Minutes REGULAR HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE (HRC) MEETING Monday, April 2, 2012; 6:00p.m. Municipal Building Chambers

Transcription

1 Minutes REGULAR HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE (HRC) MEETING Monday, ; 6:00p.m. Municipal Building Chambers I. Call to Order: Chair Ruth Danner called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. Committee members Present: Chair Ruth Danner, Johan Dybdahl, Carlton Smith, and Jesse Kiehl Absent: None Others present: Deputy Clerk Beth McEwen, Municipal Clerk Laurie Sica, Community Development Senior Planner Beth McKibben; Parks and Recreation Director Brent Fischer II. Agenda Changes: Ms. Danner added an item under Other Business to discuss changing the start time of the HRC meetings. III. Public Participation on Non-Agenda Items: Mr. Michael Kirk, Ms. Colleen Jones, and Mr. Ward Lamb distributed two letters to the HRC. One letter was from Alaska Community Services, Inc. informing Mr. Ward that they were closing its Juneau Office and ceasing all services in Southeast Alaska effective March 30, The other letter was addressed to the HRC from Mr. Michael Kirk regarding this program and asking if there was some way that the City and Borough of Juneau could assist in continuing this service under a different program. The dissolved program had been part of the American Senior Service Corps which is part of AmeriCorps. The program provided services by volunteers over 55 years old to work with seniors, children and youth through the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs. Mr. Kirk and Mr. Ward had worked as volunteers with this program for many years. Ms. Colleen Jones was Southeast Alaska Coordinator just hired by the Anchorage office seven months ago. She explained that the program was to engage seniors in a variety of volunteer opportunities: adult day care centers, foster grandparents working with youth, one at the Glory Hole, and the RSVP portion of the program was for seniors who want to stay active put did not need an income. For all segments except the RSVP program, they paid seniors a stipend of $2.65 an hour and also tried to pay for any travel expenses and to reimburse for any lunches they needed to purchase while performing their volunteer activities. She explained that this was a wonderful program utilizing the seniors to keep them engaged in the Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 1 of 8

2 community. The closure of the program was pretty abrupt and she said that she didn t have a lot of details on why it had shut down. HRC members asked how many volunteers were involved and what the budget numbers were. Ms. Jones said that in Juneau they had 10 volunteers with a total of 18 volunteers throughout Southeast and that she had recently been working on getting another 5-6 potential volunteers in the Ketchikan/Prince of Whales Island areas. When asked about the budget, she explained that she was fairly new to the program and she didn t have any of that information on Juneau or the Southeast portions of the program. Mr. Kirk explained that they are trying to look for an alternative umbrella program that might be able to include this program within it. Mr. Lamb explained that up until 4 or 5 years ago, the program had received some grant funding from CBJ but that it went through the Anchorage office and he didn t have the details about the grant or why they stopped receiving it. The HRC scheduled additional discussion on this issue for its next meeting on Monday, April 23, 2012 and asked that Mr. Kirk and Ms. Jones provide additional information regarding the budget of the previous program and any proposals that they are asking the Assembly to consider. IV. Approval of Minutes A. March 5, 2012 Regular HRC Meeting There being no objection, the minutes of the March 5, 2012 meeting were approved. V. New Business A. Boards/Commissions 1. Board of Equalization Appointments There were 4 open seats on the Board of Equalization 1 seat for a term expiring December 31, 2014 and three seats for terms expiring December 31, The packet contained applications from Mr. David Epstein and Mr. Zachary Worrell. MOTION by Mr. Dybdahl that the HRC recommends the Assembly appoint the following members to the Board of Equalization: Mr. David Epstein to a term beginning immediately and expiring December 31, 2014 and Mr. Zachary Worrell to a term beginning immediately and expiring December 31, Hearing no objection, the motion carried. Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 2 of 8

