Commission readies March scoring for Human Services Community Matching Grants; staff seeks volunteer screeners

Health and Social Services administrator James Menacher told the Health and Social Services Commission on Feb. 11 that the borough has nine HSCMG applications submitted and approved, with two more returned for additional information — potentially 11 applications in all. "We currently have 9 that are, submitted and approved, and then 2 others that were returned for additional information," he said.

Menacher asked for one or two volunteers to perform an initial screening of applications to confirm required information is included and to return incomplete packets to applicants. The staff screening is intended to ensure commissioners receive complete application packets ahead of the March scoring meeting and to speed the review process.

Menacher outlined the March 14 scoring day: agencies will have a five-minute presentation window followed by five minutes of commissioner questions; after presentations and a lunch break commissioners will read their preliminary scores aloud and staff will average the scores to rank applicants. He said the highest-scored agency will receive 100% of its requested amount, and funding will be awarded down the list until the appropriation is exhausted.

The administrator also noted procedural logistics: application files and scoring sheets (Word and a fillable PDF) will be uploaded to commissioners' Dropbox folders, and commissioners should flag any questions during the allotted Q&A time for presenters rather than use the presentation window for advocacy. Menacher asked commissioners to share scoring notes with colleagues who are newer to the process so that scoring approaches are more consistent.

The commission accepted volunteers for screening and confirmed the March scoring meeting schedule; Menacher said he will send screening instructions and the scoring materials to commissioners in advance.