this e e e e AG e good evening and thank you for joining us for 
the March 12th board of directors meeting for   the Escambia children's trust please turn off 
all cell phones or place them on silent mode   for the duration of the meeting we have public 
comment forms on the table to the left of the   podium if if anyone wishes to make public 
comment please complete the form and turn   it into Miss Alma we will now begin with roll call 
Miss Woods present Mr Williams here Mr pedon here   Dr norup here Mr Leonard here miss Kane here 
commissioner may miss white here judge Harris   here thank you thank you and now for the Pledge 
of Allegiance judge Harris would you please lead us I pledge Al to the flag of 
the United States of America   and to the repblic it stands one nation 
under God indivisible liy and justice thank you if everyone has had time to review 
the agenda may I get a motion to approve so   move second any discussion all in favor I I now 
we're moving on to the approval of the minutes   the staff recommends the board approve the minutes 
from February 13th 2024 regular board meeting as   presented I get a motion move second sorry any 
discussion all in favor I I it is approved now   the treasures report Mr Pon thank you madam chair 
uh the finance committee M met um about a week ago   went over the financial statements and looked 
at our our budget as you can see the financial   highlights in your packet um there are no unusual 
or abnormal transactions conducted during the   month and we'd be happy to entertain any questions 
about the financial statement if not with no   object objections the financial statement will be 
filed for audit thank you moving on to operations   Miss Canon I understand you have a recommendation 
to share that already been presented to Personnel yes so um we all unfortunately we're 
going to be um for personnel we're going to need   to be hiring another director of operations Miss 
Kupa has been Wonder ful and stayed with me to   keep me up to speed but her last day with this is 
going to be March 31st so um we have gone together   and look through her job description for what 
we actually need related to um my skill set and   what I bring to the table and what we really need 
going forward now that we have contracts in place   um and providers to work with so we did strike 
three of the um responsibilities um from that   job description that I believe our more executive 
director LED responsibility and so we would like   um for the new job description to be approved 
and um and to move forward with posting that   and hopefully getting in our next team member who 
won't fill the shoes but'll bring a whole new set so I ask when um M Dr Krupa's last day 
will be March 31st so that will be the   end of this month sir we will not have 
another board meeting prior to that time   is that correct it's correct so with that 
in mind would like to extend my personal   appreciation and recognition and thanks I 
was just reminiscing with her a few moments   ago about the meeting that she and I had 
uh in the Recruitment and discussion of   this organization a while ago and how much 
I have appre appreciated and benefited from   your tutelage and uh leadership and continued 
uh support of the organization thank you very much and I apologize I skipped around I guess 
I'm trying to get out of here to make it to   this baseball game it's all right I knew what 
you were going to ask yes sorry about that um   so I just wanted to share um that I attended 
children's week is that where we are right oh   I move approval of the job description change 
second any discussion all in favor this move I   apologize for skipping skipping around so I 
guess we'll jump back to the children's week   yes ma'am so I um attended children's week 
and I know at our meetings with Personnel   um I talked about how I thought it was really 
important um there were other trusts at that   children's week event um advocating and 
networking and talking to other programs   and um it's just an example of like community 
outreach and how other trust across the state   are really getting the word out and you 
know talking about what we do so there's   just like a small little video that I just 
wanted to share with everybody about like   examples of what our trust can be out there 
doing so miss Alma's going to share that with us I that Florida's Children and Families really 
have to be the top priority in everything that   we do absolutely now children's week it kicks 
off this Sunday the 25th there are events and   activities until March 1st two of the big events 
next Monday night the advocacy dinner that's   over 600 people and then Tuesday February 27th 
that's Children's Day at the capital that's an   incredible experience for kids let's talk about 
both of those events absolutely so I always say   that the advocacy dinner is my favorite night of 
the year it's been over 600 people get together   and it's the people that you work alongside all 
year long working on the systems working on the   policies and we all get in the room together and 
just have a great networking event celebrating   what's happened in the last year talking about 
new commitments that are coming and during the   evening we also celebrate three individuals 
a youth Award winner an impact Advocate Award   winner and a child's Advocate Award winner these 
are three individuals a Youth Level a mid-career   level and a legacy level who've just really done a 
lot of impact and positive change for children and   families in Florida Children's Day what about 
that so with children's day this happens on   Tuesday stay at the capital it starts out that 
morning with a press conference and this press   conference is attended by all the agency heads who 
help support children and families in Florida as   well as incoming leadership from the house and the 
Senate um we also have our our award winners there   to participate as well and again just continuing 
to stress the message of our commitment to Florida   and commitment to the children and families in 
Florida um after the press conference we have   all kinds of fun-filled events for children um 
there are interactive games there is a storybook   village where they may see some stories come to 
life but also there are celebrity reading stages   that will include some of our state agency heads 
local College athletes and many others as part of   those celebrity readers um there's also a lot of 