3 2. Juneau Commission on Sustainability Appointments There were 2 open seats on the Juneau Commission on Sustainability for terms expiring June 30, The packet contained one application from Mr. Duff Mitchell. MOTION by Mr. Smith that the HRC recommends the Assembly appoint Mr. Duff Mitchell to the Juneau Commission on Sustainability to a term beginning immediately expiring June 30, Hearing no objection, the motion carried. 3. Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee Annual Report & Appointments There were 3 open public seats on the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee for terms expiring February 28, Incumbents Mr. Jeff Sloss and Ms. Melissa Goldstein did not apply for reappointment. The packet contained applications from incumbent Mr. Jeff Wilson, and applicants Mr. Eric Morrison and Mr. Tom Rutecki. MOTION by Mr. Kiehl that the HRC recommends the Assembly reappoint Mr. Jeff Wilson and to appoint Mr. Eric Morrison and Mr. Tom Rutecki to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee to terms beginning immediately and expiring February 28, Hearing no objection, the motion carried. Mr. Jeff Wilson, Chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee presented the committee s annual report to the HRC. Mr. Wilson answered additional questions from the HRC members. With regard to the ADA upgrades, the PRAC is looking at trying to make all parks ADA accessible and there have been ADA upgrades done at Twin Lakes. They are currently looking at adding a new ADA trail at the Amalga Meadows horse trail area to make it work for both cross country skiers, bike riders, and wheelchairs. Ms. Danner asked about the status of the Dimond Park Aquatic Center. Mr. Wilson explained that the whirlpool is being installed this year and they have also received a lot of requests to pave the parking lot so they are looking for the funds to try to pave the public parking lot. They have also been working on trying to get public bus transportation access to the pool area. VI. Unfinished Business A. Discussion on Homelessness/Public Inebriation Issue 1. Mr. Kiel Renick Vulnerability Survey Mr. Kiel Renick, Outreach Coordinator at The Glory Hole gave an oral presentation of the data compiled as a result of the recent community vulnerability survey. Mr. Renick provided a News Release from the Juneau Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 3 of 8

4 Homeless Coalition which was included as a red folder item. Much of his testimony was highlighting portions of the news release. He was just hired to his position at The Glory Hole and has been spending the past two months preparing for the Juneau Vulnerability Survey. The main duties of his job include focusing on volunteer recruitment, training through the national 100,000 Homes Campaign, and doing community outreach. For the Vulnerability Survey, they ended up actually turning volunteers away because they had such a great response. He trained the team leaders who then instructed their teams on the protocols to use during the survey. The survey consisted of nine teams covering all of CBJ which included four teams in the downtown area and additional teams on Thane Road, Salmon Creek area, Douglas Island, and the Valley. The teams went out between the hours of 4:30-8:00a.m. carrying coffee, breakfast food, socks, and personal hygiene products to offer to any of the homeless that they encountered. They conducted the survey on the mornings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, March He explained that the survey focused on four key areas: compassionate connection with people, sharing outreach items and listening to what they had to say, covering the entire Juneau region, and then compiling the results. He said that when he was training at the national 100,000 Homes Campaign with the other community representatives, he understood the unique challenges Juneau would face. Most communities would be canvassing city blocks but for Juneau the challenge included driving around the borough, looking through the woods, and climbing up mountains. He said that most of the interactions were positive although some folks didn t want to be disturbed and the survey teams respectfully left them alone. Those that were surveyed were receptive and had a lot of positive feedback to share. He also mentioned that word got around about the surveys and some people came to the Glory Hole asking to take the survey. He said that overall, not every single vulnerable person in Juneau was surveyed but in speaking with members of the Juneau Homeless Coalition it seems that they reached approximately 75-80% of Juneau s vulnerable population. The key demographic for the survey was to target the people who are most in need and those living on the streets. They were able to complete 47 surveys in the last week. Of the 47 surveys completed, 35 of them were deemed vulnerable based on the Vulnerability Index s 39 questions. Vulnerability was determined based on the elements relating to their health, physical and mental, lifestyle factors including substance use and whether Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 4 of 8

5 they had been a victim of violence. He mentioned that one of the findings of the survey was that the majority of vulnerable persons were in a chronic situation averaging 10.0 years. The average age of those surveyed was 47 with the youngest being 21 and the oldest being 74. Of those surveyed 62% had been a victim of one or more violent attack since becoming homeless. He also explained that out of those surveyed 32% of them were veterans and 37% of those classified as vulnerable were veterans. In answer to a question at an earlier HRC meeting, they included a survey question to gauge the respondent s ties with Juneau. He said that an overwhelming number of those surveyed had ties to Juneau prior to becoming homeless either having been born or raised in Juneau, having gone to school here, or other Juneau ties. He said the major take away points as he saw them were: 1) The percentage of Juneau s community experiencing homelessness is high and that the level of vulnerability is deeper compared to that in Anchorage. 2) This is a chronic issue and once on the streets, it is very difficult to get off the streets in Juneau - the 10 year average bears that out. He said he feels that what we are doing as a community is not working for this most vulnerable population. He gave the following recommendations: 1) Continue the community outreach and dialogue and meeting these people where they are at. Listening to them and being a face of compassion was a big piece of the process and needs to continue. 2) Urge action with whatever route the city and community would like to take. This knowledge brings understanding to bring empathy, and bring solutions. Mr. Smith asked if this was a baseline study and if it would be done annually. Mr. Renick said that this was not meant to be an annual process but rather a one-time survey to identify the greatest needs. The goal of this project is to stress the urgency of this demographic since they are the most at risk individuals within our community. Ms. Danner thanked Mr. Renick and Mr. Wheaton and all the volunteers for their work and said that this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the information that she hopes Mr. Renick will have to share with the committee. 2. AWARE Community Development Block Grant Award Community Development Senior Planner Beth McKibben provided the HRC with a copy of the award letter for the Community Development Block Grant that CBJ had applied for on behalf of the AWARE Shelter. She and Ms. Saralyn Tabachnick, Executive Director of AWARE, informed the committee about the award and the next steps in this process. Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 5 of 8

