Children’s Village may not get COVID-19 rescue funds

COEUR d’ALENE — Children’s Village may not receive $291,000 in federal COVID-19 rescue funds Kootenai County approved last year for payroll subsidies, after the county’s legal counsel determined the nonprofit is not eligible for the money.

Commissioners will convene today at 1:30 p.m. to discuss whether Children’s Village is eligible to receive American Rescue Plan Act funds and are expected to decide the next steps during the regular business meeting at 2 p.m.

Located in Coeur d’Alene, Children’s Village is a nonprofit residential care facility that serves children who are displaced from their families due to abuse, neglect or severe family crisis. Children’s Village provides free short-term respite and emergency shelter, as well as a federally accredited residential treatment program for youth in foster care.

“The families we support are your neighbors, families who are just trying to get by,” said CEO Vanessa Moos. “We’ve been here for over 30 years supporting our community and we’ll do whatever we can to make sure every child is safe and families have what they need.”

In June 2022, Commissioners Leslie Duncan and Chris Fillios voted to approve the projects recommended by the Kootenai County ARPA Task Force, including $291,000 for premium pay for non-executive staff at Children’s Village.

The funds would be used to increase wages for staff, including child care providers, by 25% for a period of two years. At that time, the average wage for caretakers at Children’s Village was $15 per hour. The increase would amount to an additional $3.75 per hour for the average employee.

“This project would help ensure sufficient staffing at Children’s Village and therefore continuity of a vital service for the underserved population of children and youth in the foster care system,” the task force’s report said.

But county officials said Monday that commissioners approving a project last June was not the same as awarding the funds.

Once the selection and approval of projects is completed, the county's Resource Management Office and legal counsel “must collect certifications and assurances from all prospective subrecipients before funding is provided,” according to the task force report. Funding would be provided to subrecipients on a reimbursement basis, after final approval from county commissioners.

“I think Resource Management was doing a good job working with the subrecipients,” Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke said Monday. “Because the county is the recipient, we have to make sure everything we do is in compliance.”

Locke noted that, while the Resource Management Office is under the county clerk’s purview, she did not work directly with the applicants or recipients.

In August, Kootenai County informed Children’s Village of a change in federal guidelines. The U.S. Treasury had declared that ARPA funds can only be expended for premium pay for work performed prior to April 10 of this year, the date Congress declared the the COVID-19 national public emergency to be ended.

“Children’s Village has not yet completed a subaward agreement with Kootenai County,” grant technician Kaitlin Smith wrote in an Aug. 21 email. “Due to the Treasury’s change, Children’s Village is no longer eligible for a subaward under the Premium Pay project category.” 

Moos said Children’s Village continued to work with the county to find a solution.

“After they told us we were disqualified, it was now a pivot to try to meet the needs (under a different project category),” she said.

The county requested in early September that Children’s Village submit a financial summary showing pre-pandemic and post-pandemic expenses, as well as a narrative describing that impact.

“As discussed, we will review that information and confirm the best direction for eligible application before requesting any deep-dives,” Smith said in a Sept. 7 email.

“We weren’t told we needed to submit a new application,” Moos said Monday. “We submitted a new type of documentation to show the financial burden, which is what the county grant team suggested we do.”

Children’s Village submitted the requested letter and financial analysis Oct. 13, as well as audit reports from 2018 through 2022. County legal counsel reviewed the material and the Resource Management Office shared its conclusion in December.

“Legal review of the application has found that the application as presented does not demonstrate the requisite financial hardship needed for Children’s Village to qualify for ARPA funds,” Dorian Komberec wrote in a Dec. 15 email.

The legal opinion is “not a public record,” Komberec said in a subsequent email, and commissioners would discuss the matter before making any decision.

Moos said that while Children’s Village staff had worked since last year to provide the county with all needed documentation, including extensive payroll records and a financial analysis showing hardship caused by COVID-19, Kootenai County never made it clear the nonprofit wasn’t guaranteed the funds or that a subaward agreement needed to be signed.

“I don’t think it was clear to the grant team, either,” Moos said. “They’ve been working hard, but ultimately it was not clear.”

Meanwhile, Children’s Village has increased wages and has been counting on reimbursement through ARPA funds.

“We have almost 40 employees,” Moos said. “We’re trying to do the best we can for our kids and our staff by paying living wages.”

All three Kootenai County commissioners indicated Monday that they don’t have the complete information about the matter yet and are waiting for today’s presentation from county staff.

“Maybe conclusions were jumped to before the meeting,” Commissioner Bruce Mattare said. “There’s still more information to be had before any decisions are made.”

If Children’s Village doesn’t receive the funds, the money could potentially be directed to the ongoing Justice Center expansion, which was allotted the lion’s share of ARPA funds.

In a Sept. 21 meeting, Kootenai County Finance Director Brandi Falcon asked commissioners and the Resource Management Office to check on the status of Children’s Village.

“I don’t know why that dollar amount is taking so long to be paid out,” Falcon said. “I want to know if Children’s Village is going to comply with subrecipient requirements and if we’re not going to end up paying that money to them, I would want that money to go to the building, as well, potentially. Obviously, it’s the board’s decision.”

Then Resource Management Office Director Jody Bieze said during the Sept. 21 meeting that the county had recently clarified what information Children’s Village needed to provide in order to receive the ARPA funds.

“They need (the funds) desperately and they are now working on getting that documentation to us,” Bieze said. “I don’t have any concerns around Children’s Village and them meeting the requirement.”

Mattare confirmed the county has since reorganized the Resource Management Office and eliminated Bieze’s position. As of Monday, Bieze is working for the county on a contract basis.

Falcon said Monday that commissioners and the county’s legal counsel would have to drive any decision to allocate unspent ARPA funds.

Moos said the relief funds were factored into the budget for Children’s Village. Without the money, she said, the nonprofit will be operating on a major financial deficit.

“It’s going to take us a couple of years to recoup that through community donations,” she said. “If we have to make staffing decisions in the future because of the deficit, it will affect our community and the children and families we’re able to serve.”