different events and performances happening that   day with Children and Youth again just to come 
together and show children and families that   we are committed to them and their future such 
a great day for the kids and lastly Aaron why   is this event so important and what do you hope 
that the impact will be for children in Florida   being honest this work is sometimes really hard uh 
there are a lot of people who work tirelessly to   get the work done to do what's best for children 
and families in Florida and this week is just a   reminder that everything we do has to keep that 
message in and keep a commitment going that all   children and family uh children and their family 
should be successful and that all children as you   mentioned should be healthy ready to learn and be 
able to achieve their full potential and honestly   just a reminder that there's too much at stake 
for us to give out that commitment there sure is   thank you so much for being here Aaron children's 
week it kicks off this Sunday for a full list of   events and activities or to register to attend 
with your students or your little ones all you   have to do is go to Children's week.org we'll 
be right back thank you Miss Elma and this is   another but um what I thought was also important 
was the um the CEO and president of the children's   trust in Miami was actually awarded the impact 
award on that Monday which is a huge um award   and recognition with you know about the that he's 
doing in the community down there so if you guys   ever you know if you have time and want to look 
that up I thought you know that really highlighted   that how much that impact can be on our 
community so I know who I'll be nominating next year so we are moving on to 
public comment before we move   on in the business portion do we have any public comments no public comment now we are moving to 
programs under programs we have a recommendation   from finance committee regarding a two-year 
contract renewal Mr P yes Madam chair you   senior packet the uh two-year contract renewal 
for Legal Services in Northwest Florida um in   our committee we we had a robust um talk 
about this and what impact it's making in   our community and um they they are ramping 
up and and I think that moving forward that   they are going to continue to do a um 
a good job on on on behalf of of this   trust and and and the grant that they've 
received and if there's any questions if   not I entertain a motion for approval motion 
to approve the contract second do we have any discussion no discussion all in favor I any 
oppose it passes thank you madam chair and   we have we now have a special presentation 
from Miss Koopa yes thank you I actually   am seating the floor to maryan bicker staff 
and her team at the ark Gateway for a special   presentation about Help Me Grow Escambia uh 
you all have the brochure that Maryann passed   out uh MaryAnn's the longtime director of 
the Pearl Nelson Child Development Center   at the ark Gateway and received the bid to 
start Help Me Grow scambia which she kicked   off on July 1st so she's going to tell 
us how the first eight nine months have gone good evening thank you to the trust staff for 
inviting us here tonight um we're really excited   to be here and joining me this evening is Teresa 
zarowski our marketing communication specialist   with Help Me Grow es scambia and Andrea Hamilton 
our early intervention manager who supervises both   both our developmental intervention with pearl 
Nelson Center and our help me grow as Gambia   developmental intervention as well as our care 
coordination with Help Me Grow we're excited   to share with you the progress that we've made 
towards the implementing of this comprehensive   early identification and Intervention Program 
for the families of young children in scambia   County our first several months focused on 
Recruitment and hiring of seven positions   designed to meet the four core components 
of Help Me Grow along with the comprehensive   training from both Help Me Grow Florida and 
help me grow National on how to implement the   model with Fidelity with the hiring of 
our marketing communication specialists   in January we have quickly picked up the pace 
on implementation of the program and expanded Services Help Me Grow is dedicated 
to promoting early identification of   Developmental behavioral and educational 
concerns and children serving as a bridge   to essential Community Resources at no 
cost of parents or caregivers the help me   Grove model has four core components those 
are care coordination family and community   outreach child health care provider Outreach 
and data collection and Analysis which is used   to inform the future work I'd like to add that 
all the photos you see here this evening are   actually our staff and our children receiving 
The Help Me Grow developmental intervention historically Help Me Grow Florida has a 94% 
success rate in connecting families to the   services they need this is greatly influenced 
by the dedicated followup of care coordination   families can be connected to help me grow a scambi 
as care coordinator through a warm transfer call   when they call United ways 211 information 
referral line through our dedicated phone   line that we have specific to our care coordin 
Ator through our web page which is in its final   stages of being in a final um status and also 
um through February just giving you an update   on what's happened with that care coordination 
we have had 37 intakes eight for referrals for   basic needs that have been successfully connected 
to Community Resources one family that needed to   be connected to behavioral services and 16 
who have been enrolled in Our Help Me Grow   Escambia developmental intervention services 
who are children who do not qualify for early   steps but are still showing developmental 
delays and need that intervention we still   have 12 who are actively in process with 
our care coordinator working through the   process of identifying what their specific 
needs are and what how we can help them get connected although I referenced the four 
core Services of helped me grow Help Me   Grow scambia is unique in regards to providing 
the developmental intervention services Help Me   Grow W scambia is the only affiliate in Florida 
who has dedicated funding thanks to you all to   address service gaps that were identified and 
the work that was completed by the achieve   Escambia kindergarten Readiness Collective 
