Statement of Problem/Need Being Addressed

City of Lawrence

Outside Agency Funding

APPLICATION

General Information: Each year, the City Commission considers requests for the allocation of dollars to a number of agencies that provide services benefiting the Lawrence community. The decision on funding a request will be made during the City’s annual budgeting process. The decision will be based upon the availability of funds, the need demonstrated through the agency’s application, the stated objectives of the applicant’s program, past performance by the agency in adhering to funding guidelines (as appropriate), and the ability to measure progress toward the program objectives.

Instructions: Applications for 2008 funding must be complete and submitted electronically to the City Manager’s Office at cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us by the deadline of 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.

Questions? Contact Casey Liebst, Budget Manager at cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us or at 785-832-3409.

Section 1. Applicant Information

Legal Name of Agency:		Community Cooperation Committee
Name of Program for Which Funding is Requested:			Community Integration Project
Primary Contact Person:		Sara L. Taliaferro
Address:	2145 New Hampshire Street
Telephone:	(785) 842-4051		Fax:	(785) 842-4051
Email:	sara@happybeetle.com

Section 2. Request Information

A.	Amount of funds requested from the City for this program for calendar year 2008:	$3,000.00
B.	Will these funds be used for capital outlay (equipment or facilities) in 2008? If so, please describe: No.
C.	Will these funds be used to leverage other funds in 2008? If so, how: No. If the outcome of the survey and moderated focus groups indicates a program that requires additional funding that cannot be acquired in future through the City of Lawrence, such sources as the Douglas County Community Foundation or the U.S. Department of Justice’s funding for community policing projects may be applied to, but these funds would not be available during the year of 2008.
D.	Did you receive City funding for this program in 2007? If so, list the amount and source for funding (i.e. General Fund, Alcohol Fund, etc.): Yes; an allocation of $3,000.00 for the Community Cooperation Committee (CCC) was received as part of a lump sum request by the Community Commission on Homelessness for $209,000.00 that, in addition to the CCC, funded the Bert Nash outreach case management team, clothing and transportation (bus vouchers) for jobs programs, and supplemental funds for The Salvation Army and The Lawrence Community Shelter, Inc. (LCS) to maintain 24/7 emergency shelter services.
E.	If you are requesting an increase in funding over 2007, please explain exactly how the additional funds will be used: We are not requesting a funding increase.

Section 3. Agency and Program Budget information

A.	How many paid full time employees work for your agency?	None.	Volunteers?			Fifteen.

B.	What percent of your total 2007 budget goes to employee salaries and benefits?				0%

C.	What percent of your total 2007 budget is used for operating expenses?			21%

D.	What is the total estimated cost to provide the program in 2008?			$3,000.00

E.	What percent of 2008 program costs are being requested from the City?			100%

F.	List other anticipated sources of funding and funding amount for this program in 2008: NA

Section 4. Statement of Problem/Need to Be Addressed By Program

A. Provide a brief statement of the problem or need your agency proposes to address with the requested funding and/or the impact of not funding this program. The statement should include characteristics of the client population that will be served by this program. If possible, include statistical data to document this need.

One of the dilemmas facing the Lawrence community is inclusion of individuals experiencing homelessness who are not involved in support programs while also protecting the community from suffering negative consequences of behaviors that may result from isolation, addiction, or from the experience of homelessness itself. A specific example is the daunting situation that arises when service organizations must ban individuals for infractions against internal organizational rules of safety or respectful conduct, thereby restoring order within the organization and maintaining a structured environment, but often at the expense of the surrounding community.

The client population in this program is a large cross-section of the community who need to be involved in the process of crafting a solution and includes but is not limited to people experiencing homelessness, downtown business people, individual homeowners and renters, service providers, and local government—especially the Lawrence City Commission and the Lawrence Police Department. Lack of funding for this program would hamper our ability to provide venues such as a website and a post office address through which we can be contacted or can provide information and outreach to the community. It would also limit the amount of trained mediation and moderator services we could offer the public. Although we accomplish a great deal through a substantial amount of volunteer effort, the community is best served through offerings of a professional product. Public meetings where subjects of conflict are discussed and reviewed need to be carefully structured and planned.

B. How was the need for this program determined?

From the CoC Homeless Population and Subpopulations count done in Lawrence, KS, on January 29, 2007, an estimated 44 persons are part of an unsheltered homeless subpopulation that includes chronically homeless, severely mentally ill, chronic substance abusers, veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS, or victims of domestic violence. The Lawrence Community Shelter can have up to fifty people on their list of individuals temporarily or permanently banned. The Salvation Army has two people permanently banned and two temporary bans. Although banned individuals and individuals not sheltered for other reasons are but a portion of people experiencing homelessness in Lawrence, they tend to be the more visible subgroup, often surrounded by the strongest feelings of conflict and controversy within the community.

Downtown Lawrence, Inc. has indicated that they believe individuals experiencing homelessness to be a portion of the contributors of problem behaviors they witness from downtown visitors, and service providers agree it is possible, although no one has any concrete data. The CCC is currently working with LCS, the Bert Nash outreach caseworker team, and DLI to get some rough estimates of the scope of the problem as we develop a community strategy for addressing the issue.

