ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: February 18, 1999
Author/Local: Rick Gates/6036
RTS No. 00440

CC File No. 2151

TO:	Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM:	Director of Community Services, Social Planning
SUBJECT:	1999 Community Services Grants Budget

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council approve a 1999 Community Services Grants budget of $2,882,500.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing

COUNCIL POLICY

Council established the annual Community Services Grants program in 1978. Budget ceilings for the Community Services Grants program, as well as the Cultural, Childcare and other grants programs are established annually, prior to the development of recommendations for specific grant allocations.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to establish a budget ceiling for the 1999 Community Services Grants program. Applications for Community Services Grants are currently under review, and the total value of the recommended grants will come within the budget limits established with this report.

BACKGROUND

Community Services Grants (CSG) are given by the City to support non-profit organizations which are working with each other, the various levels of government (including the City) and residents to address social problems and to bring about positive social change. CSG's represent an important and necessary tool which helps the City to achieve its goal of ensuring that accessible, equitable and appropriate social services are available to all residents.

On September 30, 1993 City Council adopted a set of principles, criteria and priorities for Community Services Grants. These are reviewed annually by staff, and some minor changes were made by Council in 1994 and 1995. However, with the changes, these criteria and priorities are still seen to be working well in terms of meeting the needs of the City and the community.

The implementation of the revised program in 1994 resulted in a major change in the number and types of applications received in that year. Since then, the program has stabilized and the types and numbers of applications have been fairly consistent. Table 1, below, gives the application statistics for the past 4 years.

Table 1 - Community Services Grants Applications
	1996	1997	1998	1999
Total applications:	100	113	111	97
Total organizations:	86	89	89	88
Types of applications
Previously funded	85	87	95	90
Applied the previous year, but not funded	3	3	4	0
New applications	12	23	12	7
Total amount requested	$3,555,400	$3,879,700	$3,810,150	$3,608,900

DISCUSSION

As we continue with our review of grant applications, staff are noticing continuing improvements in most services and the manner in which they are provided. In particular, almost all of the applicants are responding favourably to the City's direction that they work more closely together and that they be more inclusive, both at the internal organizational level and in terms of the people they are serving. This kind of influence in the non-profit sector would not be possible without the ability to fund the organizations where we want to see changes.

Late in 1997 the Ministry of Children and Families (MCF) announced a restructuring of their social service contact program, which could have had an effect on the 20% of CSG applicants which also receive funding from MCF. However, this process was subsequently cancelled. MCF is now looking at new service models, but is anticipated that the effects on existing organizations will be much less than was likely under the previous process.

The CSG budget

The Director of Finance advises that 1999 grants budgets are to be reduced by 1% as a part of the efforts to balance the City `s overall budget. These reduced figures are then to be adjusted to include a 1% adjustment for inflation. The recommendations for specific grant allocations are based on a number of factors, including financial need, and may or may not include an inflation adjustment for each one. Therefore, the recommended 1999 grants budget is $2,882,500, the same as the 1998 budget.

CONCLUSION

Community Service Grants continue to be a critical support to the social service community in Vancouver, and also continue to be a highly effective tool for the City in shaping the responses to social issues . By maintaining a constant overall budget (including an inflation adjustment) we can continue to direct funding to emerging high priority programs and strengthen existing ones.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver