Title
Receive a status update report in response to Board Referral No. 2021.19 seeking to create a Farmworker Resource Center that provides services and referrals in the community of Greenfield. (ADDED VIA ADDENDA)
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a status update report in response to Board Referral No. 2021.19 seeking to create a Farmworker Resource Center that provides services and referrals in the community of Greenfield; and
b. Assign the Farmworker Resource Center Board Referral No. 2021.19 to the Monterey County Health Department and direct them to apply for the Farmworker Resource Center Grant through the State Department of Community Services; and
c. Adopt a Resolution authorizing the Monterey County Health Department Director to submit a Farmworker Resource Center grant application to the State Department of Community Services by the grants closing date of December 21, 2022 in an amount of up to $833,000 with the County matching minimum of twenty five percent (25%) or $208,250, to establish a farmworker resource center; or
d. Provide further direction as appropriate.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Referral No. 2021.19, seeking to create a Farmworker Resource Center, pursuant to AB941, was submitted by Supervisor Lopez on September 23, 2021. See Attachment 2- Board Referral No. 2021.19) and assigned to the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, which provided a preliminary analysis report in response to the referral on October 26, 2021, and more in-depth analyses on February 1, 2022 and on July 19, 2022. At the conclusion of the July 19, 2022 Board meeting, the Board directed staff to return to the Board after the grant application became available. See Attachment 2- Board Order of the July 19, 2022 Board meeting.
Farmworker Resource Center Grant Status Update and Staff’s Recommendation to Assign the Farmworker Resource Center Referral to the Monterey County Health Department: AB941- Farmworker Assistance: Resource Centers is a recently signed assembly bill that requires the State Department of Community Services (CSD) to establish a grant program for counties to establish farmworker resource centers that would provide farmworkers and their families information and access to services, ranging but not limited to the following: labor and unemployment rights, education, housing, immigration, and health and human services. The Agricultural Commissioner’s Office worked diligently to advance the direction of the Board of Supervisors in ascertaining information about the CSD Farmworker Resource Center Grant Program. Staff attended all public meetings held by CSD where CSD solicited comment on their proposed Farmworker Resource Center Program framework. County Agricultural Commissioner’s provided feedback at these public meetings. The last Farmworker Resource Center Grant Workgroup met on November 7, 2022 and discussed, amongst other items, proposed application evaluation criteria. See Attachment 4- CSD Farmworker Resource Center Workgroup informational packet for November 7, 2022 meeting.
The CSD Farmworker Resource Center Grant was released on November 15, 2022 and the deadline to apply is December 21, 2022. See Attachment 5- Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) Farmworker Resource Center Grant, November 15, 2022. CSD will be awarding three (3) grants of $833,000 to California counties. To be eligible for the grant funding applicant counties must provide twenty five percent (25%) of the center’s funding. Therefore, the County is required to contribute a minimum of $208,250 during the grant term. Counties have been grouped by Region 1 and Region 2; Monterey County is in Region 2. The third award will be granted to the third highest scoring County regardless of the Region.
See Exhibit A-Region excerpt from November 7, 2022 CSD/FRC Workgroup Presentation
See Exhibit B for the schedule of the CSD Farmworker Resource Center Grant Program:
Overview of Grant’s Application Evaluation Criteria: Per the recently released NOFA for the Farmworker Resource Center Grant- (see Attachment 5), the Farmworker Resource Center activities must be conducted in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner to effectively meet the needs of the target population. Grant applications must demonstrate their experience providing similar services and their history of successfully conducting outreach campaigns to reach culturally diverse populations that have been traditionally difficult to reach and are underserved. The grant has 100 points possible in their Evaluation Ranking Criteria in the following categories:
§ Experience performing outreach and providing similar client services. (30 points)
§ Organizational capacity. (25 points)
§ Trusted community partnerships and leveraging resources. (20 points)
§ Ability to establish and maintain a client demographic and service tracking database. (15 points)
§ Experience conducting a population assessment. (10 points)
Each category is fully described in the NOFA under “Part C: Evaluation Process” section- see Attachment 5, beginning on page 20. If the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office were to apply for the grant on behalf of the County of Monterey, our application would not score high in all five grant categories, as this office does not offer the types of services the grant program is seeking in an applicant. Alternatively, the Monterey County Health Department, with the current services provided to the community, for example the VIDA Project, amongst other identified programs, demonstrates their experience and readiness for priority ranking in the competitive grant application process, which includes:
• Of highest experience performing outreach and providing similar client services.
