Board of Commissioners - Special Meeting

You have the opportunity to provide up to one minute of public participation. Is there anyone who wishes to provide that in person at this time? Hi, I'm from the center of equitable uh family and community well-being. I'm speaking on behalf of uh the childcare network. Uh good evening chair and commissioners. Uh I'm speak uh no this is not me. Uh thank you for including uh community priority funding partners or organizations in this discussion and thank you to our economy for investing ARPA dollars into communitydriven solutions. Childcare network used uh CPF support through our family support program to help families pay for child and or so parents can work seek employment and pursue education or job training. Because of the support we provided, they provided scholarships and case management services to 274 children and from 182 families awarding 47 child care scholarships. Families told us this investment created a stability and reduced stress. 9% reported they were able to attend a quality child care program. 99% experienced less stress and 97% believed their child care was more stable as a result of this support. We saw forward movement towards stability. 98% of parents uh reported at least one indicator of progress toward financial stability and 38% reported receiving a raise, a promotion or better job. Um

sir, forgive me. We we have a one minute uh cut off period here, but do you have a sense if maybe this could be wrapped up in the next 15 to 20 seconds? Yes. Um this program was obviously very helpful to the child care network. Um and Annette uh is was sorry that she was unable to attend. Um but the CPF produced real documented impact for the families and strengthened the stability of local child care. and thank you for your time and letting me go over.

Thank you. And give our best to Annette and the team at Child Care Network, your valuable community partners. Is there anyone else who wishes to give additional uh public comment at this time? Ashley, is there anyone uh online who's in the queue for public comment? Chair, there's no one online. Great. Uh we'll move then to item three, which is the report from the county administrator. Good evening, chair, commissioners. I have no report this evening. Great. Uh Ashley, I'll move back to you for the report from the director of board operations. I do not have a report tonight, chair.

Wonderful. Uh we'll move then to our discussion item here. And we are fortunate to have with us Dr. Trina Shanks from uh University of Michigan to present on the community priority fund final report along with the equity office update from Derek Jackson. I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Shanks and uh preface her remarks with a question if you would prefer to uh have the presentation and then Q&A at the end or if you would like us to to raise hands and ask questions uh as we go. Um, I prefer major substantive questions at the end, but if there's a clarifying question along the way, feel free to raise your hand. Sure. And just want to let you know, even though I'm Trina Shanks, thank you for inviting today. I'm going to have my team start the presentation. I'm going to end. So, it's going to be Michael Clock and then Patrick Mihan and then I'm going to close out and the whole thing will be about 20 25 minutes.

Wonderful. All right. Hello everyone. Uh my name is Michael Clark. I work with uh Dr. Shanks and uh Dr. Mihan at the center for equitable family and community well-being. Honored to be here today. Uh so this is the team that uh worked on the community priority fund uh work the evaluation team that you can see at the top. Uh and then we were also in partnership with uh Dr. Quincy Bloxom of Arasa the divide and the program evaluation group. So this presentation highlights how Washington County intentionally structured ARPA funding to center equity, learning, and long-term impact. On the left, you can see the county's approach uh which was designed with the flexibility to support evidence-based practice with oversight placed on the racial equity office to ensure that equity remained central throughout the implementation. Through the community priority fund, resources were prioritized for the 48197 and 48198 zip codes, not exclusive, um, but using a low barrier funding model informed by robust community engagement, including over 1300 surveys, uh, responses and targeted listening sessions. On the right, you can see uh, how our approach was paired with this evaluation in capacity building. Uh the county partnered with our team uh to support community- based organizations in documenting impact, strengthening evaluation practices and producing shared learning and reflected in which was reflected in their CPF impact reports. Together this structure not only documented outcomes but also positioned grantees for future funding and sustainability. Here we can see what our uh process and workflow was like. Um so this was the initial meetings that we had with each

organization. Uh this was facilitated by the racial equity office. Uh particularly wanted to credit a keen for building these relationships and connecting our team to all these organizations. Uh we then would have working meetings uh some on a very regular basis. oft there was a few organizations that would meet uh twice a week. Um but at a minimum we were meeting once a month with organizations and this was to build uh logic models with organizations on their projects uh to help them build capacity on evaluation to look at what they could start tracking and things like that. Uh we also had held group convenings um which I'll speak more on in the next slide and we'd collected uh different data and helped with analysis which then led to their impact statements and then their uh final closeout that we then generated a report which we'll have a link at the end for access. So this is just a little highlight. I can't go into full depth of the activity, but instead of just the individual logic models, we also had done group level logic models. So there was the five categories that were identified with CPF. Um for this activity we had broken up the categories under that and we developed a categoricalwide logic model for what was happening under CPF but then also thinking about aspirational visions for what could be happening in the future in the county if things were fully realized and that activity is seen in that QR code um which we can also share links to as well and those are also in the the report. So the community priority fund supported work across five categories each regarding uh responding to needs that were amplified during the pandemic. Today we'll bring highlight uh key outcomes within each of these areas. Given the time we have in this presentation um which is limited we can only offer a snapshot of the depth, scale and creativity of the work that le that was led by the grantee

organizations. We strongly encourage you to review the full CPF impact report uh which includes detailed narratives, logic models, impact statements and supporting data. Uh under each organization there is two pages and in the footnotes there are links to all of their impact statements and logic models. So for the first category we're going to touch on today is the direct assistance to households. This included five organizations. Buenos Cosenos, Women and Men Working for Change, EMU Swoops, uh, Students Food Pantry, Washington Success by Six, and Whitmore Lake uh, Area Human Services, which previously was named Northfield Human Services, but they actually had renamed during this process. Some of the um, highlights and successes, and this isn't exhaustive list, this is just more of a high level, was 620,000 distributed for rent, utilities, and groceries. Um this aid was contributed concentrated in Ipsellani and Whitmore Lake. Uh 32 evictions and utility shut offs were prevented through coordinated rental support. 891 residents receive financial assistance. 250,000 pounds of food was distributed countywide. Uh 20,000 was invested in culturally responsive food options. Um this was particularly for the MU uh college campus. and 300 individuals received holiday meals and care packages and assistance paired with health uh services and financial empowerment uh referrals. And I'm going to pass this over to Dr. Mi.

Good evening. Forgive me. Before you speak, I just got a note that if you could get a little bit closer to the microphone just for folks watching online. Thank you.

Oh, okay. Oh. Oh, I've never done this. But that's great. Well, good evening, chair and commissioners. Uh, so the organizations that were funded through the community violence intervention category included a brighter way, supreme felons incorporated, uh, life after incarceration, transition, and re-entry. We the people opportunity farm and the dispute resolution center. So some of the again high level successes that these organizations achieved. So they they served more than 822 returning citizens and provided services including job readiness, mentoring, life skills, training and so forth. Um of those more than 80% um were successfully kind of uh achieved employment among those that uh that received those services. Uh in fact one organization achieved 100% of a brighter way of services 100% success rate across 229 mentees that they worked with. Um for we the people opportunity farm, five of the six interns secured long uh long-term employment after their aid food production internship. Um 230 participants gained both employment and stable housing. I think that speaks again to Brighter Ways success. Um one grantee hired four participants into permanent staff roles. Um, we had 60 plus returning citizens receive temporary housing support in 2024 and the dispute resolution center worked with uh 50 cases that were diverted from the prosecutor's office uh to peace circles um and community resolution. Um so the neighborhood watch program that uh Supreme Felons Incorporated initiated uh contributed to declines of violent crime and fire firearm discharges in EPS neighborhoods. They accounted for 885 interactions um in the Epsilani area. 375 of these were one-on-one. By their own calculations, they had 109 uh

violent crimes prevented through their work. Um and I I think it's really important to just lift up a lot of the capacity building that these organizations did to achieve this level of documentation. uh they prior to their involvement in the uh the funds they received through the community priority fund they didn't really have the capacity to to track this kind of data that they were doing in the community. Um there was only one organization that was funded through the house addressing housing and homelessness uh category through the community priority fund and that was Dawn Farm. Um so they had 38 people that received u recovery and substance use disorder that that received u stable housing through the through Dawn Farms initiatives. Um they had an average of 187 days worth of stable housing which is more than six months. Um of those who received these services uh nearly nearly one half not only um maintain their sobriety but also successfully transition to independent living. And Dawnfarmm was rather strategic in terms of where they chose to to locate their their housing along major bus routes to help with their their clients uh to achieve employment. And in fact, more than a quarter of them were uh of those who participate in their stable housing program maintain employment for at least a year. and another quarter earned a degree or a certificate um during their their residency in the uh in the stable housing. Um the last category I'll talk about is the early childhood uh education um expenditure category and the organizations funded through here included childcare network which uh my colleague Jack spoke about um bottles and backpacks and the foundation's preschool in Epsilani. Um, so as Jack was mentioning from, uh, from Annette's comments, uh, 730 uh, childcare

scholarships were awarded. Um, and the impact of those of those scholarships, um, is is hard to even quantify in terms of what it allowed families to to do. Um, 182 families uh, were supported through case management and referral services. Um, foundation's preschool was able to uh award 13 new infant and toddler slots to their to their program offerings uh to expand early childcare access which allowed for an additional uh,00 hours of safe development developmentally appropriate care. um bottles and backpacks uh was able to achieve a kind of measurable developmental gains among their participants including improvements in early literacy and motor skills and social emotional development through the funding from the community uh priority fund. Bottles and backpacks was able to develop a culturally responsive curriculum um and uh that also included this advisory committee. the curriculum they uh they the acronym they use for it is steam. Uh but also I'll just note that bottles and backpacks through the funding was able to award 18 additional seats um in their uh childcare services and 25 additional summer camp spots. Um with that I will turn it over to Dr. Shanks.