Action Network over the past several years   while we know that 13 to 15% of individuals 
have an intellectual developmental disability   the data shows that we have only been finding 
three to 5% of our infants and toddlers who   could qualify for early intervention services 
and it's so important because these are the   most critical years in a child's life when we 
have that extensive brain development that's   taking place while over the years eligibility 
criteria for early steps has also narrowed   this leaves many children with development delays 
unserved and showing up at kindergarten not being   ready based upon the information three of our 
seven positions that you're funding are infant   toddler developmental specialist positions 
to provide that developmental intervention   for these children this intervention is so 
critical because the research demonstrates   that one out of three children who receive 
early intervention will not require special   education when they enter school we have had 16 
children enrolled in Help Me Grow developmental   intervention in the past two months and another 
two this week and just last week we received a   call from a child care director who's referring 
10 children that she believes need Services immediately some of our early successes um relate to um 
because we already as Pearl Nelson Center we   a provider of Developmental pediatric physical 
occupational and speech therapy services   referrals come in to my early intervention 
billing specialist and she might see a note   on there that says did not qualify early steps 
so she's reaching out to those families because   in our community right now I have a 97 children 
on my weight list for speech therapy just to get   in the evaluation and and placement process that's 
similar throughout our community we are critically   have a critical shortage of our Allied health 
professionals so what she's able to do is reach   out to that family and say we received your 
referral for a speech therapy evaluation or   physical or occupational therapy and but we have 
another program called Help Me Grow and we could   connect you with that immediately um we could use 
your results from your early steps evaluation and   if you qualify we can get those Services started 
within a week and so that's where these 16 have   come from um primarily some of our Outreach 
events but the vast majority have been from   children who would otherwise be waiting for 
services another um success for us has been   one particular family that we've worked with one 
of our um agreements in the community is that we   provide on site speech therapy at Corey station 
Child Development Center on Bas and so we've had   our speech therapist seeing a child there where 
she's really only had interaction with his child   care teachers they all suspect that this child is 
on the autism Spectrum but have not been able to   get really connected with the the mother on moving 
forward with child fine process we off they were   able to offer her our developmental Intervention 
Program and because that developmental specialist   was working closely with the mother she has now 
made that connection to say okay I'll accept that   referral to child fine and is scheduled this next 
week with an appointment so that her child now the   reason I say he's a success is that he's going 
to be connected to the services that he needs   which otherwise would not have taking place then 
lastly a few weeks ago a couple of colleagues of   mine um contacted me and I reached out to a mom 
who had had a Facebook post where she shared   about her two children that she had adopted both 
of them had been prenatally exposed to opiates   the younger sibling 13 months old a nurse told 
the mom that this is the worst case of prenatal   exposure to opiates she had ever seen she was 
tested by early steps in February and found to   be 7even months behind in communication skills 
and four months behind in her motor skills but   what the mother's post stated was but the State 
of Florida and insurance say we have to let her   fall further behind before they will step into 
to help they also have a two and a half-year-old   that they adopted who's been expelled from 
two to three child care centers and the day   I was speaking to the mom she was worried that her 
nanny was going to quit because of his behavioral   needs I asked her could she send me their early 
steps elig he had been evaluated by early steps   twice not qualified I asked her could she send me 
those evaluations I got them within the hour and   was able to make both children eligible for our 
developmental intervention services and last week   there was this post that I'm share with you of the 
mom's feedback es scambi County property taxpayers   I present to you tax dollars being put to good 
use both kiddos finally qualified for a program   that will not only offer additional resources 
but brings those resources directly into our home lost my mouse see got it community outreach stands as a 
Cornerstone of Help Me Grow es gambia's Mission   by nurturing relationships with local service 
providers we not only expand our network but also   ensure seamless access resources for the families 
who are in need this active Community presence   not only encourages support and participation 
but also facilitates the continuous Gathering   of data and information That's essential for 
our early childhood resource directory updates   we've participated in four Outreach events that 
Target families and caregivers to impact 722   individuals we've done 20 that Target service 
and agency providers that have influenced 244   individuals and three that have targeted health 
Care Professionals or pediatricians that have   impacted seven individuals in Century we have 
collaborated both with parent University and   the newly formed Community Council um they put 
unity all in caps um to begin screenings on um   on site at Pensacola State College they're also 
Sparky if you've ever met her at Pensacola State   College is providing us a space where we will 
be able to do parent and child play groups as   well she told me that this Christmas she finally 
got a a a cat from one of residents in Century   that said black cats on it so she knows she's 
been accepted and so we're going to be making   connections through Sparky to try and build the 
trust of families in that community so that we   too will someday earn that black cat hat also in 
