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Onondaga County Recovery Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds 2021 Report

IN THIS REPORT

General Overview

  • Letter From County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II
  • Executive Summary
  • Uses of Funds
  • Promoting Equitable Outcomes
  • Community Engagement
  • Labor Practices
  • Use of Evidence
  • Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

Project Inventory

  • Example Project
  • Additional Projects

General Overview

Executive Summary

Onondaga County faced challenges like no other time in our history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Onondaga County enjoyed a thriving economy with multiple new economic development projects, record sales tax and historic job creation. A renewed focus was placed on reclaiming and revitalizing our urban lakefront and progress continued to be made that brought both large and small economic development projects to our towns and villages. Onondaga County also made a commitment to invest in our aging infrastructure, above and below ground. However, when COVID-19 struck the health and safety of our community became the only priority.

Like all other counties across the country, COVID-19 caused devastating effects to our community. Not only did our economy suffer, but we also saw the physical and mental health of our community challenged and even as we work towards our economic recovery, we continue to see those challenges play out nearly every day. Drastic measures were taken early on to preserve County government including deep cuts to our budget and programming. We then reallocated remaining resources to not only keep County government functioning and providing the services our community needed more than ever, but also contend with new challenges caused by the pandemic. Like no other time in modern history, our residents grappled with food insecurity, loss of jobs, lack of available childcare and mental health issues. Thankfully, through quick decisions and the flexibility of our team, we were able to mitigate losses, assist our most vulnerable and provide desperately needed services to our affected residents.

With the announcement of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding, our team began to focus on how we would address our long-term financial and social service needs. Our team looked to our departments for meaningful projects that would address our economic losses, invest in our infrastructure and support our human service needs. We remain confident that by investing in our people, our neighborhoods and our future that we can ensure that all of our community, no matter their race, sex, neighborhood, or socio-economic status, can have a fair shot at an inclusive recovery. To that end, we put together a comprehensive plan that incorporated our core platforms to address the areas of Poverty, Infrastructure and Economic Development.

Poverty

Onondaga County’s mission has always been to make poverty a temporary moment in time for someone. We know that to be successful, the county needs to implement a community-wide approach to address the complex, multigenerational issues that exist and cause individuals and families to live in poverty. During this pandemic, we saw our residents affected in ways we could have never imaged. This plan works to address not only those issues revealed by the pandemic, but the root issues that have caused too many of our neighbors to live in poverty.

As Covid-19 invaded our community, food insecurity, education, daycare, and transportation immediately became issues that required quick and decisive action. Our not-for profits often lacked the necessary funding to deal with the one-hundred-year pandemic, but nonetheless we saw their respective teams work tirelessly to ensure our most vulnerable residents had the support and services they needed.

When in-person education was suspended, it forced our community to acknowledge the digital divide. Too many of our residents either had no access or insufficient access to broadband in their homes. Many families lacked basic, reliable internet; something that too many of us take for granted. Combined with social isolation, our community also saw many children and families began to experience serious mental health issues.

To address these concerns, we have worked with our partner at the Central New York Regional Planning Board to develop a bold plan that invests $15 million into our broadband initiative. Our goal is to not just address the digital divide in our neighborhoods, but ensure that all of our residents, in every part of our community, have equal and reliable access to this basic need. We have already completed the needs assessment and will continue to work in partnership with the Central New York Regional Planning board to formulate our next steps.

To address the growing mental health crisis with our children, Onondaga County is making a substantial investment of $5.5 million to make sure that mental health services will be available in every school, of every school district, across the county. This 3 tier approach will address prevention, early intervention and intensive intervention for students and their families. This program will begin at the start of the 2021-2022 school year and will be done in partnership with Promise Zone, Liberty Resources and Helio Health.

The impact of the pandemic and the economic downturn also resulted in a major impact on our homeowners. Whether it be job loss, missed time due to COVID or other extenuating circumstances meant money that would have been used to maintain a home was diverted for other more pressing needs. Within this plan, the County will invest in our community housing need with $5 million in additional funds to the Onondaga County Neighborhood Initiative. This loan program, offers homeowners a 1% loan that can be used to assist Onondaga County homeowners in targeted communities to make repairs that keep their homes healthy and safe, while preserving the equity they have built to their residences.

We will also work to assist our homeless population by embarking on a $2 million investment, in partnership with Catholic Charities, to provide a newly renovated men’s homeless shelter in the City of Syracuse. In addition to the 100 beds for homeless men, this new shelter will also provide expanded services including mental health services and a health clinic on site.

Infrastructure

Fixing our infrastructure, both above and below ground, is critical to ensuring future economic growth in our community. Throughout the pandemic we worked diligently to maintain our aging infrastructure. Unfortunately, outdated equipment and an overextended staff limited our ability to keep up on projects. Therefore, we will use part of the ARP funding to update our aging infrastructure, update our outdated equipment and enable our county departments to work more efficiently while modernizing our buildings and making our roadways and bridges safer.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a significant increase in visitors to our Onondaga County Parks system. In order to keep up with the level of service needed and to increase efficiencies, we approved replacing outdated parks equipment. This will not only assist our staff to make their jobs more efficient, it will improve our parks for all the new visitors that are driving our rebounding tourism sector.

