Welcome to the recap of the Allocation Committee meeting on March 11, 2024.

Annual performance data 2022-23

screengrab from March 11, 2024 Allocation Committee meeting
Above: Allocation Committee member Traci Rossi (bottom right) asks a question after hearing about 2022-23 performance data. 

Staff presented performance data summarizing results of grantees’ work during fiscal year 2022-23, including the number and demographics of people served, service level, participation and program outcomes. Key highlights include: 

  • More than 9,600 children served in after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, early childhood, foster care and mentoring.
  • Program performance improved significantly compared to FY 2022 as pandemic recovery continued
  • Hunger relief programs served more than 15,000 children and distributed more than 3.5 million pounds of food.
  • Staffing remains a challenge for some programs.

View the performance data slide deck and the appendix for more detail. 

Funding process preparation

Staff continues to prepare the application and develop the process for the competitive large grant round scheduled for fall 2024.

In January, the draft application was emailed to more than 300 people at over 160 organizations that serve children and families, including current grantees, past applicants who did not receive funding, and other organizations that may be interested and eligible to apply. More than three dozen people have so far responded to the feedback survey, which will remain open through March.

The Community Council also continues to shape application questions and scoring criteria, most recently at its Feb. 26 meeting.

Next, staff will work to incorporate the feedback from the Community Council and the survey of potential applicants. Allocation Committee members are expected to review and approve a final version of the application questions and criteria at the June 24 meeting.

Community Council update

At its Feb. 26 meeting, the Community Council also provided feedback on the application review process. All members present suggested the Levy continue its past review process of recruiting, training, and providing stipends to community members to score applications, rather than hire independent contractors to review grants. They recommended recruiting a diverse pool of volunteers with relevant professional and lived experience as well as experience in finance and budgeting.

Community engagement update

screengrab of Allocation Committee meeting March 11, 2024
Above: Allocation Committee member Felicia Tripp Folsom (bottom left) asks Grant Manager Arika Bridgeman-Bunyoli (bottom right) a question about the community engagement process.

The community engagement process is in full swing, using a three-pronged approach with surveys, focus groups and interviews to shape funding priorities for the large grant competitive funding round planned for fall 2024.   

PCL hired Camille Trummer LLC to collect and analyze input from community members, providers and key stakeholders. PCL also worked with Community Engagement Liaisons, a network of multilingual leaders in culturally specific communities, to survey community members in up to 26 languages.

Surveys: More than 500 surveys were collected from community members, with respondents speaking more than 25 languages other than English. Service providers completed more than 150 surveys.

Focus groups: Six of 10 focus groups have been completed so far, with four more focus groups scheduled through March. Focus groups include community members of various backgrounds, such as youth and parents/caregivers with disabilities, foster care youth and parents/caregivers, Spanish-speaking youth and parents/caregivers, and more.

Interviews: Trummer’s team has also completed interviews with 11 experts who work with children and families in various ways.

Trummer’s team is scheduled to present the community engagement findings May 6 at a joint meeting of the Allocation Committee and Community Council.

Miss Monday’s meeting?

Watch it on YouTube or on CityNet Xfinity Channel 30 and 330 (HD) March 15 at 7 p.m. and March 19 at 8:30 p.m. You can also view the view the slide deck for the 2022-23 performance data, data appendix and the remaining slides from the meeting updates.

Join us for the next Allocation Committee meeting

Our next meeting will be 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, May 6, 2024. Agendas will be sent to our email list, shared on our social media channels and posted on portlandchildrenslevy.org

We welcome your comment on agenda items or the work of the Portland Children’s Levy. If you would like to join the next meeting to participate, please join our email list stay tuned for the meeting invite.