Written by the reviewer from the ASR + docket; [verbatim-ASR] = quoted machine transcript; [paraphrase] = reviewer's wording, not a quote.
0:00 Okay, everybody, I'm going to call the meeting of the Health and Human Services Committee
0:10 Our first order of business is to approve the minutes of the November 10th, 2025 meeting.
0:16 I will make a motion to approve those minutes.
0:22 We have a motion and a second.
0:25 Hearing none, that motion is approved.
0:29 All right, our next agenda item is a communication from Assistant Planning Director David Boss
0:34 regarding the Community Health Action Team, also known as CHAT, the annual report from
0:41 September 2024 to December 2025, and Mr. Boss, I'll turn that over to you.
0:49 Thank you, Madam Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to come in and review this being
0:55 our third report from the work of the Community Health Action Team.
1:04 Just in terms of, I was going to cover quickly before I hand it over, we've got several
1:08 members of the team here that kind of cover each of the, some of our focal, focus areas
1:14 a lot better than I can do.
1:17 But I think since there are some new folks that are on the dais, just a quick kind
1:24 of background, the Community Health Action Team was established after the 2022 Community
1:30 Health Needs Assessment, an action plan that was developed.
1:34 It was a unique effort that kind of combined.
1:39 We had the representatives here of the key foundations, the schools, the city came
1:45 together and worked with the Center for Community Solutions to develop the Community
1:52 Health Needs Assessment, which is kind of a unique thing.
1:56 Normally, hospital systems do those.
1:59 The city did it for its residents and then developed an action plan which went back
2:03 out to the residents to solicit and develop interventions towards the needs that came
2:11 out of that assessment.
2:14 As part of the review of the assessment and the action plan by council, there was
2:19 a recommendation and then followed through with a charter for a Community Health Action
2:23 Team that was stood up.
2:27 And so over the last several years, we started in 2023 where we started to work
2:33 through the preliminary interventions that were provided through that action plan by
2:38 It was an awful lot of work analyzing, sometimes combining, sometimes kind of setting
2:44 aside some interventions into kind of a parking lot, if you will.
2:51 Over that year, we basically got through all the interventions and organized them into
2:56 kind of five categories that were based on the social determinants of health.
3:00 And so those focal areas are the same ones that you see today.
3:05 Access to behavioral health, food access, what started as community information and
3:09 has developed into the resource guide.
3:13 Adaptive programming and then after school programming, we've combined in the same
3:17 kind of focus area of adaptive and middle school programming and then housing.
3:22 So into 2024, the chat formed subcommittees and so we kind of expanded that discussion
3:28 from the members of the action team to include some key community stakeholders that
3:33 were identified through the assessment and really delved deeper into the interventions
3:40 in those specific areas.
3:43 We looked at three specific kind of directions for the actions that were already being done,
3:49 who were doing them, who were they done for, and kind of an effectiveness look
3:56 at those for those interventions and actions that weren't already being done, why weren't
4:01 they being done, were there reasons, were they not feasible, was there not an organization
4:06 to take hold and drive them forward.
4:09 And then there was kind of a third area that we recognized during the first year
4:12 of our work was that what was missing from this.
4:15 Obviously, any time you kind of go out to the community with a fairly open-ended
4:21 question even based on a needs assessment of actions, the recommended interventions,
4:27 I think we were quick to realize our own kind of short or gaps and shortfalls within
4:33 that list of interventions and so that was kind of the third area that we looked
4:37 to the subcommittees to try to fill that in in terms of what was missing.
4:42 So those actions and then the work of the subcommittees continued
4:45 and now we find ourselves in the last year over 2025 as those things have kind
4:51 of continued to become more focused, more refined, really into the table
4:57 that you see in this report here, as well as, you know, kind of the changing environment
5:04 that we addressed this past year.
5:06 There's always kind of turnover in the action team that has happened,
5:09 but as the work of a lot of the subcommittees has kind of, I guess,
5:16 kind of been refined and kind of been found new directions and potentially
5:21 in new organizations and things, we continue to meet to continue to kind
5:26 of work these things that are in the table from this last year
5:30 because it is a unique organization in so far as the chat brings kind of the nonprofits,
5:36 the schools, and the cities together, which there's not a whole lot of venues
5:40 that do that to discuss these types of issues across the social determinants
5:44 of health, and so it has a lot of value for that reason, as well as, I think,
5:50 kind of the broader environment this year, there was an awful lot of churn,
5:57 loss of funding, cuts, uncertainty that kind of entered into the world
6:01 of a lot of these areas, and so that's kind of, in a nutshell
6:08 and very quickly, kind of the background context and then the ongoing challenges
6:12 that we've had this year, and so the crux of this report is to kind of, you know,
6:19 as it's intended as an update of the work over the last year or the action team,
6:23 and so the progress by priority area that we kind of lay out here is really,
6:28 you know, what's been done in 2025 in each of these areas
6:31 and then what's the very general or basic kind of way ahead, and so with that,
6:38 I will turn it over to our access to behavioral health.
6:42 Is it going to cover that?
6:53 I'm Kristen Broadbent, CEO and President of Three Arches Foundation,
6:58 and I'm happy to be here tonight.
7:01 So the behavioral health, when we first started, it was actually access,
7:05 just access to health care, and, you know, found that behavioral health
7:11 in particular was where more coordination and access was needed,
7:16 and really we brought providers together who all had some type of footprint in Lakewood,
7:24 and they were like, they didn't know, like they knew one another,
7:29 but they didn't really know how to access one another, and so we did two things.
7:34 We created, initially we established a healthcare providers roundtable,
7:38 and then we started investigation of a co-responder program,
7:44 and the roundtable was great.
7:46 I think we had three meetings through the middle of 2025,
7:53 and they were exchanging cards and talking to each other and saying,
7:56 you know, oh gosh, if you run into this problem, I can help expedite that.
8:01 The navigation is huge, and so many individuals, you know, our healthcare system is so complex,
8:08 and especially for somebody with behavioral and mental health issues,
8:12 you add that onto it, and the stress level and people don't know where to go
8:16 and how to access things, there's a long wait for providers,
8:19 and so bringing these organizations together was really beneficial from their standpoint
8:24 to understand, you know, sometimes they're treating a lot of the same people,
8:27 and figuring out how to help folks work through the very complex system.
8:36 So one of the things that the committee spent some time on is working
8:39 with the Case Western Reserve students to help with the community resource guide,
8:46 and you know, to really triage it and look at it like in kind of a step-by-step manner
8:52 of who's involved, at what level, what services are provided, how's access,
8:57 all that kind of stuff, so we spent a lot of time on that.
9:00 And then in regard to the co-responder program, the liquid paramedic is part
9:09 of the committee, the healthcare providers roundtable, and so it was very,
9:16 we talked a lot about like could that be expanded to more
9:22 of an all-encompassing co-responder program,
9:26 and would it help to solve a lot of these issues?
