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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Human Services Commission - 04/20/2017Kent Human Services Commission Meeting April 20, 2017 Minutes Kent, Washington Approved Date: April 20, 2017 Time: 2:30 p.m. Place: Centennial, Mountain View Conference Room #401 Attending: Andy Rosas, Chair Mike Heinisch, Co-Chair Bill Hallerman, Commissioner Merina Hanson, Human Services Manager Dinah Wilson, CDBG Coordinator Lori Guilfoyle, Coordinator Christine Cain, Coordinator Absent: Gina Bellisario, Commissioner Zenovia Harris, Commissioner Amelia Drake, Student Shatha Abbas, Commissioner Wade Schwartz, Commissioner Dennis Higgins, Council Member Agenda: 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 2:35 p.m. 2. Roll Call Six Commissioners absent. 3. Changes to the Agenda Correction to item 8 on the agenda. It should read King County Levy. 4. Approval of Minutes, dated February 16, 2017 There were not enough attending Commissioners to reach a quorum so the pending minutes from February 16, 2017 were not approved 5. Parks Director (Julie Parascondola) Julie introduced herself to the Commission and gave a brief summary of her background prior to becoming the City of Kent’s Parks Department Director. She mentioned that she has been enlightened by the Human Services plight and now sees it in a different light. Julie is intent on bringing the City’s Parks Department to Kent Human Services Commission Meeting April 20, 2017 Minutes Kent, Washington Approved a nationally accredited department within 6 years through mentorship, training and career development of the management and department staff. 6. Presentation – Orion (Kathy Powers) Kathy introduced Orion as a business with purpose. They are committed to change lives through removing barriers of employment in disabled and challenged individuals. They offer supported employment to businesses and develop that model in-house. Their training consists of a four month program including on the job training and direct coaching. They offer various choices including vocational, manufacturing, and customer service. Kent is currently the 2nd largest benefactor of Orion’s supported employment next to Renton. 7. Legislative Update (Mike Heinisch) There is currently a budget crisis in the legislature. Talks have currently stalled although the last day to pass any legislation is April 23, 2017. If there is no resolution of the budget by this date, a special legislative session will take place. There is currently overwhelming support for mental health issues. This is good for the Western State Hospital that has faced many cuts. The legislature has created a panel focused on inter-generational poverty. The focus of this panel is to identify and reduce the cycle of inter-generational poverty by 50% by 2025. There is immediate concern for the future of the HEN program. 8. King County Levy (Mike Heinisch) King County is introducing several 1/10% initiatives May 31st. They are for Sales Tax, Arts (Access for All) and Housing. There is a Veteran’s and Human Services Levy scheduled for a vote this coming November. The bill expires December 2017. 9. Updates (Staff) There is a Youth Coordinator position currently open in Human Services that is a combination of a collaboration of Human Services, the Police Department’s Public Education staff and the Mayor’s Office. Lori Guilfoyle of Human Services will be supervising the position which was born from Mayor Cooke’s Youth Initiative. Merina passed out information on housing and health in Kent and committed to sending the Commissioner’s a link to a website that contained information on various Washington State cities and that would demonstrate the comparison of those Cities with Kent. Kent Human Services Commission Meeting April 20, 2017 Minutes Kent, Washington Approved Merina spoke about the state of CDBG for 2017. The City is currently safe with no cuts for 2017, even though some were expected previously. 2018 is up in the air. The KC Refugee Housing Summit will be held on May 24, 2017 at the Renton Community Center. The summit is hosted by The State Office of Refugee & Immigrant Assistance. Dinah offered to connect anyone that was not previously invited with the sponsor. There will be two current City of Kent Council members running for Mayor in November 2017, Dana Ralph and Jim Berrios. Elizabeth Albertson, who is both a former City of Kent Council member and former Human Services Commissioner, is also running. There are a few other local candidates running for Mayor as well. There are two open seats on the City Council in November. Community activists Satwinder Kaur, Toni Troutner and Ty Whitfield will be running for those seats. Adjournment At 3:52 p.m., Mike Heinisch declared the meeting adjourned. Dori Tolbert Recording Secretary April 20, 2017