City Urges Changes in Funding Agencies

To lessen the load on city workers and to give nonprofit agencies a fairer shot at showing what they can do, staff members will recommend to Ventura City Council members today that they make some changes in the way they select and fund city social services.

The staff is recommending that the social service selection process be moved to fall rather than during the spring budget discussions; that funding be granted on a two-year instead of a one-year cycle; and that the council work to provide seed money for projects rather than selecting programs that require ongoing funding.

Agencies offer such services as programs targeted at youths and seniors or people in need of alcohol and drug rehabilitation, or AIDS information.

The changes in the funding process are designed to take some of the pressure off staff members during the hectic budget season and to give nonprofits a chance to make new projects work.

“To do anything significant, one-year funding that is not repetitive is not going to do the job,” said Marilyn E. Leuck, director of management resources. She used the analogy of a start-up business to make her point. Even a successful business might start off wobbly and take two to three years to get on its feet.

The two-year budget process would also result in an overall reduction of staff time.

The new social services selection and funding policy to be discussed also clearly lays out evaluation criteria--a welcome improvement for applying groups.

“The difference is that it is more formalized,” Leuck said. “It is written down in policy form so everyone can see what it is they are reviewed against.”

Staying in the same range as previous years, Ventura has allocated $235,794 for social services for the 1997-98 fiscal year.