Welcome to the recap of the Allocation Committee meeting on June 14, 2022.

Foster care grantee partners share reflections

Staff from four Portland Children’s Levy community partners in foster care reflected on service delivery during the pandemic. Many thanks to the following guests and organizations for taking the time to share about their programs supporting foster youth and families:

  • Sarah Kopplin and Evan Bailey, Boys and Girls Aid, permanency services
  • Megan Glines and Stephanie Teters, New Avenues for Youth, Avenues to College
  • Tamara Poe, Impact NW, Safe and Together
  • Jennifer McGowan and Chris Shank, Youth, Rights and Justice, School Works

Update on Community Council membership

PCL staff members provided an update on the Community Council, including the volunteer application process and results and the ad-hoc committee recommendations for member appointments.

Allocation Committee members made two updates to clarify the Community Council’s conflict-of-interest policies. The Allocation Committee also approved the ad-hoc committee’s recommendation to appoint eight applicants to the Community Council: Maranda Bish-Brown, Karina Bjork, Alejandra Favela, Kamla Hurst, Diana Lee, Stephen Pham, Amy Ramos and LaNae Williams.

The Community Council is intended to have 11 to 13 seats, and Allocation Committee members approved PCL staff to launch a second, targeted outreach effort to fill the remaining seats. PCL staff will tailor the second phase to fill gaps in experience in after school and foster care services, experience working with LGBTQIA2S+ youth, and members representing North and East Portland.

Update on end of state of emergency

Staff provided information on the impact of the end of the state of emergency on planned program delivery in 2022-23. Current grant agreements allowed service modifications during the pandemic emergency.

The governor ended the state of emergency in Oregon on April 1, 2022. In early May, PCL notified grantees that scope of work modifications would no longer apply as of the start of the next fiscal year on July 1, 2022.

Allocation Committee members expressed appreciation to grantee organizations for their hard work and strong relationships that allowed for continued delivery of important services for children and families throughout the pandemic. They also commended PCL staff for the flexibility and support they provided.

Staffing update

Yuxing Zheng has joined the PCL staff as the new communications and outreach director.

PCL staff is currently completing the recruitment process for the community engagement coordinator who will staff the Community Council, with the goal of onboarding the new team member in July.

Miss Tuesday’s meeting?

Watch it on YouTube or on CityNet Xfinity Channel 30 and 330 (HD) June 20, 2022 at 8 p.m. or June 24, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. You can also view the slide deck for the Community Council update.

Join us for the next Allocation Committee meeting

The next meeting will be 3 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2022. Agendas will be sent to our email list, shared on our social media channels and posted here on our website.

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