9:29 And so if you sat and listened to what Oliver was responding to as the paramedic,
9:34 what the police had to deal with, and fire, you know, like the limitations
9:38 and everything as well as barriers, it just really made so much sense.
9:43 So we took it a step further, and we invited folks from the first call program to come
9:49 and meet with the group in June of last year.
9:52 And the first call program actually was initiated by the mayor of Shaker Heights,
9:59 and very quickly he got fire and police involved, and then they shared dispatch
10:04 with a couple other communities over there.
10:07 So it encompasses five communities right now on the east side.
10:10 And in the report, I won't read the statistics in here, but they've had a lot
10:15 of great success, and so we heard firsthand from the woman
10:22 who was the program coordinator about really the strides that they've been making
10:28 within this program and how it's really become extremely beneficial all around
10:33 for the individual who is in crisis, who needs the help for the police,
10:39 for the fire, for the community at large.
10:42 And so it was very interesting to hear firsthand perspective.
10:51 In relation to that, for the Department of Human Services,
10:56 one of the things that's come out of that in response to that in our collaboration
11:01 with the Neighborhood Paramedic is that we have brought on a clinical manager now,
11:06 and with some retirements and other things that have happened within our department,
11:11 we've been able to restructure and realign, and then with some funding,
11:18 the way our clinical manager, which our clinical manager is essentially
11:21 the social worker who is over the other social workers in the department.
11:26 So we've brought Nicole on board, and we are transitioning her from just being
11:32 over the community-based services team to being broadly over all the social
11:39 workers and the 18 to 59 range, which is part of kind of this response,
11:44 because in some of this response and working in conversations with fire chief
11:50 and police chief and all of that, we wanted to be able to have somebody
11:53 in-house that was readily available if there was a need.
11:57 And so we're making some changes within our department to allow more flexibility
12:02 with that, and I'm sorry, Kristen, but I just wanted to share that we are,
12:06 as a department, making strategic changes in how we're able to respond to needs
12:12 to do something our way, because I think the reflection on some of these
12:16 learnings from that was that just because it's done this way in one
12:20 community doesn't mean it's going to work here, because we're unique in that
12:23 we have a department of human services, and a lot of them didn't,
12:26 and that they were outsourcing some of these response models as well.
12:30 So we've made some changes to help that.
12:34 Thank you. Thank you both.
12:35 Just to backtrack just a little bit, so that I pull you all into the
12:41 conversation here, when we're looking at the priority areas from the chat
12:47 report, the first one is access to behavioral health care.
12:50 And one of the questions that I was asking the folks in the chat meeting
12:54 the other day was about the mental health providers with police officers,
12:58 because we seem to hear that as such a great idea, and I know we've talked
13:03 about it here a couple of times, like how can we actually make that happen?
13:07 And of course, Kate Intersol can attest to, I always want the simple answer,
13:12 right, Kate, for the very, very complicated questions.
13:16 Like everybody else, right, can't we just put somebody in the car with them?
13:19 But there's a lot more to this, and this is what Kristen has been
13:24 describing here, is there's a program in Shaker where they're doing this,
13:29 where they're assisting people with mental health issues as opposed to just
13:33 sending the police that are sometimes at a loss of what to do with them, right?
13:38 I mean, they can enforce the law, but if they're not breaking the law,
13:42 like how do we bridge that?
13:43 So that's kind of a piece of the background to that, and I'm glad to
13:47 hear, Laura, that you guys are addressing that and working with the paramedics.
13:52 I think that that's a huge plus there for that.
13:56 Yeah, I mean, and we're just at the very infancy of it here as a department.
13:59 So there's obviously more objectives and goals as we go, but
14:04 we wanted to make it work within the model that Lakewood has.
14:10 Very good, thank you.
14:11 So I also wanted to share as we move forward, and so
14:15 the roundtable in full transparency, it was challenging to get the folks from
14:21 the roundtable to then meet in like Q3, and we didn't even try in Q4.
14:27 As you can imagine, everything that was happening last year, it was really
14:33 like a firestorm, and so while they remain interested in this work and
14:40 collaborating together, they were taking care of themselves first and
14:46 foremost as organizations, and so finding the right time to bring people
14:51 together just didn't happen, but I think there is a huge appetite to work
14:57 collaboratively, and when I worked at Lakewood Hospital, we had a board
15:01 member, and he said it when we started his Three Arches Foundation,
15:04 that Lakewood is like your perfect petri dish, and I don't mean that in
15:07 an icky way, but I mean that in like it's a great place because we have so
15:13 many resources, there's so many people, and we work so well together.
15:17 It's a great place to try things, right?
15:20 You have to be able to though be okay with the risk taking involved with that,
15:26 but I think that everybody from the roundtable's perspective, the different
15:31 healthcare providers, kind of understood that and those that have the outposts
15:35 and are here in Lakewood and doing the work really want to continue to work
15:40 together, and so our way forward is to work with the, to transition the
15:47 behavioral health initiatives to the Department of Human Services as the lead
15:52 entity, and that just makes so much more sense to, you know, than having us
15:58 do it, but I think that there is real interest, and I would encourage you all
16:05 to be open to maybe continuing to look at this co-responder.
16:10 Parma and Parma Heights is doing it now in a different type of model,
16:15 but it is something, and when you think about just like the benefits of it,
16:21 and somebody who is in crisis that doesn't necessarily need, you know,
16:26 just the way that we handle behavioral health is just, needs a lot of help
16:31 in and of itself, and so to just be able to think about things differently,
16:36 I would encourage, you know, you all to really take that into consideration.
16:40 Yeah, thank you, and that's exactly what we're trying to do, you know,
16:44 jump into the 2020s from the 1970s, right, with the way that we handle things.
16:51 Laura, can you touch a little bit, and Director Berry mentioned this a little
16:55 bit, and it's kind of the elephant in the room with the budget of what,
17:00 you know, what is happening with the cuts, and can you talk a little bit
17:05 about that and what we're seeing so far this first quarter?
17:09 Yeah, so unfortunately, just the way of the world and from the federal down
17:14 to the state level, we, nothing's on our radar right now that's going
17:23 to affect human services beyond the CBS contract, and the CBS contract
17:28 is our contract within the Division of Youth Framework around the
17:33 collaborative, the Lakewood Area Collaborative Services, and if you're
17:37 not familiar or as you become more familiar with this, it's a county
17:42 contract, and that contract within the county serves not just Lakewood
17:46 but the near-west two zip codes of Cleveland, 44111 and 44135,
17:54 there's a list of zip codes, the near-west, and then also Rocky River,
18:00 Fairview Park, Bay Village, West Lake, and so we serve that through
18:04 that contract, and it's important to understand that because I think
18:09 as we look at human services, we look at our neighbors as well,
18:13 and so it's always been something that was brought on as we're going
18:17 to house this here because ultimately I think our partnership with the
18:19 schools and the services we provide to our community are richer because
18:22 we have that program, and then we're also serving those near us,
18:27 but the county is cutting that by 25%, and so, yeah, so it's retroactive,
18:35 so we've been operating this year, we've been waiting, they still haven't
18:39 actually handed us any documents to sign, but they told us it was
18:43 retroactive starting January 1st, so our emergency assistance, all of that.
