Call To Order
Roll Call
Committee member Mark Stremler called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m.
in a hybrid meeting.
6 -
Present:
Barry Buchanan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, Jessica Rienstra, Jon
Scanlon, and Mark Stremler
1 - Elizabeth Boyle
Absent:
Announcements
Special Presentation
1.
Presentation from the Child and Family Well Being Task Force on the 2026 Healthy
Children’s Fund Report Card
The following people presented:
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Tilda Doughty, Task Force Co-Chair
Christina Jackson, Child and Family Well-Being Task Force
Sallye Quinn, Task Force Co-Chair
Doughty introduced the 2026 Healthy Children’s Fund Report Card, thanked
Health and Community Services staff, and spoke about significant
developments since the last report card in the spring of 2025.
Jackson spoke about concerns around continued fund deployment and
contracting delays, and findings of the independent audit which also
acknowledged those. She spoke about community awareness, and stated the
task force recommended stronger communication and greater transparency
with the public in the March 2025 report card and that same concern also
surfaced in the independent audit. She spoke about progress being made on
that front.
Quinn spoke about updated task force recommendations regarding the gift
of public funds and that the County take a clear position that the use of the
Healthy Children’s Funds constitutes a fundamental public purpose,
communication and the launch of a new dedicated website, childcare
capacity expansion and remaining strong in support of subsidies, use of
some of the administrative funds for expanding capacity in other County
departments such as the Finance Department and legal, publishing a draft
contract with requests for proposal (RFPs), raising the threshold for
contracts requiring council approval, and helping early learning and care
workforce expansion by developing a network for professional and career
development.
