EFSP Local Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, February 13, 2013 United Way of the Inland Valleys 6215 River Crest Dr., Ste. B Riverside, CA 92507

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1 EFSP Local Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, February 13, 2013 United Way of the Inland Valleys 6215 River Crest Dr., Ste. B Riverside, CA Attendees Daryl Brock Belinda Marquez Carrie DeLaurie Mercedes Rivas Allen Villalobos Ron Hewison Helen Ross Eva Guenther-James Debbie Cournoyer Lynne Brockmeier Jeanette Marlar (Alternate) Linda Rogers Absentees Dr. Judith Daniel Florita Jones Dan Anderson Yvette Calbay Bill Earl Captain Keith Bottjen Alex Tortes Guests Donna Shaw (Alternate) Veronica Dominguez Susan Larkin Homeless Programs Staff Anabel Ramos Jennifer Rosales Tiffany Nelson 2 nd Harvest Food Bank Catholic Charities City of Riverside Community Connect Corona/Norco United Way Helping Our People in Elsinore Lutheran Social Services Regional Access Project Foundation Riverside County Executive Offices Riverside Co. Dept. of Mental Health United Way of the Inland Valleys Valley Restart Shelter Chabad Jewish Community Center Homeless Advocate Riverside Community Health Foundation Riverside County Housing Authority Riverside County Veteran s Services The Salvation Army Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Riverside County Executive Offices Salvation Army U.S. Vets Administrative Services Analyst II Office Assistant III Office Assistant II I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Allen Villalobos at 9:14 AM. II. Introductions Everyone was welcomed and self-introductions were given. III. Approval of Previous Minutes EFSP Local Board Meeting

2 Allen entertained a motion to approve the minutes from November 14, Daryl Brock moved to carry the motion and Linda Rogers moved to second. The motion carried with two (2) abstentions. IV. Old EFSP Business a. Board Members * Karen Patterson - Homeless Advocate Karen will no longer be the Board representative for Homeless Advocates. Ron Hewison - Homeless Advocate Ron gave an overview of his organization, H.O.P.E. in Elsinore, which has been in operation for over twenty (20) years. The main goal of the organization is Homeless Prevention. Recently they formed a new non-profit organization called HOPO ( whose board members are made up of representatives of HOPE, The Murrieta Pantry, The Hemet Pantry and The Menifee Pantry. The Temecula Pantry has also been invited to join. The new organization s goal is to prevent homelessness in the Southwestern region of Riverside County. Ron stated that since the region makes up about 20% of the population, it would be a good idea to be heard at the EFSP Local Board. Allen entertained a motion to accept Ron Hewison as the Board representative for Homeless Advocates. Daryl Brock moved to carry the motion and Belinda Marquez moved to second. The motion carried. b. Phase Phase 30 Spending Period End Date Extension Options Anabel referred to page 11 of the handout packet. She announced that the National Board sent out an giving the opportunity for the Local Board to extend the Phase 30 spending period to May 31, Belinda Marquez agreed on extending the spending period for two (2) more months, due to her concerns about the agencies that have yet to receive any of their funds. She proposed not to end the phase on March 31 st. Lynne Brockmeier had the same concerns. Anabel added that she also believed that the extension would help with the workload at DPSS. Allen entertained a motion to extend the Phase 30 spending period from March 31, 2013 to May 31, Linda Rogers moved to carry the motion and Daryl Brock moved to second. The motion carried. 2. Status Anabel asked Belinda to give the group an overview of the National EFSP conference that was held in San Diego in December of Belinda explained that attendees were given the opportunity to bring up issues EFSP Local Board Meeting

