Human Services and Veterans Committee meeting – June 25, 2020 - MINUTES

Date: Thurs, June 25, 2020, 2:30pm  (Sullivan Chamber)

The Human Services and Veterans Committee held a public hearing on Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. in the Sullivan Chamber to receive an update from the Department of Human Services and the School Department on Summer Camp programming for Cambridge youth.

Present at the hearing were Councillor McGovern, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Toomey, Naomie Stephen, and Deputy City Clerk Paula M. Crane.

Participating in the hearing via Zoom were Councillor Nolan; Mayor Siddiqui; Councillor Carlone; Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler; Councillor Zondervan; Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager for Human Services; Michelle Farnum, Assistant Director of Children, Youth and Families; Khari Milner and Susan Richards, Co-Directors, Agenda for Children; Nancy Tauber, Executive Director, Family Policy Council, Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP); Dr. Carolyn Turk, Deputy Superintendent; Maryann MacDonald, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools, Cambridge Public School Department (CPSD); and Jennifer Mathews, City Manager’s Office.

Councillor McGovern convened the hearing and read the Call of the Meeting.

He stated that this was his first Zoom meeting and asked those participating to introduce themselves. He asked DHSP to begin their presentation.

Ellen Semonoff stated that DHSP is going to give a brief update on the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program and the Summer Food Program followed by an update from Michelle Farnum who will talk about summer online and offline programming. She said that Nancy Tauber will then speak about some of the work with Find It as a vehicle for families understanding about offered programming. Finally, Dr. Turk and her team, along with Khari Milner and Susan Richards, will talk about programs other than City and School programs.

Ms. Semonoff said that the School Department and volunteers did an amazing job to deliver food at 8 sites across the city using the School Department Food Service, school busses and volunteers. She explained that they were delivering 1,000 meals per day to children. When the School Department finished on June 19, DHSP took over sites to deliver meals. She noted that as in any transition, there were a few glitches, but many have been ironed out. She said that in previous summers when they have been able to do the Summer Food Program, they were able to give food only to sites where there were enough eligible free and reduced lunch children. She said that because of Covid 19 and the loosening of the restrictions, the City is not required to serve only those children.

Regarding the MSYEP, Ms. Semonoff said that the application period was from June 5-19. She said that close to 900 applications were received. She noted that the expectation is that the program will run from July 6 through August 14. She noted that the participants will earn between 70-100 hours at $12.75 per hour. She said that most of the programs are virtual. She said that almost all of the young people have Chromebooks and they are working around technology to make it possible for all to participate. She said that most of the activities will be virtual, with some having a portion that is not virtual. She said that the Science Club for Girls will have one portion where children will assemble rockets with people that are supporting them in a socially distant way in fields. The Summer Food Program will have some young people who are associated with it. She said that DHSP has worked closely with the School Department to ensure that young people who are spending time at the high school can participate as well. She said that one difference this summer is that young people who are eligible for free and reduced lunch are receiving priority status. She said that the goal is to between 500-600 young people and they want to ensure that low income youth are the priority. She said that there are over 50 sites that they are working with such as Upward Bound, Breakthrough, Community Arts Center, CCTV, and the Underground Railway Theater. There are partners of many years who have not run their program virtually so there will be challenges. She said that video interviews are being conducted with young people who are prioritized to gather all of the appropriate documents and additionally, they are working closely with Personnel and the IT Departments at the schools and the city. Ms. Semonoff turned the presentation over to Michelle Farnum.

