Question: On average how many young persons on SNAP and TANF participate in summer OSTP programming at RPCA facilities? What about during the school year? What would be the cost of removing fees for OSTP programming for young persons on SNAP and TANF? How would the fee for full-fee residents need to be increased to remove the fees for OSTP programming for young persons on SNAP and TANF? (Councilwoman Gaskins)
Response:
Fees for all OSTP programs are based on RPCA’s adopted Resource Allocation Policy and are subsidized based on the program’s community benefit. Based on the Five Tier model Resource Allocation methodology, OSTP/Summer Camp is listed in Tier 3 with a 50% cost recovery target. In addition to the discounted fees shown below, families may also use a payment plan, receive an additional multi-child discount, and/or request additional assistance. RPCA communicates regularly with participating families to ensure that fees are not a barrier to participation and does not turn away any participants based on their ability to pay. Any changes to the Resource Allocation and Financial Assistance Policies should be docketed for City Council review and approval.
Based on Summer 2022 RPCA Summer Power-On/Power-Up program enrollment, approximately 14% of participants were eligible for SNAP or TANF. Registration fees (revenue) for those participants totaled $13,758. Capacity for Summer 2023 is greater than 2022, so total fees for SNAP and TANF participants are projected to be closer to $15,000. Waiving those fees would then have a net impact of approximately ($15,000). Based on the 374 participants paying the full fee, the fee would have to be increased by $40 to cover the estimated fees for those receiving SNAP and TANF. The new summer fee would be $485. Should City Council include the 3% fee increase shown in the proposed FY 2024 budget, this fee would increase an additional $14 for a total of $499. RPCA also served 43 participants in partnership with ACPS LINK Club. There were no fees for families participating in LINK Club.
Current Adopted Summer Fees are as follows:
*Fees are not charged on a weekly basis – for information only.
For the current school year (2022-2023), RPCA has a total of 935 participants in the Power-On after school program (OSTP) and of those, 508 paid the full price of $575 for the program. The total amount of assistance for those receiving SNAP and TANF only (not Free and Reduced Lunch) was $25,420. Currently, there are an additional $16,837 in unpaid fees for those on payment plans. These unpaid fees are typically waived prior to the next school year enrollment. Including this amount, a total of $42,257 would need to be covered by the full fee rate for an increase of $83 per full fee participant and a new total fee of $658. Should City Council include the 3% fee increase shown in the proposed FY 2024 budget, this fee would increase an additional $20 for a total of $678.