Thank you Patrick and Michael. Can everybody hear me? Okay, good. So, I'm going to talk about the last category, addressing educational disparities. So, this includes the Community Family Life Center, Growing Hope, Washington Community College, Hope Network, Family Empowerment Center, Our Community Reads, an innovative kind of um artsbased curriculum for preschool called Babaloo, the Family Learning Institute, and the Children's Literacy Network. And so for a highlevel um discussion of the impact from this category over,200 students were served through targeted literacy interventions and the focus was really on vulnerable students. So for um low performing schools, children of color and people who are perform performing below grade level and there was demonstrated academic gain through individualized tutoring. So for those who are below grade level in reading, 59% met or exceeded their benchmark reading scores. For those that were below grade level in math, 73% met or exceeded their grade level benchmarks. Over 1600 youth participated hands-on innovative learning experience. And some of these were really innovative. So there was cooking and nutrition labs through a community farm. There were movement based literacy activities um in preschool. And then older children were able to do introductory coding classes. And some of them were actually once they learned went to teach others coding. Um there was access barriers reduced through wraparound services. So sometimes there was free transportation to the learning centers. And since some of the students um were sick with COVID and were absent, they found a way to do digital tutoring and lesson content through remote learning. Um there were books and tablets that were distributed to students. Um there were college and career pathways expanded for older youth. Um and then one of the community colleges really focused on job skills workshops and soft skills. and then also having a H.B.CU fair for participation. And some of those young people were even a able to go out of state to have campus

tours at historically black colleges and universities. Um, and so in addition to what happened for young people, um, adult learners were also supported through reading circles, financial literacy workshops, and health focused courses. So you can see all of the good work that was done. And one thing I would say here is one of the things that happened, a lot of training was done. And so um hopefully as we'll talk about in a second, I guess I'll go to the next slide. Um we could talk about the insights of the CPS slurry. So there were a wide range of organizations. So some organizations received very little money like $20,000 and some organizations received hundreds of thousands of dollars. And some of the organizations were very small, maybe one person and mostly volunteers. And some um were older established organizations, some were very new and hired staff because of this opportunity. So, it wasn't just one type of organization or one type of support. There was a range. And so, because this flexible funding and this community based funding and focusing on need, lots of different organizations for lots of different things. Um, and so as you'll see, that's good and bad because that that how to build upon that without ORPA funding is is something that may need to be thought about. But it provided an opportunity to weave your county priorities um into the work of grassroots serving organizations that were close to the community and were trusted by participants. So rather than being kind of county government that seemed far away, they can actually take the priorities that you guys had, but through organizations that were close on the ground. Um, and there's much that could be learned from what grantees accomplished. Um, this wasn't necessarily well integrated, but if we can create mechanisms to incorporate these insights and successes, um, then they can continue to be mutually bene beneficial. So, like I said, some of the people that have trained, some of those organizations don't even exist anymore, but all those people have been trained in how to do tutoring. So, how can we make sure that that is still used and and and helpful to the community? Um, and then how can you keep the momentum going? That's what we'll talk about next. Um, when you think about lessons

learned, one of the things that it did what it's supposed to do, it expanded capacity reach. So, some of the community priority fund enabled organizations were able to scale their services. One quote says, "The number of people that we able to serve increased by a factor of over 10." Um, for some, this was their first government grant experience. So, it was an opportunity for them to have a multi-year federal grant, um, which they may not have had an opportunity to do without this fund. And then also actually helped strengthen nonprofit networks. So um through the commodity priority fund maybe not at the very beginning but over time there were new collaborations referrals and shared learnings through some of our group convenings they learned to connect with each other and they had insights um of who else was doing the work and how they can learn from one another. Um in in terms of implications from the future maybe things that didn't quite work perfectly but we can do better um the county if they choose to can do better going forward is this idea of rethinking cash flow statements um with the reimbursementbased model. of these very small organizations had limited budgets, they had to borrow from their other funds as they were waiting to be reimbursed. And for some that was very um difficult and painful and stressful. Um and then this idea of pairing funding with capacity building. Um since everybody was kind of given a contract and kind of expected to be able to work at the same level, but um given that all the organizations were at different levels doing some sort of a needs assessment to begin with, maybe some of them may need some help with their um analytical systems, their data collection systems, their accounting systems. So they can report in a way that you want as opposed to feeling constrained um because they weren't at a position initially to be able to do that um as well as maybe at the end they were able to with support um being able to sustain these cross organizational learning spaces so they could continue to do system level thinking, system level working. But the caveat for that is how the funding is attributed is is important because if you're getting funds just to do the direct work and you have a staff person that's doing all direct service then who's going to be there to do the thinking and the

planning and the cross agency collaboration but if that could be worked in as part of the funding model um that is an important part of this work and I will end with recommendations and again the details in the report and you we'll have the QR code again at the end but one thing is really to be clear about establishing ing data and evaluation frameworks to clarify success. So, for example, if a group is providing food and that's what they're contracted to do, but you have some larger goal about having food in places that are that are, you know, grocery deserts or food deserts or maybe you're trying to reduce food insecurity in particular zip code. If people can know that they're trying to do that and they can show the work they're doing and then you can kind of show in part of your larger evaluation framework that this is um the impact that's being had. Um, for example, from the educational groups, some groups may have just introduced young people to learning and reading and books and just gave them a book and that was all they did. But then the next group that actually did a pre-EST and protest and showed their literacy gains over time, you could show all of that as part of your success and everyone can see they're part of this process. Just as an example, um, another big thing is this idea of streamlining county grantee communication and reporting. um just because we've been part of the process. We know that there are very specific things that the federal government wanted through GARPA, but to constrain those same reporting requirements on a small community based organization that didn't have a a good data system, that was kind of a mismatch. So figuring out how to streamline communication so that the county gets what they need, the federal government or whatever the other funding source gets what they need, but it that's a little more streamlined for participants um is really helpful. And then this idea of if we could take the lessons learned and consider ways to launch and design what might be if you decide or however um it goes through this idea of a community priority fund 2.0. So it may not be with ARPA funding. It may not be the same amount of money but are there some ways to take some things that'll learn to continue going into the future. And that's all we have for today. Um our full report is there if you want to scan it. If you want to

email us, our email is here. But now we're open for questions. Dr. Shanks, real quick, I just want to thank you and your team. That was uh a very helpful presentation and and and provided uh succinctly usefully. Thank you. Open it up for questions. We'll start with uh Commissioner H. Hot.

Thank you, Chair. Uh thank you, Professor Shanks. This was fantastic. I've been really excited to have this presentation for a while. Uh one thing I wanted to throw out, well, first I'd say that community priority fund was uh largely impacted my district and Commissioner Somerville's district. So, really grateful for the incredible work um that all the grantees did. I could see the impact in my community. Uh and I can see the impact when the funding has disappeared. So I'm glad one of the recommendations is that we do it again. Uh towards the end you'd mentioned that if we were to do it again, here are some of the things that we could learn uh regardless of the dollar amount. Is there a dollar amount that you feel like would be extremely useful if we were going to do like a round two?

Oh, that's unfair. Um I I maybe I should that Derek, let him answer that. But I would say given that um you know some organizations got as much as a million dollars um to think about doing it too small means you're not going to have the same impact right so I would say at least tens of millions of dollars if possible but if that's not possible um making sure that you think carefully and collaboratively community what they want and what they can do so you can actually make sure it's something that meets needs as opposed just being an arbitrary number.