18:48 We're very fortunate that we have worked some ways to the foundation
18:52 and other things too, we're like the only one that's not cutting any
18:55 staff or anything from that right now, but we don't know what the future
18:58 holds with that contract, and so that's something that scares, I think,
19:03 the department a little bit is caring for the people in our community
19:07 and surrounding, so.
19:09 So with these cuts, the 25%, is that just to the division of youth?
19:15 It's specifically to that contract, so it's not, when you look at the
19:21 structure of human services, you have division of aging, division of youth,
19:25 division of early childhood, but within the division of youth is also
19:28 the H2O program, but that's separate from that, this is just the
19:32 community-based services contract with the county.
19:43 Thank you, Madam Chair.
19:46 Do you know what that dollar amount is, and it's okay if you don't
19:49 have that off the top of your head, I'm just curious.
19:52 I think it was like a hundred and...
19:58 I have it in my email if you give me a moment.
20:01 Okay, because after this meeting, we have a finance committee meeting
20:06 where we're talking about, we have some legislation before us to
20:13 potentially create a fund for the use of the adult used cannabis
20:16 funds, and discussion of mental health was one of the elements of that,
20:23 so it might be useful to have, we don't necessarily need it tonight,
20:28 but just what that dollar amount is.
20:29 By the end of the meeting, I show it to you.
20:31 Okay, no rush, although I'm sure you would like us to know that
20:34 amount if we're thinking about allocating it.
20:37 And then I wanted to ask about which orgs were included in the round
20:45 table, or types of orgs if not- Sorry, I have a question, Sarah.
20:50 Yeah, so it was the Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital, Cleveland Clinic
20:58 Fairview Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Community House Center,
21:02 Neighborhood Family Practice, Recovery Resources, City of Lakewood,
21:07 and Signature Health, and then the schools.
21:18 University hospitals?
21:21 Were they invited, or they declined in Metro?
21:25 I didn't hear Metro either.
21:30 I do have my answer.
21:32 Sorry, we had someone that represented all of the major hospital
21:36 systems during the assessment, and I think over time and turnovers,
21:41 people kind of petered out and either didn't follow through with the
21:45 committee or whatnot, but these are the main folks that are listed.
21:48 I think that's last year's report that had like all of the
21:51 assignments as like an appendix to it.
21:54 You'll see the main people that were in each of those subcommittees,
21:56 or at least made it through.
21:59 And we can, I just didn't know if that was an intentional or just-
22:03 It was not intentional.
22:06 Showing up is half the-
22:07 People got tired of seeing emails from me in 2022 about joining the health
22:13 And then I know you said it was challenging understandably to bring
22:19 everybody together in the third quarter and fourth quarter, but with the sort
22:24 of handoff to human services as lead on this work, is there the idea that
22:30 we're hoping to continue periodic roundtable meetings or as a reference
22:37 I mean, we're not opposed to any of that by all means, and we do have kind
22:43 of like a human services network that meets.
22:45 I mean, I think we're obviously going to continue to collaborate in every
22:49 way possible and bring the right players to the table by all means.
22:53 I think the idea of a quarterly roundtable, maybe even twice a year or
22:59 as we turn this over, it might be a good way to bring them together with
23:04 the Department of Human Services just to understand the department's role and
23:08 what all they do with the closing of recovery resources.
23:11 There's a huge loss, there'll be a huge, huge gap in mental health and
23:16 substance use disorder support, not only here in Lakewood, but
23:21 throughout greater Cleveland.
23:22 So that's something else too.
23:23 So as the landscape has changed, with all the changes to SNAP and
23:28 the impending Medicaid changes as well, I think that keeping that group
23:32 active and broadening it would be really beneficial, but
23:39 maybe not on a quarterly basis.
23:41 A lot of those agencies are a part of our Lakewood area collaborative,
23:45 and we've switched those because of this contract cut to quarterly,
23:50 but a lot of those agencies are coming to our collaborative meetings,
23:52 and so our staff have those relationships as well.
23:56 So it's trying to continue to figure out ways to collaborate when
24:00 most of them are stretched so thin, but I do have the answer for you.
24:04 I didn't want to give a false answer.
24:07 So our original budget for this contract, which was a march to a march,
24:13 and then county budgeting, was 650,000.
24:19 And we had two vacant, a full and a part time position that were vacant,
24:24 that when we heard rumblings of this, we paused any hiring
24:28 within ourselves internally because we didn't want to hire somebody just to
24:32 Because our caseload was up so much the last time around,
24:36 we asked for more in the contract than we had asked in previous years.
24:41 So by the time we got wind of that, and then hearing some rumblings,
24:45 we never hired for that position and a half.
24:50 So the original contract for this cycle was 650,000, and
24:55 our amended budget is now going to be, when we actually submit it,
24:59 which we're waiting for the formal stuff to submit,
25:02 it's going to be 490,000, roughly $873.17.
25:09 And so the reduction is $159,126.83.
25:16 So recognizing that that is simultaneously happening while
25:25 referrals from the county are increasing.
25:27 So it is also the caseload that our current social workers are taking on
25:35 within human services has increased.
25:37 I don't remember exactly the percentage that was recently shared,
25:40 but it's a higher caseload to the point where it's almost unsustainable
25:46 And so it's important just to note that that tension, because the city,
25:50 because the county is also, and also many of the referrals that are coming
25:54 through the county are also more complicated and almost more complex
26:01 than the service agreement is intended to serve.
26:06 So it's just an important component to know about the complexity
26:10 of the funding changes and the care, the way that this is being managed.
26:16 We used to respond to referrals probably within 24, 48 hours.
26:21 Now it's like a week, just by the time we process through and go.
26:26 But we're still responding to all, it's taking a little bit longer.
26:30 And it could potentially look like sometimes we would stay with clients
26:36 longer through a process.
26:38 So now we're amending how we clinically do their task,
26:44 what they have to do before we pull them out of our program and stuff.
26:48 But our clinical manager, Nicole, is overseeing this with great diligence.
26:56 Yes, Council Member Hamilton-Steiner.
26:58 Thank you, Chair Strubeck.
27:00 Okay, so as I see that we're still on area one, and
27:04 I think behavioral health care is probably one of the biggest issues
27:09 that in our community, and really county-wide,
27:13 especially with the kinds of the county.
27:15 And so as we look to the transition to Department of Human Services,
27:22 how will this work?
27:23 Can we talk through a little bit about that?
27:25 What type of coordination is going to happen?
27:28 Is this going to be an information hub?
27:29 Is there an opportunity to innovate to help connect?
