Manatee County reviews nonprofit investment process, readies September recommendations and raises question of emergency set‑aside

Manatee County officials reviewed the county’s nonprofit investment process during a work session Wednesday, outlining how applications are scored, when recommendations will come to the Board of County Commissioners and where potential gaps — particularly emergency funding for human services and indigent care — could leave nonprofits waiting for support.

Tracy Adams, deputy director of the county’s Community and Veteran Services (CVS) department, said the county runs three “funnels” of nonprofit funding: children’s services (funded by a dedicated millage and routed through the Children’s Services Advisory Board), adult human services (administered by CVS) and health services (administered by the Public Safety Department). “For health and adult human services, CVS and Public Safety combined review all of those applications together,” Adams said. She told commissioners the board would receive recommended investments for fiscal year 2025–26 at its Sept. 16 meeting, and that resulting agreements would be effective Oct. 1, 2025, even if final signatures follow.

Why it matters: the three funding streams have different rules and review bodies. Children’s services is governed by ordinance (listed in the presentation as 91‑42) and the advisory board sets a three‑year investment plan and reviews and scores applications before bringing final recommendations to the commission. Health and adult human services awards come from the county general fund and are staff‑reviewed; there is no separate advisory board for those awards. That distinction affects timing, available dollars and how emergency requests are handled.

How grants are evaluated: staff and the CSAB use a scoring matrix adopted by the board in May 2023. Adams and CSAB Chair Exdavia Bailey…