Yeah. I want to thank Derek too. Where you at, Derek? I'm trying. There you go. There you go. Uh Derek had to take over management of this on our end after the his predecessor left. And very grateful for your work, Derek, and and making this a success, which we could put you on the camera, but you're all the way over there. Come on. Come. You got Come on up, Derek. He's gonna present later. Uh, one other thing I wanted to point out. So, the this is just a fun fact. the EMU food pantry. I actually have a student in one of my classes this semester who was at EMU and was the student that was managing the program at that time. Uh yeah, you you talked to her. So really this really exciting stuff. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Hodgej.

Great. I'd like to I have a few questions when I get to colleagues first. I see Commissioner Scott. Um I'm Thank you very much, Chair. Hi. Thank you for being here. I am looking for where it was. Um I think maybe trying to find it. There were in the part you presented, you talked about measurable gains, but I think it was maybe in the um like I'm looking and maybe in talking about expanding early childhood education,

uh measurable developmental gains observed among participating children, improvements in literacy, motor skills, and social emotional development. And I'm just wondering if we could say more about that, like get in the weeds a little bit with that. Like what what were the measurable developmental gains? What were the metrics that were uh used to to determine those things?

Bottles and backpacks. So on page 54 of the report is where we talk about bottles and backpacks. Okay. So um it says oh covering um they they they one of the things they did was they had a steam curriculum and they had sub subject matter expertise in science, technology, engineering, arts and math. So they ced curriculum in those areas for kids. Um and then what was the other specific things? Um that was the main thing they really they really focus on those things. Um

oh um if you look on page 52 of the report and um can you pull it up like that? You can't. Okay. Well each of these has a logic model. So if you pull up the logic model you can see exactly what outcomes they were referring. Okay. Good. Great. Thank you. It on my phone. It's really small and I'm trying to look at it right now. Okay. Thank you. I love a logic model. Um, that's it for me right now. Thank you. Wonderful. Uh, other questions at this time? Uh, Commissioner Beman, then Sanders.

Mine is less of a question and more of a thank you. And thank you for bringing this forward. Thank you for highlighting um all of the successes. Uh I'm in the education space as well and so you know we know that we can divert children from our prison system that costs us lots of money um if we help them as early as you know before age five. And so this is just such meaningful work. So I appreciate you bringing this forward and showing their results and you know our full understanding of results are going to look different depending on the organization and the program. So thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Commissioner Bman. Commissioner Sanders, we'll go to you.

Um, thank you for the presentation. I'm not sure if this is a question that I should be posing to you, but I'm going to just pose it. Um, so for the participating partners that received the funding, do we know what percentage of that funding went to staffing as opposed to providing the services? Keen or or Derrick could probably say more than that, but the one thing I would say is each contract was very specific. So, it's so some people just got money to give a scholarship for preschool and all the money went to that and they had to figure out how to fund it themselves. Okay. Um some of the organizations because they didn't get staff funding and the staff didn't get paid, the organization no longer exists.

So, they got the money for that period, but then when the money went, it really doesn't exist anymore. Um and so to be perfectly honest, each contract was different. And so some people were able to hire staff with their contract because they had more funding. But for the ones that got really small amounts of money just to, you know, buy a cooler or to, you know, buy food, then they didn't have staff money. So I think it was very different across. But maybe Derek or or can you can say more. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. You're welcome to do that now or or during your presentation. Okay. Commissioner Sanders, floor is still yours if you

No, I'm done. I'm done. And um uh Mr. Jackson can do it during his presentation for the benefit of all of us or provide us with the data after the fact if time is an issue. Thank you.

Commissioners, any other uh questions for Dr. Shanks at this time? Um I I have three that I'll try and uh ask succinctly. You mentioned at the start of the presentation um some of the the benefits in terms of relationships between those seeking service and these organizations being close to the ground. Are there any lessons we can draw from that uh you know in in our in our broader human service delivery? Um, was that because of existing relationships beforehand or physical proximity? Is there anything you you you think should highlight for us?

Well, I'll make two comments from what I know. Um, from what I understand during the pandemic, some of these organizations not funded were on the ground doing the work. And so part of the vision of the community priority fund is actually to work with some of these organizations that were already there and kind of help give them the scaffolding so they can actually do the work and grow themselves as organizations. So some of them were already doing the work and then this just this provided a mechanism to do it. But one of the things we talked about right before this because we had a little convening from some of the grantees is in an ideal world rather than having very siloed funding where you know one organization gets x amount of dollars to do a very specific thing if let's say the county is trying to think about how to improve community safety or how to improve literacy across the full um school district as opposed to just maybe you know one after school program. Are there ways that you could bring people together and have them collaborate to do things and have funding be around that as opposed to um ways things have been traditionally done? Um so I'm not saying it was all done perfectly with community priority fund, but I think it provides a a mirror into maybe what um what tweaks could be made um so that you can you as the county and these organizations can both kind of get what they need. And if I'm hearing you correctly, there were sort of pre-existing organic relationships with some of these groups and those needing the services. And so, um, we sort of built on their prior, uh, trust that they'd built from the communities. Okay. Um, you mentioned the gaps. When you say gaps, do you have a rough time frame for what that gap was? Was that a few weeks, a few months? a fiscal quarter.

Okay. Which part of gaps were you referring to? One of the challenges for the organizations was the gap between when they would start the work or or begin planning for it and get the money from the from the county. I think the real point there is is the reimbursement model. So, if you had to do the work and then show all of your receipts and then get reimbursed, that means you had to pay for it up front. if you had the money up front, then you could do the work and then you're not putting yourself in the hole. Um, and so even if the funding was reimbursed in a monthly manner and fairly quickly, and sometimes it wasn't so quick, but if it was, you're still paying it after you've already paid for it. You have to have the money existing before. And for some organizations that were small, that was really a challenge.

So changing that sequence might be a Okay. Um, and then last question for me, Dr. Shanks, you mentioned um I think you diplomatically said uh when there are federal requirements for paperwork and for documents to ensure transparency on top of any county requirements that can be uh harder for smaller organizations. Um, is that something where we can default or defer to what the feds are asking or should we uh better refine what we are asking? How can we thread that needle in your in your opinion?

Well, I'll answer it two ways. So, I'll tell you what we did in the existing system. Um, so we got introduced to these organizations probably several months after they already had their contract and they were trying to figure things out, right? And so then we worked with them and said we know what the federal report is going to be at the end. So let's make sure when you do your logic models, you're talking about how many people are being employed, what your evidence-based models are, you know, which categories you fall in. We tried to help them align what they were doing with what was required for the county. So that's what we did because we were kind of the intermediaries trying to make this happen. But I think that um in let's say you're either not working with the federal government or you're thinking about this at the beginning, maybe having um a bridge organization to kind of help do all the accounting to make sure all the categories are correct or maybe helping people get their their um if they're using Excel spreadsheets or QuickBooks or something like that, figuring how to do things automatic so it already feeds into the categories that the county and eventually the federal government wants as opposed to doing it in the back end. Um, so I mean I think if everyone is clear what the final requirements are, then providing some technical assistance to make it easier as opposed to having people figure it out or get penalized for not doing it right. So both method and amount is is something we can uh look at a a method in terms of um centralizing that or getting an outside organization in the amount in terms of being cognizant if you're a one or two person shop that you know there's only so many hours in the day.

Exactly. Thank you so much. Any other questions for uh Dr. Shanks or her team at this time? Thank you for being with us. We appreciate it. Thank you. We'll stay around for the next part of the conversation, too, but thank you for the opportunity. Wonderful. And for that next part of the conversation, I would turn it over to our our racial equity officer, Derek Jackson.