27:33 Because not only is there a high need of services,
27:37 there's also a lot of people that are falling through the cracks.
27:40 So this is happening from when you're in crisis,
27:45 you get the help, you might get treated, hospitalized, whatever happens.
27:49 And then after that, once you're leveled off, you're deemed as okay,
27:54 you're sort of cut off, and there's no other support after that.
27:58 Then you go back into that cycle again, potentially.
28:01 The baby is not as bad as that first time that you had to be hospitalized,
28:05 but you're considered like a step down, right?
28:08 But you're still pretty much on your own,
28:09 because you're not bad enough to be hospitalized.
28:13 So there's people that are falling through those cracks.
28:17 But then I also did not hear, what about our youth?
28:21 And are the youth being served in this mechanism?
28:25 Or is that something that we're looking to the schools
28:30 to sort of manage those issues?
28:32 So I think there's an opportunity to innovate.
28:36 And as we're going into budget season,
28:39 I think we really need to take this opportunity
28:42 to address the needs, to address the gaps,
28:45 to look at the opportunities that exist to innovate,
28:48 and go back to our community health needs assessment,
28:50 which I do see we're gonna go back and do an update to it.
28:54 But I think there's still some needs
28:57 that are not being addressed in our community.
28:59 And I would really like to see us take this challenge and address it.
29:05 And if that means we have to request additional dollars,
29:08 we figure it out and we do it.
29:10 Because the county has already told us
29:12 where they stand on mental health.
29:15 And I think we need to take them for their word.
29:17 The county's not gonna save us.
29:19 The state, luckily, is still putting some dollars
29:23 behind mental health needs.
29:28 And we know where the federal government stands, right?
29:32 So essentially, we have the state
29:34 and we have ourselves to figure this out.
29:36 I think we really, I want to challenge us
29:40 to really look at this and to come up with a solution
29:44 that works for Lakewood.
29:50 Chad and I are continuing to look at the landscape.
29:54 And obviously, we're continuing to work
29:56 with city departments.
29:58 I mean, we're continuing to work and collaborate
30:00 with our city departments, as well as other agencies,
30:04 to best serve and look at new programming,
30:06 look at new options.
30:07 And I mean, that's part of, I think,
30:09 why we're looking at our staff now.
30:11 And as we're able to really, really evaluate
30:14 what positions are most important
30:15 and what do we need to do without cutting services.
30:18 Because we are very fortunate that we do live in a city
30:22 that does have a Department of Human Services.
30:26 I mean, we're unlike many others,
30:29 but our needs are vast as well.
30:33 You need another person.
30:39 You know, we're being very creative with our funding
30:42 and looking for grants and other opportunities.
30:44 So, I think Chad was spent most of the day to day
30:47 applying for grants and looking at things.
30:49 So, we're being very diligent responsibly, fiscally,
30:54 And I appreciate that, but I also think it's on us
30:58 as council to put money where our values are
31:05 And I think that is,
31:08 and I think it's great, right?
31:10 Looking for grants,
31:10 but I know what the grant landscape is.
31:12 I work in the grant landscape.
31:13 So, what I'm saying is we need to figure it out
31:17 and not solely rely on the grant.
31:20 And if mental health, behavioral health
31:22 is an important issue and we value our community members
31:28 and we care about them,
31:30 we are going to put investment behind mental health
31:35 in providing those support.
31:41 Okay, I want to move on a little bit here.
31:45 This is, we had planned this meeting for half hour
31:48 and I knew that we could probably have
31:51 an hour conversation once a week
31:52 for the rest of the year
31:53 to really just to even dive into your report.
31:56 But I wanted to really get into the partnerships
32:00 that we have created and other opportunities.
32:05 And I wonder, Mr. Walters,
32:07 if you could talk a little bit about
32:09 what the schools are doing for food access
32:12 and also, so points areas two and four,
32:16 if you could touch on the food access
32:19 in the middle school programming.
32:27 I am able to talk just a little bit
32:31 about food access more specifically.
32:36 And Mr. Walters is the expert on adaptive programming.
32:44 I will note, in particular,
32:46 one of the components of this
32:48 and some of the work that we're doing
32:50 in the background right now
32:51 is to look at what opportunities there are
32:54 around summer feeding programs.
32:57 The reimbursement structure for that is very complicated
33:01 and the administration of it is also very complicated
33:03 but we do have an opportunity based on
33:08 the eligibility of students at Harrison
33:14 based on the free and reduced lunch program
33:16 eligibility statistics that we could potentially house
33:20 a summer feeding program in that area.
33:22 So it's both around the eligibility
33:25 within a school and then maintaining that site
33:29 within a certain radius of where that eligibility is met.
33:34 There's an application that you submit through the state
33:38 and so we have to identify and determine
33:42 whether or not we'd be able to house that
33:43 in Lakewood for this summer
33:46 and the reimbursement process is very complicated
33:50 and so I'm working with folks
33:52 and the folks at LCSC,
33:54 the Lakewood Community Services Center
33:56 and other community partners have agreed to meet
34:00 and start to work through
34:02 to see what that would look like
34:03 and see what's feasible.
34:04 So that's evolving on that front.
34:08 There's also a responsibility
34:11 that I think that we all have here
34:13 is to make sure that families are aware
34:16 of the summer EBT program.
34:18 So they're called SUNBUCS
34:20 and that's a reimbursement that
34:22 for an added benefit that the state adds to snap cards
34:29 or is handed to families who are eligible
34:32 for $40 a month per child in a household
34:35 and so that's another way.
34:37 Obviously it's $120 over the summer
34:44 so it's for three months.
34:46 I mean, most people look at their grocery bills
34:48 and know how far that will get you
34:49 but it is something and everything that we can do
34:52 pulling down every benefit that's available
34:54 is really important.
34:55 So spreading awareness about that program
34:59 and the schools do a very good job
35:00 at the end of the year making sure
35:02 that families are aware of that
35:05 and also the Department of Human Services
35:07 is doing a lot of work
35:08 because one of the major challenges
35:11 that we have facing our community
35:15 are the changes in the upcoming changes
35:17 in terms of SNAP eligibility and work requirements
35:20 and so the Department of Human Services,
35:23 Chad and Laura and Nicole and their team
35:25 are looking at ways both to raise awareness
35:28 and also create internally here in Lakewood
35:31 the opportunity for benefits enrollment
35:33 and benefits navigation with somebody
35:37 with one of the staff members here.
35:39 So those are some of the main components
35:42 and then looking on as the school thinks about
35:45 and is planning on redistricting questions
35:49 around what that will mean for eligibility
35:52 for universal lunch programs
35:55 and how those could be administered at certain schools
35:58 that would meet those qualifications
35:59 would be the next step.
36:01 So those are some of the ways
36:03 that we're working on those issues
36:07 and I'd be happy to answer any questions on that
36:09 or hand it on over.
