Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Family Resources Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CFRD outlines 2026 priorities while trimming two events and redirecting staff resources
Summary
Shetoye Moss, director of the Community and Family Resources Department, told the Common Council on Aug. 25 that CFRD’s 2026 priorities are resources, partnerships and belonging as the department adapts to shrinking grant streams and tighter municipal revenues.
Shetoye Moss, director of the Community and Family Resources Department (CFRD), presented the department’s 2026 budget to the Bloomington Common Council on Aug. 25, describing CFRD’s priorities as “resources, partnerships and belonging” and outlining program outcomes tied to those goals.
Director Moss said CFRD’s work includes frontline outreach, navigation and partnership grants that help residents in crisis and connect them to services. She highlighted downtown After Hours ambassadors, who now provide about 30 hours of downtown coverage each week and who helped train 13 organizations this spring on Narcan use in partnership with Centerstone, the Indiana Recovery Alliance and the county health department. Moss said CFRD recorded 74 navigation calls in 2024 and had logged 40 by mid‑year in 2025; Helping Bloomington Monroe searches numbered nearly 10,000 last year, led by requests for assistance paying housing costs.
Moss outlined program changes: CFRD will transition management of the Blackie Brown Arts Festival and the Latino holiday gift program out of the department so existing events and partners can carry those goals. She said the Hispanic/Latino holiday program relies primarily on staff time and community donations and that leadership chose to concentrate CFRD staff resources where gaps remain.
Council members pressed staff about DEI training. Director Moss said CFRD does not provide citywide employee onboarding training; Sharpe Paycheck, director of human resources, told council that the city does not currently have a dedicated DEI onboarding module but uses “best practices” and workplace training intended to improve recruitment, retention and coaching. Controller staff confirmed that a $300,000 CFRD line item budgeted for DEI training in the general fund was not spent and would revert at year-end.
Council also probed translation and the Latino holiday program’s resource needs. Moss said CFRD provides translations for guides and internal departmental help and that the Latino program’s primary costs are staff time and printing; the gifts themselves are community donated.
Moss said CFRD is pursuing new grant opportunities — including a dollar‑for‑dollar substance misuse prevention match — and plans a citywide ‘‘100,000 Hours for Volunteers’’ challenge beginning Jan. 1 to expand the Bloomington Volunteer Network. She emphasized continued data use to target resources and urged partners to share measurable outcomes that CFRD can monitor. No formal votes were taken during the presentation.
