Committee advances ARPA community grant and two early-childhood contracts to full council

Cuyahoga County’s Education, Environment & Sustainability Committee on Tuesday recommended three items to the full council, moving an ARPA community grant and two service contracts toward final consideration.

The panel read and advanced Resolution 20250349, which awards up to $15,000 from the ARPA Community Grant Fund to the Building and Leveraging Opportunities (BLO) Foundation to reimburse costs for a recent leadership training and to support undergraduate attendees. Orlando Grant, representing the BLO Foundation, told the committee the organization hosted a training weekend in Cleveland that brought roughly 350 national attendees, including 70 local leaders, generated community service hours and delivered an estimated local economic impact of about $500,000. Grant said the requested $15,000 would offset lodging and consultant costs and support undergraduates who attended.

President Miller moved to recommend the item to full council for a second reading (Jan. 13) with projected final passage on Jan. 27; the committee approved the referral by voice vote.

The committee also advanced Resolution 20250361, authorizing awards on requisition 16239 totaling up to $1,260,000 over two years for infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services administered through Invest in Children. Shauna Rarman of the Office of Early Childhood said the county’s portion of the contract is $1,260,000 total over two years (approximately $630,000 per year) and that the award covers a two-year master contract with seven providers. Rarman said the contract includes a new, small pilot element to support parent and caregiver group sessions in addition to individual-family services. She told the committee the county contract expects to serve just over 650 children per year under the county-funded share.

Committee members pressed staff on eligibility and capacity. Rarman and Alyssa Swiatek, associate director at Invest in Children, said services are available to any child under age 6 residing in Cuyahoga County; many referrals come from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) but participation is not mandatory for children in county care. Rarman noted that the previous funding cycle for the program totaled about $1.4 million per year and that the current configuration represents a smaller county share, meaning the program will serve fewer children absent additional funding. The committee approved referring the contract to full council under a second-reading suspension so it can begin Jan. 1.

Resolution 20250362, a contract for up to $900,000 with the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio to provide fiscal-agent and administrative services for the Bright Beginnings parent support program, was also referred to council (projected on Jan. 26) after staff described two funded program areas: the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) and fatherhood resources. Tom Wetzel, parent support manager at Bright Beginnings, said the fatherhood work functions as a cross-cutting practice that has increased father engagement from about 14% to 27% in internal evaluations. Rarman described program transitions—such as moving Parents as Teachers to state funding and shifting a parent-led lead-support program for 3–5 year olds to Better Health Partnership’s Pathways Hub—while stressing continued oversight and evaluation.

All three referrals passed the committee by voice vote.

Next steps: Each item is scheduled for consideration by the full council on the dates discussed by the committee; Invest in Children and Bright Beginnings staff said they will monitor service capacity and report back if budget or enrollment pressures require further action.