Partnership help um with parent University Early   Learning Coalition and the Early Childhood Court 
we will join together to participate in training   on a nationally recognized model developed by 
strengthening families called parent Cafe this   is a research informed approach to increase 
family strengths enhance Child Development   and reduce the likelihood of child abuse neglect 
it's based upon building five protective factors   that are parental resilience social connections 
knowledge on parenting and Child Development   concrete support in times of need and social 
and emotional competence of children at the um   as the parent facilitators as I mentioned it's 
parents and providers who are um received this   training to carry it out and as a parent facil 
it ators take on more leadership first they're   like table um leaders and then they become 
um leaders of the actual meetings the the   providers remove themselves and so it becomes 
um a parent support system by parents for parents our upcoming initiatives highlight our 
commitment to growth inclusivity and Community   collaboration this Friday we are sponsoring 
A diversity training for Community Partners   titled our identities and our work we have two 
professors who will be presenting um on that at   Green Hut auditorium at Sacred Heart hospital 
where they will be helping us to look at what   we take as far as our background and culture 
and how we interact with the families in our   community we're going to be hiring our third 
developmental specialist in the next week to   expand our developmental intervention capacity 
we're implementing the autism diagnostic clinic   for prompt diagnosis and I need to move my slide 
forward we're attending the Help Me Grow State   meeting to connect with Affiliates and learn 
from them we're collaborating with the community   council and Century every other month to be there 
present and doing developmental screenings we're   joining Community Health Northwest Florida's 
mobile health unit at adex court in Oakwood   Terrace to do developmental screenings on the site 
with their mobile health unit is present we're   meeting with the Community Health Net Northwest 
Florida individual pediatric offices um they're   um pediatric um director Dr CER has put out the 
word that they are to meet with us whenever we   want so we're excited that that will they are 
a large provider of our medical practices and   for children in our community and so we're very 
excited about that partnership um we also have   Florida Blue is going to promote help me grow 
in their office and in their parenting classes   we've become a community partner for the Junior 
League diaper program and the diaper bank and be   able to get that distributed to families we've 
become a community partner with DCF for economic   self-sufficiency so that families are at our 
on site with us we can help them get connected   to those services and we have about five events 
called books balls and blocks that's something   that's a initiative of Help Me Grow where you 
create five PlayStations at community events and   while the children and you're engaging the parents 
and children in play you then have the opportunity   to complete those developmental screenings and 
help them get connected to resources as well so   we're going to be at be neighbor day this Saturday 
the L way Fest the building brains ballpark bash   art gateways over the edge um event in April 
and also our partnering with echolife church to   use the parking lot there to do um a touch a truck 
event which is we'll have all kinds of trucks that   little kids like to see from your um fire trucks 
to your garbage trucks to any anything you can   imagine and we picked there and asked for their 
partnership because it's located right across   the street pin col Village which is certainly one 
of our target areas of where we want to influence families we hope you'll join us in our 
efforts to spread the word about Help   Me Grow Escambia follow us on Facebook and 
Instagram and let us know of Connections in   your areas of Escambia County where we can 
establish more Partnerships to help more   children reach their Min maximum potential 
that's all I have and open to your questions no questions but I love the presentation and that 
information was very touching and I'm happy that   we're able to you know really reach those families 
that are in need it's really thrilling it was very   challenging to um have those setbacks of trying 
to recruit staff which was my biggest fear when   we put in the application but it was worth the 
wait because we have a really wonderful quality   staff in place now yeah I had a statement you 
had mentioned that you're serving about 3% 3   to 4% and but the the need is 133% um why I 
mean there's the the lack of identification   needing to find children in child care centers in 
pediatrician offices uh there's just a delay even   the children several of the children that we are 
the little boy I talked about getting in connected   to child fine we' got him at two years nine months 
that we have so many children uh we still have   pediatricians that will say well let's see at the 
next checkup sometimes that 6 months later and in   these critical years of brain development that is 
way too long so who the referrals who who refers   any and everybody anybody a parent can self-refer 
you could refer on behalf of someone as long as   they know that you're making that referral and 
we'll call them and say Mr Williams said that   you had asked that we give you a call um with 211 
um we will either have worm transfers or if the   person don't want to be connected right then they 
will send us a spreadsheet at the end of the day   and and have us call um directly back to those 
individuals and and you work closely with early   steps are yall like yes matter of fact some of our 
referrals recently they um because their corporate   rules cannot establish a referral process with us 
but they are sharing information with families um   to make them aware that when they don't qualify 
but still have needs that um the service is out   there thank you madam chair so the referrals from 
the pediatric pediatricians does it come from   community health health and hope or Pensacola 
pediatric where those referrals coming from we   get a lot of referrals from um Community Health 
Northwest Florida very significant also penscola   Pediatrics two of our um physician Champion that 