We have also identified a robust infrastructure improvement program that invests in our roads and bridges. Through these funds, the Onondaga County Department of Transportation will pave over 200 miles of roads across Onondaga County and replace outdated or inefficient equipment. To date we have already completed pavement of over 50 miles of roadways.

Onondaga County will also make a substantial investment in the capital infrastructure of our local municipalities. The County will spend $2 million for the construction, renovation or repair of town and village municipal projects. During the pandemic, municipalities realized the need to enhance and improve community indoor space, the increased need for more outdoor activity space, as well as general infrastructure and maintenance needs.

Through our Main Street Revitalization and Beautification Grant Program, we will award our local municipalities up to $500,000 to improve their main street areas for local revitalization efforts with the goal of growing their respective retail business districts.

We will also make investments in restoring the historic Carnegie building located in downtown Syracuse. This project will relocate several departments to this building in an effort to serve as a one-stop shop for developers and others seeking to do business in Onondaga County. This plan will also include consolidating county departments and free up space in the Civic Center office building to allow for other county departments to operate more efficiently.

We will also continue the work started pre-pandemic and build on the momentum we are experiencing around our urban lakefront. To make this a reality, we will work to complete the East shore of our award winning Loop the Lake trail. The Loop the lake trail has been one of the greatest success stories in our revival of Onondaga Lake. After almost 100 years, and as the result of an amazing public-private partnership with Honeywell, the public now has nearly 100% access to the shore of Onondaga Lake.

The County will also make investments in our infrastructure technology (IT) infrastructure. Cybersecurity is a top priority for businesses due to recent security breaches across the world. Onondaga County will be making a significant investment to ensure our data is safe and secure.

Economic Development

Finally, we will work to bring back a vibrant economy that provides opportunity to everyone and especially engages the part of community that were particularly hard hit by the pandemic. As mentioned previously, prior to the virus invading of our community, Onondaga County was thriving. Now, as we work to revitalize our economy, we will once again concentrate on those projects that were forced to sideline due to the pandemic. We are in the process of developing shovel ready development sites while also actively seeking a variety of events, conferences and conventions that will bring tourism dollars back to our community. We will build transformational tourist attractions and increase investment in the marketing of our county including our award winning parks, world-class event spaces, high-quality sports tourism facilities and our clean and safe waterways as reasons to visit or return to Onondaga County.

As part of our commitment to support the growth and development of the Central New York economy, Onondaga County will also invest in opportunities to further revitalize the our hospitality and tourism industries. To do so, we will be conducting a market feasibility study on the viability of a transformational tourism and economic development project to be located near our urban lakefront area. This pending study will be the first step of the development process that will provide critical guidance for design, construction and operations of this project.

Onondaga County also intends to build upon our strong athletic history with the development of a multi-sports athletic facility to support our growing sports tourism market. This game changing project will entail the development of lacrosse and soccer fields with high-class amenities. The County will invest approximately $25 million and create hundreds of construction jobs. Once fully developed, approximately 200 jobs are projected to be created. The project, at full build out, will result in the sale of over thirty-two thousand hotel rooms and create more than $35 million in economic output annually for our County.

Prior to the pandemic, tourism was a critical part of our local economy. The pandemic caused a drastic and severe decrease in tourism and the lack of conferences and local events had a devastating impact on our sales tax collection. We will use ARP funds to engage our local partners to increase tourism and expand our reach to bring a variety of conventions and events in Onondaga County.

Onondaga County will also embark on a $5 million investment of the Onondaga County Convention Center. The plans call for the creation of new meeting spaces and to enhance the technology throughout the venue. These upgrades will allow for increased opportunities to attract conferences and meetings at this facility.

Recently, we launched the CNY Film Incentive Fund. This economic development initiative in collaboration with CNY Arts, aim is to stimulate the local economy, expand workforce opportunities, increase the capacity of our filmmaking expertise, and introduce film professionals to the many benefits of filming in Central New York. These funds will provide incentives for hiring of our undeserved communities, minorities and our veterans.

In order to remain competitive, Onondaga County has been working with the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency on a revolving loan fund that will include site development incentives. These funds will be used to promote economic development in Onondaga County for commercial site preparation, research and development projects, and development of an agriculture park to promote our agriculture businesses. These funds will provide our county the ability to move quickly with those companies interested in doing business here.

As we look to the future, we know we have a once in a generation opportunity to do meaningful and transformational projects that will invest in our human capital as well as our physical capital including our aging infrastructure. We also have a once in a generation opportunity to secure monumental economic development opportunities that are inclusive of everyone. Our commitment could not be more clear – our plan is only successful if it engages all of our community, no matter their race, sex, zip code or socio-economic background that will allow for our County to see unprecedented growth for the years to come.

