The County Administrator initiated Phase I of the Innovation Fund process with the November 1, 2022 issuance of a request for Statements of Qualifications (SoQs) and Concept Papers. Notification of this opportunity was made to the media, on Linkedin, to chambers of commerce, to Board of Supervisors offices, County departments that contract with community-based organizations, community-based organization collaboratives, and to mailing lists previously compiled through census and other County grant programs. Of the 15 applications received, 14 are California registered nonprofit organizations and are likely eligible. Only 5 of the 14 California nonprofit applicants submitted evidence that they are tax-exempt; additional evidence will be required before the other 9 applicants will be considered. This evidence will be sought when Phase I interviews are scheduled. The potentially eligible proposals generally fall into the following service areas:
3 relating to mental health/substance abuse and living skills counseling and substance abuse treatment;
4 relating to hubs/connections to myriad public services, e.g., financial literacy, legal, education, career development, family resources, health and social services;
3 relating to access to healthy food;
1 relating to transitional housing development;
1 relating to job training and readiness;
1 relating to closing the digital divide; and
1 relating to small business support and development.
The County Administrator seeks the input of the Board's Finance Committee regarding sourcing of volunteers to serve on the Innovation Fund Review Panel. The role of the Review Panel will be to review the eligible proposals, receive presentations on each of the proposals, and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for Phase 1 planning grants of $5,000, the purpose of which are to fund the preparation of comprehensive grant applications for up to $1.95M in Innovation Funds that will be considered in Phase 2. The Review Panel will also evaluate the comprehensive Phase 2 grant applications and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on award of Innovation Funds. It is anticipated that serving on the Review Panel will require approximately 12 hours to review Phase 1 and Phase 2 applications and approximately 12 hours of interview time between both phases, so approximately a 24-36 hour time commitment over the two phases. Phase 1 work would likely occur in late February and Phase 2 evaluations would likely occur in June.
The Review Panel will ideally be composed of 5 to 7 individuals with knowledge in one or more of the service areas being proposed but having no affiliation with any of the proposers. At the October 18 Board of Supervisors meeting, the County Administrator was directed to include representatives from the Lesher and Zellerbach Foundations on the Review Panel, as well as representatives from community-based organizations. The Finance Committee might also consider current or retired County staff with subject matter knowledge as either panelists or technical advisors to the Review Panel, particularly to identify any proposed services that are currently already provided by or fall under the auspices of County departments. |