I kind of missed on my notes Dr jod Picasso and   um Dr Carol Andrews are actually going to be 
partnering with us as physician Champions to um   the private practices and they are partnering with 
us to actually Implement our autism diagn notic   Clinic that will be starting in April how are we 
identifying uh those uh adolescents who are most   at risk I mean particularly what you just said 
I mean I know you're at Echo how we doing Paca   Village how are we doing Oakwood tears how are we 
doing Addis Court how are we targeting those kids   so we are going with the mobile health unit to 
atex court and Oakwood Terrace and tomorrow atex   court and next month into It's Your Mobile health 
unit or is it it's Community Health Northwest   Florida has invited us to go along with them and 
so some of the things we're going to be doing is   looking at using some of the resources one of the 
things I've learned from parent University is is   these families really appreciate getting gift 
cards and so we'll be doing Raffles and those   kinds of things to help encourage that we also 
um visited our neighbors in Panama City and they   have purchased Early Childhood kits and so when 
a family comes and has a screening they have this   little kit of materials that they give that the 
family takes home with them and can actually do   something um immediately with their child so and 
so I would I would assume you know that you're   going to community centers like boys and girls 
club frecker Center cop Center and those yeah   that's the focus our our family and community 
outreach specialist she's getting out there   and uh Mr May if you have any names you want to 
give me I'm certainly willing to take those and   happy to give your name we want to be out there we 
want to find what families need from us and and be   able to be present U at this childcare Center 
has 10 children certainly that are definitely   in need of this intervention will be their two 
half days a week because that's enough um and   the other beauty of building this uh a program 
without the government oversight is that some of   these children where where typically we can go one 
hour once a week uh this these children that are   being referred to us at two years nine months 
we're seeing two or three times a week we're   getting them into a mommy and me play group and 
we're able to go to some appointments with them   as well if that's needed to help the parents get 
through the process no absolutely I appreciate   what you're doing I guess I me I guess my question 
is you know we've been in this for a while what   what type of data have you been able to collect 
about our performance as it relates particularly   to those children who are most at risk and how 
do you make that connectivity I mean I guess for   me I'm trying to say you how am I making that 
connectivity uh to those kids at Montclair Cy's   and Le Century uh to those kids who are most at 
risk I mean how are we measuring it what we will   do is um when we first begin um working with 
a child we do the pel developmental inventory   assessment to see where their skill levels are 
then we create a developmental intervention plan   similar to what we have had with our children 
under early steps where we have long-term and   short-term goals based upon doing um kind of a 
a family needs assessment with the family going   throughout their activities of the day and where 
are they having the most challenges and developing   that plan to help them and the things that the 
parents are having the greatest challenges with   and so we will then um gather progress on that um 
every 3 to six months so you get the referrals you   have a data point of where they enter and then 
you do a measure measurement for an outcome and   so what's been the success rate I mean so and 
how are you measuring that success rate well we   it's just been for about two months that we really 
been able to get children into the developmental   intervention services and so um that's right now 
we're most of them are getting their Baseline   evaluations so with this program you're only two 
months in I mean there's not any empirical data   that's based on the continuing funding that you've 
done I can tell you um with our the research that   we have with our Pearl Elison Center um which 
is those children who qualify for early steps   what we have at the point of discharge um where 
they say that one out of three should not need   special education ours has typically been about 
52% of our children at the point of discharge   are being discharged because they've met all 
their goals are no longer showing developmental   needs or no longer scoring um eligible for the 
services um and so we don't have like we don't   have a data system in our community that follows 
them to kindergarten at that point which I would   really love to eventually have um that's one of 
my lifetime long-term goals well I mean and and   that's probably to my point of if if we do this 
intervention at this age I mean how are we case   managing it and how are we knowing that there is 
an Roi on the dollars that we're presenting and   so how do we follow and do this intervention and 
say you know whether it's a collaboration with   the school district Early Learning Head Start I 
mean how are we measuring it to make sure one of   my Works concerns you know we always talk about 
birth of three being the primary and that is the   primary focus one of my concerns for this is okay 
these Services stop at three and so we got from 3:   to 5: before they get into kindergarten so what 
are they going to lose that we've already built   for them during that time period yeah yeah just 
I mean you know I was part of United Way sucess   by six and I get it I mean my last question and 
then I'll end because I'm I'm sick and I'm late   so what is the case load of these employees 
I mean that we funding so they will the the   developmental interventionist will have um the 
equivalent of like 20 sessions a week on their   um case loads and they work 40 hours a week how 
many units would that be that will how many kids   how many people will be how many children 
would be on that case so that could be 20   or that could be 30 depending on the frequency 
that we find that the children are needing but   we measure that and we report that yes yeah we 
have a it's a um Help Me Grow has a data system   called system for tracking access to referrals 