Thank you, commissioners. I'm going to be joined by Keane from our office as well. Um presentation is coming up. Um so, I just want to make a couple comments about CPF. Uh, Commissioner, we can definitely get you that. We don't have it readily available, but within the contract, it specifies, as Dr. Shanks said, pretty specifically like what it can be spent for. So, we can put together a report to show you exactly the percentages. I will say that just at a quick review. A lot of it was just direct service. And I think that's one of the really interesting parts about CPF and how it was designed. Those grassroots community- based organizations that were really boots on the ground. U, we just had this convenience, as Dr. Shank said, and uh, learned a lot about the good, the bad, the struggles. um and a keen was instrumental in making sure that that stuff went successful. Uh I I think the impact and keeping in mind that CPF was done in the context of the pandemic um when we all thought the world was falling apart. Those organizations were some of the organizations that didn't shutter their doors and were still able to provide these services and for some of them asking them to do some of the administrative capacity and functions that were required in the federal um ARPA law was just very cumbersome and difficult. And so there were lots of examples around that. And so we have learned a tremendous amount of how to be the bridge between what county, state, and federal government needs to those grassroots very impactful organizations. So we'll talk a little bit about CPF in the in the blueprint today. Uh but I just wanted to to stress on that on the heels of what Dr. Shanks I know was pretty fast. If you look at that report, it is very thorough and in-depth around the the direct impact that CPF had uh but also the lessons learned and what we might be able to think about using from those lessons in other funding mechanisms of county government. So, for example, it was just talked about the lump sum versus invoicing. We heard pretty clearly it's difficult for small organizations who really do great work and have impact to have to front that

money up front. They just don't have the cash flow. So that makes some very hesitant to partner with county government and and and so to do lumpsum funding uh is sometimes a little bit of a paradigm shift for county government to say we have a contract with you. You're the expert in this area. We uh are are agreeing that you know how to do this and we trust that you're going to follow through on this. So that's just one small paradigm shift that can have a pretty substantial impact on how we do funding across the county. But there are many other examples in that larger report. Derek, forgive me. Before you go further in the presentation, are you willing to slide a half a foot to the right just to be closer to that mic for folks online?

We'll go back and forth. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh, so we're here to talk about five things in particular. You see, it's called the equity blueprint. We do want to um talk a little bit about the history of the office within the policy. It's required for the racial equity office to present to this body at least twice a year. So, we want to um do since I've been in this role, the first time we're coming before you officially to present, we want to lay out what the equity blueprint is, what we've crafted uh and what we've been really researching um and assessing uh around the office over the last year. We want to talk about some of the highlights that were accomplished in 2025. Some really good things happened. Talk about goals for 2026 and then uh a few thoughts uh for the future. So, I won't spend a lot of time on this because many of you know it, but the the office, yes, I see the chuckles. I love the pictures. Uh, Victoria, who's up here, um, uh, was upset for me for putting her in this in the presentation, but, uh, we all love Victoria. Um, but Victoria, uh, Aen, Cammy, and I are the staff that make up, uh, the racial equity office. And it was obviously the commitment of this body years ago back in 2018 to really focus on dismantling systemic disparities. A lot of times people ask, well, what do you do as the racial equity officer and what does the racial equity office do? And the easiest way I describe it is it is uh really a part of every facet of county government. It is how we look and think about the work that we do, not this uh just feel-good idea, but it's about a philosophy and the way that we want to embody uh county government. And so we're going to talk a little bit about uh those things as we go forward. Again, I won't spend a ton of time on it, but there are a couple of highlights within the timeline of the creation of the office that I think are important. So, obviously, the foundation was in 2018 when the office was officially uh created. In 2019 was the first time the racial equity officer was ever hired. Um, and so those seeds of change began to be uh put into place. But this one is

what I really want to highlight on the timeline is that and it may seem like forever ago that the pandemic hit, but once the pandemic hit, even though the REO office has been in existence since 2018, in some ways we often talk about it still being in our toddler stage because so much of the focus of the equity office um went towards the pandemic. So in my previous role, I remember like being out there handing out all those supplies and the mask and that all was um done through the racial equity office. And although it was years ago, we just finished towards the end of 2025 the last contract and reporting process around the community priority fund. So it may seem like a long time ago, but we're just starting to transition back to the original intent of the racial equity policy. Um, and obviously in 23 and 24, uh, something really big and important was done. The, uh, advisory council on reparations was set into motion. Uh I won't take up a ton of time in today's presentation to talk about the great work, but there's some really exciting things happening uh with the council on reparations. Uh but there's also uh began to be uh leadership transition uh at that time. So then over the last year really we've been assessing, we've been evaluating, we've been talking to department uh heads and and understanding what should we be doing and how we might um uh input and impact the actual equity policy. And so the racial equity blueprint was developed and then 2026 um moving forward is really about putting equity into action. And so that's really what we hope to get to is like how do we actualize some of these things.

Yeah. So later on I want to talk a little bit more how we actually do the action piece what that looks like on different system levels as well.

So again just a quick reminder about the racial equity policy. So lots of people forget that there are specific mandates within the policy. Now, because of again the pandemic, some of these uh mandates weren't fully actualized, but we want to get back to um really focusing on the core functions of the policy. That being said, now that we're starting to have uh impact and we're starting to put things into action, it's also a time for us to think about that policy was created in 2018. There may be other changes to be made, language changes. To date, no changes have been made, but um I think we are evaluating and looking at how do we evolve the policy now that we're really getting to putting the policy into place. But I did want to highlight some of the mandates, right? We're we we say in the policy that there's training that staff are supposed to do. We say uh that we're uh to do these racial equity action plans for departments and that uh we do these reviews of board actions, which is why the impact the equity impact statements are now in the packets. Uh um and and for us to review. Um, we talk about community engagement stuff and then accountability, having some way to evaluate our action steps as a county and how are we embodying that policy. The intent goes far beyond just the policy. And I know we call ourselves the racial equity office. It's the racial equity policy. So, centering race is really, really important, but we do a lot more um around equity. And we look at equity from a very, very broad lens um around a whole different range of uh of options is what we really look at. So, this is the blueprint. Some of you have seen this image, some have not. Uh, I've been trying to wait until this presentation to really talk about it in detail. It's hanging on the wall outside the racial equity office. Um, but basically the policy that was crafted by this body in 2018 has three major pillars. individual growth of staff, um institutional change of the organization that is county government, um and structural transformation of very larger

systemic issues. And so you see those three things in the middle. They're kind of colorcoded. And then along the outside are 13 different uh programs, projects, uh activities that if we do those, we really believe we can start to put equity into action. I could spend hours talking about every single one of these 13 because there's a lot that goes into them. So we're not going to do that. We're going to briefly go through a few of them and then we're going to transition to some of the highlights around what we've done around those 13. So the first is the racial equity liaison that Ake has the privilege of really leading that group. And then are y'all able to hear me or

Yeah. So going back to the blueprint of how this is laid out. So we look at the individual. So how do we look at equity on an individual level and then we look at it from the institutional level. So how do we look at equity equity um as Washington County as an institution and then structurally how do we engage with other systems? Uh so the first piece is the racial equity the racial equity liaison. So this is a colle collection of 31 um individuals who work for the county uh that represents around 15 departments within county and we meet once a month um led by the equity office and this is a space where we are using these equity liaison not to just uh share best practices but to also be used as a sounding board as well and to evaluate and look at the programs initiatives um that we are creating within the racial equity office as well.

Uh so the community priority fund, you just heard a little bit about it. We do have it up here because we really are interested in keeping the community priority fund. Uh maybe not in the exact same iteration as before. uh but thinking about the community party fund and those lessons learned uh there's some really really important things that I think we'll dive into at a later date. But so the CPF and keeping that alive and thinking about how we uh provide funding in the future is a really important piece. Uh number three is about policy evaluation and resolution review. Um that's one of the things that I'm most excited about is really looking at those equity impact statements, being able to provide the best information possible to you all so you can make the best decision possible for the community. Uh but that's something that we are actively uh we actively work on. Uh number four is equity compliance investigations. I didn't even realize this was a part of the job at first uh but quickly my phone started uh ring from community members from uh uh staff. Uh whenever there is the idea or the notion that someone uh treated inequitably and it's related to county government um internally and externally, we get those calls. And so um we're in the process of really developing um a standardized way to do those investigations. Uh but we have had investigations. Um so that is an important role to play to be that confidential safe space for uh employees and community members to come to us um to seek some recourse or to have some harm healed uh over time. Um uh number five was the is the Washington Equity Partnership. Some of you were around those tables. WP had lots of recommendations to transform the justice system that sits within the equity office and so part of our charge is like how do we take those recommendations and put them into practice you know about fine and feed justice reform advisory council on reparations falls into that welcoming wash and all is another thing that a keen leads

yeah so I I'll briefly share what we are doing with in regards to welcoming all so this is a uh collaboration with welcoming America and it's been tailored for uh county particular and essentially how do we create and look at policies and systems um within county to make it truly inclusive and embracive of all residents uh who live in county um where we'll be working with grassroots organizations, individuals um internally within departments around looking at policies, procedures uh to ensure that all residents of Washington County um are welcomed. So at one point this was something that was uh within OCED has transitioned to the racial equity office. It is another initiative that the Keen has taken a a personal uh passion to. Uh again I won't talk a lot about number 10 which is which is the youth assessment center. You've heard a lot about that model in the past. One of my personal favorites is the legacy project which is a um uh project that is a combination of um the my brother's keeper our community reads and a group called Black Kids Travel. The whole concept and idea is around um genealological research helping young people uh understand their history and then taking an actual pilgrimage trip to the continent of Africa. So our first cohort is going to start in March. It's going to be adults first who fund themselves. But the whole concept and idea is uh interdisciplinary learning. It is intergenerational learning. It is about learning who you are, where you come from and then taking the actual trip. So we are uh one of the organizations that is kind of helping to put this together. I could talk for hours about this project because we love um uh this particular one. So we haven't done this yet, but in March we are supposed to start the first cohort that are going to be adults who can pay for themselves to go. So before we ever take a young person or somebody else's young person overseas, uh that we have the

adults work out all the kinks first. Um, but we have a a a great renowned genealogologist who's from Ipsellani who's agreed to be our resident genealogologist. Um, she is uh Miss Windborn out of Ipsy District Library has been on national television doing these things. Uh, so she has tremendous stories. Uh, but this project is going to be something I think really beneficial that we get to be a part of and we're pretty proud of that one.

