Maryland Governor's Grants Conference--March 21, 2013

By Harry Sachs 
     Business and Government Information Center Librarian
     Washington County

On March 21, 2013 I attended the Maryland Governor’s Grants Conference sponsored by the Governor’s Grants Office at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. This blog entry summarizes the conference’s events along with my impressions and general observations. 

The agenda for the conference is available at: http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1101383760746-421/AGENDA.pdf

PowerPoint presentations at the conference may be found under “What’s New” on the office’s website (www.grants.maryland.gov)

WHAT IS THE GOVERNOR'S GRANTS OFFICE?

The Governor's Grants Office was established in 2004 by the Governor. The Office coordinates State agency activities in applying for and managing federal grants. It trains and provides technical assistance to State and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations in grant-writing and identifying federal grant opportunities; and measures, tracks, and disseminates federal funding data. In addition, the Office offers an annual report, an e-newsletter, State grant announcements, conferences, and webinar training.

The Office’s website provides grants information for not only state and local governments but also for residents, businesses and students.  Under the Contacts tab is a list of Maryland Local Government Contacts by county which also includes public library grants collections, such as the one at WCFL.

WHY A GOVERNOR'S GRANTS CONFERENCE? 

The conference provides an opportunity to learn about the latest trends in grants management from federal agencies, the state and foundation and corporate-giving worlds. The one-day event is usually a sold-out affair, such as this one, and features speakers and panelists from federal and state government and nonprofit foundations.

Attendees were a mixture of representatives from federal, state and local government, higher education  and nonprofit  organizations, including a few librarians from county public library grants collections, such as myself and from Pratt and Charles, Frederick and Howard Counties. 

While the conference was open to the public, the registration fee requirement severely limited public attendance.

MORNING SESSION:

Morning: The welcoming remarks were given by Barry Anderson, Deputy Director of the National Governors Conference.

Mr. Anderson presented an interesting overview of the sequester controversy in Washington.  He presented a gloomy fiscal outlook with an emphasis on the immense costs of funding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the future

The morning workshops discussed federal funding with representatives of Federal agencies making up a panel discussing federal funding opportunities.  This was essentially a quick rundown via PowerPoint presentation by appropriate representatives.

AFTERNOON SESSION:

The afternoon workshop I attended was an introduction to Maryland StateStat (website: www.statestat.maryland.gov) which is a performance measurement and management tool used by the state.  This tool was originally implemented by then-Mayor O’Malley for Baltimore City as CitiStat and has since been expanded statewide since 2007.   

Key public safety, health care, and social services agencies were selected to form the initial foundation of StateStat review process: the Department of Juvenile Services, The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Human Resources, and Health and Mental Hygiene. The program has expanded to include other  critical service agencies

The participating state agencies submit data on key performance indicators to StateStat. This data is analyzed and used to identify areas of concern which are reported in an executive briefing. Leaders of each agency and the Governor’s executive staff hold weekly meetings to discuss the agency’s progress on selected initiatives and to develop strategies for improvement.

Agency reports and summaries from every meeting can be found on the StateStat website.  StateStat has partnered with other state agencies to launch the MD iMap, an interactive tool that information from agencies across the state to provide information about many improvement projects clearly and accurately.

The PowerPoint presentation for StateStat is available at http://grants.maryland.gov/Governor%20Grants%20Conference%202013%20Presentations/Performance%20Measures.pdf

While StateStat seems an admirable program, I question whether the measurement of delivery of services can be done on such a large scale as compared to a smaller area such as Baltimore City.  Opinion has also been mixed as to whether CityStat made much of a dent on the insurmountable urban problems in Baltimore.  

The other afternoon session I attended involved a panel session with private grantors speaking about their policies and their grantmaking.  Most of the grantmakers were from well-known foundations in the Baltimore area and will not accept applications from Western Maryland.  One important point emphasized in the discussion was how many applicants fail to follow simple instructions.   Another point emphasized was the importance of communication in discussing eligibility for grants.

CONCLUSION:  

The conference provided opportunities to network with local nonprofit organizations around the state. Unfortunately, attendance from Western Maryland counties was minimal.

The most interesting part of the conference was the presentation on StateStat  The focus of  many of the workshops could have broadened from internal federal government policies and regulations.