Uses of Funds

Onondaga County has put together a plan that focuses on addressing negative economic impacts, services to disproportionately impacted communities, broadband infrastructure and revenue replacement. Projects we have included here will support a strong equitable recovery from the pandemic, provide opportunities for all residents and address ways to recover from the dramatic economic downturn.

Negative Economic Impacts

Central New York Film Incentive Fund

The Onondaga County Production Incentives for Movies and Entertainment Development (PRIMED) program is designed to incentivize professional filmmaking activity in Onondaga County for the purpose of economic development. This program will provide a monetary rebate on qualified expenses for productions that generate professional theatrical movies, television pilots, and high-end commercial filming activity in Onondaga County. Productions are anticipated to average between $600,000 to $3,000,000 in our locality through a typical 30-day production cycle for principal photography for each production. Most of the productions will bring highly sought out-of-state revenue to the region, generating new economic activity for our businesses and constituents. This vital source of economic activity will help keep our local artists, craftspeople, and industry professionals working when they are still severely underemployed or unemployed due to the pandemic.

PRIMED also provides additional financial incentives for hiring local residents from underserved communities, particularly minorities, as well as workforce development opportunities for college students and our region's 30,000+ military veterans. At a time when many businesses are struggling to remain open, the revenue from film productions will give relief to local hotels, restaurants, craft services, home hardware centers, car rental companies, retail stores, and many other industry-related service companies.

The projected impact for PRIMED comes from a similar state-funded grant that supported seven feature-length films through 2020. These films generated over 100,000 labor hours for Central New York residents and each production created, on average, 65 full-time-equivalent jobs for the productions locally. We anticipate the budgets of the productions will continue to get larger as on-location filming continues to grow in popularity due to New York’s competitive film tax credit program. This funding will help to generate the needed sources for new revenue for local businesses while also employing our local creatives, technicians, administrators, and other professionals in supporting industries.

The marketing/PR plan for PRIMED will be based primarily on an awareness campaign both locally and nationally.

Strategies and tactics for this campaign will be as follows:

Social Media Outreach: We will use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Vimeo to target specific audiences in localities where entertainment industry leaders reside. Locations like Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta will be focused on to capture those who work in the industry as well as those interested in filmmaking. The purpose of the outreach campaign will be to steer people to the PRIMED Website currently being hosted by CNY Arts where they can learn more about the area and engage with content hosted online.

Stakeholder Outreach: We will leverage current connections with organizations like local universities, Clear Path for Veterans, CNY Film Professionals, Entertainment Partners, IATSE Local 54 and IATSE Local 9 to engage their members. We will host discussions and presentations about how this program can help the members of these organizations gain valuable work experience in Onondaga County. This will be particularly important to inform local labor and talent pools about potential work in this growing industry.

Finally, we will work with Visit Syracuse with their marketing strategies with information and attend cultivation meetings with film makers and producers to help boost their outreach capabilities to engage their own film audiences directly. Past films that have come to the area have stated that they were looking at multiple locations but decided on the Central New York region due to the competitive tax credits and availability of additional funding to offset the additional costs of filming on location in the region. By highlighting these examples and showing the financial benefit of filming in Onondaga County, our goal will be to maximize the pool of potential productions that could come to the area in order to fund those with the greatest economic impact for the county.

Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

The projects we have put forth will address impacts in the areas of mental health and homelessness. As we saw, the pandemic exacerbated mental health issues because of extended isolation and an increase in abuse issues in the home. In addition, we saw the increased needs of our homeless population in not only the need for housing, but in mental and health services. Through the use of the ARP funds, Onondaga County will invest in projects to provide mental and health services and to address our homeless men’s needs.

Mental Health in Schools

Onondaga County’s School Based Initiatives Expansion of Mental Health will support children and youth across the county, in every school, and along all levels of need. This Multi-Tiered System of Support model will include the expansion of several child and family serving roles that were previously implemented in Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse. Onondaga County children/youth are currently experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety and depression as isolation and social/emotional trauma has been particularly acute during the pandemic. To meet the needs of the broader population of Onondaga County youth and families, this Expansion is implementing additional staffing. These include 45 Promise Zone (PZ) Student Engagement Specialists, five additional Promise Zone Supervisors, 8 ACCESS Liaisons, and start-up funds for 64 School Based Mental Health Clinics. To date, 43 of the 45 PZ specialists have been hired, all 5 of the PZ Supervisors and all 8 Access Liaisons have been hired, and 50 of the Clinics are in the early implementation process. The hiring achievements are of note as recruitment and hiring have been strained during this period of the pandemic, as recruiting, interviewing, and all collaborative planning meetings with partnering Districts and Organizations were virtual.