Yeah. And I would really like to invite you all to really take some time to look over this blueprint because they all truly interconnect with one another because when you look at just Derek talk around the legacy project that's focused on the individual but how does that individual interact with institutions and how do institutions interact with individuals and how do institutions interact with each other as well. So these are how we're viewing and the blueprint of how we take on uh equity at all three levels. Um and then the last point the 13th uh point uh the mobile support service initiative or the MSSI. Um this is something where we're going to talk a little bit more later on. Um but I do want to highlight just a historical piece to it of when it was started. This is something very new. Um the foundation had to be created. Um in that first year it was a lot of community engagement assessment around what are the needs because when we go out into community um opposed to community coming to uh to us uh what does that look like and really being intentional um and making sure in ensuring that voices from Washington are involved in that whole process. So we took that and later on we're going talking around after doing all that assessment what does it look like being fully deployed.

Uh well I skipped number 12 is there's a lot that goes into education uh training and and technical assistance for the departments but that so again you see 13 things here but there are many subcategories under each one of these. Uh so this we really believe is the blueprint of how we actualize the policy uh within the county. Uh so there's a couple of highlights um that I wanted to share that really relate to uh one of the points around the wheel. So the equity fellows is a new project in partnership with the uh resiliency office and the racial equity office. So the idea is that uh in this first iteration uh Milano who is a major in envir um uh mental science and society and political science is a double major. Jennifer is a a major in urban and regional planning and Jonah is a major in political science out of Eastern Michigan University. Some brilliant young minds. When we interviewed them, I was like, "Man, when I was a college student, I hope I was I sounded that smart." Um, but the part of their goal is going to be twofold. To help figure out how resilient Washington plan and the racial equity plan really overlap and work together. And then the other part is specific to you, the board. it is um helping us design a process to really have the capacity to review all those resolutions to come in to look at those impact statements and to figure out the best way to get you the information to make those really important decisions. So, they just started. They're getting oriented. I think Jennifer is in the back um uh uh here and so we're just getting going, but just as an example of how we're using the racial equity office as a learning center and a learning institute for people to take what they learn in the class and put it into practice. But this is one of the things we're really really excited about. In the other uh iterations of the equity fellows, there is the ability for the fellows to be policy fellows in other departments across the county to do the same type of work around training. Um I love this picture and we just wanted to give an example and kind of highlight um experiential learning. So training is such a big part

of the racial equity policy and we wanted to do something different. So, we didn't do a ton of training in 2025, but we did want to do something impactful and use that as a jumpoff point. So, Deborah Meadows um who uh was our kind of tour guide, Scott McFaten in the middle, helped um and obviously Debbie Coington, who many of you know, uh really helped put this together. Um and so it was an experiential learning opportunity for our team that had three primary goals. Uh commitment to racial equity, and it was a huge commitment to take three hours and 56 people from county government. Um I I jokingly said on the tour that uh there was a lot of money from county government on that bus at the time but that really showed the commitment we had at the highest level of county government. Some of you were on the bus the administrative deal was there to take that time out of the day to be there. So 56 attendees from administration some department heads commissioners equity liaison and advisory council on reparations. The second goal was really about building empathy um and cultural competency. So you can't do equity work if you don't have empathy. Like you got to care about the people. Um and you got to have some cultural competency. And so we wanted to move beyond kind of this theory based understanding of equity that we talk about to a more compassionate human- centered approach that puts equity into action. Um, and one of the questions we asked afterwards of all the attendees was, "Did this tour enhance your understanding of the experiences of marginalized communities, um, and the ongoing impact, today's impact, modern day impact of historical injustices?" And 89% of them said yes, it did, or at least partially it did.

Yeah. So, promoting collective action and allyship. Uh, so a part of the tour and one thing, if we can go back once Mhm. Once more. So for the attendees, the partnership and allyship, uh we had a very unique experience where not only did we have elected officials and department heads and also um some frontline workers as well through our equity liaison and um community pillars from the council on reparations all there in this collective learning. So that's how we are looking at when we talk about action and allyship and working collectively.

I mean the other thing is if you think about the Underground Railroad, it only happened because people who have privilege and power were willing to put their uh freedom on the line for others, right? And so we use that as a mantra within the tour to be like all of us no matter where we sit within county government have some form of privilege and power and what if we really use that we could really start to dismantle systemic racism. And so the question we asked was, "How confident are you that what you learn will influence how you approach racial equity work?" And every single person who answered, who was on the tour said, "Absolutely, this will impact me in some way." So we really feel like we started to accomplish these. And this last picture, I just love the image, but it also um shows that uh this is what training looks like within the equity office. This experiential learning, not just a check the box, do you know the definition of equity, but can you feel it? Right? So if you don't know the definition of equity, you know what you felt on that bus tour. You know what the side conversations were. You never forget when you walk out the back door here to go home tonight that Fourth Street used to be a black neighborhood, that the Birkenstock shop used to be the black barber shop. Like you understand that in Ann Arbor um we have lost that history and we don't always know that. So whether you know anything about equity, you understand the impact uh that historical racism has had in Washington County. want to talk about the MSSI um and and and again the images I think say a lot but part of what the mobile support services initiative is about is about engaging community and there are some things like the food gatherers picture in the bottom right was a really serious event where we had to you know give out uh food because SNAP benefits if you guys remember that uh you know Senator Irwin with his uh uh Halloween uh headgear um and there's a young Elsa on there so we're out there doing fun community engagement events um but also um allowing uh the the women on the left to be a leader in their community in the Arbor one space. And so the MSSI does a

lot and Ake can share a little bit more because he also oversees that project. Yes. And I also want to give a shout out to Victoria um because she is uh the coordinator for the MSSI and once again it's a collective effort. So even though you may see us at a barbecue, you may see us at an event, how do you build that trust? How do you build that relationship or when things do happen, they know and they have that trust, not only with the equity office, but as a collective with county government as well, with local government.

So the other piece that uh the MSSI was out at Arbor One a lot, you'll see some of the data, but it's really bringing attention and services uh to Arbor 1. Um, and so the individuals in the middle of uh, Commissioner Somerville and Victoria are really the folks who are running the tenant uh, association out there. And so with the support of the MSSI and us being out there, the ability for them to take ownership and leadership in their own community, uh, some of you remember these, right? You were there. These are just some of the pictures that I had in my phone, but uh, we were there to bring government to the people. Um, all of you did uh a town hall in partnership with the MSSI. And it may sound simple, but the ability to pull up into a park, the ability to pull the basketball hoop out and play with kids outside while their parents are talking to their commissioner, it really embodies bringing government to the people. And I think we have more ideas uh around how to do that and to do it um substantially and over time. Um but again, the pictures I think speak uh words.

Yeah. So, literally meeting folks where they're at. Um, I know a lot of times, especially in social work, that's a that's like a coin phrase of how do you meet folks where they're at? But we're literally taking uh brick and mortar on wheels and meeting residents where they're at and building those relationships.