Michelle Farnum stated that in the K-8 program model, they would typically be running about 16 separate camps across the city. She said that because we are going virtual, they have redesigned the program to be essentially one program. She said that they designed a model Online/Offline model where there are three circles of service. They will continue to offer curated online activities by developmental stage for young people. She said that it is currently being housed by Find It Cambridge. The second and most robust level of service is the enrolled program for K-8. She said that in K they need to have finished the first year of Kindergarten. She said that this will be organized in small cohorts. The membership will allow access to 4 days a week of programming in two sessions each day. She explained that the daily schedule will include a live opportunity to be with a small cohort of young people at the same grade level with a stable group of adults and then they will have a choice of enrichment activities. She said that they are also offering the opportunity for in-person recreational activities in some of the city’s parks and fields. She said that this will be staffed by full-time and part-time staff across the grades. She noted that they are using a new online registration process for families which opened on June 22nd. She said that they are also prioritizing families who are eligible for free and reduced lunch. She said that programs are reaching out to families that they serve in afterschool. She said that the program is free. Additionally, they are thinking about the opportunity to offer targeted services who need extra support. She explained that the design offers the opportunity for particular children who are pointed out by school personnel, parents, or staff, to sign up for a one-to-one or small school session during the week. They are designing a program that could serve up to 800 children, but they are not sure of the breakout across the grades. She said that there are challenges with staff who have responsibilities at home and figuring out how to schedule this massive program.

Ellen Semonoff stated that they are trying to work through challenges of offering outside activities safely. She noted the ability to give the students some organized activity and they are committed to doing that. She said that they are working very hard to make it happen. She noted that the other piece is ensuring that once children have been enrolled and they do not show, it is important to troubleshoot with families to make it work better. They will move forward to fix difficulties.

Khari Milner talked about how the Agenda for Children out-of-school time supports some of the case management to support equitable access to programs. He noted that there are many factors at play this summer and they are evolving strategies and approaches that are already used. He stated that they are working with the district in new and more specific ways. They look at obstacles or barrier for children to participate and engage in the out-of- school time programs. They have a Middle School Network that is supported by schools and the DHSP. There is a small team who has been working virtually with upper schools to get updates in terms of what is being offered. He stated that they have been getting updates from all types of providers and doing their best to get this information out to both colleagues in the schools and parents. They are partnering with the Find It Cambridge website. He added that when there is a group of high priority youth or families who are facing challenges, they work with the relationships at school and the out-of-school time programs to work with these families. He said that they continue to create VIP lists with schools to work with counselors, faculty and leaders to work with out-of-school time providers to help families register for programs. He stated that registration is the first step. He said that this is the process for 6-8 graders and this process has begun to be expanded in the K-5 through the planning of an elementary network which is modelled after the Middle School Network. He said that in the JK-5 work, with the planning around the elementary network, they have convened the concept of using pods that are working with principals and staff that are interested as well as others to model student support work and case management work. He explained that they launched 4 pods and each pod will figure out its own rhythm which will inform the growth of the elementary network into the fall. He said that there are different working groups within the School Department with some focused on summer programming. He said that they have worked with that group to think about the targeting of certain young people to ensure that they are in programs. He commented that this is work and they are trying to figure out how to best manage this. He said that they are helping the in-school partners to think beyond what is a program mentality. He said that there are many variables and we need to know what students are doing throughout the summer. He said that they have been able to harness technology and explained that through CPS they are creating a portal that will allow community partners to engage with young people. He added that technical fixes are being worked out, but it is the hope to go live soon.

Susan Richards said that the Agenda for Children out-of-school time has just ended its 20th year and she is proud of the amazing impact in the city. She said that when the pandemic hit, the team of trainers and facilitators never missed a beat. She said that they went virtual, went on Zoom, contracted with trainers to help colleagues to be ready to use technology. She said that hundreds of workers in this community rallied and continued to offer professional development training and coaching through this period. In recent weeks, it has become more challenging for people of color in the professional community. They see people in trainings and network activities multiple times weekly and can see the pain and the team is working to help people through this period. She asserted that it has not been easy and having a professional community to support children and families is critical. She said that the most recent training is called Cultural Proficiency, A Way of Being, and it was an extraordinary space. She said that professional development goes on. She explained that a survey was sent out to the out-of-school time community in an attempt to develop organizational profile data. She said that they are trying to get a handle on the baseline of this organizational service in terms of typical service delivery in the summer, typical delivery in the school year and summer 2020 plans. She stated that many people are going virtual and they will have a stronger virtual summer. She said that there are about 2,300 students who will be served over the summer through DHSP and non-profits. She said that these children will be supported by 450 direct service staff. Ms. Richards noted that the non-profit sector has had very few layoffs. She said that programs that have city, state and corporate funding have not had to furlough or layoff staff. She noted that access to Chromebooks is critical. She said that people will be trained on Chromebook because it is a new technology for out-of-school time people. She said that they look forward to partnership with the CPS school district to align learning.

