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Home My WebLink About0481.094, City ofi'alo Alto Cityl"l~mager's Rep~!,~ TO: HONORABLE CITY Cot/NCIL FJlO~ CITY MANAGER. DEP.~ I1It£:-'1: Community Senices DATE: No .. mbec Ii, 1994 CMR: 481~ SUBJECT: REQl!ElIT On July 5, [994, Council eooorse:d lk pro ... -:.es,s of devdop:ng a (I,':1·;::e-rtual prcposal for a Family Re>eUfce C'!ntu for paJ(1 Alto's f:!.milio!'i-, C(;oun';:il direcled i.h~, Cily Manager to assign st.aff reS'.)urces; to act 2$ jj&is,lP. "nj 5.ua"" .... rt h) ell;: Ad HI"." ~T\)Llp. Council nlrther dlrec~ed staff to rcl~rTI in O,,:t,~+{-!" t <;")4 , :':, rc:p.1:1. enl li;::-p:;o~::r,~~s maJ¢ t0ward the deveIOptTtr:r:! of Ihe pr;J}h")~.aL RECo.\-\MENDAUQ;SS There Ilre 00 retommcrlda.tiorls ferr action !it t.his !iJ'1'Y.:. POLICY lMPLlCATIQ!'!S This report does not represent aIly change to C'x.is.ling Cit)' po!ices., EXECIITIVE SUMMARY On May 9, J994, in her Stale of the City speech, M.Y'Jr liz Kniss spoke of her desire to addn:ss the needs and interests of Palo Alto families, Since then, Mayor Kniss has convened an Ad Hoc Commi_ !o explore the concept, study od>er models around the coontry, and begin '0 define the elements of. Wnily resoun::e ""rller which wook! meet the needs of Palo Alto', n.!l'Jlie" The term 'family' bAs been ddined broadly, to include chi!dreD, adullS, and seniors in 'oon-lradilional' configurations. The major focus of such a Family ReSt."Urce Center would be to ~ist Palo Alto's families balance their dual, and often rompeling rale., of leading active and ,uc"" .. ful professionallivcs with the pressures inherent in r&is.ing a healthy family in the 1990'" The basic focus of the Center would be to hrin8 resources ,od ",rvi"", to families where they may be more re-adtly accessed, as in the s.chool and the work place, Tn::-concepl coujd be for a centrally located facility or there could be ->atellile' oe",ers, Pop 1.(3 • I I 1 In order to focus or. prevention as ...... en as Clisis.lntervention, a Faml})' Re-sourc~ Center oouid include Ibe following services: Information gathering and community r:eeds assessments; Ilnl:age, betw<cn service providen and families (enh.ancod resource and R!ferra!); identification and promotion of training and educational opportunities; ickntiflcation of fundin;; sources am grant opportunities for providcrs; advrX:acy for family in~rest5: coordination of the activities of City departments including Pollee, C:m1murtiry Services, FiN.nc¢i and Planning and Community EnvirvfU'r"te'nt: and tbr:. coordination of City Task: Forces and Commissions which imp3ct youth aM families. As Committee members h.so.,'e le~.d from visiting and studying Famit)· Res.ource Celltt'f models in othei' <:ities, communities around t~e couMr)' arc s....··d: .. \ng j)C\,( • .... 'a)'s t('l meet the multitude of needs facing f ... milics., and are steking coordir.3l~d 3rrr . .)d,:hcs {o h-P!'lp families access existing services and resources. In Palo Al\G, the in,~reas': in sin.5k-pan~111 families, as well as the incr~,~ in the number of farni)iC"~ wilh ~o!h r'J.!t"nts. \.l, urk.lr.g outside th~ horne. has resulted in an imm!diate need f(lr affordabk hc)!J~tng and (hi~d care and increased recreatiof!