Present, County Represented
Blaine Arbuthnot, Terry McMillian, Crowley
Wendy Buxton-Andrade, Prowers
Rick Butler, Baca
Kim McDonnell, Joni Wilk, Bent
Rob Oquist, Otero
Dennis Pearson, Meagan Hillman, Kiowa
John Galusha, Huerfano
Felix Lopez, Las Animas
Steve Bryant, Pueblo
Guests
Jack Patterson, CO AG’s Office
Ginger Whately, Crossroads Turning Points
Ronda Bucholz, Las Animas School District
Terri Schreiber, The Schreiber Research Group (TSRG)
Michelle Francis, Catholic Charities SE CO
Theodora Barychewsky, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Elizabeth Riffle, APP
Matt Fischer, CHN
LeAnna Pacheco, Health Solutions
Call to Order
Wendy Buxton-Andrade calls the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m.
Approval of Agenda
Rob Oquist and Rick Butler moved and seconded the approval of the Agenda – Agenda approved.
Approval of Minutes
Felix Lopez and Steve Bryant moved and seconded the approval of the minutes – Minutes approved.
Facilitator Update
Rose gave an update on activities with records retention policy and has provided to the Board members the policy for review. It will be added to the next meeting as an action item.
Funding Update
The region has received its full funding from the National settlement of $4,663,206.20 so the RFP Committee can reconvene and finalize their recommendations for the Board. It will be put on a future agenda for voting and finalizing the awards.
VOTING ITEM: Crossroads budget modification and extension request.
Elizabeth Riffle presented from Crossroads regarding their extension and modification to their current contract. Elizabeth said that all their projects are implemented, but because of hiring qualified personnel in the rural and frontier regions of the state they need more time. Crossroads provided a spreadsheet that was emailed to all Board members. All are hired and all programs are off the ground and currently working. They just need additional time to spend down the funds for the projects. It was discussed to have multiple dates for the extensions of Prevention, Harm Reduction, Treatment and Recovery but after discussions, it was decided it would be easiest to grant an extension of the same date of 09/30/2024 to each of these areas. Criminal Justice is requesting to have an extension of 11 months to 05/30/2025.
Rose Pugliese made clear that all RFP’s that were awarded by SECOR were for First-Year funding only and no Second-Year funding has been released. All contracts specifically state that this is First-Year funding only.
Blaine Arbuthnot and Felix Lopez seconded the motion to approve the extension and modification request. Motion Approved.
VOTING ITEM: Health Solutions budget adjustment.
LeAnna Pacheco from Health Solutions presented that they are requesting an extension on the Recovery funding because of delay in hiring qualified professional for their funding. They would like an extension of 3 to 5 months for the $31,871.75. After discussion by the Board, November 30, 2024 would be the extension date.
Meagan Hillman and Rob Oquist seconded the motion to approve the extension. Motion Approved.
Other business
Rose is scheduling Grantee presentations for June and July to allow for more time for each to present what they have achieved with the funding for Year One. It was also discussed to have a press conference to roll out the awareness for the website, the business cards and the posters that each county will be distributing. Pueblo has agreed to host the event and Rose will send out a press release and invitations to the press to attend. The date was set for June 12th at 1:30 pm in Pueblo and everyone is strongly encouraged to attend. The press conference will be a way to make sure that the public is aware of the new cards and website that SECOR has available to the public.
Adjournment
Kim McDonnell and Rob Oquist motioned to adjournment – Motion approved
Next Meeting:
Monday, June 10th at 3:00 p.m.