I mean, one of the things we've been talking about today because they after this are going out to the point in time study. So, Victoria Keane, I think a couple of the folks will be out there till 2 am tonight uh doing the point in time study, but we talked about we can't do it this year because of the weather and the inability to heat the vehicle um because it will freeze. But imagine if the bathroom, which it has a shower in there, internal and external shower, could be used for some of our unhoused individuals, and we can just pull up next to a camp one day and someone could use it. Imagine the MSSI having services from the clerk's office that we can pull up into Manchester so folks don't have to come to downtown at Arbor. So those are some of the things that we are looking forward to in 2026. Uh this was another one. I think the pictures just speak a lot. The MSSI was able to be out at Woodlon. It was the warming space when it was cold. It was the cooling space when it was hot. It was the restroom when there wasn't a restroom out there. Um and it's also a billboard. It says that Washington County is there. We're present. Uh we're actively participating. Um, so now when people see that, there's some kids who see it, they automatically ask where the pizza is because they're used to Victoria having pizza. But it starts to leave an imprint when they see the big blue bus, the county seal that uh government is there and the county in particular is a part of community and doing some pretty uh important work. So this is just a dashboard of the MSSI. We started collecting data. We have an activity log of all the services that we provide. Um, there were 138 different events. This data is just from May of 2025 till uh just yeah this month a couple days ago. So if you think about it, that's roughly 270 days. The vehicle was used 138 of those days uh for 138 events. Uh we track how many hours that were at events. This doesn't include all the prep time, right? Victoria has to do a lot to get that bus ready, fueled, heated to go. Put a lot of documentation in the keen and them have to do around uh the contracting process. So, there's a lot to go into it, but 527 hours out

in the community, about a little bit less than 5,000 individuals who traverse the MSSI over those roughly 270 days. You can see the locations um of where it's been all across the county. Um yes, some more than others um just based on some of the events that are going on. And then in the white box, the category, we categorize them in six ways that they are educational orformational sessions. They are food security, like literally handing out food to people. um they are direct assistance to families. Um they might be like an arbor one uh kind of a situation, health and wellness like a vaccination clinic. Um community engagement like trunk or treat or something fun like that. And then there are these special projects like Wood Lawn Cemetery and you can see the breakdown. Um I think this is 46 up there around uh direct assistance. We were at Arbor One 41 times. Um and so uh yeah, 41 times. Yeah,

that's right. Commissioner Somerville, will you put your mic on? Sorry about that. We were probably there closer to 60 times because absolutely J December, January. Yes. February, March,

and it's one thing to be there. Um, it really says to the folks who are struggling that government is here, that we're paying attention, that we're helping to give voice, that empowers them, but also connecting to services. there was an office in the back for an attorney to come sit with a woman who had been, you know, really struggling to get things taken care of in her apartment. I say that uh in a very light way. Uh but the pictures were um just unbelievable what she was living within. So to have that vehicle there is real impact um for individuals. So those are just some of the highlights. Um you know some of the goals we put them into three different categories. We really want to in 2026 focus on the policy and some of the mandates that are in the policy. So this is about accountability for us as the RO office related to the policy but goal one is is really to develop uh that resolution and decision uh review. So how what's the review process for the resolutions coming before you? So we want to have that codified. Goal two is about some assessment. So by the time we come back to you setting up for 2027 we have an actual assessment where we can measure the impact towards uh the policy outcomes. Goal three is we need to get back to doing the departmental action plans. That's pretty specific. Uh some departments, OCED, public health, uh CH just did a great Jedi assessment. Um so some are already doing the work, but how do we actually have a streamline and unified process? And then number four is about those compliance investigations, having a process for the compliance investigations.

Yep. And then here are some for professional development. So we're looking to relaunch our lunch and learn series. Uh we've been using the equity liaison um as to provide insight on additions, subtractions um on our approach. And then the other piece is the foundational training. So, a training for um county staff um to update um and and to be I think another piece is to be intentional as well on what is being learned and also how it's being.

So, we'd love to have an orientation a section of orientation. So any county employee that starts, they are getting some foundational pieces related to equity. And then the final piece is like an a professional development series. And then these again, I won't go through all of them, but these are six things that are really service expansion. So it talks about the Washington Equity Partnership, the youth assessment center, the legacy project. Um all of those um um expansions of uh these programs I think are something we're going to focus on in 2026. The final piece I wanted to leave you with was just to touch a little bit on how equity from a philosophical perspective can really be um intertwined within board priorities. So you see the three priorities that you currently have um surrounded by divers diversity, equity, inclusion and justice and how do we start to embody uh those and what ways as we think about a new priority setting session. Um and I just wanted to leave you with we have a whole bunch of tools in the tool belt. We got some matrixes that we've been designing and ways to operationalize this when we had to look at the budget projects that came before you. You know, we created a matrix of how we score those. So, there's a lot of tools behind it, but I wanted to give you just a couple of pieces to really think about as you go into future priority sessions. Um, and maybe it's just a quick equity lens check when you uh start to build out what those priorities are. And it could be three simple questions. Number one, does the priority center those furthest from the goal? So, are we really centering those people who need the services the most? Um, will the priority address root causes? Like, are we actually moving the needle on some of these really difficult systemic challenges? And then the third is just does the priority allow those closest to the problem to be a part of the solution. So, a big part of equity work is really engaging with and I know that's a part of one of your uh current priorities as like community engagement, how you engage with residents, but a big part of equity work is really listening to the people who are closest to the problem who often know and have really

good um insight on the solutions. So, we could talk forever about all the different ways we might evaluate uh some of the decisions and priorities, but I I wanted to with this opportunity just give just a small little nugget that as you're going through these conversations, these might be three questions that you could ask in in in those deliberations. And then finally, um having an equity perspective that we don't just want to provide services, uh but we want to intentionally set priorities to dismantle the institutional and structural um barriers that currently predict in Washington County that success sometimes is based on race or geography or zip code. So the ability to set priorities that could really start to break down those barriers could be very impactful. And with that, we are happy to answer any questions. Um and we thank you for the time. Well, thank you for the presentation and I'll get to questions, but uh our administer Dill wanted to provide a quick comment before we do.

Yeah, thank you, Chair. Uh if we could go back and perhaps you can't bring it up, this slide that shows the Woodlon Cemetery. Yes, that is really powerful for me because I can look out my kitchen window and see that sign. And I've lived in that subdivision for over 30 years. And for most of us in that sub and there are about 200 homes, we never knew it was there. And when you talk about this, we we're talking differently about our community now. The significance of our community thanks to this work. So I just want to say kudos to all of you and everybody that participated there. That is phenomenal work.

And just remember that you all funded that work, right? So there's resources from this body to actually uh continue to do the work. Not to mention just the staff time of Victoria Keane in particular who've been out there uh supporting the work. And this is why I think the pictures are really important. You can tell by the looks on their faces how um emotional of an experience it is to be out there um and to have family members who are there. So the gentleman in the bottom left was trying to find his uncle who his family knows are there but they just don't know where. uh one of his aunts remembers being at the funeral because his uncle died at a very young age. Uh we had a we had a gentleman who walked up who said um uh my my granddaughter was buried there as an infant. Um we thought the cemetery only went to a certain spot, but he was like, "Nope, I remember. We were over here somewhere." And so, uh the impact of the images on the faces, you see the top middle, she's literally, uh bending down looking at one of the graves, trying to help that gentleman to see if that was his uncle. So he has since found his uncle was there. Uh but that's powerful powerful work that people don't forget um because it's such an important impact on their lives.

And I would like to add really quickly too uh the MSSI played a pivotal role um in just even providing the space to have those conversations to unpack. Um, oftentimes there's even one elder that lives in my neighborhood uh who stopped by who wasn't really wasn't able to help physically but wanted to watch and look at what was going on and to be able to sit down and have a conversation and just to be heard and to share their story. Um, these are the things where we were talking about impact. Um, we try to convey as best we can with photos and and sharing those stories as well.

But equity is about healing and repairing harm. This is repairing harm and so this body should know that you're a part of that right from funding it to letting MSSI exist to doing that work. Uh this is a repairative process um that you physically get to see. So thank you administrator deal. Thank you. We'll go now to uh Commissioner questions. Start with Commissioner Haj and Somerville.

Thank you. I've got about hours worth of questions for you. You ready? If you want to bring that slide back up real quick because I was going to reference that one. I know just when you took it down. Thanks. Uh I just want to put another plug or post on what you said about how important it was to have the MSSI there. I was there that day and it was rainy. Uh the MSSI being able to have the awning provided shelter for people and the it cleared up eventually, but it was still a wet day out. Um so that was fantastic. I wanted to point out this slide though. The person in the upper right, if I remember correctly, he drove more than an hour to come to this event. uh and I think he did end up finding his relative while he was there. So to be able to see that and to know that we're supporting that kind of work is really important to me and I'm glad that you're you're leading on this both of you. Really grateful for your work. Now my hours worth of questions. Uh let's see you mentioned the equity liaison and the number I think it says like 31 people in the equity leaison group. Are there any departments that have not assigned an equity equity liaison?

Yes. So as of right now we have 15 departments represented. Uh I believe we have 30 departments in in general in total. So half you have done it. What uh can we do to be more supportive of your efforts in getting liaison from every department?

