HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-13-2009
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~R U~ RN HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
WASHINGTQN MINUTES
OCTOBER 13, 2009
I. CALL TO ORDER
The October meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Conference Room located
on the first floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, WA.
Committee Members present were: Chair Suzanne Limric, Barbara Derda, Marian Thomas, Virginia Lloyd-Baron, Michael
Harbin, Tony Ladner, JoAnne Walters, Bette Van Gasken and Lela Brugger -
Staff present were: Human SeNices Manager Michael Hursh and Community Services Project Assistant Kirsten Reynolds
Guests present were: Mayor Pete Lewis, Beth Hammonds and Faith Richie from Valley Cities Counseling & Consultation
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES ,
Committee Member Derda moved to accept the September 8, 2009 minutes as read; Member
Ladner seconded.
The September 8, 2009 minutes were approved.
III AGENDA
A. King County Human Service Funding - Mayor Pete Lewis explained King County will be
cutting all their Human Service funding as of December 13, 2009. All cities previously
receiving King County funding will be revising their Human Services budgets; Auburn City
Council has agreed to continue the same level of Human Service funding as they always have
regardless of King County funding cuts.
Auburn won't be able to make up lost funding for agencies currently receiv.ing King County
funding. The Human Services Committee was in support of having agencies partner to get
thought this hard financial time. It is evident that agencies will come to the Human Services
Committee asking fbr additional funding, we won't be able to meet the additional needs.
B. Initiative 1033 - Mayor Lewis explained if this initiative passed property tax dollars would not
be put back in a reserve and/or roll over for next years expenditures. The Committee had
discussion around the importance of voters understanding this bill. It is so important for voters
to be educated on this bill and right now they aren't getting accurate information. ,
C. Valley Cities Counseling and Consultation (VCC) - Guest speakers Beth Hammonds and
Faith Richie from VCC presented to the Human Services Committee. They shared about
progress in their new COD (Co-Occurring Disorders) Program which Auburn has partnered in
funding for the first time in 2009. They also shared information about their pomestic Violence
Advocacy Program. Valley Cities provided a consolidated recap on both services and how
both programs are working. The COD Program is within the Healthcare Providers funding
group and DV Advocacy is under the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault human services
classification.
Ms. Richie stated they are concerned with the County and State funding cuts but will not be
come to the City for additional funding; the agency doesn't believe in cost shifting. Chair
Limric explained that the Human Services Committee is very focused on seeing outcomes.
Ms. Richie explained that Valley Cities has always spent a lot of time focusing on productive
outcomes. Valley Cities is a part of the One Stop Shop effort and has been attending
meetings monthly.
Domestic Violence Program - Manager Laura Deer presented an update on the Domestic
Violence Program. Valley Cities has served 82 Auburn victims under this program. The
program supports children and adults coming together to stop violence in homes; the program
teaches victims how to stop the violence through a 12-week classroom program. Several
clients have expressed the classes are extremely helpful and have requested to help teach the
class. There are two groups that meet once a week for two hours. One group is for the
children and one group for the adults, the groups do not meet at the same time. Victim
support also includes legal advice, immigration, housing and food services. Victim safety
planning is an on-going education piece and has been mandated through court orders.
Member Brugger suggested a good partnership would be the Auburn School District to help
continue the education in the community; VCC should have a conversation with
Superintendent Kip Herron regarding promotion of healthy families against Domestic Violence.
COD Program - Laura Deer presented an update on the Co-Occurring Disorders (COD)
Program. COD treatment is for individuals with no insurance (Medicaid or Medicare) and/or
have no money. VCC staff are all licensed mental health and licensed substance abuse
professionals.
Participation in group sessions is par of an assessment for clients. Individual services offered
including 24-7 crisis help, physiological evaluations and assistance with medications. More
often than not COD clients don't like to participate or engage in the program because of their
symptoms. Drugs help treat their symptoms but COD clients are the highest risk population.
To keep clients engaged they are pushed to get involved. Currently there are seven clients
from Auburn and 40 clients total going through the program. Many clients come through the
front door or transitioned from hospital emergency rooms. This is an on-going constant
engagement; this is a long-term piece for sustainability.
Where did the idea of the COD treatment evolve from?
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMPSA) is a federal agency
that studied this type of services program. Valley Cities has tried to replicate this type of
structure. Currently the program is not mandated treatment.
Are there plans to set up a support network with the families of COD clients? Currently
Valley Cities has a peer support specialists that addresses part of the issue. There is not a
formal volunteer group set up.
D. Annual Action Plan - The 2010-2014 Annual Action Plan is a five year document, the Human
Services Committee projects what Auburn's goals are through education and housing and how
to engage residents in the community. Human Services Manager Michael Hursh explained
the Action Plan is currently in a public comment period and will be over on November 2"a
which then Auburn City Council will approve. The Plan was presented to the Planning and
Community Development Committee in September, resulting in three minor changes to the
document.
The City of Auburn contributes $550,000+ funds out of the Generat Fund to support human
services agencies; Auburn also receives approximately $400,000 of HUD money. The City
has an additional $50,000 to support internal run programs, i.e. emergency hotel vouchers.
The capital funds section was changed and reviewed.
The Housing Repair Program provides minor home repairs for home owners that qualify. It is
an open application that people can apply for, if they qualify applicants can get up to $5,000 for
work to be done on their home within a five year period. The program is advertised in the
Auburn Reporter once a year; it's posted at the Auburn Senior Center, promoted at
neighborhood meetings and gets promoted by word of mouth. Auburn has a line of credit with
HUD for Housing Repair; HUD doesn't put a time line on when money has to be spent, so we
have money in our reserve for future projects.
Can volunteers be used to fix peop/e's homes under the Housing Repair Program?
Volunteers can not currently assist in fixing people's homes that are having work paid for by
HUD. Auburn has been working with HUD to try this option; HUD dollars would be used to buy
the materials and skilled labors serving as volunteers would do the repair work.
Michael Hursh serves on a Joint Recommendation Committee along with representatives from
the cities of King County who advise where HUD money should be spent for the region
received via the County; Auburn, Seattle and Bellevue receive direct funds from HUD and
manage their own money. Auburn Community Center - Auburn can access $6 million plus $2 million from an approx.
1% rate low cost Section 108 Loan which would go towards getting the Auburn Community
. Center built. Auburn would have to service the debt for the next twenty years out of its CDBG
allocation in order to take advantage of this opportunity. Viable capital projects are hard to
come by. Valley Cities Counseling is getting $50,000 to build a 24 unit capital project
apartment building presently.
IV. ADDITIONAL TOPICS • The Committee requested Sarah Miller to come present on the latest with potential flooding
and discuss what the Committee can do to help educate the public.
• Senior Services is the last agency from the Health Care category.
• The Committee was interested in having Dave Okimoto from United Way convene a panel.
The City is willing to pay United Way to help Human Services to bring a panel together to
review the original goals and possibly revamp them with the input of agencies.
V. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting is scheduled for November 10, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:24 p.m.
APPROVED THE LO day of Q , 2009.
S d
,aM ann Limric, ir Kirs en Reyn ds, ommunity Services Project Assistant