3 concerning spending and recommendations. She took from the meeting that there is a lack of advocacy about the importance of EFSP funds in our local area, and that we need to do more to educate the National Board about this so that we can continue to help the people that really need these funds. She said that even though they listened, the National Board also has their hands tied. Ron Hewison had also attended the National EFSP Conference and agreed with Belinda about advocacy, however, he found it informative. He felt that the board was political and didn t have a great field level understanding of who the payments were really helping. He suggested that we plan to collaborate with Ken Calvert and San Diego County. Anabel reflected that since the meeting, she did reach out to the Los Angeles and San Bernardino County EFSP Local Boards, and they agreed to network with her in the future. a. LRO Certifications Anabel explained that some LROs did not receive their first payments because the information on their LRO Certification Forms did not match the National Board s Information. Anabel has to reach out to those organizations and request for them to resubmit their certifications. Anabel will do this before the next Local Board meeting. b. Interim Reports and Second Payment Requests Anabel presented a spreadsheet handout listing the current second payment status of each organization. She announced that some organizations will be receiving their first or next payments on Thursday, February 14, c. Quarterly Reports Anabel provided a spreadsheet handout listing the status of who turned in their quarterly reports and if they were on time. She added that due to the extension, changes will need to be made to the fourth quarter spreadsheet to include April and May. d. Reallocations There are currently three (3) organizations that need their funds to be reallocated to a different organization. Anabel will go about reallocating by using the system created by the Local Board. The new LROs have not received payment as quickly as in prior years because National required them to sign up for EFT before payments could be issued. Anabel announced that one organization submitted an application for Phase 30 with a compliance issue from Phase 20 and as a result, will not receive funds in the current phase until it is resolved. She explained that she has given the organization an EFSP Local Board Meeting

4 option to become compliant by paying a balance of $1, to National. If not, she will have to reallocate their funds. The organization will not be able to apply for any future phases of the EFSP grant until their Phase 20 compliance is cleared. Discussion followed about a neighboring agency possibly visiting with that organization to help them with a decision. It was agreed upon that if the organization has not made a decision by February 28, 2013, their funds will be reallocated. (As of 03/06/2013, this has been resolved). e. Technical Assistance Evaluation Form Anabel created a technical assistance evaluation form that she will be providing at the upcoming Technical Assistance Workshops. The first Technical Assistance Workshop is scheduled for this afternoon at 4060 County Circle Drive, Riverside, CA in the Dodge room. Helen Ross asked about the Phase 30 spreadsheet. There is some formatting needed within the protected cells. Anabel let everyone know that she is aware of these issues and that it is being taken care of. All of the Phase 30 forms need to be updated and Anabel invited anyone who finds themselves needing help inputting information into the forms to come out to the next Technical Assistance Workshop, scheduled on March 13, The forms will be updated before the next Technical Assistance Workshop. f. Monitoring Forms Anabel introduced the new monitoring forms she will be using to monitor the organizations. She asked for feedback and opinions on the new forms. Belinda and Lynne agreed that the information Anabel is asking for during monitoring is not required by National. Anabel said that she would send them the forms electronically for them to review and get back to her with their changes. The group agreed to go over the monitoring forms and get back to Anabel about what changes should be made by the next Local Board meeting. c. Phase 31- Next Meeting: May 8, 2013 Phase 31 will be discussed at the next Local Board meeting. V. EHAP BUSINESS No discussion. VI. NEW BUSINESS a Office Nominations* EFSP Local Board Meeting

5 Daryl Brock motioned to re-elect the current officers, and Linda Rogers moved to second. All in attendance agreed and the motion carried. Allen Villalobos will remain the 2013 Local Board Chair representative and Belinda Marquez will remain Co-chair. A motion was entertained to allow the Co-chair to sign documents in the absence of the Chair of the Board. Linda Rogers moved to carry the motion and Daryl Brock moved to second. The motion carried. VII. CALENDAR a. Next Meeting: The next EFSP meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, 2013, at the same location. VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS/OTHER Belinda announced that Catholic Charities is doing a big push for outreach for CalFresh and health insurance. Almost all of the forms you can fill out at the County Self- Sufficiency offices can now be filled out through Catholic Charities. Belinda explained that Healthy Families is no longer available as a health insurance option, but they can offer Healthy Kids and Kaiser. Allen offered five (5) Spanish speaking volunteers to help Catholic Charities in their outreach. Helen inquired about dental and vision coverage for adults. Daryl Brock added that Loma Linda University has students that will do dental work for a very affordable price. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 AM by Allen Villalobos. Respectfully submitted by: Tiffany Nelson EFSP Local Board Meeting