Nancy Tauber stated that since the beginning of Covid, Find It Cambridge has created a Covid resources that are available now category, a volunteer category, a virtual activity. She noted that currently they are focusing on summer 2020. She said that people are realizing that Find It Cambridge is a useful tool. She said that partnerships are getting stronger. She said that they have worked with family liaisons to ensure that they have information on programs for younger kids. The Middle School Network has a great guide for summer 2020 resources, so they copied their guide and made one for elementary school resources. She said that more people are contacting them for information. She explained that they share information via social media and the Community Engagement Team. She said that Find It Cambridge is becoming a one-stop resource.

Dr. Turk said that because the city has such a deep history of partnering with others and within the city, it has been helpful during a tremendously challenging time. She said that the fact that people didn’t have to learn how to work with each and could use energy to do the work for the children of the city has made a tremendous difference. She said that people do look at all of the children within the city as their children. From the CPSD piece of things, one piece that was important was to make sure that they were thinking in terms of utilizing a case management approach. She said that they kept students at the center and made sure that connections were made around a common purpose. She said that engagement has been at the top of the list. She said that another piece that has been important is to make sure that there is a team approach to making sure that we are supporting students. She noted that the team needs to include the students as well. She stated that there is an idea about the implementation of some type of end of year conference with students, families and teachers. She said that they may have looked slightly different in each grade band. This would provide an opportunity to check that students were connected to an activity in some way or to find out if they need help with that connectivity. She asked Maryann Macdonald to talk about the work being done for JK-5 students.

Maryann MacDonald said that the CPSD and DHSP launched a great program last summer called Summit in collaboration with MIT and Massachusetts General. They learned a lot of lessons from that. She explained that DHSP collaborated with CPSD. She said that it set the foundation for the work moving forward. She said that they started planning in February for this year’s summer programming and then Covid happened. She said that this unprecedented time has been used as an opportunity. In the School Department there are a number of programs, but they created a totally different elementary support program. Before that, they wanted to offer resources to all elementary students, so they used a tiered approach to support students and families. The first tier was resources on the CPSD website for all students and families to access. She added that access is provided to community partners as well. Summer reading books have been shipped to all students with support from the School Committee from JK through Grade 8. She said that they are looking to coordinate with DHSP so that all students have access to some learning and engagement over the summer. She said that they see this work through a racial equity lens. They are offering for elementary students that have been identified by their school teams is the Summer Support Program which is targeted support for students who have been recommended by teachers, in need of literacy, math or social/emotional learning support. She said that this program will run from July 6-31st. She said that they are trying to run the sessions in the morning so students will be able to take part in DHSP offerings in the afternoon. She indicated that it is a small group instruction with some computer-based programming and some with a teacher. She said that they want to provide small group instruction as much as possible. She said that the Title One and Summit will be combined into one program. She said that teachers were recruited to be part of this, and training starts next week. She noted that there is one registration for this program that launches two weeks ago. 1100 students were invited with over 665 students registered.

