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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 8887 City of Palo Alto (ID # 8887) Policy and Services Committee Staff Report Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 5/8/2018 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Review and Discussion of Bryant Street Garage Fund for Teen Services Title: Review of the Fiscal Year 2017 and Fiscal Year 2018 use of Revenue From a Lease at the City Owned Property at 455 Bryant Street for Teen Services and Discussion of Request for Proposals to use Previously Collected but Unspent Lease Revenue for Additional Teen Services From: City Manager Lead Department: Community Services RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the Policy and Services Committee:  review the FY 2017 and FY 2018 use of revenue from a lease at the City owned property at 455 Bryant Street for teen services, and  provide feedback on the staff recommendation to use previously collected but unspent lease revenue to fund the development of a Request for Proposals to implement additional teen services. BACKGROUND In 2001, the City Council voted to lease out a garage property located at 455 Bryant Street. Since this site was formerly the location of the Bryant Street Teen Center, a stipulation in the lease required that 75% of the rental revenues would be used to fund programs specifically for Palo Alto youth and teens. The rental revenue annually continues to be invested back into the teen population through multiple channels, providing opportunities for entrepreneurship, creativity, personal growth and leadership. In fiscal years 2017 and 2018, the revenue provided funding for Think Fund grants, ClickPA website, Teen Arts Council, MakeX, Art Center, Think Fund Gala and the Buoyancy Teen Festival. In addition to partially funding a full time Program Assistant I (Teen Program Specialist), the Bryant Street Garage Fund is distributed as follows: Think Fund Grant Program $25,000 clickPA website $6,000 Teen Arts Council $20,000 MakeX $13,000 Art Center $10,000 City of Palo Alto Page 2 Think Fund Gala $5,000 Buoyancy Festival $5,000 Think Fund The Think Fund Grant Program is designed to encourage teens to envision, design, and implement events, programs and services that they are passionate about. Teens have innovative ideas, but often need financial support and mentorship to make the ideas come to life. In this sense, Think Fund is essentially an incubator of ideas, providing a pathway for teens to successfully launch events, programs and services in their own community and for their peers. Think Fund grants are awarded on an annual basis through an application process. Interested teens receive guidance on how to complete their application by the Teen Program Specialist. Applications are then reviewed by a Teen Services Committee who selects projects to be awarded. Throughout the duration of the projects, the Teen Program Specialist provides mentorship and guidance to ensure they have a successful and rewarding experience. City of Palo Alto Page 3 Projects funded in FY 17 and FY18 include: Fiscal 2017 Think Fund Projects Fiscal 2018 Think Fund Projects Breakfast & Facebook Girls in Future Technology (GIFT) Festival of Colors Girl Up Palo Alto Intramural Basketball Sports Program GunnHacks Kick for Charity Technological Mapping Project PalyHacks MathUnboxed PA Roots PA Roots Project Enybody Project Enybody SfN Neuroscience Conference Scribere Students United Against Cancer SfN Wonder SUAC Retreat Stellar Science Enrichment Super Smash Bro’s Tournament Series Super Smash Bro’s Tournament Series Teen Exploring Code Teen Exploring Code Tug of War Documentary The Fringe Class Youth Job Expo Tibco Empower ClickPA Founded in 2013 by four high school students who felt that teens are unaware about the wealth of activities available around Palo Alto, clickPA strives to empower teens to get involved in their community. ClickPA.org is a website for events, opportunities, and blogs tailored to local teens. ClickPA retains up to eight paid interns who create and monitor the website as well as create content for their peers. Teen Arts Council The vision of the Teen Arts Council is “to sustain and expand a supportive space for local teen leaders in the arts to take creative risks.” Teens create, plan, and produce arts events with the goal of strengthening the youth community in Palo Alto. The Teen Arts Council also works as a leadership training program for its members. Support from the 455 Bryant Street lease revenue has provided the Teen Arts Council with increased staff support, as well as project funds to improve their outreach efforts within the Palo Alto teen community to serve a more diverse and larger teen population, as well as diversify produced activities that explore a full range of the arts. Teen Arts Council programs and events serve more than 1,500 teen participants annually. MakeX A unique, teen only maker space run and operated by high school mentors. The space fosters creativity, passion and drive. MakeX offers free access to cutting edge tools in a casual, peer- driven environment. Visitors have the opportunity to learn how to use tools and software under the guidance of teen mentors, or work individually on their own projects. Funding from the 455 Bryant Street lease revenue provides tools, resources and mentors to teens. City of Palo Alto Page 4 Art Center Support from the 455 Bryant Street lease