HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-21-2008 - 4gORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: October 21, 2008
Action Agenda
Item No.
SUBJECT: EI Futuro, Inc. Request for Funding: Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services
DEPARTMENT: County Manager's Office PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
ATTACHMENT(S):
A. Letter from EI Futuro, Inc.
presented to the BOCC on
September 16, 2008
B. Letter from EI Futuro dated October
14, 2008
C. 2008-09 HSAC Recommendations
D. Safety Net and Critical Needs
Reserve Summary FY03-FY08
INFORMATION CONTACT
Gwen Harvey, Asst Co. Mgr, 245 -2307
PURPOSE:
Consideration of request from EI Futuro, Inc. a Carrboro not-for-profit providing behavioral
health resources for underserved Latinos in Orange County.
BACKGROUND:
EI Futuro, incorporated in November 2004, was founded by a coalition of trainees from the UNC
Psychiatry Department, members of the Latino-serving social services agencies, and physicians
from Carrboro Community Health Center. They shared a mutual concern about the unmet need
for treatment of Latinos with emotional problems. Since then they have seen almost 900 clients,
66% of whom are uninsured, and 27% through Health Choice or Medicaid. Seventy-eight (78)
percent of clients have household incomes below the poverty level.
EI Futuro, Inc. approached the BOCC at its meeting on September 16 with a request for funding
in the amount of $60,000, recalling the recommendation from the Human Services Advisory
Commission (HSAC) in spring 2008 as part of the outside agency grant application process. (EI
Futuro, Inc. has since updated their letter of request and provided a copy to County
Management. See Attachment A and B for copies of their correspondence.)
EI Futuro, Inc. had requested in the 2008 application and HSAC had recommended to the
BOCC that the agency be funded in full at $60,000. At the time, Judy Truitt and OPC
management had supported the recommendation as well, saying "EI Futuro continues to be a
significant player in the provision of treatment to the underserved Latino community".
2
Due to fiscal constraints, the BOCC instructed County management to maintain FY07-08
funded agencies at the same level for FY08-09. As a result, EI Futuro, Inc. received no County
appropriation in FY08-09. A total of ten (10) agency applicants fell into this category and HSAC
recommended six (6) of them for some amount of funding from the County -Adolescent
Pregnancy Coalition, Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA/Boomerang, EI Futuro, Inc., Extraordinary
Ventures, Orange County Partnership for Young Children, TROSSA, and UNC-CH Department
of Psychiatry. See Attachment C for complete list of HSAC recommendations from spring
2008.
When EI Futuro, Inc. came before the BOCC with this special request on September 16, they
described an urgent need to receive operating funds so direct services could be maintained,
and the requirement also to demonstrate local financial support when seeking funds from
outside donors and foundations.
County management is sensitive to the circumstances of fledging non-profits,
particularly those attempting to respond to mental health reform, but must advise of
difficulties created when special requests like that of EI Futuro, Inc. occur outside the
normal budget decision making process:
• It deviates from an accepted practice whereby all agency grant applications are received,
reviewed and recommended for award simultaneously and on a competitive basis
• It suggests an element of political favoritism, a longstanding criticism of the grant award
system
• It opens the door to additional agencies coming forward throughout the budget year with
their own individual appeals
• In a year of strained and uncertain resources, it threatens contingent fund availability for
County agencies that provide core human services
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
A total of $145,000 is currently available in the Safety Net and Critical Needs Reserve for FY08-
09.
Attachment C provides a summary of how Safety Net and Critical Needs Reserve funds have
been allocated by the BOCC since FY03 to FY08. The Reserve was originally created by the
BOCC to address unanticipated, urgent needs or serious budgetary shortfalls created within the
local human services network as a result of adverse actions at the state or federal level.
Currently, the Governor has called for state agencies to cut back 3 percent of their
appropriations. The net effect on County operations is still being evaluated .
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board deny the request pending
from EI Futuro, Inc. for funding in FY08-09.
,4~E~&~--- ,4-
3.
El Futuro, Inc.
"North Carolina's Non-profit Resource for Latino Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment"
110 W. Main St., Suite 2H - Carrboro, North Carolina 27510 '
Telephone (919) 338-1939 //Fax (919) 33&2729 //Web www.elfuturo-nc.org
stiff Orange County Board of Commissioners
Psychiatrist/Executive Attn: Barry Jacobs, Chair
Director 200 South Cameron Street
Luke Smith, MD Hillsborough, NC 27278
Program Manager
Karen Current, LCSW Deaz IVIr. Jacobs,
Mental Health and We aze requesting the Commissioners to reconsider El Futuro's request for funding to
substance Abuse Program
Director rovide behavioral health services to. residents of Oran a Coun As ou aze well
P g t3'• y
aware, the County has suffered the loss of several large behavioral health providers over
Sandy Ruu, LCSW, LSAC the last several years. Behavioral health services for non-English speaking residents of
Therapists Orange County are particularly scarce except for those provided by our agency, El
Birgitte B Espitia, PhD Futuro.
