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Every Child / Every Promise Funding RequestMasterpiece on the Mississippi TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager SUBJECT: Every Child I Every Promise Request for Grant Funds DATE: February 15, 2011 Dubuque kriftal All- Amedca City IIIII, 2007 The City Council approved an improvement package in the Housing and Community Development Department in Fiscal Year 2009 that provided $25,000 per year to create a City grant program to assist in the implementation of the Every Child I Every Promise Initiative. Budget Director Jennifer Larson recommends City Council approval of the $25,000 funding request from Every Child I Every Promise to help implement the First Years First Initiative, the child care mapping and information system, and the Leader in Me Program. I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council approval. MCVM:jh Attachment cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager Jennifer Larson, Budget Director Micha C. Van Milligen Masterpiece on the Mississippi February 14, 2011 TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager FROM: Jennifer Larson, Budget Director ,jf4L✓ SUBJECT: Every Child I Every Promise Request for Grant Funds INTRODUCTION The City Council approved an improvement package in the Housing and Community Development Department in Fiscal Year 2009 that provides $25,000 per year to create a City grant program to assist in the implementation of the Every Child I Every Promise initiative. DISCUSSION Every Child I Every Promise has submitted a request for $25,000 of the $75,000 of grant funds available for the grant program which would fund the following initiatives: The Dubuque County Empowerment has secured a First Years First Initiative grant to engage parents in early childhood learning and development. The First Years First Initiative will develop a Born Learning Campaign in conjunction with the Every Child I Every Promise Youth Master Plan; Disseminate Born Learning materials to parents and caregivers at community events, early learning workshops and strategic community locations for targeted populations; offer early learning workshops to provide Born Learning information directly to caregivers and parents; and develop a coordinated communication and sustainability plan for a quality early childhood education system, in partnership with The Children's Trust. Every Child I Every Promise is requesting $10,000 as a match on the First Years First Initiative grant which will leverage an additional $52,000 from the State of Iowa. Dubuque bikil Al- amedcaCity IIIIR 2007 Every Child I Every Promise has requested to grant $10,000 for the creation of a child care mapping and information system in collaboration with Project Concern, Empowerment and the Children's Trust. This collaboration would develop and implement a mapping system to allow for a coordinated approach to increasing access and quality in the Child Care system. The mapping system would be a web -based tool for parents, businesses, public officials and childcare providers to view all childcare programs in Dubuque and evaluate needs, access and quality. Once completed, the Childcare Mapping and Information system would be maintained and housed at Project Concern. This project would fulfill a critical need for information about the child care system in the community. It would also help meet the needs of employers with employees coming to the area seeking child care as well as improve access of child care and information to all parents. In addition, $5,000 is being requested to implement a grant process to support the implementation of the Leader in Me Program into the Dubuque elementary school in partnership with the Dubuque Community Schools, Holy Family Schools, the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce and the Covey Institute. This program integrates the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" into elementary schools teaching lifelong skills while reducing behavioral problems and increasing academic performance. The training enhances both teacher and student performance. The initial funding would leverage approximately $75,000 to implement a pilot program for Lincoln Elementary School and St. Columbkilles. Plans are in place to expand the program to all Dubuque elementary schools in the future. This project would improve outcomes in elementary schools as well as make Dubuque Schools a destination for parents seeking jobs in the area. The total dollar amount requested by Every Child I Every Promise is $25,000 which will leverage $127,000 from other partners. RECOMMENDATION I respectfully recommend the approval of the funding request of $25,000 to help implement various programs in support of the Every Child I Every Promise initiative. Attachments JML 2 of 2 This decision package would create a City grant program to assist in the implementation of the Every Child Every Promise initiative. The goals of Every Child Every Promise initiative are to: 1) identify and prioritize the needs of youth 0 -20 years old; 2) implement an intense marketing and public relations campaign to communicate the needs in the community; 3) identify and link agencies, schools, funders, and the community at large to help fill these needs efficiently and effectively; and 4) develop a strategic plan for the community and create a "growth chart" which will keep the community focused, engaged and measuring /monitoring our progress. This grant program will provide funding to local community partners