HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-03-26 90-140 ORDERP.
Date March 26.V 1990
Item No. 90-140
Item/Subject: crept Application for Wellspririgr Inc.
Responsible Department: Health and Welfare
Commentary:
itis is a grant application to the Maine State Mousing Authority — on behalf
of Wellepriugt Inc. . fir emergeswy shelter funds
available under the Stewart
B. McKinney Act. Application must be made then and
the grant administered by
the Iocel municipality. A copy of a letter explaining the proposed use of
these Yards is attached for your information.
fmmens xeid
Manager's Comments:
ey Manager
Associazed Information:0 /
Budget Approval:
Fina ce Dim
Legal Approval:
GtY Sdiairor
Introduce! For
]passage
❑ First Heading page -j— Of
❑Referral
90-140
Introduced by Councilor Baldacci, parch 26, 1990
_ CITY OF BANGOR
TL
(TITLE.) (ffirL¢r, Autrorlaing. the... City Manager ta..kAM" a Grant Ag meat ....
xith the Maine State Xou Auttnrity Wellsprings Inc.
By Nu CUM Coeaeit ofNie My of Baa .'
TUT the City Managers on behalf of the City of Bangor, is hereby
aubhoeised and directed to execute a Great Agreement with the MafneState
Housing Autboritys a ropy of Which is on file in the Office of the City
Clerks and to take ell other necessary actions including execution of
docsments and contracts for the purposes of p lding emergency shelter
at Wellsprings Inc.
mm
ORDER
IN CITY COUNCIL Title,
March 26, 1990
Passed Authorising the -City Manager co Rxe
a Grant Agreement v4fi the Maine St
CITY CLERK MOua//i]]n�d& Antharity-WellepringeIDptl
`In4o�-�duc�ped®®and filed by
Gouncilman �
90-140
WELLSPRING, INC.
Mena 11e11wq Nave
Mmiiollive Onkes
Women's Nellwy Nesse
98 NmberhM street
imled RebmM
fimgm, Mine 01401
Om-feamt se1111w
201aG1-I6m
at s.x IKeeper March 16, 1990
207941-160
Ms. Mary -Anne T. Chalila
Directore Dept. of Health and Welfare
City of Bangor
103 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 09901
Dear Ms. Chalila:
As you and Jill Hartel discussed by telephone, Wellspring
intends to apply for Emergency Shelter Grant. monies that are
available through the Maine State Housing Authority. As you
know, we apply for these funds through the City of Bangor. Will
the City agree to apply for these funds with us]
We plan to apply for funds for two purposes, both of
which are urgent needs. The first purpose is similar to our
request for funds that was approved for the current fiscal
year. The State of Maine, which is a major funding source for
Wellspring, isfacinga major budget deficit. As a result We
will not receive any Increase In funds for fiscal year 1991 and
may possibly experience some decreases. At the least, static
funding jeopardizes the Wellspring program because of .rising
coats, especially In those areas like utilities where
Wellspring has little to no control over price. Wellspring
received $11,000 In funding through the Emergency Shelter Grant
Program for FY 90 for rent and utility costs. With static
funding, we have no funds available to replace the ESGP
funds if they are not available to us again. We intend to
apply for this Same level of funding plus 01900 to cover
increases in utility costs.
The second purpose for which we are applying for funds
is to enable us to better meet State of Maine licensing
requirements and ensure the safety of the clients in our
adolescent rehabilitation program, Project Rebound. In a
finding from a licensing visit last April, Wellspring must
have two staff on the premises of the adolescent facility at
all times. We need another 20 hours per week of a substance
abuse counselor in order to meet that requirement. We also
need to upgrade a current position to provide supervision for
evening staff. Currently, supervision in the evening is
available to staff only on an on-call basis. As evening is a
very active time for the adolescents because most of the school
and counseling program happens during the day, most of the more
intense problems and crises happen in the evening. We expect
the coat of these needed changes In staffing to be 011,550.
A#L AgMy efu> Oredd hur dPwka;tVak 10
90-140
Page 2
Challlai March 16, 1990
Obtaining these ESOP funds is critical to Wellspring's
ability to continue serving the number of adult and adolescent
homeless substance abusers that we are serving now. Residen-
tial programs like Wellspring have very few options available
when budget cuts are necessary because so much of the budget is
tied up in fixed costs like rent and utilities. Staffing is
the most flexible coat, but staff reductions result in fewer
people served. Without the amount of ESaP funds that we will
be requesting for rent and utilities, we will have to reduce
our adult program by one staff position, thereby reducing the
beds available in the adult program by four. This will man
that 17 fewer people will have the opportunity to receive
halfway house substance abuse treatment next year.
The funds that we are applying for in the adolescent
program could mean the difference between our receiving a
license renewal for our current 12 bed program or being cut to
6 beds because of our inability to provide the minimum staffing
coverage 29 hours per day, 7 days per week. A reduction in
beds from 12 to 6 would mean Wellspring would serve 20 fewer
teenagers next year.
If you have any further questions about what we intend to
apply for funds for, please call me or Jill Maxtel. We will
have a final draft of the grant application for your review to
you on March 23, as you requested. Please let us know of the
City's decision.
Sincerely,
/
Mmxjary dw�
Executive Director