COUNTY OF SAN MATEO
Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Planning Council

DATE:

January 30, 2003

BOARD MEETING DATE:

February 25, 2003

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Loren Buddress, Chief Probation Officer, TANF Planning Council Chair

SUBJECT:

2002 Annual Report

Recommendation
Accept the 2002 Annual Report from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Planning Council.

Background
Pursuant to the Comprehensive Youth Services Act, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors established a local planning committee called the TANF Planning Council. The 17-member body is appointed by the Board of Supervisors and chaired by the Chief Probation Officer. The creating legislation requires the council to include representatives from County Health Department; County Mental Health; County Probation; Child Protective Services; Education; local school districts; city and county law enforcement agencies; community-based organizations serving at-risk youth; at-risk youth; and parents or family of at-risk youth. In addition to making policy and funding recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, the body oversees the grant monitoring, and evaluation process. The Council meets quarterly.

At its June 25, 2001 meeting, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved the TANF expenditure plan for Fiscal Years 2001-02 through 2003-04. With this action, Community Crime Prevention Associates (CCPA) was retained, upon the recommendation of the TANF Planning Council, to conduct a theory-based outcome evaluation of youth and family service TANF-funded programs.

In early 2002, the TANF Planning Council determined what projects council members would work on for the rest of the year. The Planning Council established goals for 2002-03 which include:1) Creating and adopting a mission statement (adopted July 2002); 2) developing the TANF Planning Council's Conflict of Interest Code (adopted September 2002); and 3) examining the TANF evaluation process (to begin December 2002).

Discussion

At the September 13, 2002 TANF Planning Council meeting the Fiscal Year 2001-02 Final Evaluation Report was presented by CCPA. While this was a first-year Beta Test which measured youth asset development, highlights of the report include:

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Services were provided to 1,200 unduplicated clients, including parents in Probation and Sheriff parenting programs.

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36,000 units of service were delivered reaching 92% of planned units of service.

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The cost per unit of service averaged $41.28.

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The cost per TANF customer was approximately $1,200.

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The staffs hired by the agencies that are funded by TANF consist of 44 full time equivalents (FTE's), including interns, volunteers and other staffing patterns leveraged by the agencies.

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Based on a scale of -100 to 100, where 0 indicates no change, the developmental assets of the youth served changed for the better at 50.7% due to the youth receiving TANF services.

From the report, the TANF Planning Council is developing short and long-term projects to enhance the overall delivery of preventive services to San Mateo County's at-risk youth, their families and the community:

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Filling the current TANF Planning Council vacancies.

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Realignment of funds to serve areas with higher risk, lower asset population.

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Research and implement strategies and policy to reduce the cost of units of service without compromising effective services (i.e., individual vs. group counseling).

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Standardizing and implementing recidivism and substance abuse data collection processes.

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Developing policy on how best to support the agencies to:

1)

Implement youth participation in the agencies' development and decision-making processes focusing on youth resiliency.

2)

Level the disparity of ethnicity between staff and clients.

Goals to accomplish these projects will be established and reported in the 2003 TANF Planning Council's annual report.

Other Council Activities

The TANF Planning Council also participated in the following activities for 2002:

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The TANF Project Coordinator represented the TANF Planning Council at the 2^nd Annual Information Night for San Mateo County's Boards and Commissions on February 26, 2002.

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The TANF Project Coordinator represented the TANF Planning Council at the Reception for San Mateo County's Boards and Commissions hosted by the Board of Supervisors on March 5, 2002.

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The Council formed a subcommittee to work on goals, mission statement, and recruitment of membership vacancies.

Vision Alignment

The report keeps the goals of realizing the potential of our diverse population; ensuring basic health and safety for all; participating as a responsive, effective and collaborative government; and being leaders working together across boundaries to preserve and enhance our quality of life. It also serves commitments: # 1: Our diverse population works well together to build strong communities, effective government and a prosperous economy; #2: Civic engagement-including voting, public service, charitable giving, volunteerism and participation in public discussions of important issues-is uniformly high among the diverse population; #5: Residents have access to health care and preventive care; #6: Children grow up healthy in safe and supportive homes and neighborhoods; #7: Maintain and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors; and #8: Help vulnerable people - the aged, disabled, mentally ill, at-risk youth and others - achieve a better quality of life.

Fiscal Impact

No activities undertaken by the Council to date have had a fiscal impact.

The Council would like to thank the Board Members for your continued support and encouragement. The task is great and the Council is hopeful that continued interaction with community based programs will allow the Council to make a significant impact on the lives of youth, families, and communities in San Mateo County.