Mission Statement

The Community Engagement Cluster (CEC) works to build stronger, more informed, and inclusive communities. The Cluster is responsible for strengthening Montgomery County's commitment to civic engagement and community service by engaging residents, organizations, businesses and other community groups. The Cluster maximizes communities' assets - time, talents, and other resources - working collaboratively to address and resolve community issues.

The cluster is a combination of the five Regional Services Centers, the Commission for Women, and the Office of Community Partnerships, including the Gilchrist Center and the Volunteer Center, that has been operating as one unit since July 1, 2011. As a cluster, these offices/functions have combined facilities, resources, and support staff while retaining staff expertise and experience, as well as most of the objectives of the separate entities involved.

Budget Overview

The total recommended FY20 Operating Budget for the Community Engagement Cluster is $4,795,376, an increase of $946,294 or 24.58 percent from the FY19 Approved Budget of $3,849,082. Personnel Costs comprise 84.40 percent of the budget for 25 full-time position(s) and nine part-time position(s), and a total of 29.50 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 15.60 percent of the FY20 budget.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following are emphasized:

• Thriving Youth and Families
• A Greener County
• Effective, Sustainable Government

Department Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY19 estimates reflect funding based on the FY19 approved budget. The FY20 and FY21 figures are performance targets based on the FY20 recommended budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY21.

Accomplishments

• Produced and distributed, through the Montgomery County Commission for Women (CFW), "A Tale of Two Counties: The Status of Women in Montgomery County 2018." The report is an update to the 2007 Status of Women Report and covers the following: Women and the Economy, Women and Health, Women and Poverty, Women and Politics, Women and Education, and Women and Public Safety. The report's findings were covered by WAMU, the Bethesda Beat, and WDVM.
• Organized the 39th Annual Women's Legislative Briefing in January 2019, hosted by CFW.
• Offered 30 seminars, serving over several hundred residents through CFW programming. Consistent with the CFW's commitment to impact and aligning its work to a set of clear priorities that reflect the needs of the community, the programming committee crafted a mission for its engagement through seminars and workshops: To enrich the lives of women and families by Informing, Educating, Empowering, and Supporting residents of the County.
• Supported and provided leadership, through CFW, the Montgomery County Human Trafficking Prevention Committee (Committee). The 2018 accomplishments of the Committee include: (1) creation of victim referral cards that are distributed by the Vice Unit of the Montgomery County Police Department, (2) completion of a written report that provides an overview of findings from a survey of Montgomery County hotels concerning their human trafficking training practices, and (3) reviewed and inspected "bodyworks" establishment to ensure they were not fronts for sex trafficking.
• Served 8,057 residents through volunteer-taught classes such as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Spanish, computer skills, or job search skills; 5,253 residents through information and referral services; and 3,570 residents through partner organization programs such as ESOL and citizenship preparation classes via the Gilchrist Center in FY18.
• Designed and implemented a new data tracking system for the Gilchrist Center, in partnership with Department of Technology Services. The new system uses tablets making customer information collection much more accurate, effective, and efficient. The new automated system received a National Association of Counties Achievement Award, which is awarded to outstanding programs of the year.
• Recognized as one of four U.S. communities for the Welcoming Communities Transatlantic Exchange Program, the U.S.-Germany exchange program for immigrant integration practitioners. The Gilchrist Center led the initiative on behalf of the County. The German delegation stayed for four days in Montgomery County to learn best immigrant integration practices, visiting MCPS, Linkages to Learning, Impact Silver Spring, Montgomery College, etc. The Montgomery County team of four visited German cities in November 2018 as part of the program.
• Hosted a delegation of six British cities to Montgomery County in May 2018 through the University of Oxford's Inclusive Cities Program to learn about best welcoming practices and exchange ideas with Montgomery County's immigrant integration practitioners.
• Continued to strengthen the culture of giving and serving in Montgomery County by connecting volunteers with critical community needs through the Montgomery County Volunteer Center (MCVC). For the Community Service Week 2018 and Martin Luther King Day 2019, 5,819 volunteers engaged 171 different projects. Three new partners hosted MLK Day project sites in 2019. More than 1,100 local nonprofit and government agencies have active accounts on MCVC website listing volunteer opportunities, including 207 agency accounts created in 2018. More than 15,000 volunteers have created accounts on the website to respond to volunteer opportunities, 9,454 volunteer accounts were created in 2018. A total of 20,417 referrals were made through the website in 2018. Continued and built on partnership with MCPS to manage Student Service Learning volunteer opportunities for all students in middle and high school. Provided monthly capacity building trainings for agencies attended by 268 nonprofit professionals in 2018. The new 50+ Volunteer Network program interviewed 209 volunteers and matched skilled volunteers with 147 opportunities at nonprofit and government agencies. In FY18, volunteers with the Tax Aide Program of RSVP completed 4,972 tax returns for 6,448 low to moderate income residents, resulting in total tax refunds of $4,601,275.
• Distributed $25,000 in neighborhood matching funds through the Regional Services Centers (RSCs) to over 30 grassroots-based neighborhood groups to undertake hyper-local small events to build communities and strengthen networks across racial and social divides, including block parties, special neighborhood gatherings, and community conversations.
• Improved the Mid-County Regional Service Office website and upgraded the weekly e-newsletter which has a subscription of over 2,000 with an open rate of 25 - 29 percent. The Silver Spring Regional Services Center (SSRSC) also increased its eNewsletter subscription to over 6,000; and now lists it on NextDoor.com with an additional 9,000 subscribers.
• Strengthened opportunities for civic engagement and communication with county government from the Upcounty Regional Office by assisting the Germantown Alliance in their mission to be a recognized and credible voice for the Germantown community of 100,000 residents; and by introducing strategies for a developing Clarksburg Clothing Closet that will serve Upcounty residents, especially those entering and returning to the workforce.
• Guided a successful strategy from the Upcounty Regional Office that included assistance from Landlord-Tenant Affairs and CASA de Maryland to improve the relationship between Middlebrook Gardens' 500+ residents and their property management company.
• Led a multi-agency and community partnership effort through the East County Regional Service Center (ECRSC) to hold the Second Annual East County Job Fair which brought together 65 public and private recruiters and 706 job seekers. Over 200 participants attended a series of workshops designed to promote small business development.
• Joined, organized, and provided leadership to three Neighborhood Action Teams with the SSRSC: Oakview Community; Progress Place Environs; and Downtown Safety.
• Organized eight listening sessions for over 1,300 residents across the county over a period of four weeks through the Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) to assist the transition process of the County Executive's Office. Helped to organize and staff the transition team meetings along with other administrative support. Partners for the listening sessions included CUPF, REC, Montgomery Community Media.

