AGENDA DATE: 8/9/2017
TITLE:
Title
The Agency Budget and Review Team (ABRT) Background and Recommendations for the FY 19 Budget Development Process
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Request that the Board approve the ABRT application process approach to improve the alignment of applications for FY 19 funding with the County’s Strategic Plan
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Walker, Letteri, Kamptner, Savides and L. Allshouse
PRESENTER (S): Lori Allshouse, Phyllis Savides, and Gretchen Ellis, City staff
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Douglas C. Walker
BACKGROUND: The Agency Budget and Review Team (ABRT) is a 16 member team that reviews and evaluates community agency program requests that are made to both the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County governments. City staff manages the ABRT process on behalf of both the City and the County. This includes issuing applications, facilitating orientations and trainings, providing technical assistance to applicant agencies, organizing and staffing team meetings, and preparing annual reports. The County provides funding to the City to support these coordination efforts. Annually, based on ABRT’s evaluation and resulting scores and in consultation with County staff who work most closely with these agencies, the County’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provides the initial funding recommendations to the County Executive. The County Executive includes the recommendations for ABRT agency funding in the Recommended Budget.
The City/County ABRT was created in 1994 and the process has evolved along the way. In 2001, the ABRT process included a focus on achieving outcomes and incorporated outcome measurement as part of the application process. In 2012, the process was comprehensively evaluated, and the application for funding became aligned with City and County priorities. In 2016, applicants began to apply for funding using an on-line application tool, and the County transferred the review of arts and cultural agency’s funding requests from the ABRT to an in-house cross-departmental County team.
The County’s Adopted FY 18 Budget includes $1.47 million in contributions to agencies that have applied for funding through the ABRT process. This ABRT-related funding provides contribution to twenty-four agencies. See Attachment A for more details.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Mission: To enhance the well-being and quality of life for all citizens through the provision of the highest level of public service consistent with the prudent use of public funds.
DISCUSSION: Each year, County staff review its prior year’s budget development processes to identify improvements for the upcoming year. In preparation for one of the upcoming FY 19 budget process that begins later this month, City and County staff have worked together to identify ways to improve the alignment of the ABRT funding process to the City’s and County’s strategic plans. Our desire is to utilize a consistent approach that will be clear and understandable for both City and County applicants.
With the ABRT’s on-going focus on the use of outcome metrics to measure results, the City has consulted with local Human Service agencies to identify a collective set of outcome metrics that align with the City’s strategic plan. This effort resulted in the identification of 24 outcome metrics that support the City’s FY 19 - FY 20 Strategic Plan. In FY 19, agencies that apply for City funding will be required to demonstrate their program’s support of the City’s Strategic Planning goals and objectives, as well as utilize at least two of the City’s Strategic Plan’s outcome metrics to demonstrate their focus on results. Additional details regarding the City’s goals, objectives and outcome measures are included in Attachment B.
The County’s FY 17 - FY 19 Strategic Plan includes two long-term goals that guide ABRT-related funding for the County. These long-term goals are: 1) Educational Opportunities: Provide lifelong learning opportunities for all our citizens, and 2) Quality Government Operations: Ensure County government’s capacity to provide high quality service that achieves community priorities. County staff believes that in addition to these goals, specific human service-related priorities would provide additional guidance for agencies applying for County funding through the ABRT process and would support the needs of County residents. For the Board of Supervisor’s consideration for inclusion in the upcoming FY 19 ABRT budget development process, the Department of Social Services (DSS) developed the following list of human services-related priority areas that support the County’s Vision, Mission, and goal to “Ensure the government’s capacity to provide high quality services that achieves community priorities”:
1) Provide services that assist to improve employability and/or achieve self-sufficiency
2) Provide for a continuum of housing interventions with overall goal of achieving safe, affordable and permanent housing for at-risk individuals and families
3) Provide medical and dental support for low income individuals and families
4) Provide services that address needs of at-risk children and youth, and their families
5) Provide supportive services for victims of abuse, neglect or violence
6) Provide support for persons interacting with the legal or criminal justice system
7) Provide support for early childhood development and learning, including pre-natal support for at-risk mothers, early intervention strategies and pre-k learning
8) Provide support for persons with limiting conditions or different abilities, including problems with mental health
In addition, DSS and City staff reviewed the outcomes developed by the City and Human Service agencies and aligned the County’s priorities to these outcome metrics as applicable.
Although the City and County priorities remain somewhat different, the desired outcome metrics would be consistent, providing additional clarity for ABRT human service applicants. If the above-listed human services priorities were used for County funding requests, agencies would be able to readily identify one or more outcome metrics areas that their core programs could address. See Attachment C for the alignment of the County’s proposed Human Services-related priorities to corresponding outcome metrics.
BUDGET IMPACT: The current (FY 18) County Budget includes $1.47 million in support for ABRT agencies. The budget-related impact of this request would improve the alignment of ABRT agency applications to the County’s Human Service priorities. FY 19 ABRT-related funding recommendations will be based on the applications received and will be included in the FY 19 Recommended Budget.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board approve the human services priorities and related outcome metric requirements to provide additional guidance in the County’s FY19 ABRT budget development process and greater consistency with the City’s approach in this joint ABRT process. Staff further recommends that the Board consider the inclusion of human service-related priorities in the County’s next strategic planning development process.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: ABRT Agencies funded in the County’s FY 18 Budget
Attachment B: Alignment of the City of Charlottesville’s Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives and outcome metrics for the FY 19 ABRT process.
Attachment C: Recommended alignment of the County’s proposed human services priorities and outcome metrics for the FY 19 ABRT process.