36:10 Kate, I just, I wanted to ask you,
36:12 could you expand a little bit
36:14 on the conversation that we had about
36:16 can't we just give them a loaf of bread
36:18 and a jar of peanut butter and jelly
36:20 and in the requirements that are needed
36:24 and possibilities of expanding something
36:26 in the Madison Park area so that they can sit down
36:31 which is a requirement I believe
36:34 in order to provide any kind of food for folks.
36:38 You can't just set out the loaf of bread
36:40 and the peanut butter and the jelly.
36:41 You have to actually have a table and chairs
36:44 and can you talk about that for a minute?
36:46 Yeah, I mean, I will admit I'm not an expert on this.
36:49 So, but based on the way that the state reimburses
36:54 for meals through summer feeding programs
36:57 because we are an urban district,
37:00 we have to have a congregate meal site
37:02 which means that people have to come and eat at the site.
37:05 So you have to have both the infrastructure
37:07 to serve and provide meals
37:10 and they have to be eaten in that facility
37:13 and then there's a very complex reimbursement process
37:17 by which you're managing both the number of meals
37:20 that you're ordering and then making sure
37:22 and tracking attendance so that you can be reimbursed
37:28 for the full extent of the meals that you're providing.
37:30 So it's just a very technical administration
37:35 of a program like that.
37:38 And so then figuring out kind of which entity in the city
37:42 kind of has the capacity to do that
37:45 is the challenge that's in front of us right now.
37:48 So if we wanted to put money in and say,
37:51 we're all just gonna make peanut butter
37:53 and jelly sandwiches and we're not gonna attempt
37:55 to do state reimbursement and we're not gonna kind of
37:58 pull down any of that funding,
38:01 it would be very expensive but it could be done
38:03 but there's also that infrastructure's in place
38:06 to ensure that you're meeting food standards,
38:09 all of those types of things.
38:10 So there's a lot of complication around that.
38:19 Go to you and then we'll go to you.
38:21 Thank you and thank you Kate.
38:24 So when I was at the county library system
38:27 we did summer meal program through the food bank
38:33 and that's probably a pass through
38:37 from the state to the food bank.
38:41 And I remember doing all the paperwork
38:43 to be able to do all those summer lunches
38:45 but it was a good program at least for youth.
38:48 Is that what we're talking about?
38:49 Is it specifically for youth?
38:51 And then has there been discussion
38:54 with the obvious partner,
38:55 which would be Madison branch of the library
39:00 because this was something that we as the library staff,
39:03 like we had the little brown bag lunches
39:05 that we'd hand out and had in the meeting room
39:07 and I know they don't normally have food
39:09 but that's a whole other question.
39:12 So has there been discussion with the library
39:14 or is that the essential program
39:17 and would it be through the food bank?
39:19 The food bank could be the vendor.
39:21 You select the vendor to do that
39:23 and so they would be an obvious choice in that.
39:25 And so the discussions with the food bank,
39:30 we'd wanna look at that to see about bringing that in.
39:32 We still need to have an organizing entity
39:34 in the community that oversees that.
39:37 So is the sponsor for that.
39:41 So we'd have to manage that
39:42 and the libraries are often during the summer
39:49 in many communities, the site where that happens.
39:52 And so we would ask the library,
39:54 the policy that the library has
39:57 is that food is not distributed there
40:00 or consumed in their buildings
40:02 and so we understand that that's been
40:04 the general policy around that.
40:10 Just beyond the record that I don't think
40:11 that should be the policy but it is.
40:15 And I also see we have Kevin Bourne Crowe
40:17 from the YMCA here today
40:19 and that they also do food distribution
40:20 but of course is farther away from Harrison.
40:23 So and of course Harrison's also,
40:26 the school's being a partner
40:27 but I mean there's a lot of ways to do it.
40:29 I just think libraries are such a great place
40:31 because you have staff who are there,
40:33 you have kids who are hungry at the library all the time.
40:36 And so it's nice to be able to say,
40:37 hey, we'll have lunch here.
40:42 Council Member Hamilton-Steiner.
40:44 Thank you Chair Stubrik.
40:46 And thank you Ms. Ingersoll for being here
40:49 and for sharing your knowledge with us.
40:53 So you had talked about, I think it was,
40:55 it's by definition the universal eligibility
40:57 and that's where an entire school
41:00 gets the free breakfast and lunch.
41:04 And I think some years ago when we had had a conversation
41:08 we had talked that there were four schools in Lakewood
41:11 that were eligible or possibly eligible
41:15 and is that still the case?
41:17 Yeah, I don't have it exactly in front of me
41:20 but currently Harrison is the school
41:23 that is closest to meeting the standard
41:28 which is at about 60% where they would be fully reimbursed.
41:33 So our other schools, our district,
41:37 you have to have 40% free and reduced lunch eligibility
41:41 in order to qualify for universal free lunch
41:44 across the entire district
41:47 or you can do it through a community eligibility
41:49 provision which allows you to do it per school.
41:52 Our current rate in the school district currently
41:54 is 38.7% I believe and so.
41:59 That's district wide?
42:01 That's district wide.
42:01 So we're just underneath that 30% threshold.
42:04 You can do it per school
42:07 but it's a very complicated, again,
42:10 reimbursement formula and so the school is,
42:13 what it does is it means that some schools
42:15 have universal access.
42:17 It means that the school has to pick up
42:18 the differential between reimbursement
42:21 between the 40 to 60%.
42:23 So then it's an additional cost
42:24 that the school takes on for that reimbursement
42:27 and it means that you have,
42:32 in some ways it's perceived as an inequitable service
42:34 because it's happening at some schools but not at others.
42:37 And so it means an additional cost
42:40 for the schools to administer that
42:43 and there are certain schools in our district
42:45 I believe that three would qualify currently
42:49 and so that's the challenge.
42:51 It would be the Franklin School of Opportunity.
42:54 I believe it would be Roosevelt, Garfield
42:58 and potentially Emerson.
42:59 So those are some things.
43:01 Again, I'm not the expert on this
43:03 and so I don't want to be quoted as the expert
43:06 or that my information is binding anybody
43:11 to any obligations nor is it in any way
43:13 an implication of anything that someone has done
43:16 The schools do an amazing job of providing lunches
43:18 and they do a tremendous amount of work
43:20 to make sure that every child has access.
43:23 It requires a tremendous amount of work
43:24 on the nutrition services program side
43:26 in order to make sure that families are filling out
43:28 that free and reduced lunch form
43:30 which is really huge because that helps us understand
43:32 what our eligibility rates are
43:34 and those are ways that as community partners
43:36 we can all be involved in making sure
43:38 that we're sharing that information
43:40 and encouraging families to sign up and get enrolled.
43:44 But these are the mechanisms that are available to us
43:47 through state funding where you can pull down that funding
43:51 and it really enhances that for a school district
43:53 to take on that expense on its own.
43:56 It's pretty significant and that would mean
44:00 that you're taking away from other services as well.