revenue has allowed the Art Center to significantly expand program offerings to teens. Goals for teen programs at the Art Center include: • Provide teens with opportunities to have a voice and be heard • Expose teens to practicing artists • Provide teens with opportunities to learn about professional opportunities in the art world • Showcase creativity as a tool for expression, stress relief and relaxation • Create satisfying volunteer experiences Funds support the Art Center Teen Leadership group, 14 active teens who meet monthly to plan Teen Takeover events, participate in hands-on workshops with practicing artists, exhibit their artwork at the Art Center and develop leadership skills. Teen Takeover events are after- hours events exclusively for teens with activities such as individual and collaborative artmaking, live performances and gallery activities. The events are hosted twice per year (fall and spring) and are attended by approximately 50 participants. Think Fund Gala This Think Fund Grantee Gala is a night of celebrating the youth leaders of Palo Alto. Think Fund Grant recipients, their families and mentors as well as youth leadership groups are invited to present and celebrate their accomplishments. The event provides an opportunity for teens to be recognized and experience how much the community appreciates their efforts. Buoyancy Festival The Buoyancy Festival is planned by the Teen Arts Council to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. Teen bands perform on stage and a visual arts tent allows teens to showcase their art work. Last year, over 300 teens gathered in Mitchell Park for games, music and great food. Unexpended 455 Bryant Street Lease Revenue In addition to the annual funding of teen programs from 455 Bryant Street lease revenue, funding of $217,000 was set aside for support of teen mental and physical well-being. These funds are now approximately $325,000 and to date, have not been expended. Staff previously reported to the Policy and Services Committee on November 10, 2015 to present on the use of 455 Bryant Street lease revenue for Teen Services for fiscal years 2015 and 2016 and options for FY 2017 Spending (CMR 6167). A link to this report can be found at: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/49639 DISCUSSION The current annual funding plan provides teens with opportunities for personal growth, innovation and leadership and staff recommends continuing with the current funding level for those programs. With respect to the Fund Reserve, there have been numerous conversations focused on projects and/or programs that could be created or expanded upon with the reserve, but no action has been taken. In 2015, the City of Palo Alto Teen Services Committee hosted a Design Thinking Process to develop potential ideas regarding the previously collected but City of Palo Alto Page 5 unspent lease revenue from 455 Bryant Street, which has a balance of approximately $325,000. In this process, the following ideas and concepts were discussed: 1) Improve Teen Transportation Options: Shuttle for teens, better public transportation 2) Application & Gamification System: To encourage teens to utilize technology while staying active and social to promote healthier lifestyles. 3) Adventure Palo Alto: An “outdoor education” platform specific to teens to encourage teambuilding and social awareness. 4) Crisis & Post-Crisis Intervention: Provide short term and long-term support for teens and their families experiencing mental health challenges. Staff recommends opening the conversation to the public through an RFP process that would provide general criteria and guidance, yet allow enough flexibility to encourage multiple agencies and groups to provide their best proposal for the use of the funding. A carefully selected scoring panel, which will include teen panelists will rate the proposals and make a selection. It is anticipated that the reserves would fund multiple proposals. The RFP will include the four concepts that resulted from the 2015 Design Thinking Process as background, however; all proposals will be reviewed and considered. Staff wants to encourage a range of innovative proposals based on the current needs of the teen population. Staff will promote the RFP throughout Palo Alto community, and will target outreach efforts toward youth serving organizations to receive as many diverse project proposals as possible. Suggested RFP guidelines are as follows:  Project duration of 2-3 years as a pilot program  Focus on Palo Alto youth and teens  Direct impact on youths’ mental and/or physical well being  Must include a sustainability plan to ensure pilot program will continue if successful  Outline of how will program success will be measured Some suggested criteria when looking at proposals include:  How many youth and teens will the program impact?  Does the project meet a specific need in Palo Alto?  Does proposal have a clear sustainability plan?  Have performance metrics been defined? RESOURCE IMPACT Since fiscal year 2015, the amount of rental income from 455 Bryant Street committed to annual teen programs has consistently been $84,000. Additionally, the rental income funds 0.29 FTE of a Program Assistant I position at a cost of approximately $27,000 annually. Any additional rental income designated for teen programs that exceeds this amount is added to the balance of unspent lease revenue from 455 Bryant Street, which has a current balance of $325,882.