Dr. Turk said that for 6-8 programming looks different. She said that there are offerings in July and August. In July there is English Language Arts and math opportunity. She explained that each of these programs for a wo-week session. She said that this is for rising 6-8 grade students. She noted that they are working with Cambridge School Volunteers to make themselves available for families who may be interested in tutoring services. She stated that a new opportunity is one-week mini sessions. She said that they are trying to find different ways to engage students. One staff member will be running a media journalism course with the purpose at the end for students to be able to produce a 6-minute video magazine about Cambridge in the summertime. She said that these are with groups of 10 students. She said that another session is about Math Mysteries and solving problems by utilizing math routines that students have learned or will be exposed to in the upcoming school year. Each school created space for an August ramp up that would be designed to help rebuild community as students are entering a new school year. There will be space for assessment and needs moving into the new school year as well as an orientation. That is the type of programming for July and August with 6-8 students. As it relates to the high school, there are 5 or 6 programs with two being new; the Freshman Academy will provide space for incoming 9th graders to get the opportunity to get to know about people at the high school as well as what they will be doing the new school year and the other is for any individual at the extension school that is interested in credit recovery. Dr. Turk noted that the High School Extension Program is small, but the summer program is open to any student. Other programs include the Cambridge Harvard Summer academy, which will be staffed in a different way as Harvard cannot supply staff. The Rise Up Program is more of a targeted program for students who have experienced academic difficulty throughout the year. English Language Learners will continue a virtual program this summer. She said that there are several preview courses such as Math, ELA, and Science. One new request from students is the offering of a preview course to participate in Honors and AP courses. Dr. Turk spoke about the Office of Student Services that provides summer programming. There is an extended year program available to students who receive specialized services. There is an extended program for Special Start students and Autism Program students.

Councillor McGovern said that there is a lot of information.

Councillor Nolan said that since all program are remote and virtual, what is being done to ensure that they can access programs given childcare issues if parents need to work. Susan Richards responded that her understanding from the non-profit sector is that there is a certain kind of assessment with programs around parents needs. A lot is based on needs for families with childcare issues. She said that one of the things they are hearing in the assessment is that over the last few months, families have tried to figure things out and people are using their own networks to care for children during the pandemic. She said that they are weighing the needs of families and the safety of staff in this decision. Ms. Richards noted that she is hearing from other non-profits that they are getting calls from families whose programs are not running who need care.

Maryann MacDonald said that this has been the looming question throughout the closure. She said that the CPSD is most with the JK-2 students. They continue to be challenged by this and are trying to figure out other solutions. They are sending printed materials to families as well. The families appreciate printed materials so students can access that. CPSD is now trying to do more videotaped lessons so a parent can engage in the evenings. Ms. MacDonald said that they have learned will guide the work entering in the fall. She noted that all teachers had end of year conferences which was helpful information on what worked for their families.

Ellen Semonoff added that the reason there is morning and afternoon programming was due to the concern for families who may be able to time some of what they are doing so their student can participate. She said that video programming has been very valuable for many families so that children can play over and over again without needing parental aid.

Councillor Nolan said that the Covid period has been troublesome for students. She is interested in hearing if we have found models of other places that did online or remote learning or managed how to get learning assistance. She asked how we are going to set expectations and monitor and ensure that the goals are high for students to be able to learn. She asked how we are setting it up so there will be specific goals and monitor to adjust as necessary. Dr. Turk said that there have not been many examples of who has done this successfully. She said that this has been new to everyone. She stated that she and Ms. MacDonald have worked with a leadership team out of DC. She said that it did not matter where students were from as the questions, concerns, and suggestions were similar. Dr. Turk said that she has found success with those who have run virtual schools for some time now. She said that this is one community of education where we could take some lessons and continue to do some of the brainwork with local communities around the way in which we will focus in on priority standards that are being set by the state. She noted the importance of ensuring that the curriculums are aligned to those standards. Ms. Maryann MacDonald said as it relates to the elementary students, specific goals are being set and it is being coordinated across the schools. She said that students’ progress will be monitored. She said that ST Math also monitors students progress on a daily and weekly basis.

Vice Mayor Mallon said that beyond virtual programs, are we looking at the successes of the emergency daycare systems that have been opened since March and are being reported to having very low outbreaks. She spoke about an article on NPR talking about the YMCA and New York City’s Department of Education who have been caring for thousands of children since March in person and they have had no reports of Corona virus, clusters or outbreaks based on the health and safety parameters that they put in place early. She said that Brown University put together a study about the low outbreak rate in these early childhood care centers. She said that there are ways to look at lessons learned other than the virtual, especially as we think about the fall.