Josh Hinson, LCSW,
CSAC-I
In the spring of 2008, the Human Services Advisory Commission (HSAC)
Alejandro Mortfnez- recommended for El Futuro to receive $60,000 in funding for our work during 2008-09.
Lacabe, Msw We ask for you to reconsider this request now. El Futuro will use Orange County funds
Karla Siu, LCSW to pay for services to Orange County residents who do not qualify for publicly funded
services..
Business Manager At present, El Futuro has. 1,530 active patients in treatment. We have seen an increased
Ximena Martinez demand for our services over the last yeaz and we think this trend will continue. Our
Clinical Assistant goals aze simple: help children stay in school and help them be more emotionally
Conf Garcia prepared to learn, reduce the high rates of suicidality among teenagers (especially
among Latina youth), reduce alcohol and substance use, and to reduce time missed from
Board of Directors work due to mental illness and addiction disorders. El Futuro acts as a health care
safety-net provider for residents of Orange County who are most.vulnerable to the
Martha Olaya-Crowley, stresses of poverty, discrimination, violence, and the stigma of mental illness.
MEc( LCSW
Chair
At this time, we are looking to foundations to help support our work. The first question
Marcia Fapinola they often ask is whether or not our own community values our work. By supporting
Jack Haggerty, MD our work now, Orange County can leverage funds to help us acquire new funding to not
only continue our work but also expand our services.
Gillum Hall, MHA, MBA
Secretary ~~ you for reconsidering our request. We look forwazd to working with you to
Don Hartman serve the residents of Orange County for many years to come.
Maria Lapetina
Since ely,
Zaida Montez
Treasurer
Juan Ortiz ~ uke Smith, MD
Executive Director
Maria Inds Robayo
Leslie Winner, JD
a~a.~B
Staff
Psychiatrist/Ezecutive
Director
Luke Smith, MD
Program Manager
Karen Current, LCSw
Mental Health and
Snbstance Abase Program
Director
El Futu~o Inc. `~
"North Carolina's Non-profit Resource for Latino Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatrncnt"
110 W. Main St., Suite 2H- Catrboro, North Carolina 27510
Telephone (919) 338»1939 // Pax (919) 338-2729 // Web www.elfuturo-nc.org
October 14, 2008
Honorable County Commissioners
Orange County Board of Commissioners
P.O. Box 8181
Hillsborough, NC 27278
Dear Commissioners Jacobs, Foushee, Carey, Gordon and Nelson:
Sandy Ruiz, LCSW, LSAC
I am writing to request that you fund El Futuro with a $60,000 allocation for Fiscal
Therapists Year 2008.
Birgitte B Espitia, PhD
Josh Hinson, Lcsw, As you know, the Human Services Advisory Board recommended our funding at that
cs,~c I amount last spring. Coincidentally, our current projected budget deficit is exactly
Alejandro Martinez- $60,000. We were unprepared in one way not to receive these funds; on the other hand,
Lacabe, Msw as we stated in our application and testimony, we have known all along that diverse
Karta siu, Lcsw sources of local funding support would be vital for our financial feasibility. The
majority of our clients come from Orange County.
Snsiness Manager Specifically, we have started to have to take cost saving measures that will threaten our
Ximena Martinez existence if we do not receive support quickly.
Clinical Assistant
Coni Garcia We have had to lay off an administrative assistant who acted as a "therapist extender"
by sending FAXes and doing data entry and outreach work for us. As a result,
soars of Directors professional staffpaid at a higher level whose work would otherwise generate income
through clinical work oz grant writing is diverted to carrying out these functions.
Martha Olaya-Crowley,
MEChair~ At this time we are reducing the amount of clinical services we are able to offer in
Orange County. We are continuing our services in another county where we have
Marcia Erpinola received support and, consequently, were able to leverage those funds to secure two
Jack Haggerty, MD contracts from the state. Those state contracts were only possible because of the
funding we had received from the county. Contractors and grant foundations are more
Gillam Hall. MHA. MBA ~l~g to contract with us if we show that we have local support. For now, we are
Secretary
pulling staff from Carrboro sites to send them to another county as our Carrboro therapy
Don Hartman hours are not all funded. Funding from Orange County will allow us to keep our
Maria Lapetina services strong here and leverage your support to secure state contracts and foundation
support for our county.