Collaboration and Partnerships

Program Descriptions

  Community Partnership

The Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) is a bridge among our diverse community residents and organizations and the County government. The staff provides outreach and liaison services to ethnic, multilingual, and multicultural communities; works closely with the County's nonprofit and faith community organizations; and coordinates a number of community-building events...

  Gilchrist Center

The Charles W. Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity is the County's Welcome Center for newcomers and helps to build the network of immigrant service providers in the County. The Center offers various immigrant integration services at various locations throughout the County that prepare residents to contribute to our economy...

  Commission for Women

The Commission for Women's mission is to identify gender-based inequities in laws, policies, practices and procedures, and to advocate remedies by advising the public and local, state, and federal agencies on issues of concern to women, including organizing events relating to these issues....

  Regional Services Centers

The County has five Regional Services Centers: Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Eastern Montgomery, Mid-County, Silver Spring, and Upcounty. The Regional Directors in each of the County's five regions work with their respective regional citizens advisory boards, residents, community groups, businesses, and other public agencies to proactively seek and gather information and assess...

  Administration

Administrative Management for the Community Engagement Cluster (CEC) handles all aspects of budget, procurement, financial, contracts/grants, personnel, and administrative matters of the CEC units (Regional Services Centers, Commission for Women, Office of Community Partnerships, including the Gilchrist Center and the Volunteer Center). In addition, the responsibilities of this unit include...