Title:
Title
City Council COVID-19 Response: CARES Act Framework and Funding Priorities; Coronavirus Relief Fund for Creative Economy Recovery Program: Grant Agreement with Sacramento County Office of Education
End
FileID
File ID: 2020-01104
Location
Location: Citywide
End
Recommendation:
Recommendation
Pass a Motion authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to execute a CARES Act grant agreement with the Sacramento County Office of Education in an amount not-to-exceed $431,200 for the Sacramento Healthy HeART and Mind Collaborative program.
FileName
Contact: Mannylyn Timoteo, Administrative Analyst, (916) 808-3982; Melissa Cirone, Arts Program Coordinator, (916) 808-3983; Jody Ulich, Director, (916) 808-5105, Convention and Cultural Services Department.
Body
Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Coronavirus Relief Fund Programs
3-SCOE Agreement
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: On March 13, 2020, the City declared a local emergency in response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several actions were taken by the City to provide immediate economic relief to city businesses and residents. On April 21, 2020, the City received $89.6 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) from passage of the CARES Act.
Framework and Funding Priorities: On May 12, 2020, Council participated in a workshop to discuss a CRF framework and funding priorities and on May 26, 2020 adopted a general framework proposed by the Mayor for funding priorities. During the workshop, Council expressed overall interest in funding programs and projects that provide small business assistance, get people back to work, offer opportunities for youth enrichment, address homelessness and housing issues, and support families impacted by this pandemic. The deadline for expending CRF funds is December 30, 2020.
A working group of departments has been working with the City Attorney and Auditor’s offices to prepare CARES Act funding recommendations and review funding suggestions for eligibility and alignment with identified Council priority areas:
• Small Business Assistance: Financial, technical, and entrepreneurship assistance to small businesses, non-profits, and community-based organizations (CBOs).
• Workforce Training: Fund programs and partner with workforce development providers, CBOs, and educational partners at all levels to retrain and uptrain workers dislocated due to the pandemic.
• Youth Enrichment: Implement robust programs, curriculum, and service for youth, including providing the necessary transportation and technology to support these programs.
• Family Services: Funding to support additional services for Sacramento families, including the expansion and availability of childcare services, food access, and programs that address domestic violence exacerbated by the stay-at-home orders.
• Homeless Services & Rapid Re-Housing: Services to place unhoused individuals into permanent housing and implement homeless aversion programs.
• Arts, The Creative Economy & Tourism: Financial and technical assistance directly to support the arts, tourism, and creative economy that have been devastated by the current pandemic.
Additionally, Council expressed a commitment to equity and inclusion. Each program and project will be screened through an equity lens to ensure CARES spending benefits our entire community, particularly those communities most impacted.
Sacramento Healthy HeART and Mind Collaborative: There is extensive research that supports Protective Adult Relationships as a mitigating factor for childhood trauma. There is an equal amount of research that shows that arts are an integral way for students to both connect to school and share their thoughts and ideas. Sacramento Healthy HeART and Mind Collaborative addresses that research by developing a three-pronged approach to the delivery of services to at-risk youth in prioritized schools within the City's Neighborhood Development Action Team focus area. This program will pair teaching artists in multiple disciplines, experienced youth mentors from local community based organizations, and mental health specialists, to develop a virtual support system, with a primary focus on social emotional issues, for students identified as at-risk due to isolation from peers and trusted adults as a result of the public health directives related to COVID-19. Artists will work with students in virtual small groups, teaching them skills in their art form while helping them explore their feelings and shape their personal narratives through art. Community mentors will conduct ongoing check ins and help lead dialogue that addresses isolation and frustration. The residencies will culminate with a piece of art or project completed (in small groups or by individuals) and will integrate mental health conversations informed by the work of the team. All artists will begin their residencies with professional development, learning from mental health experts the appropriate social and emotional health language and concepts and developing common systems to work effectively with their cohort.
Policy Considerations: The City has been impacted by a global pandemic. Establishing programs and budgets that include federal CARES Act funding is consistent with City Council action relative to state and federal grant awards.
Economic Impacts: CARES Act funds and other eligible federal and state grants will assist the City in providing economic relief to residents and business that have been impacted by COVID-19. Additionally, CARES Act spending will support and advance inclusive economic growth, improve the health of neighborhoods and support people, places, and actions that promote overall economic recovery and impacts immediately and well beyond this pandemic. In compliance with public health orders a significant student population has been adversely affected and needs added support. Development of this innovative 3-pronged approach will impact those hardest hit.
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): The proposed action is not a project under CEQA because it relates to government fiscal activities that do not involve any commitment to a specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §§15060(c)(3), 15378(b)(4)). The proposed action involves activities that are exempt from NEPA under title 24, section 58.34, of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Sustainability: None
Commission/Committee Action: None
Rationale for Recommendation: Accepting the proposed framework will allow the City to provide a virtual support system for Sacramento schools that addresses the social, emotional, and mental health needs of students, and integrates mentoring, art and mental health support system. A collaborative team - including a mental health specialist, a community mentor, and an artist in residence at each site will work with up to 26 school sites to participate in virtual training and develop a suite of virtual services for students with surfacing social emotional issues. This program focuses on using the arts as a strategy to address mental health issues, trauma, absenteeism, and other well-documented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on already at-risk youth. The support team will include between 14-20 diverse artists who will develop an on-line residency, that will be used to help each student shape their personal narrative through art. This proposal fully aligns with both the City of Sacramento's framework for the allocation of CARES Relief Act funds to children and youth programs and with the City of Sacramento's Citywide Youth Development Campaign plan. Moreover, the proposed program builds a complimentary program that supports Arts and Mental Wellness for City youth.
Financial Considerations: On April 21, 2020, the City received $89.6 million from the CRF to address impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding of $14.4 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (Fund 2704) for the Creative Economy Program was allocated as part of the Coronavirus Relief Program (G02610100) was approved by Council over the past few months ($5 million on May 26, $2.5 million on June 30 and $6.9 million on September 1) . The current CRF program schedule reflecting City Council approved recommendations through September 8, 2020 is included as Attachment 2.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not Applicable