6 Ms. McKibben said that although they have been advised of the fact that CBJ has received the award, they have not negotiated the exact amount but it could be up to $850,000 towards this project. Ms. McKibben said CBJ has applied for the CDBG three other times and have not been awarded a grant in the last couple of years so it was very exciting to be awarded the grant this time. Ms. Tabachnick Saralyn explained that this proposal was for 6 units of extended stay safe shelter for women and families leaving AWARE s emergency safe shelter. With this CDBG added to money that they have already received, they are approximately two thirds of the way towards receiving the funding needed to build these units. She said that they would build 4 units that would be 2 bedrooms, and 2 efficiency units bring the total to 6 units. It is anticipated that people would move through these fairly quickly, with a maximum stay of 2 years. They are really excited about this and looking forward to moving the project forward and working with the city. Ms. Danner asked how far out the project is in finding the rest of the funding or breaking ground. Ms. Tabachnick said they have applied for additional funding and have a request in to the Rasmuson Foundation for a grant and they will be looking at that request by the end of June. They have also applied for some Indian Development Community Block grants with partners Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority and Yakutat Tlingit tribe and Central Council. They are hopeful on getting funding so they can move forward with the project. 4. Ms. Nancy Burke Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Ms. Burke said she was happy to come to Juneau. She thanked the committee for allowing her to participate in the last meeting telephonically. She said that one of the questions from the committee was What role can the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority play in helping Juneau sort through the data from the 100,000 Homes Campaign. She said they are willing to come and be a partner in the discussion and ensure that their resources can help guide the process. She introduced the CEO of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Jeff Jessee who was also in the audience. She said that they are willing to walk alongside Juneau as it figures out what the next right steps might be to meet the needs of those community members just polled. They have some experience with Anchorage having just gone through that process and some of the models they looked at there may help Juneau as it moves forward. When asked by Ms. Danner how best to move forward, Ms. Burke said the Juneau Homeless Coalition has great leadership looking into the issue right Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 6 of 8

7 now. She said that those are folks that know the needs of the people and most likely know those individuals personally. She said that in Anchorage, they had a provider group working through the homeless coalition in identifying the right configuration and services that were needed. She suggested that the HRC ask the Juneau Homeless Coalition to report back to the committee on a regular basis and provide updates. She said Juneau was the first community to go at this frontwards instead of backwards. Other communities identified their project and then figured out who was going in. Now that they survey has been done, Juneau knows who needs to go in so it can directly target the fund sources that will need to be pursued for the operations for the project. Juneau can realistically look at lining up providers that may be experienced and knowledgeable with the population, people who know how to do housing and can configure it. She said Juneau is in line for some funding cycles that may begin in the fall and that the Assembly could realistically support its partners and get in a queue to get ready for a project right now. Ms. Danner invited Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority CEO Jeff Jessee to come and share his thoughts with the committee. Mr. Jessee commended Juneau for its proactive work in this area and going about this in the right order and the right sequence. He said their agency is looking forward to supporting Juneau in this area however they can as Juneau develops its own strategies to help this population. Ms. Danner thanked both Ms. Burke and Mr. Jessee for coming and sharing their comments. VII. Other Business Ms. Danner polled the HRC members on whether or not they would be amenable to moving the start time of all future HRC meetings to 5:30p.m. Mr. Dybdahl asked if she expected the agendas to continue to be this full and she stated that she did. There being a consensus, the meeting start time will now be 5:30p.m. instead of 6:00p.m. Ms. Danner said that the pending items list needed to include the following items to be discussed: ILWU longshore work review Social Service Advisory Board review Review of the CBJ Conflict of Interest Code Ms. McEwen clarified that at the last meeting, the ILWU longshore item was tasked to Law Department and Risk Management staff and for them to bring their reports to the Committee of the Whole. Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 7 of 8

8 VIII. Adjournment There being no further business, Ms. Danner adjourned the meeting at 6:53 p.m. Human Resources Committee Minutes Page 8 of 8