Mission Statement

The Community Engagement Cluster (CEC) builds stronger, informed, and inclusive communities. The Cluster strengthens 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.

Established in 2011, CEC is a combination of five Regional Services Centers, the Commission for Women, and the Office of Community Partnerships, including the Gilchrist Center and the Volunteer Center. As a cluster, these offices/functions have combined resources and support staff while retaining staff expertise and experience, as well as the objectives of the partner entities involved.

Budget Overview

The total recommended FY24 Operating Budget for the Community Engagement Cluster is $8,812,115, an increase of $1,255,621 or 16.62 percent from the FY23 Approved Budget of $7,556,494. Personnel Costs comprise 67.72 percent of the budget for 36 full-time position(s) and 21 part-time position(s), and a total of 46.25 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 32.28 percent of the FY24 budget.

County Priority Outcomes

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

• Thriving Youth and Families
• An Affordable, Welcoming County for a Lifetime
• Effective, Sustainable Government

Program 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 FY23 estimates reflect funding based on the FY23 approved budget. The FY24 and FY25 figures are performance targets based on the FY24 recommended budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY25.

Initiatives

• Implement a robust legal immigration service referral and data collection system housed at the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center.
• Increase engagement with multilingual communities through in-language community forums and meetings and in-language social media platforms including the County's Spanish Facebook and Spanish WhatsApp group.
• All executive branch departments will develop and implement language access plans, centered around providing high-quality services to the County's multicultural and multilingual communities. Department action plans will include development of materials in simplified language and training to front-line staff regarding interpretation and translation standards.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• The Commission for Women provided over 30 seminars to several hundred residents in 2022. The focus of the seminars is to enrich the lives of women and families by informing, educating, empowering, and supporting residents of the County.
• The Commission for Women supported and provided leadership to the Montgomery County Human Trafficking Prevention Committee. During 2022, the Committee trained members of the community about human trafficking, including members of the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) system, faith groups, and non-profit organizations; supported statewide legislation providing additional protections to human trafficking victims; and assisted MCPS with updating their countywide human trafficking prevention curriculum.
• The Commission for Women organized the 42nd Annual Women's Legislative Briefing in January 2022, with over 400 participants online.
• The Office of Community Partnerships increased engagement with multilingual communities through in-language community forums and meetings, including the County's first Operating Budget forum in Chinese and the second budget forum in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation.
• The Translation Unit completed translation requests from 17 County agencies in Amharic, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
  
• The Office of Community Partnerships collaborated with the Department of Health and Human Services and Regional Services Centers to provide targeted, multilingual information and outreach on COVID-19 information and resources (vaccinations, testing, rent-relief), leading to Montgomery County being #1 in vaccination rates in the country for eligible residents in jurisdictions with more than 300,000 residents.
• The Legal Services Coordinator supported the "Bienvenidos: Aqui para Ti" initiative led by the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate legal education, screenings, consultations, wraparound services, and representation for unaccompanied migrant children, asylum seekers and/or families/sponsors. The weekly partnership established with MCPS' International Admissions and Enrollment Office provided legal resources to immigrant families.

Program Descriptions

  Administration

The Administration for the Community Engagement Cluster (CEC) manages all aspects of the budget, procurement, financials, contracts/grants, personnel, information technology, daily operations, office space management, fleet management, historic file maintenance, and all administrative matters of the CEC units (Regional Services Centers; Commission for Women; Office of Community Partnerships, including the...

  Community Partnership

The Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) is a bridge builder between the County's diverse communities and County government. Due to OCP's deep reach into communities, OCP worked closely with the Regional Service Center Directors to lead the County's 2020 Census Campaign. "Everyone Counts in Montgomery County" was a multifaceted campaign...

  Regional Services Centers

The County has five Regional Services Centers: Bethesda-Chevy Chase, East County, 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...

  Commission for Women

The Commission for Women's mission is to identify gender-based inequities in laws, policies, practices, 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. In addition, the Commission is responsible for providing...

  Gilchrist Center

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