So good question. I will say that we did talk to the department heads and we got an influx of people. I think once people started to see it was reinvigorated that there was going to be not just meetings but we're really using them as the the brain trust of equity work within the county. Uh so for example having someone um from purchasing who may not think about their everyday work as being uh around equity or inequity but can understand how purchasing processes work in the in the fine print can say wait a minute we should look at this policy and how we do this. Once people started to see that like literally you could be a liaison and there's some ump behind it. They helped craft the blueprint, they got to vet it, you know those things, we are honestly starting to see more people join on and more departments. Some of it I think is just us just asking and saying like we really need someone and here's why and there's value in having you around the table and you're not just coming to a meeting. I've been at the county now with my gold pen for 20 years. Uh I've been a liaison for many different things, but how do you make sure being a leazison is really worth your time? And that's what that's on us to create an environment where it's really worthwhile to be a liaison. We haven't had anybody say I'm not interact. We haven't had a department say no, we don't want our staff to participate. It's more of of us putting in the work to make sure it's worth their time.

Yeah. Okay. I I know you said you could talk for hours about any of the 13 items on the blueprint, but could you just talk a little bit more about the legacy project and then you specifically your passion for family trees and how that plays into this.

Yeah, this is probably I could talk forever. You know, like um I was young at a family reunion and we called her aunt Sally, one of the elders in my family was holding council around a picnic table and I just happened to walk up to talk to my dad and she was telling our family history and I was hooked. So, I've become the family historian and doing genealogy for, you know, years now. Um, and the first time I saw the Jackson surname in the 1800s, like I got chills and I was like, "Ah, I get it." And then when I learned that, you know, as uh black folks in America, prior to 1860, we weren't listed uh by name. It was we were listed like cattle, one male, how old it was, and that was it. So, our names couldn't show up until the 1870 census. Um, but I was able to track some of my personal family back to when they were enslaved and found out who the enslaver was and got his will and seen my ancestor there. It changed how I thought about my family. Not just history that we were just slaves, but like folks were actively fighting for freedom and doing some phenomenal things and were illiterate and all kinds of, you know, really awesome things. But it gave me a sense of understanding like what the Jackson surname is. Um, and so the ability to share that with people. there's something lifechanging. Some of our young people don't even know their biological parents, let alone their historical um um roots. So, it's about that. And then the traveling piece was again I use my personal story. I hadn't left my neighborhood or the state of Michigan until I was in high school. And so to see that my neighborhood and those four blocks around my house were just a small piece of the world and the world was much larger, it is literally what convinced me to go to college and wind up here. So combining those two worlds of genealogy research to find your ancestors with travel. There's a group called Black Kitch Travel. They're a whole bunch of young 20somes that travel all over the world. Uh they're pretty famous on Instagram and social media. Uh but they're partnering with us to do all the travel and leading. So we have young

people leading the elders on these pilgrimages. Um uh so that's a little bit of where the idea and the concept comes from. And it really is about helping people learn to be world travelers and glo global citizens, doing intergenerational work, and also understanding your your history and your legacy. I appreciate you sharing that. All right. Uh, seven more questions. Not actually seven. Uh, so you mentioned I'm going to ask you a similar question that I asked Professor Shanks, but you opened the door to it based on what you said about CPF. If we were going to do it again, you said we wouldn't want to do it exactly the same way. How would you think about us doing it differently? and do you have a dollar amount in mind?

Uh lumpsum funding. I think that's the number one thing we hear uh instead of doing invoicing after the fact. Uh how do we provide the how do we set up a contract and provide the resources ahead of time and then and if we can still prove that they did uh the service, but again we trust them. Uh we're contracting with them. They're the experts. Um so I think lump sum funding is a piece of it. Also um relevant um and intentional reporting processes. So we're not asking a whole bunch of information just to get data that we'll never use. That it really is talking about the impact of the organizations and it helps the organizations share their stories. So we really see and feel the impact. Um data is important, reporting is important, but how we craft that could be done in a much more equitable way. So those would probably be the two things that I would say first. Um any other additional ones you can think of?

I would add capacity building um like technical assistance being very intentional. Um one thing that Dr. Shanks and her team shared was um all the CPF awardies are at various levels. So literally like the MSSI meeting those organizations where they're at and saying how can we build up from where you're currently um placed

and as far for the dollar amount honestly I think it'd be inappropriate to just throw out a dollar amount. I will say this we can do an analysis though and look at it. Um we have one organization who you all funded tremendously. um they did phenomenal work and that impact is still going on but because that funding has gone away um their capacity to do the work and it's going to have I really will say this it's going to have major implications for community violence in our county as a whole um so I think it makes a lot of sense to think about how we invest in that but the exact dollar amount I do not know at this point uh we haven't done that uh analysis we are internally within the racial equity office um you know I'm one that likes to show it prove it and then you know ask afterwards. So, we have put some of our racial equity office budget um into what we're calling CPF 2.0 or 1.5 um to really seed fund and do some smaller projects to really see how lump sum budgeting works to really see how this different reporting structure works. So, when we do come back to you all with a larger plan and ask uh you know it's really based in some fact.

Okay, last one. Uh thinking about the 13 items on the blueprint, what if any support do you need from us to make those a success?

Uh well, we're talking about the youth assessment center. So that funding for that was important. We'll be coming back before you to actually create the position for the project manager. Um we cannot accomplish all those 13 things in one year. Uh we can't accomplish it with just our small staff. The capacity just isn't there. um even reviewing all the resolutions like there's not the capacity for us to sit down and review every resolution and do it justice what you need. Um so I think some of it is over time we'll understand what we really need to be successful in all these different areas. Um I think the will to really want to push these things forward. Um uh I that's the biggest thing the support to say like no this is important. the support to say like let's do the legacy project to say that we want to do welcoming wash and all even in spite of some of the things that have happened around this area even as early as yesterday around immigration enforcement. So having that political will I think is the number one thing and then there will be ask I think in the future if we really want to do it uh effectively and impactfully we really got to be willing to invest in it. Um not all of those have a full thoughtout strategic plan where I can say to you here's what we actually need today.

Yeah. Well, I'll just say all of those are important and I support it since you want to make sure people understand they support it. Okay. The last thing I'll say now is uh I want to congratulate you on your 20 years of service to do county. Uh you mentioned it slightly there but that you got the pin today I believe right that to recognize your 20 years of service. People are like how are you here for 20 years? I was at the clerk's office first then the sheriff's office and now I'm here. So 20 years I've been here at the county. So yes, thank you very much commissioner. Thank you for your service to county. Thank you. Yeah, I'm smiling because I remember deputy clerk Derek Jackson.

Um, Commissioner Hodge, is that all for you? Go to Commissioner Somerville.

Thank you, Chair. Um, thank you to the whole team, um, including Cammy and Victoria who are in the audience. Um, I I knew that the number was probably high for the amount of times we were out at Arbor 1, but I didn't quite realize how many until you said the number and that I'm adding up probably the days before you started counting. And so, I know the residents really appreciate it, but I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate it because uh it has felt very lonely on days dealing with Arbor One. Um, it's been really great to be able to like trust staff support, which like I haven't always been able to do. Um, which is a personal problem. Um, because I do constituent services. Like that's part of my day job. Um, like even recently, I mean, we've been going at this for over a year now. Um, and whenever the tenants need something, I feel like we've been able to respond. And I've also had to experience defending the racial equity office and the uh mobile support service unit um to people who criticize like the need. And what I know for a fact is that many of the tenants at Arbor One who don't have transportation or don't have trust in the system wouldn't even have been able to gain like that first access point to like what their legal rights are in housing. And so I just want to uplift like the ability for us to connect with residents. Um, a lot of folks have mistrust in government right now for really good reasons. Um, but I have felt like our presence, um, not just at Arbor One, but at other places in my district has helped kind of bridge that gap and gain a little bit of trust with folks in the community who rightfully like don't think that we're actually there to help. So, it's made a huge difference um for me personally, but I know that the tenants um and we also I mean being there as much as we have been, the folks

that live there have been able to really take control of their tenants union um which like on days that we can't be there, they're showing up for one another and so I just think it's been a really good experience. Absolutely. Thank you. Yeah. Great. Thank you. We'll go to uh Commissioner Scott. Uh thank you very much, Chair. Um okay, so this is the legacy project. I love this.

Um speaking as somebody who went on her own little legacy project when I um moved to Ireland as a young person um and it was part of that. But do you know is is Professor Henry Lewis Gates still doing his show Finding Your Roots? Okay. Can we get him to come here to be part of this? I have visions in my head of him talking to like these young people who are involved in this and like and and just talking about impact of that in their life. I I would love to see that happen. I think Miss Windbornne uh has been on that show or at least a part of helping people.