  • The funds are supporting the implementation of staffing and school-based supports to address the public health impact of the pandemic as evidenced by local mental health indicators, such as increased number of youth exhibiting needs for mental health crisis intervention Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP).
  • Beginning in April 2020, the proportion of children’s mental health–related Emergency Department visits among all pediatric ED visits increased and remained elevated through October. Compared with 2019, the proportion of mental health–related visits for children aged 5–11 and 12–17 years increased approximately 24% and 31%, respectively

Catholic Charities Homeless Men’s Shelter

Through the ARP funds, Onondaga County will be undertaking a project that will relocate and improve programming of an existing Men’s Homeless Shelter. The modernized and updated shelter will better serve our community’s homeless men. It will be co-located with Catholic Charities rapid housing relocation program, have on-sight housing navigators, a culinary training program and a street level café that will employ some of the shelter residents. This holistic approach will assist clients with mental health counseling, housing relocation, and reconnecting with family and community supports. It is critical that we as a community work to improve conditions for all our homeless residents. Working with our community partners, we know we can achieve that goal.

Currently, our local Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter provides emergency housing for the poorest of the poor in Onondaga County. Most men present with no income and have to apply for Public Assistance and/or Social Security Income while staying at the shelter. This shelter currently serves a high percentage of men with complex mental health issues. The men who frequent this facility have tremendous difficulty successfully living in any permanent housing.

Over the last 12 months (current shelter, the statistics show that men served at this shelter come from high concentrations of poverty in our community, that Black and African American are homeless disproportionately from the overall percentage they represent in the County, that homeless men have complex physical and mental health issues and the vast majority of homeless men do not have any income.

We also note that the majority of men they served in the last 12 months came from 13202, 13203, 13204, 13205 and 13208 zip codes. These zip codes have high concentrations of poverty.

Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure

Eliminating the digital divide in urban and rural communities continues to be a challenge in our community and that clearly came into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Onondaga County will make equal access to broadband a priority for all residents of our county.

According to a survey conducted by ECC Technologies, 3,504 households and 377 business addresses within the Onondaga County do not have access to broadband internet. Internet is no longer viewed as a luxury but rather as a necessity. Many consider internet services as a form of utility. Internet is needed by businesses to support their processes, budgets, payments, point of sale, etc. Households have become reliant on internet for education, research and quality of life needs such as music, television and much more.

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has exponentially increased the need for broadband services for most businesses and education institutions either through supporting or requiring remote work and schooling. Covid-19 forced many aspects of our daily lives online; virtual learning, working from home, online shopping, telemedicine, and simply staying connected to friends, family and colleagues. It has also shown how prevalent the digital divide is in parts of Central New York. Not having broadband puts individuals and businesses at a huge disadvantage in succeeding either in school or in business.

Affordable broadband services have proved invaluable for the economic development of startup companies and they are absolutely essential to help keep businesses productive and competitive.

Onondaga County plans utilize American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding by contracting with internet service providers to build out fiber optics wiring to all the unserved and underserved areas within Onondaga County.

Based on the information derived ECC Technologies’ broadband survey, we estimate the capital cost to fill the gaps in broadband coverage will be up to $15 Million.

Onondaga County Broadband Project

The county broadband project involves the following:

  • Develop and release an RFP to several internet service providers and networking companies
  • RFP will detail requirements of fiber project, expectations of service delivery, speeds, pricing, equipment, etc.
  • RFP will require costs, timeline, project plan, etc.
  • Tentative project schedule is awards would be made in early 2022 and construction would be completed by the end of 2023
  • Upon project completion all county residents and businesses would have broadband availability

Revenue Replacement

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dramatic steps taken by New York State to address the subsequent public health crisis also resulted in severe and negative impacts to our local economy and overall financial health. As the county closed out the 2020 fiscal year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was most evident in sales tax collections, state aid, and other general revenues like user fees. As a result, the aforementioned revenue which is used to support much of the county's operations, suffered a decreased of $36 million or 4.7% compared to 2019. When using the guidance from the interim final rule for calculating lost revenue, the county determined it lost $68 million in 2020 due to the pandemic. The detailed calculation for loss of revenue is included in the county's interim report.

Based on these losses, we have put together detailed revenue replacement plans that will invest in our county infrastructure, inclusive economic development and tourism projects and most importantly our people. The infrastructure projects will provide for the stabilization of our government services, and our economic and tourism projects will focus on resuming the record growth we were experiencing pre-pandemic as well as the overall revitalization of our economy. In preparing this plan, our team sought projects and opportunities that will address the needs of all of our community residents.

Infrastructure

Road and Bridge work

The County will make a historic investment in our infrastructure both above and below ground. Part of this investment includes an additional five million dollar infusion to the overall 2021 Road Work Plan for a total investment of nearly thirty-five million dollars. This will allow us to invest in over 210 miles of County Highways. To date, we have already accomplished over 50 miles of roadway and plan to continue throughout the fall of 2021. When complete, this project will enhance our neighborhoods, allow for easier travel for residents and visitors and provide safer roadways for our community.