who have the technical resources to help address needs identified thru the Every Child Every Promise initiative, but who lack financial resources to help fill these needs and implement solutions. Related Cost: $25,000 Tax Funds — Recurring Property Tax Impact: +$.05321 +.53% Activity: Housing Administration Recommend - Yes Jennifer Larson, Budget Director City of Dubuque 50 West 13th Street Dubuque, Iowa 52001 -4864 January 31, 2011 Re: Funding Request- Every Child' Every Promise Dear Jennifer: every child I every promise The purpose of this letter is to request the budgeted City funding support for Every Child Every Promise. Every Child' Every Promise (ECEP) has been identified by the City Council as a 2010 -2012 Policy Agenda High Priority. The work ECEP does supports making Dubuque a Sustainable City. Additionally, ECEP coordinates providers to encourage planned and managed growth, partnering for a better Dubuque, and improved connectivity, all 5 year goals of the City of Dubuque. Every Childs Every Promise has been working though its committee structure made up of community leaders, direct service providers and business leaders. Though this work, ECEP has been able to identify three opportunities that support the Dubuque County Youth Master Plan and advance three key initiatives to address current needs in the community. With this in mind, Every Child IEvery Promise respectfully requests that the City of Dubuque fund $25,000 to support the following needs identified through our work: 1. First Years First Initiative- ($10,000) Dubuque County Empowerment has secured a grant to engage parents in early childhood learning and development. Requested funds will provide Empowerment with needed match that will leverage an additional $52,000 from the State of Iowa. The First Years First initiative will: a. Develop a Born Learning Campaign in conjunction with the Every Child Every Promise Youth Master Plan. b. Disseminate Born Learning materials to parents and caregivers at community events, early learning workshops, and strategic community locations for targeted populations. c. Offer early learning workshops to provide Born Learning information directly to caregivers and parents. d. Develop a coordinated communication and sustainability plan for a quality early childhood education system, in partnership with The Children's Trust. Supporting this funding request meets City Council goals to create a Sustainable City, Planned and Managed Growth, and Partnering for a better Dubuque. 2. Child Care Mapping and Information system- ($10,000) ECEP will grant these funds to a collaborative of Project Concern, Empowerment, and The Children's Trust, facilitated by ECEP. This collaborative will develop and implement a mapping system to allow for a coordinated approach to increasing access and quality in the Child Care system. The mapping system will be a web -based tool for parents, businesses (especially HR departments), public officials, and childcare providers to view all childcare programs in Dubuque and evaluate needs, access and quality. Once completed, the plan has the Childcare Mapping and Information system being maintained and housed at Project Concern. Sincerely, This project will fulfill a critical need for information about the child care system in our community. It will help us meet the needs of employers with employees coming to the area seeking child care as well as improve access of child care and information to all parents. Supporting this grant funding request meets City Council goals for Planned and Managed Growth as well as Partnering for a better Dubuque. 3. Leader in Me- ($5000) 1n partnership with the Dubuque Community Schools, Holy Family Schools, the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Covey Institute, ECEP will implement a grant process to support the implementation of the Leader in Me program into Dubuque elementary schools. This program integrates the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" into elementary schools teaching life long skills, while reducing behavioral problems and increasing academic performance. The training enhances both teacher and student performance. Initial funding will leverage approximately $75,000 to implement a pilot program for 2 elementary schools. Lincoln Elementary School and St. Columbkilles will pilot the program in Dubuque. Plans are in place to expand the program to all Dubuque elementary schools in the future. This project not only improves outcomes in our elementary schools, but also makes Dubuque Schools a destination for parents seeking jobs in the area. This nationally known model has established schools using the program as destination schools, attracting students, quality teachers, parents and employers. This project supports City Council goals for Planned and Managed Growth as well as Partnering for a better Dubuque. The total dollars amount requested is $25,000 which will leverage over 5 times that amount in funding from our partners totaling $127,000. Additionally, each of these projects is aligned with the current objectives of the City Council and the Dubuque County Youth Master Plan. To support this request, ECEP is providing background information regarding our current goals and priorities on attachment A. Eric Dregne Vice President of Programs Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Every ChildlEvery Promise Attachment A Description of programs /activities Every Child' Every Promise current goals; • Increase access to transportation for young people to get to school