UNLVs multimillion-dollar state contract to help low-income families find qualified child care is about to be transferred to a poverty-fighting agency that less than a year ago was suffering a leadership vacuum and financial problems.
Its interim head is Assemblyman Morse Arberry, the Las Vegas Democrat who is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and who raised questions at a legislative hearing in March about whether a community organization could take over the contract that UNLV has held for four years. He was told yes.
Seven weeks later, Arberry took over as interim head and CEO of the nonprofit Las Vegas-Clark County Urban League. The contract was put up for bid in August, and in November the Urban League beat out UNLV for the job.
The Urban League and the Nevada Welfare and Supportive Services Division are negotiating contract details. The reasons the Urban League beat out UNLV will be announced after an agreement is reached, officials say.
Arberry did not return phone calls left with the Urban League for comment.
The contract, financed by federal child care and development grants, will enable the Urban League to hire staff to determine whether families are eligible for state-supported child care
and refer qualified individuals to licensed child care providers. Staff also will train providers on issues related to child development, and process payments for services rendered.
Tom Pierce, chairman of UNLVs special education department, was notified in November that the contract would not be renewed when it expires June 30, but not told why.
I dont know what to make of it, Pierce said. I was surprised and disheartened.
State officials and an Urban League executive say the decision is unrelated to Arberrys involvement.
At a March 3 hearing that included members of Arberrys committee and the Senate Finance Committee, welfare division administrator Romaine Gilliland said there was a need to improve access to child care in Southern Nevada for families in need. His agency proposed transferring employees from UNLV to it to manage the program, although UNLV would continue to offer training for the providers.
Referring to the contract once held by the now-defunct Economic Opportunity Board, Arberry asked at the March meeting whether the welfare division would consider a contract with another agency if one was interested and met criteria to run the program. Gilliland said yes, citing his agencys success in Northern Nevada with nonprofit contractor The Childrens Cabinet.
Arberry wasnt affiliated with the Urban League until April 23 when he became its interim president and CEO. In August, the state solicited bids for what would be a broader contract than UNLVs. The university applied, but state employees on an evaluation committee recommended the Urban League, the only other bidder.
What we were looking to do was to find a community partner in Southern Nevada that could provide comparable services to what The Childrens Cabinet does in the north, Gilliland said this week. In choosing the Urban League we believe that it has made significant progress and that its capable of handling this grant.
Urban League Chief Operating Officer E. Lavonne Lewis, said the financial issues that plagued her agency have been resolved. She characterized those problems as cash-flow issues in which the Urban League would pay vendors for providing community services but would often be tardy in seeking reimbursement from the state. At one point in 2008, the organization had only $33.
But she said the Urban League has since learned to manage our finances more prudently.
With 25,000 clients in Clark County who take advantage of the Urban Leagues job placement, rent voucher and family service programs, Lewis said the agency is qualified to add the child care program.
We felt that it was a contract that we could do well, she said. The state saw us as a community-based organization, and we already see the people in need of these services.
For its program, UNLV employs 79 people and has 18 vacancies, which it plans to fill. But once the Urban League takes over, all employees will have to reapply for the job openings.
Mary Liveratti, deputy programs director for the Nevada Health and Human Services Department, has been serving as an ex-officio member of the Urban League board to make sure the agency straightens out its finances. But, she said, the Urban League has done just that, and she sees no need to attend future board meetings.
If we didnt believe they could make it, we wouldnt be negotiating this contract with them, Liveratti said.
Steve Kanigher canbe reached at 259-4075or at steve.kanigher@lasvegassun.com.
Copyright 2010 Las Vegas Sun