Infrastructure Maintenance Equipment

Onondaga County will continue to work with our Department of Transportation staff to replace outdated and inefficient infrastructure equipment. During the pandemic, county staff were asked to do even more with less and it highlighted the critical need to invest in resources that allow them to operate in their jobs effectively and efficiently. Through the use of these funds, we will equip our employees with the most updated and modern maintenance equipment that will ensure they are prepared for future needs.

Parks/Facility Equipment

The Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in a significant increase of visitors to our Onondaga County Parks system. Many residents who do not have access to outdoor space, now take advantage of our award-winning county parks and facilities. The increase in residents and visitors, however, has resulted in the need for additional maintenance work and upkeep at our parks and facilities. Therefore, we will use funds to invest in these parks and facility equipment to ensure that our residents and visitors continue to experience the high-quality services and amenities they have come to expect. These improvements will also allow our employees to be more effective and efficient in their everyday work, will providing our residents with an enhanced environment for outdoor recreation and socialization. This investment will also ensuring our parks and buildings continue to be safe space for all residents, especially in a post-pandemic world.

Economic Development and Tourism

In an effort to recapture our pre-pandemic economic development momentum and successes, we will also address the need for increased economic develop projects and tourism. Our strategy also recognizes and reflects the overall change we have seen to the economy and what drives consumer decisions and spending. Prior to the COVID, Onondaga County was soaring with record job creation which resulted in the healthy collection of sales and room occupancy taxes. We were competing for large economic develop projects and working diligently with local community partners throughout our community to ensure our economic success was inclusive. This included, but was not limited to, efforts to provide transportation solutions, training and job opportunities for our residents

Main Street Revitalization and Beautification Projects

Onondaga County is home to nineteen towns, fifteen villages and the City of Syracuse. Each of these municipalities have their own respective business districts, often referred to as their “Main Street” area. The economic downturn caused by the pandemic left many small businesses across the county struggling financially. The inability to invest in the normal upkeep and maintenance of properties has resulted in the need for financial assistance to stimulate revitalization and beautification of these important districts. Through this funding, Onondaga County will dedicate $5,000,000 to this program. This comprehensive business district revitalization grant program will allow for XX improvements, business creation/retention, and main street beautification that will lead to healthier and more economically vibrant communities.

Capital Improvement Grant Funds

Through this funding, the county intends to invest in Capital Improvements of infrastructure under the jurisdiction of local municipalities. This efforts calls for up to two million dollars for the construction, renovation or repair of town and village municipal projects. During the pandemic, municipalities experienced a rapid increase in demand for not only improved indoor spaces but enhanced outdoor facilities, activities and the need to invest in general infrastructure maintenance needs. This funding will be available to all towns, villages and hamlets to enhance the quality of life for all our residents.

Multi-Sports Complex

The envisioned Onondaga County Sports Complex would address opportunities and needs related to the growing sports tourism market in Onondaga County. This effort would boost the local economy through increased local spending and enhanced opportunities for local, underserved amateur sports and recreation users in our community. According to the Sports Events & Tourism Association’s 2019 “Sports Tourism: State of the Industry Report”, it was found that sports-related travelers, event organizers and venues spent $45.1 billion in 2019, which then generated $103.3 billion in business sales (indirect & induced) impacts. These numbers were achieved by nearly 180-million people traveling to an amateur sports event in the U.S. in 2019. The proposed complex would consist of approximately ten full-sized multisport, rectangle shaped, synthetic turf fields including one championship field and one filed with a year-round bubble structure. Additional characteristics and amenities include state-of-the-art lighting for all fields, multiple restroom and concession facilities, a field operations building and other amenities to accommodate players and their families.

Convention Center Improvements

Onondaga County will also embark on a $5 million renovation of the Onondaga County Convention Center. Convention business has always been a strong component of our local economy and our community accelerates its recovery, it will be important to capitalize on this already proven success. Our plans include creating new meeting spaces, significant improvements and updates to the technology infrastructure and additional enhancements to make it more marketable to interested parties. We are confident that these improvements will result in increased opportunities to secure additional conferences, events and meetings.

Lakefront Development Study

Onondaga County Parks is conducting a market feasibility study to gauge support for a transformational urban tourism and economic development project to be built on the Shore of Onondaga Lake, located in the City of Syracuse. The study will evaluate potential market support, usage forecasts and project financial performance. It will also provide critical guidance for design and operations. The consultant team conducting this study will seek input from various community members/groups. Once completed, this project could serve as a tourism and economic development driver, but will also provide job opportunities for those in our city center.

