IDHS-Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Advisory Board (April 14, 2022)

Meeting Information

April 14, 2022

10:30 am

Meeting held via WebEx

Board Members: Suzanne Brown (present via video), David Gutiérrez (present via video), Molly Joseph-Parker (present via video), Abel Rodríguez (present via video)

Staff (all present via video): Elva DeLuna, Chelsea Guillen, Johanna Pallares, Leticia Vicente

Meeting Minutes

Call meeting to order- Suzanne Brown called the meeting to order
Introductions- Board members and staff completed introductions
Approval of President's resignation and election for new president
1. Suzanne called for acceptance of Dr. Wesley's resignation; all members voted in favor of accepting the resignation
2. Election of new president; nomination for Abel was received; all in favor of Abel's election
Grantee Status Report
1. Unit Staffing
  1. Staff vacancies
    1. Director- Position will be vacant as of 4/15/2
    2. Accountant- Position become vacant in November
    3. Family Services- Position has been vacant for significant period
  2. Temporary Assignments
    1. Director- Elva
    2. Accountant- Johanna
  3. Hiring
    1. Board members asked about their ability to participate in the hiring process
    2. They noted that the candidate needs to be approved by both the Board and the Office of Head Start
    3. Requested to revisit the qualifications and job description during a future meeting
2. Fiscal Planning
  1. Johanna has been adeptly reviewing expenditures and processing payments; everything is currently up to date
  2. Amendment requested by Princeville; still working on obtaining bids and reallocating funds from personnel to be used for this request; Elva provided a description of the items being requested
  3. ARP funds- These funds have not yet been obligated through the FY22 contracts; the focus of these funds is anticipated to be staff mental health and playground renovations; delegates are aware of the amount available for distribution
  4. Fiscal report was approved by the Board
Approval of Head Start 2022-2023 Grant Application
1. Grantee and Delegate Budgets
  1. Budgets have been prepared and reviewed by policy committee
  2. Elva reviewed the budget amounts previously sent with the Board
  3. She provided history and context for the proposed amounts; primarily using past numbers to establish expectations; have not had a delegate to replace Lessie Bates; those funds were allocated to Migrant Education to subcontract for services provided in the Champaign/Rantoul area; money currently set aside for a NOFO for that area in the coming year
  4. Abel asked about the cap on the administrative percentage; it is 15% and we are currently proposed to be at 12.67%; Elva anticipates this will be lower if we receive a GRF contribution; currently only use grantees' salaries and in kind delegate contributions for our non-federal match; once the GRF funds flow to delegates, this lowers our administrative percent; grantee salaries being removed from admin costs has helped keep this percentage down
  5. Motion to accept budget proposal was made and approve
2. Selection Criteria
  1. Policy council has reviewed and approved the current criteria; no changes are being proposed
  2. Last changes made were due to direction from our OHS contact and those were previously approved
  3. Motion to accept selection criteria was made and approve
3. Training & Technical Assistance (T&TA) Plan
  1. Plan was prepared by Elva and has been sent to OHS staff for review
  2. If anyone wants the details of the plan, Elva can send; reminder that costs for the training and technical assistance were listed in the budget
  3. Elva provided a high level overview of the focus for the proposed T&TA plan
  4. Staff will need to focus on preparation related to the return to in person services
  5. Director training is related to preparation for a potential federal review; this may need to be an agenda item for the board in the future as well
4. Self-assessment summary
  1. Sent draft to Board; answered questions about particular items; a few additional actions need to be added before finalizing
Other
1. Reimbursement policy was sent to Board ahead of call
  1. Board members asked about the reimbursement rate for childcare
  2. Elva clarified that the rate is per child; Molly provided context for the rate and reiterated that the childcare provider is often a friend or relative
  3. Suzanne wanted to make sure that families had input into the rates and they did
  4. Motion to approve the policy was made and accepted
2. Efforts to serve and recruit families
  1. Plan to prepare a NOFO
  2. Have asked delegates to focus on recruiting based on expanded definition of agricultural groups and other ethnic groups that are providing agricultural services
  3. Johanna providing feedback on marketing materials of delegates
  4. Full community assessment may be needed in the near future and may require a consultant to gather a broader perspective on needs and those not accessing services
  5. Will not meet funded enrollment numbers this fiscal year, but OHS not expecting us to meet it; this will change in the coming year and money may need to be returned; have seen a 6% increase in enrollment since July 2020
3. Board training
  1. Each member needs to complete OMA training once; OMA designee must complete training annually; training can be found at: https://foiapac.ilag.gov/ ; send us copy of training completion form
  2. Also need to complete Ethics, Harassment, and Security Awareness training annually; need to get usernames and passwords for each member
  3. Please watch emails for additional information
Date for next meeting- set for 6/17 at 10:30; Elva to send Zoom invite
Meeting Adjournment- Motion to adjourn meeting