and out -of- school time activities • Improve availability of data about our young people's needs and performance through a community data system, developed with the support of local stakeholders. • Improve Out -of- School Time programs by working in a community wide coordinated effort to increase access, participation, and quality of programs, resulting in improved academic performance of young people. • Engage the community in ensuring the success of young people and parents. This means an engaged business community and engaged parents. • Improve graduation rates and increase the number of students going on to college in our community ECEP is meeting these goals by engaging schools, providers and businesses in to working committees which are identifying strategies and best practices that they can use in a cross - sector, collaborative way to improve outcomes for Dubuque's young people. Details of specific actions, findings and continued efforts which we are requesting City of Dubuque Support follow: Improve availability of Data - meets City Council Goals of Sustainable City, Planned and Managed growth, Partnering for a better Dubuque • established a base line of data (Community Growth Chart) to better understand needs of our young people and data available to the community • identified the need for a community data system to provide more complete, consistent and timely information about the needs of young people in Dubuque • released Youth Master Plan (2009) to provide a specific /consistent framework for the community to work together to provide the 5 promises to our young people • ECEP Data Committee formed (2010) o ECEP Data Committee is currently engaged in completing a Community Growth Chart to be released spring 2011 which will allow us to begin to compare results vs. the 2008 Community Growth Chart. o ECEP Data Committee is researching /evaluating and will propose a community- wide data system (2011) to support community indicators reporting; which will allow Dubuque to have up -to -date, consistent, local data on our young people and other key indicators in the community- think "smarter city" for the social sector in our community Increase access to Transportation- meets City Council Goals of Sustainable City, Improved Connectivity, Planned and managed growth, Partnering for a better Dubuque • ECEP Transportation Committee formed (2010) o Established a representative on the Transit Action Group to represent the needs of youth- no representation prior o Established a representative on the Transit Advisory Board to represent the needs of youth- no representation prior o Committee is researching /evaluating opportunities to improve access to public transportation by working with ECIA to identify needs, routes, timing and locations of activities for young people (2011) o Committee is researching /evaluating programs to increase young peoples education /awareness of public transportation options (2011) Improve Out -of- School Time (OST) Programming- meets City Council Goals of Sustainable city, Planned and managed growth, Partnering for a better Dubuque • ECEP OST Committee formed (2010) o Completed criteria for an OST Asset Map which will identify /evaluate every OST program in the community. o OST Asset map will be the foundation for implementing a coordinated, community- wide OST system (2011) • Parents and young people will be able to evaluate OST programs to fit their needs. • Providers will be able to coordinate resources and programs • Providers will be able to evaluate /communicate quality, effectiveness, and participation levels of programs Engage the Community- Sustainable City, Planned and managed growth, Partnering for a better Dubuque • Residents have been engaged in the needs of young people and parents through increased access to information o Community Growth Chart (2008), Youth Master Plan (2009), ECEP Website (2009) o Sponsored City and County Kids Expo (2009, 2010) • Residents will be more engaged through the availability of information about the lives and needs of young people in our community o Community Growth Chart (2011) o Community-wide data system (2011 -12) o Improved access to information ECEP website (2011) • Businesses will be engaged o ECEP Business engagement committee formed 2010 • ECEP Business engagement committee will partner with The Children's Trust to ensure our commitment to our young people is sustainable • Will encourage businesses to integrate the 5 promises and support the parents in our community who work there • Providers will be engaged o Improved data and information sharing o Coordinated approaches to support each others work Improved graduation rates, and other key indicators of our success will continually be measured and shared with the public though the efforts described above. New partnerships, strategies and metrics will continually be listened to and evaluated to ensure an inclusive process. Impact on the community clients helped past two years /YTD Every ChildjEvery Promise does not work directly with clients, but we have had the following direct impacts in the past two years: • More than 35,000 copies of the Community Growth Chart have been distributed • More than 1000 copies of the Dubuque Youth Master Plan have been distributed • Convened over 70 providers and 100 community leaders to engage in work to meet ECEP and community goals for young people in our community • Selected for the 100 Best Communities for Young People award (2007, 2008, 2010) from the America's Promise Alliance (no award given in 2009)