and it is very comprehensive it tracks things   from every angle you can think of and my final 
question Madam chair and so once they graduate   from your program how are we monitoring them and 
measuring them once they fulfill that's an answer   our community has to look into further we don't 
have a system that does that so for me I mean I   would look for that collaboration because at the 
end of the day Community is paying for this you   and I together let's get it done yeah we've got 
to get we got to get I mean we can't pay for it   on the front end I mean all kids are cute when 
they play t-ball I mean the problem is when they   get ready to go to high school right yeah thank 
you madam chair thank you thank you so we are   moving on great questions by the way and I I agree 
maybe we can find somewhere that can pick up those   pieces that three to five is also important I mean 
we got to get an all we can't just invest money on   the front end and say we don't know what happens 
to a kid uh once they finish this program I mean   that's like you put him through kindergarten 
we don't know what happens in the elementary   put him in elementary we don't know what happen in 
Middle School I mean that's not a great investment   you and would be something difficult for me to 
support if we don't have that case management followup so we are maybe that's something 
we can talk about at our programs committee   meeting I like that we're gon to add that to the 
agenda exactly not tonight you got to get to a   baseball game and I got to get the basketball 
so we're good yes um so we are moving on um   so we've done the job description Miss Abrams 
with the budget um amendments yes thank you so   I went through and was evaluating lion item by 
lion item all of our expenses and revenues and   we're at about 67% of our time remaining so I 
was expecting to see that amount remaining in   each expense line item in areas where I did not 
find that I went and did an evaluation to see   if it was a front loaded expense we paid for 
most of it already up front or if it's going   to be ongoing and in the expenses where I found 
they were going to be ongoing went and I made   what I recommend is adjustments so if you look 
at the statement of Revenue expenditures page   you're going to see in our interest income we're 
earning a lot more interest than I anticipated so   I'm projecting to increase that um by about 
250,000 we're making about 98 to 100,000 a   month in interest right now so um and then our 
bank fees have also been higher than expected   so we're paying 700 to 900 a month which is 
more than the 600 I had budgeted for earlier   so I'm looking at Pro increasing those there's 
some other line items in our total expenses I offset everything that I was looking at in 
our operating expenses I was able to offset   increases with decreases other places so the 
only place I'm looking at totally increasing   expenses overall is taking that 250,000 from 
revenue and increasing our grants to outside   agencies by that 250,000 all of the other 
expenses I was able to offset I offset our   May overage of 16525 expenses out of training 
external which is where we had budgeted money   for our uh children's Summit but we do 
not think we're going to have a children's   Summit this year and at the workshop we'll 
plan talk about where we think we could do   with that money so um overall it increases 
our budget by 250,000 if anybody has any questions any questions no questions can I get a motion to 
approve the budget amendments so moved second any   discussion all in favor I I any opposed amendments 
passed our last recommendation is regarding cell   phones for the staff Miss Canon would you please 
give us some background information follow by the   recommendation uh well I'm following up on 
uh where this was left off with the previous   executive director and discussion with the board 
um there are some real significant reasons that   we do need cell phones for the staff um that we 
discussed uh of course during our our finance   committee and Personnel committees um this is 
a legal record our cell phones um we should be   conducting business for the Trust on cell phones 
only that belong to the trust with that person   leaves they take all of that with them on their 
personal phone um we need to be able to back   into that so I view that as a legal record for 
us um that someone could request so we need to   go ahead have it first of all for that but also 
that's part of um you know being accountable for   our time as well as staff so um I know that it 
was approved before I had um kind of when I came   back on was able to kind of work with Miss Elma 
on that to pull um three quotes uh they were uh   T-mobile Verizon and um AT&T AT&T was out of sight 
Um T-Mobile does not have great surface north of   9 Mile Road um you know and and we need to be 
able to serve the whole County and be available   so um I think that the committee had said Verizon 
was the choice and we would like to move forward   with going ahead and doing that nobody needs a 
fancy phone but we do need uh to be able to text   and answer and probably access the internet so 
thank you may I get a motion to approve arising   as the carer for the staff cell phone so both 
second any discussion with no discussion um all   in favor I any oppose that passes now on to 
the executive director she wanted to present something see we can get it the X out of this let's see Michael I might have closed it out no I wanted that that 
slide does everyone have it sorry then the PowerPoint this okay all right well I'm going to go ahead 
and get started um first of all I want to talk   about some of the I want to kind of break this up 
into into 30 days so today is 30 days for me um so   I'm still standing and I'm excited to be here um 
I first want to say this has been an incredible   experience I've been doing a lot of different work 
for 10 years and so to come in um this is a great   staff and they have so many wonderful ideas um 
and they're ready to go which I love so um so what   I've been doing the last 30 days I want to give 
you guys an update and a preview of where we're   going with this um following up on some of those 
left off things there were a lot of things that   um when the previous executive director left that 
were just in process and just kind of stopped so   we're working through some of that um some of that 
