS. NUELL: -- is there an assumption that
18 they'll be re-funded for the cycle?
19 MS. SYLVESTRE: It will go through -- not
20 the one in the fall but the one after that. That's when
21 it's going to go back through the RFP process.
22 MS. NUELL: Right.
23 MS. DE MOYA: Is that clear to you? Because
24 now that you brought it up, it's not clear to me. So if
25 it's three possible renewals, you assume that they're
Page 621 going to be funded for three --
2 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: This is no different
3 than what you do all the time. You put out an RFP. You
4 select programs. The first time they go up, you have a
5 contract, your first contract cycle, you're always
6 subject to two-year additional renewals if they perform
7 appropriately.
8 This is what you do all the time. This is
9 nothing different.
10 MS. DE MOYA: I know.
11 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: This happens to be the
12 first one.
13 MS. DE MOYA: But I was under the -- at
14 least, and I think Laurie is in the same boat here as I
15 am, which I was under the impression that this, in
16 particular, initiative was not just an assumption that
17 it would be a three-year renewal, that it would go up
18 again next year because it was new.
19 MR. HAJ: Lori, would you mind chiming in.
20 DR. HANSON: Sure. We released three new
21 things in this year. We did it because of additional
22 allocations that the Board approved in the budget last
23 year.
24 These were off-cycle, if you will. And so
25 we did two different things within those three. So two
Page 631 of them, this one and the next one, we put out in the
2 RFP and you approved when you approved the release of
3 the solicitation, a four-year funding cycle, instead of
4 a three-year funding cycle, the reason for that being
5 that when all the other cycles come to be up, this would
6 align with those.
7 And we did not do that with the summer
8 youth, which comes in a couple -- the 78, because we
9 wanted that to be combined with all the other youth
10 programs when it comes out this fall. So that one will
11 only be funded for two summers as opposed to these
12 others that will have a four-year funding cycle.
13 The one you're talking about now is
14 research. It's community services but it's research on
15 those community services. Anyone who's been involved in
16 doing an intensive evaluation or research project knows
17 it takes a long time to do that. So we thought it made
18 sense for that.
19 Family strengthening is the next one. And
20 the reason that that one is aligned that way is because
21 it will be aligned up with the partnerships RFP, which
22 you're going to be getting the recommendations for that
23 next month, and those services are very much
24 hand-in-hand, so we wanted those to be on the same
25 funding cycle.
Page 641 MS. NUELL: No, I understand. I didn't
2 realize that it was not the -- because some of the
3 resolutions, they're finishing their three-year cycle,
4 right? Maybe not these, maybe last month's or -- okay.
5 I understand.
6 DR. HANSON: Yeah, these three are new
7 recommendations and then all the rest are the renewals
8 of the final year of the --
9 MS. NUELL: Right, okay, so that was my
10 confusion. Thank you.
11 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. Thank you.
12 MR. HINCAPIE: I have a question.
13 Specifically on one of the programs, to address
14 challenging behaviors. I just want to make sure that
15 those strategies are not medications. Citrus Health
16 Network, I just want to make sure that the strategies
17 don't involve medications.
18 DR. HANSON: Correct, it's not. They're
19 using the future child interaction training, which is an
20 adaptation of PCIT, which many of you might have seen,
21 is our program of the year last year -- well, that one
22 is a parent behavioral management intervention. PCIT is
23 an adaption to give that same intervention to teachers.
24 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. Any other questions?
25 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
Page 651 MS. DE MOYA: All those in favor?
2 (WHEREUPON, the Board members all responded
3 with "aye".)
4 MS. DE MOYA: Opposed?
5 (NO VERBAL RESPONSE.)
6 MS. DE MOYA: Resolution passes unanimously.
7 MS. ARISTA-VOLSKY: You had two recusals.
8 MS. DE MOYA: Okay. Resolution 2017-77,
9 authorization to negotiate and execute contracts with
10 ten providers selected following a competitive
11 solicitation for family strengthening services.
12 The providers recommended for funding are
13 listed below in a combined total amount of
14 $3,910,017.00. Each initial contract will be for a term
15 of 15 months commencing May 1st, 2017 and ending July
16 31st, 2018, with three possible 12-month renewals.
17 Motion for discussion?
18 MR. GAINEY: So moved, Gainey.
19 MS. DE MOYA: Second?
20 JUDGE PRESCOTT: Prescott.
21 MS. DE MOYA: Recusals?
22 DR. BAGNER: Bagner, again, employed by FIU.
23 MS. DE MOYA: Any questions or discussion?
24 MS. KENDRICK-DUNN: I have a point of
25 discussion. Looking at this, the different types of
Page 661 therapies that are going to take place, I'm just
2 wondering about the research on these therapies, in
3 particular, with children of color.
4 I am assuming that the majority of the
5 children that are going to be participating in these
6 programs are going to be children of color, given that
7 the local school district is about -- the children in
8 our district are about 60 percent Hispanic/Latino and
9 about 20 percent are black, roughly.
10 And so I just wanted to know about these
11 different therapies and their proof of efficacy with
12 children of color, you know, black children, the
13 Latino/Hispanic children, children with disabilities,
14 because that's important for me to know.
15