Site Development

To remain competitive, stimulate economic development and encourage job creation and retention, Onondaga County will work with the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) to advance the Agency’s goals and mission by establishing a revolving loan fund. Economic development opportunities advanced by OCIDA would fuel and accelerate the economic progress, general prosperity, and workforce development for the benefit of the Onondaga County community. The loan from Onondaga County to OCIDA will be used, as needed, to advance, expand and support asset development and remediation; acquire and market project sites to a broader scope of businesses; attract high tech industries; and create high paying, quality jobs for our diverse citizenry. OCIDA will reimburse Onondaga County from the Agency fees it collects from the projects receiving financial assistance.

Carnegie Building Renovations

Through these funds, work has already begun on the rehabilitation of our historic Carnegie Building located in our vibrant and growing downtown. The former Carnegie Library has sat mostly vacant over the last two decades despite occasional discussions to bring this facility back to its useful life. Now, Onondaga County will take action and complete the necessary to renovations, breathing life back into the building. Staying true to its intended purpose of remaining a building accessible to the public, the county intends to relocate various departments to make this a one-stop-shop for developers and others seeking to do business in Onondaga County. Departments set to relocate to this location include the offices of Onondaga County Economic Development, Onondaga County Community Development and the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency. Consolidation will also free up space in the Civic Center office building allowing other county departments to expand and better accommodate the people we serve.

Promoting Equitable Outcomes

Promoting equitable outcomes is a critical component to ensuring equal opportunities to all residents within a community. The projects below will outline how we will address measuring equity throughout these projects.

The Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter Project

The following are the outcomes that are tracked in addition to the demographic information (see above). These track health disparities and social determinants of health (i.e., income source, stable housing, and primary health care)

  • 80% of men must apply for Public Assistance - There is a high rate of one night stays. The vast majority of men come in with no income but end up on public benefits (PA, SNAP, and Medicaid).
  • 100% of men exiting shelter will have destination outcomes – This track stable housing after being in shelter.
  • Decrease recidivism rates by 50% - This track stable housing after being in shelter
  • 50% of men will be referred to the Onondaga County Health Department for TB testing, health screenings and flu/pneumonia shots. – Health status is monitored in shelter to reduce the spread of communicable diseases)

Mental Health Services in Schools

  1. Goals:The Expansion of School Based Mental Health Supports brings mental health staff and supports to rural and small school districts that do not as often receive outside resources as larger districts and schools closer to city-centers. Additionally, we are recruiting and hiring Black professionals and professionals of color to address under-representation of staffing in school communities.
  2. Awareness:The first step of the Expansion planning included dialogues with each partnering school district. As primary partners in this project, each school district is supporting the communication of the services to their families, students, staff, and stakeholders. Each school district will tailor their communication to meet the unique needs of their school community. Additionally, new Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists will work from school buildings, attending school-community events to help promote opportunities for their support, to be visible and accessible to the communities they serve.
  3. Access and Distribution:All students are equally able to access the supports provided through the Promise Zone and ACCESS Liaisons programs. - As we have found through our significant investment in school-based clinics for the last twenty years, Co-location of outpatient children’s mental health care within the school setting is an approach that advances access to quality care and improves academic outcomes. This partnership provides a unique opportunity to identify those children and families who might not otherwise seek treatment and strengthens the capacity for earlier recognition and treatment options. Co-location fosters an atmosphere that recognizes the interconnectedness between education and mental health and paves the way to improved outcomes. There are no administrative requirements that would result in disparities in access of services or eligibility. While this funding supports the start-up costs of the School Based Clinics, the medical insurance construct may make the clinical services cost-prohibitive for some individuals
  4. Outcomes:The outcomes of the Expansion of School Based Mental Health Supports focus on reaching universal levels of service and access to social and mental health supports and interventions for school aged children and youth and their families.

Central New York Film Incentive Fund

Through this program, our partner PRIMED will provide additional financial incentives for hiring local residents from underserved communities, particularly minorities, as well as workforce development opportunities for college students and our region's 30,000+ military veterans. At a time when many businesses are struggling to remain open, the revenue from film productions will give relief to local hotels, restaurants, craft services, home hardware centers, car rental companies, retail stores, and many other industry-related service companies In addition, the Innovation Group of CNY Arts (IGCNYA) will receive applications from PRIMED of eligible productions, to be reviewed by an independent panel of industry experts, who will assess the suitability of each production on the basis of feasibility, creative merit, and anticipated economic impact. Applications are competitive. If approved, panelists may also award an additional incentive bonus depending on the degree of diversity and/or representation among cast and crew. Funding determinations are awarded as an “up to” amount, an estimate based on the submission of a preliminary production budget; disbursements may vary according to the amount of qualified local expenditure actually incurred within Onondaga County. When a production completes principal photography, they will be required to submit a package of expense reporting deliverables used to verify the authenticity of each expense and eligibility for rebate support.

Community Engagement

Over the last several months, Onondaga County has engaged community leaders and local stakeholders in detailed discussions on how we plan to invest our American Rescue Plan funds in an inclusive way that invests in our people, our infrastructure and our future. An intentional focus was placed on ensuring that we engaged and heard from people in every part of our county, including our urban core, our suburbs and our rural neighbors.

