Department: Purchasing
Department Head/Elected Official: DeWight Dopslauf
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Contract - Amendment
Project ID (if applicable): 230095
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Children At Risk
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: 0% - Specialized, Technical, or Unique in Nature
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of the Purchasing Agent that the County Judge execute an amendment to an agreement with Children At Risk in the decreased amount of $1,893,849 to adjust the budget and update the Federal Award Identification Table for early learning quality network for Harris County for the period of October 10, 2023 - November 30, 2026 (230095), Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: 0% - Specialized, Technical, or Unique in Nature.
end
Background and Discussion:
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. Harris County Commissioners Court set goals for ARPA funding including providing educational opportunities to mitigate pandemic impacts.
Research from Children at Risk indicates that approximately 25% of all child care facilities closed statewide during the height of the pandemic and 20% of all available child care capacity was lost. Communities of color were the most impacted by COVID-19 related closures. These communities experienced twice the rate of child care disruptions and centers within these communities were twice as likely to close. In addition to the number of closures of programs overall, programs seeking to reopen, including school-based programs, struggle to hire qualified staff to support young children because of the pandemic.
Harris County’s response to this information is to pilot the Early Learning Quality Network, a community-driven network approach to supporting quality improvement in early learning settings (primarily focused on child care settings). The goal of the program is to improve early learning and care by working alongside providers, families, and other community stakeholders to focus on quality improvement initiatives that build upon the unique strengths and opportunities of each focal community. This work will be closely supported by the Harris County Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity.
Children at Risk, the program network support hub, is adjusting its budget concerning the grant fund and administration costs for the Early Learning Quality Network project, now serving five Local Network Organizations instead of the originally budgeted six. This revision will reduce the grant fund with a commensurate adjusted decrease in grant fund administration costs.
Expected Impact:
The approval of this budget amendment will enable Children at Risk to establish a precise budget and associated costs for invoicing purposes.
Alternative Options:
Commissioners Court could redistribute the ELQN grant fund across the five (5) local networks, rather than reducing the Children at Risk contract. The main risk associated with this alternative is that the funds may not be fully utilized and spent down by the ARPA spending deadline.
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
X Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
10/10/2023 |
22 |
Agreement Approved |
|
12/19/2023 |
14 |
First Amendment Approved |
Location: N/A
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
2651 - American Rescue Plan 2021 |
$ |
($1,893,849) |
($1,893,849) |
($1,893,849) |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
($1,893,849) |
($1,893,849) |
($1,893,849) |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Request |
$ |
($1,893,849) |
($1,893,849) |
($1,893,849) |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 4/23/2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Estella Gonzales, Executive Director, Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity; Matthew McGarrity, Senior Buyer, Purchasing
Attachments (if applicable): Amendment