FY17 Funding to Local Management Boards
Frequently Asked Questions – January 2016
Background
- Governor Hogan has made restoring Maryland’s economy his top priority.
- Based on the growing challenges experienced by our most vulnerable citizens, the Children’s Cabinet is specifically focused on Governor Hogan’s goal of ensuring Maryland’s struggling families are on a pathway to economic stability and opportunity through strategies that will:
- reduce the number of youth, aged 16-24, who are not working and not going to school;
- reduce the impact of parental incarceration on children, families, and communities;
- reduce childhood hunger; and
- reduce youth homelessness.
- The Children’s Cabinet 2015 Strategic Plan was guided by several important principles: maximizing State resources; measurable outcomes; local authority; and targeted funding.
- Based on the Strategic Plan, the Children’s Cabinet, through the Governor’s Office for Children, provides funding to Local Management Boards through the Interagency Fund. The Fund was established in the Human Services Article 8-501, which requires expenditures to the Local Management Boards to “reflect the priorities, policies, and procedures that the Children’s Cabinet adopts.”
- The Hogan administration recognizes and appreciates the unique role of the Local Management Boards to understand local concerns and to develop programs for children, youth, and families that produce positive outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the process for Local Management Board funding in FY17?
Once the Notice of Funding Availability is issued in January 2016, Local Management Boards will need to show how and why they chose the programs or strategies proposed for funding. The Local Management Boards will demonstrate that all proposed programs:
- address a critical need;
- fill a gap in services;
- have been prioritized by the community and the Board; and,
- for existing programs, have quantifiable outcomes.
There will be two areas of funding available to the Local Management Boards—base funding and competitive funding:
- Base funding is the funding for programs and administration currently received by a Local Management Board.
- Competitive funding is being made available to address the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan: reduce the number of youth, aged 16-24, who are not working and not going to school; reduce the impact of parental incarceration on children, families, and communities; reduce childhood hunger; and, reduce youth homelessness.
2. Is funding to Local Management Boards being cut?
No. In September 2015, the Governor’s Office for Children announced level funding to the Local Management Boards for FY17. This is known as “base funding.”
3. Is new funding being made available to Local Management Boards?
Yes. New funding is being made available to Local Management Boards on a competitive basis to address the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan. This is the “competitive funding.”
4. Are Local Management Boards being required to stop funding prevention?
No. There is no restriction on the types of programs or services to be funded under base funding. Local Management Boards may choose to fund prevention, intervention, or treatment programs for any age along the developmental continuum, for families and for parents. This may include any program type that addresses a critical need and gap in services identified by the community and the Local Management Board; such as, home-visiting, afterschool, etc.
5. Is it possible that an existing program will not be funded?
Yes. It is possible that a few programs will not be funded in FY17 if the Local Management Boards determine that the programs are:
- Not addressing a critical need in the jurisdiction;
- Duplicative of other programs;
- Not a priority for the jurisdiction; and/or
- Not achieving the identified outcomes.
We believe it is a shared goal that limited resources should be used for critical needs and programs that are demonstrating an impact on those needs.
6. Will the Local Management Boards be competing for funding in FY17?
Only for new funding. (Please see questions 2 and 4.)
7. Are the Local Management Boards being required to fund only programs that address the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan?
No. There is no restriction or requirement on the types of programs that are proposed under base funding for Local Management Boards. (Please see questions 2 and 5.) Only the new funding must address at least one of the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan. (Please see questions 2 and 4.)
8. What are Local Management Boards being asked to do to address the Governor’s goals?
In September 2015, the Governor’s Office for Children, on behalf of the Children’s Cabinet, announced a multi-year transition to accountability for results, based upon funding availability:
- In FY16 (year one of the transition) the process has been:
- No change in funding or requirements for Local Management Boards.
- New funding for Local Management Boards to support planning activities such as data collection and analysis, focus groups, and community surveys.
- Two new Governor’s Office for Children staff dedicated to providing onsite technical assistance to the Local Management Boards.
- Regional trainings on youth homelessness, youth engagement, disconnected youth, parental incarceration, and home visiting.
- Implementation of The Results Scorecard™, a Web-based application that will provide greater transparency and accuracy of the monitoring of Local Management Board funded programs.
- Dissemination of tools and resources designed to help Local Management Boards diversify their funding.
- Time for jurisdictions to engage in a planning process that includes:
- A diverse and broad range of stakeholders;
- County-specific data to identify significant problems in the jurisdiction;
- Assessing local resources to identify the gaps in services;
- Identifying local priorities based upon input from the community; and,
- Targeting programs that have demonstrated outcomes.
- In FY17 the new process is:
- Level funding for the Local Management Boards to fund programs identified as a result of the comprehensive planning process conducted in FY16;
- Flexibility for Local Management Boards to determine the funding needed for administration, up to 30% of the base allocation; and,
- New funding for strategies to address the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan.
- In FY18 the process will be:
- Level-funding for Local Management Boards to fund programs identified as a result of the comprehensive planning process plus the results achieved in FY16 and FY17, as demonstrated by the Results ScorecardTM; and
- Additional new funding to address the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan.
- In FY19 the total award to Local Management Boards will be based upon the comprehensive planning process, strategies to address the four goals of the Children’s Cabinet plan, and the results achieved in FYs 16-18.
Documents
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