has to do with renewals of contracts um looking   also at policy and procedure around those sort of 
we don't we don't necessarily have that we haven't   been there yet um we're approaching some of that 
so so looking at a lot of those working through   the sole source opportunities versus um at which 
would been like legal services of North North   Florida coming in as a sole source we also had 
Pine Forest with Children's Home Society coming   in we had not done renewals before something new 
so looking at those and then also looking at our   financial position and learning from Tammy um 
she's been wonderful to say we have money that we   need to invest um so I feel like our Workshop that 
we have coming up is going to be very timely so we   need to spend some time determining the direction 
we want to go um I've also been looking at policy   procedures that's been um a little bit of a 
challenge um and and not necessarily in a bad way   we're just at the beginning of a lot of that um 
but we have contracts out here and we have policy   those things have to match so we're one by one as 
situations coming up comparing those things making   a list um for legal already told Meredith we we've 
got a lot of work to do around this um but but   actually spent some time yesterday about two hours 
picking up out contract um where the holes were   and where our policies match that so we do have 
some work to do around that we want to be fair to   our providers and we also want to be fair to this 
organization and what we're doing um and then I've   been doing some pre-planning also for our board 
Workshop uh and some of the ideas and things that   I've heard from you guys and our one-on ones um 
if I haven't had that with you yet I definitely   want to hear your opinion of what we need to be 
talking about at that meeting um we have also   during this time through operations executed 
all of the new out of school time renewals   um that's been a process we're going to have to 
figure that one out too a lot of back and forth   but we did get those um signed off on with the 
exception of one which is the City of Pensacola   that has to go through their board for approval 
so that one will be coming up soon but the rest   are all into year two um part of this that we're 
finding out too is with renewals and expectations   we had contract changes we want to make sure 
our providers understand what that means and   what they are responsible for so we're going to 
be having tomorrow morning provider meeting with   all of our out of school time folks plan on doing 
that quarterly but also really going over those   contractual responsibilities that we have now put 
in there especially regarding data uh regarding   payment um submission of that and then meeting 
outcomes so we want our people to be successful   and prepared but sometimes we had a contract 
and we don't always know how it connects so   we're going to be connecting those dots but also 
working with them to create their collaboration   um they're all doing out of school time there 
are some enhancements and some enrichment type   of activities they need to be working together 
too especially if someone doesn't have an opening   and someone does we want all of these slots filled 
for our kids um we'll also be doing that with our   mental health rfps as well so we're going to we're 
starting without a school time we're going to be   moving forward with that too working with those 
those providers as well um so I've kept Michael   busy too by the way he's been ready to go um 
but for communications and Outreach uh he's been   working on our our resource guide for this year so 
we've gotten all the ads in he's proofing all the   content so we're looking at that being um printed 
in April and coming out end of April and May for   distribution so we've got a distribution plan 
we're going to be following up on that and any   other sites that want some of those we definitely 
want to follow up with so we'll be letting our   providers know that as well um we're also working 
on establishing a communication Outreach plan for   the year um structured structured newsletters 
like what are we going to talk about in advance   but also really working with our providers to 
learn their success stories um and what their   needs are too so spending a lot more time in 
the field with them and telling their story um   Mr Leonard invited me to um podcast I keep calling 
it podcast aooa but it's podcast paloa um I want   y'all to know I he was like you have to come I 
said okay I'll be there I'm leaving the Pinewood   der though and then I will be there immediately um 
so I asked Michael I said Do we have any material   and he was like No And so he and Rick got together 
and and developed a very quick but starter trifold   but it had all of our providers on it what I want 
to tell you is um the really amazing part of that   I went I was by myself at that event we had some 
stress balls and whatever um but the parents that   were walking through that environment they were 
looking for help and I will tell you it got by it   got gave me the opportunity to give my speech 
of when someone said what does the Escambia   children's trust do okay well let me share with 
you this is where it started this is where we are   and these are programs that are free for you and 
your children um there were so many parents that   were thankful and grateful and that was not what 
I really expected I really expected just to hand   out some things but they asked a whole lot of 
questions and so to be able to say you need to   call these people here's their phone number here's 
their information you know they may ask you some   qualifying questions some may not not work out 
for you but here's a list of where you can go for   help and a lot of them told me this is why I came 
here I came here because I needed help so um great   event superintendent um it really was there was I 
I did not stop from 10: to 1 and and all my stuff   is gone so um it was a great event um I also got 
the opportunity to um kind of like host or MC The   Shining Star event which is our fifth graders um 
in Escambia County they are nominated by probably   the administration at the school and they wrote 
These really beautiful things about these kids   they all get a bike um so I was able to um kind of 
MC that and be able to read about the qualities of   these students that made them The Shining Star and 
it wasn't always their AB students or their gifted   kids these were kids that had grit these are kids 