She might have been. Yes. And so, uh, so yes, I think that would be great to have him and folks and even when our young people when you get to hear Miss Winbborne, she is such an elder with so much history. Uh, yes, I think that would be just really empowering for them. I think so. I mean, and I just think it like how many communities are doing work like that to empower people and to understand that. I think it's something I feel like Dr. Gates would love. doesn't need to be on the TV. Yeah. But for him to come also and to talk about that I think would be

pretty darn cool. Um I am also wondering if we can um get those questions that you proposed printed for the retreat for when we're thinking about those things. I see Ashley nodding because I think those are really important. And I also um I you know I want to see the work that that you and the racial equity office all of you in that office is doing is so important. I want to think about how when we go forward we're embedding that work at the very um highest level of our organization including within leadership. And I think myself, the way I'm thinking about it is that equity can't live um in only programs or departments. It has to be reflected in how all of our decisions are made across the county. And uh thinking about who's at the table. And I want to continue to think about the REO um and how leadership models those values across the organization and how we can think about how we have REO as part of leadership. So definitely something I want to think very um concretely about in this coming year about how maybe the structure of that office changes to be more embedded in the entire institution.

That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Go to uh Commissioner Robbie, then Commissioner Sanders.

Well, I'm going to keep it brief. Uh just want to thank you and the whole racial equity office for all the work you're doing. Uh fantastic presentation. You guys obviously, you know, have uh your work cut out for you, but you also have accomplished an incredible amount already. So, thank you for your work and for your leadership. Um, Director Jackson, appreciate you. I did also want to sing your praises, Aken, while you're up here. Uh, because, uh, while we're in this time of, um, crisis around the immigration issue, uh, you, uh, very much stepped forward um, and were responsible for setting the foundation for the resolution that we passed the other night. And so, I just want to celebrate you uh, as you know, a a major part of the racial equity office along with Director Jackson. Uh, and thank you for the work that you did on that. and really jumping into that and being involved in those meetings and discussions. Um you're uh just a phenomenal person and I just want to thank you for all the work that you've done for the organization.

Thank you. Absolutely. Go to uh Commissioner Sanders. Yeah, we should give him a round of applause. That's

I don't think it's a secret how much I care about the racial equity office. Um, and you know, you can't show that beautiful blue RV without getting a comment from me. You know, um, even though we've had some hiccups with it and and are still having some hiccups, the fact that it was designed the way that it was has allowed it to continue to be um, useful um, and serve the purpose for the reason it was it was created. So, I just want to thank the team. Um, uh, even though, um, Victoria gives me a hard time every single time she sees me. Uh, I would, I probably say she's one of my favorite hires I was able to sit on the, uh, committee for. Um, and I think she's done a great job. Your office has done a great job. Uh but when you end up being sort of the solo outfront ambassador for an initiative as she has as the driver

um who I think basically has never missed a day um you know in two or three years that's that's a big deal. So I want to say thank you for that. Um I did want to ask is it optional for departments to have um a liaison? And if the answer is no, why is only half of the offices signed up? And before you even answer that, I want a list of the ones that are not signed up.

I'd like to know who they are and what is if they have a reasonable explanation, fine. But if it has anything to do with the fact that we need a racial equity office in the first place, that's going to not sit well with me. Administrator Dill made a physical movement towards the microphone, and so I wanted to

Yeah. And and certainly Derek, you and your team can lean into this, but uh I I guess the short answer is uh we haven't had enough conversation about it. Uh we haven't said that it's optional. uh we have tried to make sure that people will come along with the work and do it in in in the right in the most appropriate way. Certainly at some point we may need to pivot and change our our our strategy around it. So please you guys layer as you see fit but uh just wanted to to add that piece from my seat

and again I I really do want to stress this piece. I think once we said here's how we're going to use the equity uh liaison group and once we put out to the department heads we have had considerable increase in the number of departments. So I really do think we're on this upward trend and and so I think if we get to a couple more months down the road and we still have some holdouts that might be a different conversation but I do think now that it's being used a certain way there's some excitement around being a part of the group to be honest and we run out of time like at every meeting right there's not enough time to get through the stuff. Um, so I don't think we're there yet, but we can definitely get you a list.

Well, I know that you were delayed. Um, this little thing called CO might have had something to do with it. So, I'll hold my wet noodle for a couple of months, but not much longer. Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. And thank you for your go to uh Commissioner uh Bean.

Thank you, Chair. Um, I also just want to lift up the work and all that you do. Um, as the commissioner, I also have to often defend the office, which is ironic when support is so needed. And I can say the first time that MSSI came out to Manchester, I had a resident point at it and say, "How do I sponsor that? How do I donate?" and I said, "Well, I'm like, your county tax dollars are already in there, so you you are supporting it in a way." They were just so excited to um see that uh available to them. But I also just, you know, want to lift up the help that I've had um from all of you, Victoria, you director um for the issue that we're having in Seline that was similar to um the the Arbor one issue, though it moved a bit faster with some destruction that's been happening there. Uh but uh it was just so welcomed and so needed and to your point of letting people know that it's there. On our second trip um to Seline, uh there was a a woman who was too nervous to speak to us at the door, but was willing to come out to the MSSI and have a conversation about what was happening. um as she was very scared about the situation. She hadn't received anything around eviction but she had received that she was changing from an annual lease to a month to month which would end in 30 days. Um so she was very nervous and again that mistrust of government but knowing that it kind of came on her terms. It was in her parking lot of her apartment complex. She made the choice to walk up those stairs and have that conversation uh just meant so so much. So, yes, I can't um thank you enough. And in terms

of the legacy trip, um this like really hits me today because I was lucky enough to hear the author Steve Peton who spoke at my day job um for a MLK event that we had after the fact. And um for those of you who don't know, he's an author. Um a great book called uh A Chance in the World about how when he was a year and a half old, he was told he wouldn't have a chance in the world.

Um he is in a a a legacy, if you will. He even called it that, of um being a a a an orphan of three generations. So he was an orphan, his father was an orphan, and his grandfather was an orphan. And so being able to when he was an adult get his case file, get some information that he'd never had before. He always was in the foster care system. He never had a home. He never had parents. Um and so just what that meant to him um being a a black man, it was just incredible. So um I I so truly appreciate this and and can't wait to hear everything that comes out of it.

Thank you. have a question and a comment, but I want to afford Commissioner Light an opportunity if she has any. Um, thank you for the presentation. Thank you for the work. Um, Commissioner Sanders mentioned the MSSI and I want to appreciate her work actually prior to being a commissioner to make that happen. Um, well, yes.

But I I also want to appreciate uh Felicia Braybeck for her work uh in in the as the as the youth talk about. Um for her work getting the ARO ordinance up and running and and and so forth. Um and my question then is sort of along those lines that this has been an iterative process. We have responded to external events and specifically with COVID, ARO became essentially a human services delivery coordination a mechanism. Um, and I know we've sort of gotten back to some of the theoretical work that we're going to do with it, but we are beset in this moment with a new threat as it relates to federal raids around immigration. And so the question or the thought to plant, I had a a provider text me today asking about the notion of a way in which we could set aside and expend resources to pro to try and provide services to people so that they can stay in their home.

Uh so that they don't have to have those excess interactions with federal authorities right now. And so I I raised that not necessarily to say, "Hey, get on it and fix it," but rather to plant that seed. And obviously, sadly, that's primarily in the context of dealing with systemic racism and overt active racism from on high right now. So, um, I raised that just to to add it on to the plate and just say if there are ways you think this body can support that work and support it in real time and sometimes support it after the fact, I hope you would, uh, let us know.

Yep. Absolutely. and and you know uh our pre presentation does lean heavily into theoretical getting back to the policy but I do want to just say that that's always at the core of who we are is uh you know the folks who are out there in the streets doing the work um and so to your point absolutely would get engaged in that I know um that the Keen has been engaged as a subcommittee of folks who really thinking about these issues related to immigration right now um so absolutely we will um be there as well

sure and I appreciate that the the staff in particular have done a great job on Arbor One and others where there isn't a blueprint to respond to that. So, you've had to respond in real time and then circle back. So, uh that's the hardest work and we appreciate it. Um any other questions or comments from commissioners at this time.

I do want to lift up something really quick to your point uh around CPF. So, one of the funding organizations uh dealt with that issue and one of the pieces that we wanted to continue with the with the mini grants. Uh they're one of the recipients um out of the light what's going on to ensure that they still have that runway to continue u the services um to to that specific population. Yeah, thank you.

Great. Um thank you both for the presentation. Um we'll move then to item uh six. Any items for current or future discussion? Okay. Uh favored item for everyone on the agenda. Move to I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Is there support? All those in favor say I. And we our journal.