June 15, 2023: The Children’s Services Council of Leon County (CSC Leon) executed contracts with 17 community investment partners for the provision of youth development and meals for the summer months. The total investment, after comprehensive budget audit, is $1,692,427.09. CSC Leon anticipates providing more than 1,100 youth with a summer learning experience and serving nearly 100,000 meals between June 1 and August 30.
A detailed post-action report for this investment will be provided during the October council meeting.
April 21, 2023: On Thursday, April 20, the Children’s Services Council of Leon County (CSC Leon) approved the intent to fund 17 applications received as part of its funding cycle for Summer 2023. This funding is designed as short-term program investments to expand the capacity of existing summer learning programs in Leon County during the summer months of June – August. There was also a second service line available to implement new or expand existing food delivery services to families with children. Upon contract execution, the selected entities will receive half of their funds as an allocation at the beginning of the project period and be required to submit a detailed report outlining expenses, outcomes and demographics of individuals served by no later than September 15, 2023. Any CSC Leon funds not expended by August 30, 2023, must be returned along with the detailed report.
Prior to releasing the request for applications, the Council approved allowing any entity the option to apply for funding; as such, applicants were not limited to a specific type or category of providers.
In total, CSC Leon received 42 applications from 40 entities requesting funding in excess of $5 million across the two service lines. Each application was independently reviewed by external evaluators from the community. Each evaluator received training and a detailed evaluation manual, and was required to disclose real or perceived conflicts of interest. Upon disclosure, alternate evaluators were used, consistent with CSC Leon practices established in May 2022.
The Governing Council met Thursday, April 20, to review the scores and make a determination of which programs to fund. After lengthy debate, Council members approved any summer learning application with an average, rounded score of 70% or greater and any summer feeding application with an avergae, rounded score of 80% or greater.
This methodology resulted in 17 applications being selected to move forward in the funding process for Summer 2023, with a total requested of $1,710,737.34. This list is published below. Please note this is not the final award amount, but rather the cap per awardee pending internal budget request audit.
List of Selected Applicants for Funding
Those applicants not selected for funding will have the opportunity to receive personalized and group technical assistance to help understand the strengths and opportunities of their application and build capacity to make future applications more competitive.