that really worked hard to be a positive example   in their school so it was really honored to be up 
there um and be able to to see those kids and them   getting their free bikes um was fun but we got to 
do a Q&A with them and ask them some really funny   questions um about their parents which the parents 
were horrified because they didn't know what their   kids were going to say um but it was it was really 
great I really feel like a lot of those community   events are really tying us back to education which 
was our ultimate goal with this organization to   begin with we want our kids to be successful so 
um so I was glad to be a part of that um the last   thing that I want to show you and I don't know 
if I can get it Elma now Escape okay so last I   I mean I know how to work a computer you guys I 
don't know okay there we go I'm like I'm fairly   Savvy however it's not working for me today um 
Dr northr last last meeting you said you know   what we require our providers to put us on all of 
their marketing we we would like to return that   so what I will tell you is uh Rick and Michael 
got to work on this and so if you look at our   website which really we do need to revamp this 
but this is our starter of of what we need um   is we put in our uh our providers tab on there 
so when you click on this I want to show it to   you it connects to every single provider that we 
fund and the location and there's a way to click   on all of these and drill down you can go by the 
program name if you've heard a name you can go by   what's in my neighborhood what type of services 
you need are all here but everything that we are   doing here at the trust is on this website and 
accessible so you can click on all of these um   individually if you want just to see what they 
are um but I would encourage you guys to go and   look at it it's we tried to make it fairly user 
friendly um there are some things that we probably   you know need to link up or do whatever but um we 
really wanted to have a place because I will tell   you this this flyer was impactful and for people 
that are not there for us to be able to say and   be ambassadors go to that website and click on our 
providers there are a ton of resources there for   you so um so that is there so thank you for the 
suggestion we appreciate it Lindsay you told me   a story on the phone about um a a little boy who 
wanted to do children's course can you tell us   that story when you met that their family wanted 
to do children yes um she so it it was a family   and there were kids everywhere you guys which was 
which was fun and I was across from the lady with   the bunnies and the chickens so I wasn't like the 
most exciting Booth um the FFA at Bula is killing   it I will tell you um but there was a lady that 
came up to me and she she was looking at this and   um bless her she Wasing to ask questions about a 
variety of them but she said you guys work with P   schoola children's course and I said yes they're 
one of our out of school time providers and she   said my kid has always wanted to do it I could 
never afford it it's not anything we could ever   do as a family she said but do you mean he might 
be able to do this and I said he might so you need   to call them because it is an opportunity um and 
I said and you need to find out and tell them you   SC be a children's trust referred to over there 
to their program so um it was it was one of those   things you know our as parents we want our kids to 
be able to participate in anything that they want   to do and sometimes that just doesn't work out it 
just doesn't work out Tori and I were having this   conversation the other day about football it's 
expensive um you know and and there's a lot of   kids that want to do those kind of things and 
parents just can't so um unique opportunity it   was cool to have that feedback so it was a very 
positive experience for me so any questions okay   no questions no comments very productive 30 days 
so welcome and thank you thank you and I know we   also talk so I will start sending Michael some 
um like Community calls that I'm on to try to um   connect you and share that information because 
I sit on a lot of calls with like Community   organizations and other programs are looking 
to network and find um out about programs to   help families so I'll start sending you those and 
if you want to hop on those um a lot most of them   are virtual so it's easy to be able to you know 
sit on those and just like share the share what   we're doing and how you know and I think this 
is great so I would love some of these from my   office as well yes so we definitely have them we 
now that we've got them we didn't do a huge run   of them because we wanted to make sure we liked 
them first but we needed some for that day so we   we'll be doing another run of these but we would 
love to provide those to to anybody that wants   them so okay thank you all right thank you guys 
miss Bush did you have anything for us any of   the um comments from the board of Staff before we 
adjourn yes Madam chair um Kimberly thank you for   your service I was I was thinking about and the 
the beginning of this and it hasn't been easy you   you've persevered uh there's a lot of meetings 
and uh lot of discussions and and and moving   parts and and through it all you you've kept 
your U Grace about you and professionalism and   we appreciate your service and I wish you the best 
with your family and and and your next Endeavor as   well Madam chair Kim I want to say that you and I 
served on board together your passion particularly   for the disadvantaged kids and particularly kids 
of color uh Kim I appreciate it you you've been   bold to achieve you've been bold through the 
trust and you've been bold on every board that   I've ever served with you uh you stood up for 
the little person and so I really appreciate it Kim I want to um also say thank you we're 
going to miss you um I appreciate you from   the beginning um encouraging me to believe 
in the trust and so um I try to make you proud anything else if not we are adjourning at 622 yes Madam chair I just have one thing 
on the minutes that were approved I just   want to note that uh under approval 
of agenda on page one my notes say   David Powell it was actually David pedon 
that moved to approve the agenda of that   meeting so I'll make that correction 
thank you meeting adjourned at 6:22 thank