• Demonstrating organizational capacity.
• Demonstrating having trusted community partners and leveraging resources.
• Demonstrating experience conducting Community Needs Assessment.
• Experience with client demographic and service tracking.
Agricultural Commissioner’s staff has met with the Monterey County Health Department and they agree they are the better candidate department to lead the Farmworker Resource Center and apply for the grant opportunity and would accept the administrator role for this center, if that is the Board’s direction.
Conclusion and Staff’s Recommendation-
Based on the CSD Farmworker Resource Center Grant Program and evaluation criteria, staff recommends that the Board assign the Farmworker Resource Center Board Referral No. 2021.19 to the Monterey County Health Department and direct them to apply for the Farmworker Resource Center Grant through the State Department of Community Services by the grant’s closing date of December 21, 2022. As the grantee, the Monterey County Health Department better achieves the grant’s purpose and would be a competitive applicant based on the grant’s evaluation standards and metrics described in Attachment 5- NOFA Farmworker Resource Center Grant. In order to be considered for the grant, the grant application packet must include a board resolution or board letter authorizing the County of Monterey to apply for the grant and indicating the County’s commitment to provide twenty five percent (25%) of matching funds. A Draft Resolution has been prepared for your review and approval- see Attachment 1.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
While the grant program guidelines were being developed by the State and subsequent NOFA release of the Farmworker Resource Center Grant, Agricultural Commissioner’s staff conducted outreach with the following departments and/or organizations to learn about the services that should be provided in the Farmworker Resource Center: Monterey County District 3 Office- Supervisor Chris Lopez, and State Assemblymember Robert Rivas’ Office- District 30; County Health Department, County Social Services, , Ventura County Farmworker Resource Program staff, State Dept. of Community Services, Mexican Consulate- San Jose Office (Consulado General de Mexico, Relaciones Exteriores), local community based organizations such as: United Way, VIDA Project, Centro Binacional para el Desarollo Oaxaqueño, Center for Community Advocacy (CCA) and Ventures.
FINANCING:
Acceptance of this report has no fiscal impact. If the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office is the administrator of the Farmworker Resource Center, this would necessitate increases to current appropriation levels to satisfy grant requirements, specifically the creation of a management position within the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. Staff consulted with Ventura County’s Farmworker Resource Program, Program Manager to understand the administration components of their Program and of the services they provide including their experiences. From this consultation, staff has identified a key position that should be created within the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office as the leadoff for the Farmworker Resource Program, which is a Management Analyst III position. This position would serve in a similar capacity as Ventura County’s Program Manager and would lead the development of the Farmworker Resource Program. Alternatively, if the Monterey County Health Department is the administrator of the Farmworker Resource Center and is awarded the CSD Farmworker Resource Center Grant of $833,000, these monies will be used to substantiate their already established community based organizational programs and their staff’s salaries. To be eligible for the grant funding applicant counties must provide twenty five percent (25%) of the center’s funding. Therefore, the County will be required to contribute a minimum of $208,250 during the grant term. Furthermore, the Board may direct $250,000 in Cannabis funding made available for Farmworker Resource Center start-up expenses to the Health Department. Such amount was set on February 1, 2022 by the Board from County’s Cannabis Program funding for the creation of a Farmworker Resource Center, as leverage by the anticipated CSD grant funding.”
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives:
☒Economic Development
☒ Administration
☒Health & Human Services
☒Infrastructure
☒ Public Safety
Prepared by: Nadia Garcia, Agricultural Resources and Policy Manager, 759-7384
Approved by:
________________________________Date:_____________
Henry S. Gonzales, Agricultural Commissioner, 759-7301
Attachments:
Attachment 1-Draft Board Resolution
Attachment 2-Board Referral No. 2021.19
Attachment 3-Board Order of the July 19, 2022 Board meeting
Attachment 4-CSD Farmworker Resource Center Workgroup informational packet for November 7, 2022 meeting
Attachment 5- Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) Farmworker Resource Center Grant,
November 15, 2022
Exhibit A-Regions
Exhibit B-Farmworker Resource Center Grant Program Schedule