(\\ 0ppoT1urui.le5 for scn\)\.,l"?ge cnildr.::n. At a public meeting on lune 28, 1.;194. there was t:'o'idi!nc-e of widc-sple;-id ,"'ommunity support for the development of a FarnHy Resource Center for Palo Alto. This was. demonstrated by the large turnout and enthusi3sm of the community members ~ L'lcY di!.!;ussed ways to strengthen Hnks between tht: City, Palo Alto Unifltd Scho()l Di:;t11 (.1 , Stanford, the broader community, neighborh()(Jd and citiun groups, and area reside-fifS. in a unified approach to ~upport and streogthen familic!), To ickntify !he specific interests and r.:eds of Paio Alto', famil,es, , family survey (Attachment \) was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee and distributed in September 1994 to all PAUSD families attending Back-ta-School N;ght. To gather infonnation from families Vt'itO chiJdre.n not yet enrolled in Ibe Schooi Districl, seven c-hild care centers serving children ages twe months to five ~ were surveyed as '"eU. The results of !hose surveys are presently being tallied and analyzed. In No, ember 1994, the Ad Hoc Commiuee plans to hold. series of public meetings at each of the three PA USD • cluster sites'" to review the results of the surveys and to hear from the communily. The Commiuee has spent numerous hau", ao conceptual develupme nt and facl finding. The members are enthusiastic about Ibe polenrial of creating a Center and d«licated to their -continued involvement. The group has conduded that the next step is t.hc: development of a Family Resource Cellter Master Plan. Tc accompli:;h this. & structure is needed fer future work of the Committee. After expl'Jriilg s\.~~'aal possibilities, it has ~n recommended that the model of a task force would be most appiicablt. The Task CMll:411:94 • Force would be advisory to the City Council &nil Ille City MaIUIger. The to,k force model 1m worked successfully in other efforts, such as the work of the Child Care Task Force. A Family Resource Center Task Force, through the Master PI.n, would make rccomm.mdations for improving the utilization and coordination of existing resources, and for developing mechanbms for ongoing collaborative ded.ion making &nil planning. Additionally, a task force would develop and implement strategies aimed at pooling the community'. resources 10 better ser'e and suppon Palo Alto's families. FISCAL IMPACT In July 1994, ilie City Manager assigned the Child Care Coordi""tor as the staff liaison to the Mayor'. Family Resource Center Ad Hoc Committee. The staff liais<>n has attended weeldy meetings, coordinated mailings, responded to telephone inquiries, prepared written materials, and coordinated the student interns from Gunn High School, to compile data colkcted from Ik September 1994 PAUSD family ,u'Vo),s. The AdJIlinistratoT of Human Services has; spent appro:timately 30 hours developing a proposal for a. half-time project coordinator. It is projected that an ajditio~a1 30 10 40 hou" may be spent b)' the end of November 1994, in order to procure the $38,248 being reque.ted. If the proposal for a half-time coordinator is funded. the Child Care Coordinator can maintain the present level of involvement with the Committee without having a major impact on her present wl)ridoad. E.NYIRQNMEN1AL AS..JlESSMENT There lS no need for an environmental a'isessmenL ATIACBMENTS. Family Survey Prepared By: Dene Hem, Child Car< Coordinator Department Head Review: fl!!1~'~, PAUL THlLTGEN Director of Comrnurlity Services \' q ~~-1iu' ----UN FLEMING 1 anager City Manager Approval: CMR:4Il.1>I Pard 0(3 ~'~ . ~ .. "';" . rAMD.Y_VIY 1994 ATTACHMENT I. _.r __ I0,...._ ..... ~_ Cl!iId:-u_ 0Ift0r_ 2. __ ...... __ ..... __ 0 ~ C ''-C X-...... .....,,., C 1lIII"""''''' 0 1iIII-.11tfI ). '-"-""600k ~ .......... -•. -_ .. ,..--------- f. _-._,..._.Il10,. ..... _-::=-__ ==-_, 10 U.s.A! _____ --,....... ,... ..... ------- o -, ::&it. 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