Zaida Montez
Treasurer Ironically, our Carrboro sites tend to be more productive irl terms of number of
Juan Ortiz appointments attended, so we hesitate to make this decision for a number of reasons.
Marta Ines Robayo
Leslie Winner, JD
5
Immigrants are suffering disproportionately from our current economic crisis. We see this in ow
patient population -for instance, our clients' average annual income per person has gone down '
$449.00 compared to a year ago. When you consider that for a family of four this is a $1,796
reduction in annual income, with average annual family income $14,9701ast year, you start to see ~.
the impact that is having on standards of living. The median household income in our county is
$42,6801.
These mentally ill, uninsured, marginalized families, paying Chapel Hill and Carrboro prices for
necessities and scrimping on housing, food, and transportation, contribute almost $50,000 per y
cash money to our agency in payments of $10 or $20 per visit.
As you know, it is difficult to find and keep well-qualified bilingual and bicultwal professional
personnel in ow area. We are very proud of ow staff, including six therapists, a psychiatrist,
business manager and clinic assistant, from Honduras, Nicaragua, Columbia, Argentina and the
United States. If we have to let some of them go or keep piling on to their work load after already
eliminating cost of living expenses we may never recover in terms of services or the financial
snowballing as fenders lose faith in our ability to complete ow plans.
Orange County's loss of El Futwo's services most importantly will have a human impact in terms'
of substance abuse, anxiety, depression, and children's problems not treated. It will also impact
other sectors, such as our landlord, the InterFaith Council, another receipient of county funds.
They are counting on the $21,600 we pay them in rent each year.
El Futuro has re uested financial su rt from Oran a Coun ev
q ppo g ty ery year since 2005. This may ;
truly be yow last chance to help us. Thank you very much for whatever you can do, and for your
service on behalf of our entire community.
Sincerely,
D. Lucas Smith, M.D.
Executive Director
Cc: Laura Blackmon, County Manager
Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager
i North Carolina Economic Devebpment Intelligence System,
hops://edis. tom merce.state.nc. us/dots/rnuntyProfile/NC/37135. pdf
~~G~~-~
2008-09 HSAC Recommendation
Agency Name
A Helping Hand
Adolescent Preganancy Coalition
Adolescents in Need
Alliance of AIDS Services
Alternative Sentencing
American Red Cross
AnimalKind
ArtsCenter
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA/Boomerang
Charles House
Child Care Services Association
Chrysalis Foundation for Mental Health
Club Nova
Communities in Schools
Cornucopia House
Disability Awareness Council
Dispute Settlement Center
Duke Hospice Services
EI Centro Latino
EI Futuro
EmPOWERment
Extraordinary Ventures
Family Violence Prevention Center
Food Bank
Freedom House
Habitat for Humanity
Hillsborough Youth Athletic Association
Historic Hillsborough Commission
Historical Foundation
FY 2007-08
5,000
0
75, 749
3, 000
83,000
5,000
0
10,000
5,000
0
11, 000
43, 025
20, 000
5, 000
55, 000
2,000
3, 500
34,000
4,000
21,000
0
13,545
0
19,400
4, 500
24, 000
15, 000
23,625
9,000
5,000
08-09 Requested
10, 000
500
75,749
5,000
83,000
7,000
18, 000
15, 000
10, 000
5,000
12,000
50,000
25,000
7,000
65,000
6,000
7,500
41,000
4,000
22,500
60,000
28,350
3, 840
21, 000
10, 000
26,000
20,000
23,625
9,000
5,500
08-09 HSAC
Recommendation
10, 000
500
75, 749
5,000
83,000
7,000
0
10,000
10, 000
5, 000
12, 000
50, 000
25,000
7,000
65,000
6,000
3,500
41,000
4,000
21,000
60,000
0
0
21,000
10, 000
26, 000
20,000
10,000
9,000
5,500
2008-09 HSAC Recommendation .~,
08-09 HSAC.
