Title
Agenda Item:
Approval of Interlocal Agreement Creating the Thurston County Regional Health and Human Services Council (HHSC)
Body
Issues:
1. Shall the City enter into the Interlocal Agreement with the cities of Lacey and Tumwater, and Thurston County for the creation of a new regional health and human service coordinating council?
2. Shall the City commit 1/2 of 1% of sales tax from each prior year's full sales tax General Fund sales tax collections ($76,000)?
3. Shall the City allocate $45,000 previously set aside for social service needs to the HHSC regional allocation process?
Committee Recommendation:
Recommendation is supported by the Regional Health and Human Services Planning Committee. Councilmember Cooper is Olympia's representative to the Committee.
City Manager's Recommendation:
1. Move to authorize the Mayor to execute the attached Interlocal Agreement with the cities of Lacey and Tumwater, and Thurston County to create a new regional Health and Human Services Council for the purposes of allocating pooled public resources to fund unmet health and human service needs within the Thurston County area, including Olympia.
2. Allocate the $45,000 in Council Goal funds set aside for social services to the 2013 Health and Human Services Council prioritization process.
Staff Contact:
Steve Hall, City Manager 360.753.8370
Steve Friddle, 360.753.8591
Anna Schlecht, 360.753.8183
Councilmember Jim Cooper, 360.753.8447
Presenter(s):
City Manager Steve Hall
Councilmember Jim Cooper
Background and Analysis:
On December 19, 2011 the City of Olympia signed an Interlocal Agreement with the cities of Lacey and Tumwater and Thurston County to dissolve the previous Human Services Review Council (HSRC) entity that had been in place since 1982. As part of the Interlocal Agreement, the parties agreed to establish a planning committee for the purposes of forming a new countywide health and human services coordinating entity. The proposed Interlocal Agreement (Attachment #2) is the result and unanimous recommendation of the Planning Committee. The first Interlocal Agreement is Attachment #1.
The Health and Human Service Planning Committee (HHSPC) has been meeting twice per month since February, 2012 to create a new regional coordinating committee for Thurston County and its partner cities. The reasoning and general consensus behind the creation of a new organization included the following:
1. The current health and human services grant application process is burdensome, does not create focus or shared outcomes, and the process is not flexible.
2. Participating jurisdictions felt that a new regional approach could allow the County and its partner cities to access larger resources and more opportunities to strengthen and maximize the efficiency of social and human service investments.
3. The agreement proposes to create a better grant application process and evaluation tools that could more efficiently serve both the member jurisdictions and the not-for-profit agencies that provide many of these services.
Members of the HHSPC consisted of one elected official and the administrator from each participating jurisdiction. In addition, other resource staff were available at the meetings. The planning committee began its work in February, 2012 and has completed its work on the new proposed Interlocal Agreement.
The major features of the new Interlocal Agreement are as follows:
Voting: Each member shall retain one equal vote in determining recommendations for health and human service funding. (In the past, each jurisdiction had one citizen and one elected representative. In the new proposal, only the elected representatives will vote.)
Expandability: While the new Interlocal Agreement is focused only on the distribution of General Fund sales tax from the members, the structure has been developed so it can be expanded to add other funding sources in the future.
Funding Amount: Funding from each member entity is set at 1/2 of 1% of the prior full year's General Fund sales tax. The Interlocal Agreement allows members to add other funds. For example, Thurston County has indicated that for the 2014 allocation, it intends to add $100,000 of treatment sales tax to the regional funding mix to support regional health and human service projects.
Streamlined Administration Staffing: The Interlocal Agreement designates an administrataive agent to provide staffing for all the entities in development of an RFP, support to the HHSC, contract administration, and other administrative duties. In exchange for these responsibilities, the Administrative Agent shall receive 10% of the total HHSC funding dollars.
Next Steps for HHSC
Following adoption of the new Interlocal Agreement, the members of the Health and Human Services Council will:
1. Work on developing a joint consolidated plan for the partners that establishes clear regional human service priorities.
2. Explore adding funding under the new HHSC umbrella.
Allocation of City Goal Funds Designated for Social Service Funding
In early 2012, the City Council agreed to set aside $45,000 of its annual Council Goal Funding to support health and human service program in the greater Olympia area. To date, there has been no decision about an allocation process for those funds.
Adding the funds to the Health and Human Services Council's prioritization process will allow additional funding to not-for-profit entities in the community.
If the City does not use the HHSC process, its option would be to create its own RFP and prioritization process or to designate the funds for some specific Olympia health and human service need. At this time staff is not aware of any specific need discussed by the Council outside of the regional prioritization process.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
In addition to the elected officials and City staff at the HHSPC meetings, interested parties from not-for-profit agencies and other have participated from time to time in the discussions.
Options:
HHSPC Interlocal Agreement
1. Authorize the Mayor to execute the attached Interlocal Agreement
2. Do not enter into the Interlocal Agreement
3. Propose to modify the Interlocal Agreement
Allocation of $45,000 in Social Service Funding
1. Allocate the additional $45,000 to the HHSC regional allocation process
2. Carry the money forward into 2013
3. Designate a specific RFP process and criteria for Olympia to determine use of the $45,000
Financial Impact:
$45,000 from the City of Olympia's General Fund for 2012, plus an annual allocation of 1/2 of 1% of the prior year's full sales tax General Fund sales tax collections ($76,000).