The County Executive’s first public outreach took place on March 31, 2021 at the Onondaga County State of the County. This is where he initially identified his priorities for funding.

Attached is the link to his remarks. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=249071843580039&ref=watch_permalink

In the following weeks, follow up conversations and input was sought from the community. This outreach was conducted through surveys, group meetings and individual contacts.

Then in June of 2021, the County Executive met with the members of FOCUS Greater Syracuse, a citizen-centered research and engagement organization to share ideas and to seek input on our plans for the use of these funds. This meeting included a diverse group of community leaders and residents who were able to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposed projects.

In preparing to roll out our broadband internet initiative, our team partnered with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board and ECC Technologies, LLC to undertake a community survey to identify the parts of county that either lack access or are currently underserved. Results were returned July 31, 2021 and will be used to prepare our plan going forward to that ensure that there is broadband access for all residents and businesses across Onondaga County. We also engaged with the Town Supervisors Association to review the broadband maps and sought input on where the biggest service issues are in their towns.

The County also recently sent out a request for proposal seeking a feasibility/market study for a proposed transformational tourism project in Onondaga County. Through this process, we will be seeking input of local community partners including our colleges and universities, tourism partners, hotels and entertainment venues.

Onondaga County also worked collaboratively with our village mayor’s and town supervisor’s to develop a capital improvement program for their respective main streets, hamlets and/or business districts. Our team held group and individual meetings as well as calls with our local town supervisors and village mayors to discuss priority projects that will address many longstanding infrastructure issues and potential construction projects.

Most recently, the County Executive meet with Leadership Greater Syracuse, an independent non-profit group of community leaders, where he presented details of his plan and subsequently sought their input and answered questions.

Our engagement efforts will continue over the coming months, with a continued emphasis ensuring all of our residents, no matter their age, race, gender or zip code, has an opportunity to offer their ideas as we work to revitalize our economy and ensure success for years to come.

Labor Practices

Onondaga County infrastructure projects include a 30% Equal Employment Opportunity labor participation goal as well as a 30% Minority and Women Business Enterprise utilization goal. The Onondaga County Office of Diversity and Inclusion employs three full-time staff to monitor and uphold EEO, MWBE, and DBE goals. These employees regularly meet with local business groups to help create opportunities for our local workforce and businesses. All work on County infrastructure projects is subject to prevailing wage under Article 8 of the New York State Labor Law. Federally funded projects adhere to goals as specified within the contract.

Use of Evidence

Onondaga County will use evidenced based interventions in regard to our Services to disproportionally impacted communities. These projects that will include evidenced based interventions will be through our Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter and Mental Health Clinics in Schools.

Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter

The Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter uses the following evidence-based interventions for their housing program.

  • Housing First - Housing First is a homeless assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, thus ending their homelessness and serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life. This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly, or attending to substance use issues. Additionally, Housing First is based on the theory that client choice is valuable in housing selection and supportive service participation, and that exercising that choice is likely to make a client more successful in remaining housed and improving their life.
  • Motivational Interviewing - Motivational interviewing is a counseling approach designed to help people find the motivation to make a positive behavior change. This client-centered approach is particularly effective for people who have mixed feelings about changing their behavior.
  • Trauma Informed Care - Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is an approach in the human service field that assumes that an individual is more likely than not to have a history of trauma. Trauma-Informed Care recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role trauma may play in an individual’s life- including service staff.
  • Harm Reduction - Harm reduction incorporates a spectrum of strategies that includes safer use, managed use, abstinence, meeting people who use drugs “where they’re at,” and addressing conditions of use along with the use itself. 1) Accepts, for better or worse, that licit and illicit drug use is part of our world and chooses to work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn them 2) Understands drug use as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses a continuum of behaviors from severe use to total abstinence, and acknowledges that some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others 3) Establishes quality of individual and community life and well-being — not necessarily cessation of all drug use — as the criteria for successful interventions and policies 4) Calls for the non-judgmental, non-coercive provision of services and resources to people who use drugs and the communities in which they live in order to assist them in reducing attendant harm 5) Ensures that people who use drugs and those with a history of drug use routinely have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them 6) Affirms people who use drugs (PWUD) themselves as the primary agents of reducing the harms of their drug use and seeks to empower PWUD to share information and support each other in strategies which meet their actual conditions of use 7) Recognizes that the realities of poverty, class, racism, social isolation, past trauma, sex-based discrimination, and other social inequalities affect both people’s vulnerability to and capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm 8) Does not attempt to minimize or ignore the real and tragic harm and danger that can be associated with illicit drug use.