44:02 So figuring out how to balance that is the challenge
44:04 and I see our school district working every day
44:08 to figure out how to manage food insecurity
44:11 both at every school level and then how to do that.
44:14 But to administer one of these programs,
44:17 building the sophistication to do that
44:19 and building the funding mechanisms
44:21 that would offset the additional costs
44:23 that we'd be required to take on
44:25 is really the complicating factor
44:27 and is where that technocratic work is really needed.
44:30 Yeah and it's just,
44:33 I think it's something that we need
44:35 to continue monitoring because being right there
44:38 at that cost, who knows,
44:41 in a year could be a lot higher.
44:45 But I know that there's districts around us
44:47 that have all, the entire district
44:50 has been deemed eligible and they've announced it
44:54 so I'm sure there'll be some more communities
44:56 that get added and again, it's not,
45:02 if we are eligible, we definitely want to take advantage
45:07 of that eligibility but again,
45:09 it's not something we're cheering on
45:11 because what does that really mean, right?
45:13 It means that our community is not as healthy financially
45:17 as we would want them to be.
45:20 So I think it's, I think I would just like us
45:24 to continue to monitor this situation.
45:26 I'm sure the schools are all on that.
45:29 Thank you very, thank you.
45:32 I did want to have Mr. Walters talk a little bit
45:34 about the adaptive and middle school programming.
45:38 Yeah, I know a little bit more about that
45:41 Very good, thank you.
45:41 The launch program.
45:44 So the two objectives that I was charged with
45:47 was looking for more opportunities
45:53 for our community with special needs
45:57 as well as middle school programs
45:59 and that came out of the survey
46:02 but actually I had done a survey
46:06 probably almost four years ago now and it mirrored it.
46:09 There was a concern that there's not enough opportunities
46:14 here in Lakewood for middle schoolers
46:18 and then also for our students with special needs.
46:21 So we were able to, we actually started off
46:27 with wanting to do some adaptive swim lessons.
46:31 We have the two community pools
46:34 as well as the high school pool
46:36 and the challenge was it's not easy to get training
46:40 specifically in adaptive swim lessons
46:44 but we received a grant from Healthy Lakewood Foundation
46:48 and we were able to get three
46:49 of our swim instructors trained.
46:52 We did a pilot program over two years ago
46:58 and it was highly successful.
47:00 We did a survey at the end
47:01 and so now it is part of our seasonal swim lessons.
47:08 So we're able to provide one-on-one swim lessons
47:12 for students with the physical
47:14 or cognitive disabilities.
47:16 So that's been a nice start.
47:19 The next opportunity, the recreation department
47:24 was able to partner with Empower Sports
47:27 and they provide adaptive sports programs
47:32 year round for kids
47:34 and we started off like with one session
47:37 and now we're, we have, they come to Lakewood
47:40 because they're all over both east and west side
47:44 but starting in January running all the way through July
47:48 we run a program every Monday night
47:50 and they play pickleball and they play football
47:53 and baseball and someone would just want
47:55 to play basketball year round
47:57 and that's, it's a fantastic program.
48:00 I went several weeks ago
48:01 and if you're ever feeling bad about yourself
48:03 just go there because there's so much joy
48:07 and so much fun and there's, they, you know,
48:11 they have a full-time staff
48:12 but they also rely on volunteers.
48:15 So we have some of our staff members volunteers
48:18 and also our athletic director
48:20 has a student athlete leadership team
48:23 and one of their charges is volunteerism.
48:26 So they've been coming out,
48:28 some of our high school athletes
48:29 have been coming out to the programs and assisting
48:32 and it's actually been so successful.
48:34 We've now just added a second night.
48:37 They call it the Rising Stars program.
48:39 It's for kids ages four through 10.
48:44 So the program is growing here in Lakewood.
48:47 When they're not in Lakewood the people
48:49 are always asking when are we going back to Lakewood?
48:52 So, you know, I can't be more pleased
48:56 by the growth in it and I have one little buddy,
49:00 well he's not little anymore, he's 21,
49:02 but he's always like I'm going to practice tonight.
49:06 So I know for a fact he looks forward to it every week.
49:11 And then the other was looking
49:15 to get more opportunities for middle school kids.
49:18 There's a lot of programs through the metro parks
49:21 and through the recreation department
49:24 that's really geared for elementary school kids.
49:27 And then when they get to high school
49:29 there's so many things that they can do
49:30 from the arts to career tech to athletics and so on.
49:38 But there's a gap in the middle school.
49:43 So our spring summer booklets
49:46 about to come out in two weeks
49:48 and I counted 54 programs just this summer.
49:53 Again, it's education, it's the arts, it's athletics,
49:57 it's just plain fun.
50:00 And I didn't even count H2O into that.
50:02 The H2O program this summer is such a good program
50:05 for our middle school kids
50:07 and for our high school kids and college kids
50:10 that have gone through the program
50:12 and now serve as counselors.
50:15 So in those two areas I feel like
50:17 we've made some great headway
50:20 to address that gap.
50:24 And I'm real excited about the opportunities
50:28 for our kids and also with our special needs
50:32 it's young adults and even some older ones
50:35 that are still participating.
50:37 So it's been a real positive experience.
50:41 Very good, thank you very much.
50:42 I also wanna give a couple minutes to Mr. Kevin Bourne Crow
50:48 if you wanna come up to the speaker here,
50:51 the executive director at the Lakewood Family YMCA.
50:55 Just to, if you wanna reflect on what you've heard
50:58 at this meeting today,
50:59 if there's any opportunities for this city
51:03 or this chat group to continue to partnership
51:10 Thank you for the invitation.
51:14 As Cindy said, I'm Kevin Bourne Crow
51:16 at Lakewood Family Y.
51:20 I'm here mostly because I just wanted
51:22 to be invited to the party.
51:24 You're all working on a lot of the things
51:25 that we're doing at the Y.
51:27 And I met with Kate and Dave a couple months ago
51:32 when we talked about chat
51:34 and basically that was my response is like,
51:37 how do I get invited?
51:39 How do we find a way of making sure
51:43 that the Y can show up for the city
51:46 in a lot of the ways that we're doing currently?
51:49 So when I first looked over
51:52 the community health needs assessment
51:56 during my light evening reading,
52:00 really like what stands out to me
52:02 is how much of the work the Y has been doing
52:06 So particularly around food access,
52:10 behavioral health programming, adaptive programming,
52:13 those are areas that we're doing a lot of work already.
52:16 Really the one area that at least the Lakewood Y branch
52:20 doesn't offer is housing.
52:22 But we have our Y Haven program downtown
52:25 where we do offer housing.
52:26 So really there's a lot of overlap
52:30 with the work of chat.
52:35 And like I think, Sarah, you mentioned that
52:41 the food program we have,
52:43 we're one of the drop-off locations for Hunger Network.