Vice Mayor Mallon asked Ms. Semonoff on how many students have signed up for summer camp programs. She also asked about the 6-8 grade programming numbers and the DHSP enrolled participants. Ellen Semonoff stated that there are currently about 100 registrations and they expect that they are not being overloaded in the first few days. Michelle Farnum stated that there are in the mid-200’s with about two-thirds of the people in K-2, the least amount of the folks in the 6-8 grade band and a moderate amount in grades 3-5 band. She said that this mirrors the typical camp sign up. She said that this is only the third day of registration and the response in very similar to non-virtual. Dr. Turk said that the for the July programs, the capacity for the Math and ELA programming is 65 students for each session. She noted that both of those sessions are full. As it relates to the one-week sessions, there are 2 confirmed with a capacity of ten each and both have one slot available. There have been 8 requests for tutoring and those matches will be made. She said that the August program is for all students in the Upper Schools and they will be responding to their schools throughout the month of July, so she does not have a hard number. For the high school, there are about 75 students enrolled in the Freshman Academy with room for 125. The Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy has 180 enrolled with room for 250. Rise Up has 30 slots that are full. There are four preview courses with the capacity of 75 each and currently there are 50-55 currently enrolled. The ELL program has capacity for 100 and they are at 80 enrolled. The High School Extension Program has 30 seats and they are all full.

Vice Mayor Mallon asked about kids who did not log onto classes. She said that there is a section of students that did not log on or rarely did. She said that she imagines that those are the students that we are trying to reach. She asked how outreach is being conducted. Dr. Turk said that in the conferences for all grade levels, in particular upper school and high school, one of the questions that was posed had to do with summer opportunities. She said that it was more a discussion point of what could best benefit you for summer and the upcoming school year. In terms of the words “ensuring that the students participate,” staff members are doing outreach in terms of making sure students know the program and helping them to register. They have not mandated programs. She said that if someone is reluctant to one type of program, they look into a different program where the student could receive support that is more helpful to them.

Vice Mayor Mallon said that she has a rising 7th grader and her parent/teacher conference did not include anything except her self-assessment student-led conversation. She said that there were not questions about what was happening over the summer. She said that this was not her experience. In terms of Find It Cambridge, she wondered how we are accessing the Community Engagement Team to do the outreach work. Ms. Semonoff said that this has been true across the board for signing up for all programs. Many families who signed up for the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund, were reached out through the Birth to Third Team as well as the Community Engagement Team. She said that the percentage of families that took advantage of the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund who were non-first English language speakers was very high and that is a reflection of the outreach that was done. They have been communicating the information to the Community Engagement Team. Ms. Tauber has been meeting with family liaisons who have their own networks and there has been a deep effort to reach families that do not immediately sign up. She said that there is deep effort that we are reaching families that will not find this information.

Councillor Zondervan stated that he appreciates all of the effort and hard work.

Councillor Carlone said Michelle Farnum had mentioned that discussion groups are broken up into a small number. He asked what is that number. Ms. Farnum responded that the goal is to have group sizes of 15 children with 3 staff. Councillor Carlone said that the Finance Committee is going to be exploring different City departments and how they are meeting goals. He said that the summer program is a significant effort in trying to help students that need extra attention. He asked if each teacher gives a list of students that will benefit most from a summer program. Ms. MacDonald said this is correct in the elementary school that is correct. Dr. Turk said in the upper schools, it is a team of teachers. Councillor Carlone asked if there are records of needy students, especially disadvantaged or poor, that are not being helped, regardless of the reason. Ms. MacDonald said that they are tracking that information and they use a Remind app to contact people in a different way. She said that they are documenting that information. In response to a question from Councillor Carlone, Ms. MacDonald said that they were targeting 800 elementary school students to take part in a summer program. Dr. Turk said that the number is similar for the upper grades. Dr. Turk said in the event that a student has not enrolled in a program recommended for them, they are asking the student if they attended another program. Councillor Carlone thanked all for their work. He said that he found this meeting informative and hopeful.

Councillor Toomey stated that this meeting has been very informative, and he looks forward to a successful program for students.

