Travis County Commissioners Court
September 21, 2004
Item 19
19 is to consider and take appropriate action. B request to terminate contract
no ps 0401 #- 7 re. Texas migrant council for child care services for low
income adults. And 19 (c) is funding of contract number il 010211 ef for early
childhood mentoring with Austin community college and contract no il 000273
ef for adult basic education with Austin independent school district. From
Travis County and authorize purchasing agent to sign on behalf of the Commissioner's
court.
>> quick question. The intent of this one is excellent. Going
from three contracts to one. We're leveraging dollars to pull down even more;
however, my issue is with the Texas migrant council who has been the the umbrella
for the child care contracts. We had serious issues with Texas migrant council,
and at least with Travis County having a piece of the contract, we could apply
pressure to say what is your problem, because child care providers here in
Travis County were being held up for months needlessly by Texas migrant council
who was not getting its work done and therefore they weren't getting their
work into Travis County to pay off the child care providers and we have some
really unhappy people. How do we ensure that Texas migrant council does what
it is being contracted to do with us now being cut out of the picture as a
leverage point to say, hello, where are the invoices?
>> Commissioner, I agree with everything you said. We have
had some considerable difficulty in ensuring that the contractors are paid
in a timely manner. We believe that because the county is now middle man out
of this whole transaction, that it will speed up the process in that there's
not the contractors are not being required to submit to Texas migrant council
and then have them submit to us, the relationship that exists with the work
source group and Texas migrant council allows them to direct pay. We believe
that is what will create the efficiency in having those vendors be paid more
quickly.
>> what can -- what kind of accountability can we have built
into this when there are issues we know exactly who to go contact to -- contact
and find out how to get these issues quickly resolved, because that just was
a mess and it wasn't Travis County that was holding up the process, its was
the migrant council who was just being very lax about getting the processing
done because they weren't just doing it for Travis County,, they were doing
it for the entire state of Texas, and they were out of town and it was a real
issue.
>> Commissioner, I believe our leverage is in the funding
that we're redirecting to work source, that is a contract much like any other
social services contract that you all approve, so any questions that you have
regarding that contract and its compliance you still maintain total control
over how those dollars are spent.
>> contract of the migrant council will now be working with
the workforce?
>> their contracts will continue to be with migrant council.
Migrant council will draw down from work source instead of drawing down directly
from the county.
>> okay.
>> assuming dollars to work source and as a result they should
be able to get more federal dollars for child care.
>> that's correct.
>> then they would pay migrant council would pay the nonprofit
agencies directly.
>> directly, yes.
>> the simple answer to the question, though s. That if there
is still a problem with payments to these agencies, then we have to work past
work source to go ahead and do better, otherwise we have to find a new way
to fund child care.
>> that is exactly right, judge.
>> I want to put that in for a matter of the record. I think
that's a way to go to get to 3-to-1. I want it on the record we've had issues
with migrant council and now it's going to be up to work source to work through
these issues.
>> I’m sure if migrant council representatives were here,
they would have an explanation.
>> absolutely, I’m sure they would.
>> actions toward the county as not being as positive as
some could have been.
>> it would not be that, judge. It would be that maoi granlt
council was not getting their invoices turned in to Travis County and other
entities in a timely manner and unless they turned in their work, we could
not process anything.
>> okay.
>> I think that as few people we can have in the process
the better, this is part of what we have come to the court with over the last
several months to create efficiencies in how we handle your business through
these social service contracts.
>> [inaudible]
>> yes.
>> and the nonprofit agencies providing these services.
>> second by Commissioner Davis? Anymore discussion? All
in favor. That passes by unanimous vote.
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Last Modified: Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:24 AM