Minutes from meetings of the Planning Commission, the City Commission, the Task Force on Homeless Services, and the Community Commission on Homelessness reveal an appreciable amount of time in discussion and division over matters of “street homelessness” with little documentation of the participants having arrived at resolution or having derived a feeling of satisfaction over the recourse available to them. The CCC is developing a mediation-style facilitation program through which the community might work toward resolutions within a meeting structure that is more conducive to community dialogue than the previously mentioned venues.

C. Why should this problem/need be addressed by the City?

The purpose and goals of the Community Cooperation Committee are outlined in the City of Lawrence Task Force on Homeless Services Final Report, and the Community Cooperation Committee is a quasi-advisory board to the City of Lawrence. The stated need fits within the purview of CCC’s defined responsibilities and activities. We provide a vehicle for solutions and strategies for addressing these problems, concerns about which will continue to be voiced at City Commission, Planning Commission, and Community Commission on Homelessness meetings if an alternative strategy for recourse is not in place.

Section 5. Description of Program Services

A. Provide a brief description of the service you will provide and explain how it will respond to the need you identified in Section 4. The description should include how many clients will be served, and should describe as specifically as possible the interaction that will take place between the provider and the user of the service.

The Community Integration Project is a multi-phase five-year project designed to involve multiple facets of the community in a process of sharing concerns and then working toward a common vision of respectful and safe behavior in public areas. The ultimate goal is a practical plan designed by the community that might involve pamphlets given to police officers and business owners, public service announcements, or outreach to people engaging in such acts as panhandling. The impetus of the campaign is the problem caused by banning, yet the focus is on behaviors and not some particular group of people. We will work closely with the police department and mental health and social work professionals, turning over to them those parts of the project that are best resolved through their professional efforts.

This year of 2007, the CCC is developing guidelines for mediation-style facilitation and is developing a list of trained mediators who are willing to donate or offer their services for community mediation or consulting. The CCC is designing a website where anyone in the community can find information on services, plans, and current topics related to homelessness in Lawrence. LCS has distributed cards downtown with contact information and will file incident reports on any calls they get from downtown businesses when a negative behavior is witnessed and the individual is perceived to be someone known to the shelter. The CCC will review and compile this data. These efforts will support implementation of the Community Integration Project in 2008.

For the Community Integration Project, the CCC will hold a moderated panel discussion with City of Lawrence officials, County Jail officials, service providers, law enforcement representatives, and mental health workers to discuss what constraints exist and what strategies a community can employ to modify or deter negative behaviors experienced by a community at large that are within legal bounds and practical limits. The data compiled from the LCS downtown incident reports will be reviewed and specific scenarios discussed. From this discussion, a summary informational statement will be drafted that will be posted on the website and used in education and outreach programs and in mediated community discussions.

Three separate moderated panel discussions will be held with Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, Downtown Lawrence, Inc., and the Coalition for Homeless Concerns. Specific negative behavior scenarios will be discussed, using the summary informational statement defining legal and practical recourse as a guideline for responses. Concerns of each group and the impact of the behaviors will be documented. Possible solutions will be discussed and documented.

A satisfaction and opinion survey, drafted under the guidance of a professor emeritus of the School of Social Welfare, will be sent out to ten community organizations to obtain baseline information before the commencement of the Community Integration Project.

B. Describe any efforts your agency has made to explore the community to determine if there are any other agencies providing similar types of services. What efforts have you made to coordination services?

The CCC’s membership includes representation from the Bert Nash outreach case workers, The Coalition on Homeless Concerns, The Salvation Army, Downtown Lawrence Inc., First Baptist Church, Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, Kansas Legal Services, DCCCA, The Leo Center, Drug Policy Forum of Kansas, SRS, The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, The School of Social Welfare, The Lawrence Community Shelter, Pelathé Center, and the Community Commission on Homelessness. We work closely with staff of the Neighborhood Resources Department and on the approval of the Community Commission on Homelessness. This consortium of diverse stakeholders is in and of itself a coordinating body.

Section 6. Program Objectives

Please provide three specific program objectives for 2008. Objectives should demonstrate the purpose of the program and measure the amount of service delivered or the effectiveness of the services delivered. A time frame and numerical goal should also be included. Examples include, “75% of clients receiving job training will retain their job one year after being hired,” “increased fundraising efforts will result in a 15% increase in donations in 2008,” “credit counseling services will be provided to 600 clients in 2008,” “new digital arts program will serve 275 students in 2008” etc. Applicants will be expected to report their progress toward meeting these objectives in their six month and annual reports to the City.

	Program Objectives

1.	The CCC will hold a moderated panel discussion in the Spring of 2008 with City and County officials, service providers and mental health workers to define legal and practical recourse available in dealing with negative public behaviors, and a summary informational statement will be published on the CCC website.

2.	A summary of reported incidents within the downtown area during 2007, compiled from police reports and LCS incident reports, will be distributed, along with the summary report from objective 1 stated above, for discussion at three separate moderated panel discussions with Downtown Lawrence, Inc., the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, and the Coalition for Homeless Concerns, to be held in the summer and fall of 2008.

3.	A satisfaction and opinion survey will be sent out to ten community organizations with combined memberships exceeding 2,000 people to obtain baseline information in the first quarter of 2008.

Please return completed application electronically to cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us by

5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.

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