Mental Health Clinics in schools

The supports that are included in the Expansion of School Based Mental Health Supports were determined through the evidence based Multi-Tiered System of Support framework. MTSS is an evidence-based framework for effectively integrating multiple systems and services to simultaneously address students' academic achievement, behavior, and social-emotional well-being. The MTSS framework, recognizes that the successful implementation of intensive individualized interventions at the highest Tier 3 is enhanced by the successful implementation of Tier 1 (universal) and Tier 2 (targeted) supports and interventions. The funds will support the startups of School-Based Mental Health clinics, a Tier 3 support, as well as staffing Tier 1 and 2 supports through the Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists and the ACESS Liaisons. A significant portion of the mental health interventions used by the clinicians are delivered following an evidence-based protocol to fidelity. (e.g., Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), while Promise Zone specialists are also trained in a variety of Evidence Based interventions including Collaborative Problem Solving, Trauma Informed Practices, and other school-based interventions.

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category
Project Inventory

Example Project

Project: School Based Initiatives: Mental Health in Schools

Funding amount: $5.5 million

Category: Services for Disproportionately Impacted Communities: 3.4 Education Assistance

Project Overview

The School Based Initiatives Expansion of Mental Health is supporting children and youth across the county, in every school, and along all levels of need. This Multi-Tiered System of Support model will include the expansion of several child and family serving roles that were previously implemented in Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse. Onondaga County children/youth are currently experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety and depression as isolation and social/emotional trauma has been particularly acute during the pandemic. To meet the needs of the broader population of Onondaga County youth and families, this Expansion is implementing additional staffing. These include 45 Promise Zone (PZ) Student Engagement Specialists, five additional Promise Zone Supervisors, 8 ACCESS Liaisons, and startup funds for 64 School Based Mental Health Clinics. To date, 43 of the 45 PZ specialists have been hired, all 5 of the PZ Supervisors and all 8 Access Liaisons have been hired, and 50 of the Clinics are in the early implementation process. The hiring achievements are of note as recruitment and hiring have been strained during this period of the pandemic, as recruiting, interviewing, and all collaborative planning meetings with partnering Districts and Organizations were virtual.

Use of Evidence

The supports included in the Expansion of School Based Mental Health Supports were determined through the evidence based Multi-Tiered System of Support framework. MTSS is an evidence-based framework for effectively integrating multiple systems and services to simultaneously address students' academic achievement, behavior, and social-emotional well-being. The MTSS framework, recognizes that the successful implementation of intensive individualized interventions at the highest Tier 3 is enhanced by the successful implementation of Tier 1 (universal) and Tier 2 (targeted) supports and interventions. The funds will support the star- ups of School-Based Mental Health clinics, a Tier 3 support, as well as staffing Tier 1 and 2 supports through the Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists and the ACESS Liaisons. A significant portion of the mental health interventions used by the clinicians are delivered following an evidence-based protocol to fidelity. (e.g., Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), while Promise Zone specialists are also trained in a variety of Evidence Based interventions including Collaborative Problem Solving, Trauma Informed Practices, and other school-based interventions.

Additional Projects
PDF VERSION HERE
Performance Report

Catholic Charities Men’s Homeless Shelter

Unfortunately, homeless shelters have to exist to serve those individuals that eviction was not preventable. While in shelter, staff work to stability the individual, including establish a reliable source of income so rent can be paid. Over the last year, 136 men moved into permanent housing.

Mental Health Clinics in schools

The Expansion of School Based Mental Health supports as a new project in Onondaga County schools will monitor progress and success of implementation by tracking the following:

  • # of schools with new Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists
  • # of schools with new Access Liaisons
  • # of new School Based Clinics
  • # Families served through the ACCESS liaisons
  • # Youth seen in School Mental Health clinics
  • # Youth served by Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists
  • # Interventions implemented with youth by PZ Student Engagement Specialists
  • # Referrals made to more targeted interventions and support outside of the school and school-based initiatives.
  • Improvements in behavioral incidents in schools with Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists

Additional Information About the Supports Across the Tiers

Tier 3: School Based Mental Health Treatment

  • What Clinicians Do:
  • Clinicians provide in-school behavioral health assessment, diagnosis, and ongoing symptom reduction treatment. They serve as a team member in identifying techniques to support the child in different settings (classroom, home, and cafeteria). This strategy allows for ongoing care of district children while minimizing missed instruction time.

Tier 2: ACCESS Liaisons

  • What Liaisons Do:
  • Establish relationships with schools and take referrals to support children and families when child welfare concerns are present, but the issues do not rise to the level of calling the CPS hotline. Work to assess, support, and plan with children and families experiencing social and emotional challenges. Families can self-refer with concerns. Provide technical assistance/consultation to school staff when challenged with where to go next with cases.

Tier 1: Promise Zone Student Engagement Specialists

  • What Student Engagement Specialists Do:
  • Expand/extend current student supports under the direction of Social worker, psychologist, or counselor. Intervene with children in school setting that are experiencing social/emotional challenges through one to one and group settings. Teach children skills to manage emotions, use expressive language, and deepen relationships. Allows kids ability to stay in class and be ready to learn.
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