Agency Name FY 2007-08 08-09 Requested 'Recommendation
Interfaith Council for Social Service 36,480 56,480 56,480
Interfaith Food Shuttle 0 8,000 0
JOCCA 105,000 105,000 105,000
KidScope 89,000 114,200 114,200
Literacy Council 13,500 15,000 15,000
Middle School CIS 70,000 70,000 70,000
OC Partnership for Young Children 0 5,000 5,000
OE Enterprises 73,175 63,175 63,175
Orange Community Housing Land Trust 149,000 200,000 179,000
Orange Congregations in Mission 30,600 35,600 35,600
Piedmont Health Services 10,750 10,750 10,750
Piedmont Wildlife 20,000 30,000 10,000
Planned Parenthood 21,940 21,940 21,940
Project Turn Around 64,424 64,424 64,424
Rape Crisis Center 28,000 35,000 35,000
Senior Care of Orange County 50,000 50,000 50,000
Table Ministries 0 5,000 0
The Arc of Orange County 4,000 12,000 12,000
The Women's Center 16,400 18,000 18,000
Triangle Reading Service 1,800 2,000 2,000
TROSSA 0 3,000 3,000
UNC-CH Dept of Phsychiatry 0 100,000 100,000
Volunteers for Youth 25,000 35,000 35,000
Totals 1,308,413 1, 736,133 1, 607,817
Revised March 19, 2008
Al~~G.nr D
Safety Net and Critical Needs Reserve
Fiscal Years 2002-03 through 2007-08
FY 2005-loos
FY 05-06 allocation
($21,500) Water sampling and analysis of 100 households in the Miil Creek
Road area
($50,000) Provide subsidies to families on the department's day care waiting
~,...
($57,468) Early Intervention and Family Services (EIFS) program and
KidScope programs from the OPClLME to Chapel Hill Training and
Outreach Pr 'ect, Inc.
Emergency assistance to address DSS increased emergency
($102,865) needs of low-income families due to rising energy costs and
increased numbers of ell ible families
($19,739) To offset the State's reduction Orange-Chatham Alternative
Sentencin Pre-Trial Release Pr ram
Appropriations To Mental Health Association to fund the 30% match requirement
($5,269) in order to draw down State Juvenile Crime Prevention Council
($41,012) Disability Services from the OPC/LME to Cross Disability Services,
OPC Mental Health to facilltate the divestiture and transfer of
($13,467) Severe and Persistent Mental IAness (SPMI) Assertive Community
Treatment Team (ACT's services to Lutheran Family Services.
($131;797) OPC Mental Health to facilitate the divestiture and transfer of
Oran a Coun ou anent services to Carin Famii Networks
($87,720) Orange County's share of OPC Mental Health Area Program's
Unfunded Needs for FY 2005-06
Remaining Balance $60,195
FY 2008-07
Comments
$125,000 A Quad FY 06-07 allocation
$225,000 Ca Forward from FY 05-OB
Budget $350,000
Appropriation ($80,000) To OPC/LME to further facilitate the divestiture of OPC Club Nova
to Club Nova Communi Inc.
Remaining Balance $270,000
rr
FY 07-08
Appropriation ($125,000) Appropriation to Club Nova ($75,000) and KidsCope ($50,000) for
fiscal year 2007-08.
.fining Balance $145,000
_l
Safety Net and Critical Needs Reserve
Fiscal Years 2002-03 through 2007-08
FY 2002-2003
Comments
FY 02-03 allocation
($61,735) Increase DSS appropriation for Emergency Assistance for families
($5,000) To offset loss of State funding for Orange Chatham Alternative
Appropriations Sentencin Pr ram re-trial services 6 months
($1,500) County match to fund Volunteer Families for Children
Cover some of the State budget cuts that DSS, Health, Aging, and
($98,389) ~ :~---• -•--~----~ :_ ~.. ,,., ~~
Balance
FY 2003-2004
$130,000 Approved FY 03-04 allocation ~
$219.116 FY 02-03 Carrv Forward
($10,000) Inter~Faith Council (IFC) for Project Homestart as part of a I
($27,000) Replace loss of Federal funds for Breasffeeding program funding I
($35,000) Replace loss of Federal funds for Breasffeeding program funding
through June 2004
Appropriations Aging Department's Friend-to-Friend program and Senior
($33,014) Employment program ($11,014), to Duke Community Hospice for a
generator ($10,000), and to Orange-Chatham Alternative
Sentencing ($12,000) for continuation of pre-trial release services
Community Health Awareness ($46,790), Healthy Carolinians
($87,260) ($890), and Intensive Home Visiting ($29,410) Grant Programs
that lost funding or experienced reductions in funding during FY
Balance
rr
r
FY 04-05 allocation
($50,OD0) Provide subsidies to families on the DSS Day Care waiting list
Appropriations
($50,000) Provide subsidies to families on the DSS Day Care waiting list