52:47 So in 2025, we donated over 15,000 pounds of food
52:53 just from the Lakewood Y branch.
52:55 So every Monday, I just unloaded boxes
52:59 and boxes of bread and produce today.
53:01 So we get a huge drop from Giant Eagle every Monday.
53:06 We get several other drops of food throughout the week
53:08 that we have community members from all over
53:12 that come and get food from us throughout the week.
53:16 And that's open to the community.
53:18 You don't have to be a member
53:18 to come in and get some free food.
53:23 The mental health programming that we have,
53:26 we've just launched a mental wellness program at the Y.
53:30 So you can come in and do a workout
53:33 and then see our in-house therapist
53:37 and have an appointment with him.
53:38 He offers a sliding scale, he takes insurance.
53:41 It's a whole legit mental health program.
53:44 And then again, the adaptive programming.
53:47 We have adaptive swim lessons
53:49 and we're working on some other adaptive sports as well.
53:53 My son Finn is a huge Empower Sports fan.
53:56 He's going to basketball tonight, of course.
53:58 So there's, like I said, a lot of overlap
54:02 and I just wanna make sure that as a Lakewood resident,
54:08 as someone raising a family in Lakewood,
54:12 I wanna make sure that the work
54:13 that I'm doing professionally
54:14 also meets the needs of my community.
54:18 And when I see a lot of ways
54:21 that we can be doing work together
54:23 and serving our residents in a consistent
54:27 and reliable way, that's where I just wanna make sure
54:29 that we're showing up and offering whatever we can do
54:32 to meet the needs, so.
54:35 Very good, thank you so much, I appreciate that.
54:38 Council Member Baker, did you have a question?
54:41 Yes, thank you for indulging me, Chair.
54:44 I have a question for Mr. Walter.
54:45 I, and I'm so, you know, the middle school thing
54:48 is a glaring thing to me just as a community member
54:52 in how we get some of those kids that, you know,
54:55 when they walk in a group down the street
54:57 and some people are like, oh, what are they doing?
54:59 You know, and so, and it's great that we're focusing
55:03 and the recreation department is focusing on
55:05 kind of like programs.
55:08 One thing that I always remembered as a kid
55:10 and you likely growing up in Lakewood
55:12 might have remembered it as just open gyms.
55:15 So the concept of Harding will be open now,
55:19 pay a dollar if you have a Lakewood, you know,
55:22 student ID card, three bucks if you don't.
55:25 I'm not suggesting that's what we should do,
55:27 but just some system and having, you know,
55:29 one rec employee there and letting,
55:33 because I see the benefit of like really rigid programming
55:36 and I see the benefit of like free form play,
55:39 which I think we've lost as a culture and a society
55:42 and that's no one here's fault.
55:43 That's I think a lot of, you know,
55:45 kids are traced with their watches
55:47 and parents always know where they're at
55:48 and so they don't have really opportunities to explore
55:51 in kind of like safe spaces, you know,
55:53 they won't be hurt necessarily
55:56 other than maybe playing a sport.
55:57 So I'm wondering if the district
55:59 or the rec department has ever thought about,
56:02 and we have nine gyms or 10 gyms,
56:05 you know, staffing, you know,
56:07 Saturdays at 10 a.m. to noon or something like that.
56:11 And just allowing, you know,
56:12 one side could be boost ball or whatever,
56:15 soccer, one side could be basketball,
56:16 you could do any kind of kick ball, kind of free form.
56:19 So I'm just curious if the districts
56:21 have ever looked into that and kind of where that would go.
56:24 Yeah, Councilman Baker, I don't disagree with you.
56:27 I grew up playing at the cage
56:29 and going down to the ball field
56:31 and playing just free form.
56:36 One of the biggest challenge is we have nine gyms
56:39 and they're used all the time, you coach.
56:43 So, you know, during the winter months,
56:47 really in the fall when volleyball starts up
56:52 and then into basketball and then, you know,
56:55 we're just as the season's ending,
56:57 this is the time of year the gyms are available.
56:59 Well, you can't tell by outside right now,
57:02 but the weather changes and then the kids
57:05 So that's probably the, I mean, you hit it on that.
57:10 The gym space is a big, big challenge.
57:14 And then the other challenge would be staffing it.
57:17 I don't feel comfortable having, you know,
57:21 an event staff oversee it.
57:24 It would have to be,
57:25 I would really want someone with coaching experience
57:28 or a professional educator who can work with kids of,
57:32 you know, with various needs.
57:35 It would be ideal if we had more gym space.
57:38 I try to remind people that we've lost
57:41 McKinley Madison, Franklin, the North Gym,
57:44 the, I call it the gymnastics gym.
57:48 We've lost a lot of gym space
57:51 and our programs are blowing up.
57:54 I think in basketball, both boys and girls,
57:56 we had a 60% increase in participation
57:59 in the last four years, which is,
58:01 and the baseball and softballs is,
58:05 softballs actually almost 100% increase
58:08 in the last four years.
58:08 So kids are playing, but it is organized.
58:13 But that limits our facility availability
58:16 for some of that free play and open play.
58:21 But I don't disagree with the thought.
58:23 And I certainly, we can look into
58:26 when the gyms are available.
58:28 Friday nights and Sundays are the only times
58:32 they're available in the winter.
58:34 My nine-year-old would love a Friday night basketball
58:37 from seven to eight.
58:39 And I do think, and not to cut you off,
58:41 because I appreciate that.
58:42 I, you know, the amount of times
58:44 I hammered Coach Kamach for gym time
58:45 for third grade tribal basketball practice
58:48 was a lot this summer, or this winter.
58:50 But I do think that even in this,
58:53 like you and I grew up in this town,
58:55 there were a lot more outdoor basketball hoops
58:57 in the 70s, 80s, and 90s than there are now.
59:00 So even in the summertime,
59:01 I think when the gyms maybe would be,
59:04 the pressure would be less.
59:05 I mean, in July on a Sunday or a Saturday,
59:08 I could see my kid wanting to go and play basketball.
59:11 But staffing is still the issue,
59:12 and so I recognize that.
59:14 But I just, I hope the,
59:16 there would at least be some appetite to look into that,
59:18 because I think it would be a great,
59:19 and it's also, it may open up opportunities
59:22 for the district to interact with parents
59:25 that don't have kids in the district,
59:26 go to other schools,
59:27 and maybe understand the benefit of the schools,
59:29 and you know, kind of interact with school property
59:32 in a way that they don't,
59:33 because they go to LCA,
59:34 or they go to Westside Christian Academy,
59:37 So, this is a discussion.
59:39 Any other quick comments?
59:42 I just want to say thank you all for being here.
59:43 I concur with my colleagues
59:45 that if the opportunity presents itself
59:47 for us to help to fill some of this funding gap,
59:52 I certainly would be supportive of that.
59:56 Quickly, with regards to the summer feeding program,
59:59 Ms. Ingersoll, you know,
1:00:00 as somebody who's immersed in the Harrison community
1:00:02 and, you know, gets wind of some of these challenges
1:00:07 anything I can do to help with that.