Councillor McGovern said that as it relates to the online enrollment, he logged in on Monday night to register his twins and every section said that there was only a waitlist available. He asked if the groups could be expanded to 18 to create spots. Ms. Farnum explained the way that the online registration process works as it is a new system. She explained that this system was rolled out for the MSYEP and then for the camp program. She explained that in order to manage the placements of children into the small groups, everyone registers for a membership and indicates what sessions they desire. They then go to a waitlist so staff can manage and place participants into small groups. She affirmed that everyone is on a waitlist until enrolled. She noted that this language has been clarified on the registration. Councillor McGovern said that this is important to note. He said that explaining that to people may be helpful to ensure maximum participation. Ms. Farnum said that they were in touch with the company to help with the glitch. The explained that the first day there were over 50 phone calls with questions to the company, most of which are currently resolved. Ms. Farnum noted that participants will learn one week prior to a session whether they are in. Councillor McGovern said that he sent a question to staff and he was pleased with quick response. As it relates to the outdoor component of some programs, how much time are we looking at? Ms. Farnum responded that the plan is to offer 2-3 times per week for each class to have an hour or so.

Councillor McGovern said that there is a tremendous amount of information and Find It Cambridge is the place to go to access all of that information. He suggested adding a Find It Cambridge link to the CPSD homepage. He noted that this is something to think about.

As it relates to the MSYEP, Mayor Siddiqui talked about previous years where there were job opportunities working with DPW watering trees, biking, etc. She asked if these types of employment were not available this year because these jobs would have a more in-person element to it. She asked if the Arts Council will be considered as a virtual site. Ms. Semonoff responded that there are some physical sites this summer and there are also some recreation sites that are physical. She explained that DPW issues may well be capacity to manage young people this summer. She said that they have been in communication with them. As it relates to the Arts Council, she does not know the answer to that questions. Mayor Siddiqui said that it is great that 900 young people applied, and she is thinking about how many more sites are needed to get 900 youth participating in the program. She said that she would love as many sites as possible. In response to Mayor Siddiqui’s question regarding the possibility of having a young person assigned to a City Councillor or School Committee Member, Ms. Semonoff said that the answer is yes. She noted that Councillor Zondervan has requested a young person. She noted that there must be a plan for this young person and what project they will work on. She said that they must have a supervisor and a set work schedule. She said that they are willing to support young people in that regard. She said that the goal is to have a mentor for that young person. She noted that DHSP cannot commit as to who the person will be that is assigned to the City Councillor or School Committee Members. She said that to some extent, you may find yourself with a young person that needs a good amount of support from the City Councillor or Aide. Ms. Semonoff stated that she wants to be very clear that a City Councillor may be assigned a young person that is easy to supervise or a young person that needs a fair amount of support. Ms. Semonoff said that DHSP is likely to have some program later in the summer with My Brother’s Keeper as an adjunct to the MSYEP.

Vice Mayor Mallon asked if there is an extended deadline if an organization wants to become a MSYEP site. Ms. Semonoff said that they can e-mail Ellen Semonoff or George Hinds.

Councillor Nolan said that given that we are setting specific goals and expectations, how are the preassessments being done to ensure that there will be a clear sense of how the students have done. Ms. MacDonald said that they had mid-year screening data for literacy and math prior to the closure. She said that teachers have been forming assessment data on students. Ms. Nolan said that it is not clear that there are any writing expectations for the summer. She asked if we are setting expectations for writing and if not, could we encourage that. Dr. Turk responded that there is no formal expectation for writing as the focus has been on reading expectation. She added that as part of the reading, there is a journalizing component.

Councillor McGovern said that this in unchartered territory and he appreciates the flexibility and willingness to try to figure things out on the fly. He said that he looks forward to in-person camps but there is now a foundation to offer other things such as virtual. He said that this is a building block.

Khari Milner stated that the state is coming down with different regulations, updates and modifications, but as a body of city leaders, please encourage employers to be flexible for the parents.

Councillor McGovern thanked all those present for their attendance.

The hearing adjourned at 4:30pm.

For the Committee,
Councillor Marc McGovern, Chair