1:00:09 I realize that infrastructure
1:00:11 is just one of several obstacles,
1:00:13 but, you know, if there isn't a possibility,
1:00:16 you know, it's always possible
1:00:17 with the Madison Library, with the basement,
1:00:21 but if that doesn't prove to be the case,
1:00:23 to explore other infrastructure as well.
1:00:26 You know, in the park, you know,
1:00:29 you see it all the time when the security guard
1:00:32 will come in with a couple pizzas,
1:00:33 and have a little pizza party,
1:00:35 and could just swarm like hornets.
1:00:39 the Madison Court Community Coalition is another example.
1:00:41 You just, you see the need is really evident and abundant.
1:00:46 So, anyway, I can assist with that.
1:00:51 Excuse me, Keppel, and then, thank you.
1:00:53 I'll keep this very, on the program,
1:00:59 to use the technical term would be
1:01:01 out of school time and engagement,
1:01:03 and, you know, I, you know,
1:01:05 you all know that this is an issue
1:01:08 that I'm very passionate about.
1:01:10 The Troy Mart Foundation, it's all about those,
1:01:13 that time for kids in that age group
1:01:15 to have two or a few fewer nights
1:01:17 without something specific to do,
1:01:19 and it isn't, a lot of times,
1:01:23 the organized things as much as,
1:01:26 those are wonderful, but having a third space
1:01:29 where middle school kids can go
1:01:32 and have potentially entities come in and do things.
1:01:36 We have, you know, Colors Plus just moved to Lakewood.
1:01:40 We have other organizations, Beck Center, why?
1:01:43 We have all these different organizations,
1:01:46 that could come in and do content programming
1:01:48 if we had a third safe space
1:01:51 where kids, there's no cost of entry.
1:01:53 There's no barriers, and that can be a place
1:01:55 where there's positive engagement,
1:01:57 and so that's something that I'm hopeful
1:01:59 that I would love to see continued community collaboration
1:02:03 around finding a way to do that,
1:02:05 and with that said, I know we've all found
1:02:08 and I just wanna make sure that it's clear
1:02:09 that, from my vantage point,
1:02:11 is like none of this is criticism,
1:02:12 it's just enthusiasm for the work that you're doing,
1:02:18 Director Walter, to pick on you a little bit
1:02:21 in support of the comments here.
1:02:23 So there's limits, but that's not down to zero, right?
1:02:28 even with the expanded programming,
1:02:30 which my kids happily participate in,
1:02:32 to do the unstructured free-form play,
1:02:36 assuming that you could staff and budget it,
1:02:38 but there are rainy days off season,
1:02:41 so they prefer to play outside,
1:02:45 but it's a downpour, so the inside becomes an option.
1:02:50 it used to be that the school district
1:02:52 had more gym and outdoor basketball access.
1:02:55 They were taken down before your time,
1:02:58 I think, or when you were in a different role,
1:03:00 and that's hurt access in the city.
1:03:04 in the community, I should say,
1:03:05 the city's done some work over the years to expand that,
1:03:09 but we've taken incremental steps.
1:03:10 Probably we need to take some more steps,
1:03:13 but it would really multiply the options
1:03:15 if the schools recommitted themselves to that same access.
1:03:18 Chance to talk to the school board
1:03:19 in the joint hearing to put this on the agenda.
1:03:22 I'm quite aware that's not a zero.
1:03:24 Our own investment in the city-owned parks,
1:03:27 sports fields, and all that,
1:03:30 so I think there's some more strategic coordination
1:03:33 just on that side of things.
1:03:35 Very brief, Chris and Rodbent,
1:03:37 you've been at this for years.
1:03:38 Director Walter, everything we're doing
1:03:40 on the walk to school, safe walking,
1:03:48 good relationships with him,
1:03:49 let's get his view on things.
1:03:52 It's possible that in the engineering department,
1:03:55 I'm sure the need is much larger than the budget,
1:03:59 even if your whole budget is,
1:04:01 how do we get our hands around the need,
1:04:04 and some of that's inside our footprint,
1:04:05 and some of that's beyond our footprint,
1:04:08 so maybe we could talk offline.
1:04:09 Yeah, I do appreciate that,
1:04:11 because I think communicated
1:04:13 to the council and neighborhood,
1:04:15 the CNL, the Council of Neighborhood Leaders,
1:04:17 which oversees the collabs.
1:04:19 Each collab sends a representative to it,
1:04:21 and even last week they had a meeting,
1:04:22 and there's a lot of it that's just not
1:04:26 and shame on the county for not really,
1:04:29 they've said they were gonna make all these cuts,
1:04:31 and we've just been waiting,
1:04:34 and waiting for clear, open communication,
1:04:37 and maybe I shouldn't be saying any of this,
1:04:39 but it's been frustrating just being in limbo,
1:04:43 and I feel for my staff that's under me
1:04:46 and worrying, and they're doing great work,
1:04:50 it's hard work every day, what they face,
1:04:53 and then to be worrying about
1:04:56 what's the future of this position
1:04:58 that I've invested so much in,
1:05:00 and these families that we help and serve,
1:05:03 and so any pressures we can place
1:05:09 and clearer visions for where the future holds,
1:05:14 I'm open to any conversation,
1:05:15 I know Chad, obviously Chad will as well,
1:05:19 and he's more deeply invested and involved,
1:05:21 just because he's been on that,
1:05:25 that and knows the players at the table
1:05:27 of the other CNLs that are also being affected.
1:05:31 So, the other collaboratives,
1:05:33 I mean, and the whole, just so you understand,
1:05:35 the whole idea in families being involved with DCFS,
1:05:39 and so that was the whole thing,
1:05:42 let's be in the communities,
1:05:45 so if there's a strain on them financially,
1:05:48 or there's something going on
1:05:50 that can prevent abuse and neglect,
1:05:52 that we're getting that before it gets to the point
1:05:54 of them being in the hands of DCFS.
1:05:58 And so that was the original goal of those,
1:06:00 and now, because the county hiring freeze
1:06:05 within even the Department of Children and Family Services,
1:06:10 and they're all doing more work
1:06:12 than they should be individually,
1:06:14 more tends to come down to the collaboratives
1:06:16 that maybe used to stay within the case managers there.
1:06:26 and it's probably a collegial conversation
1:06:28 with our allies at the county,
1:06:30 and they could probably give us some indications
1:06:36 so happy to work with you on that, thanks.
1:06:39 Very good, thank you all for coming in tonight,
1:06:41 thank you for the continued work that you do
1:06:45 with limited resources and limited hours.
1:06:51 With that, I'd like to make a motion
1:06:53 to receive and file this report,
1:06:58 The motion's been made and seconded,
1:07:02 Hearing none, all in favor?
1:07:06 And with that, and no further items on our agenda,