Agmt20 Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and RWC 2020 MOU

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EXHIBIT B Grove Foundation Proposal for 2019-2020 The LIBRE collaboration is continuing its efforts to educate the immigrant community and social service providers about the current state of the "public charge" immigration exclusion and is preparing materials to explain the ramifications of the final regulation that could be published at any time. Last year, LIBRE partners were in high gear, responding to and organizing community members to comment on the long -anticipated proposed public charge regulation. The Trump Administration must now review and address the concerns raised in over 266,000 comments that we and other immigrants, immigrant advocates, social service and health providers, government agencies, and officials submitted. While we don't have control over how thoroughly the Administration will review the written comments or when and if the Administration will publish final regulations, LIBRE partners are using the lessons we learned this past year to tine -tune our message and share our knowledge to develop a cohesive local and national messaging campaign that encourages low-income immigrants to access the safety net benefits that they need. LIBRE remains well-positioned to reach immigrants even during difficult times like these. Fear persists in the immigrant community, and even as the economy improves for some, the available jobs for many immigrants do not provide health insurance or enough income to provide for basic needs. In November, LIBRE reconvened community partners and hired a consultant to evaluate our mission and identify opportunities to refocus our priorities for the coming year. The convening unanimously affirmed the need for LIBRE to continue linking immigrants in San Mateo County to safety net benefits and coordinating up-to-date information to counter the chilling effect on immigrants from public charge issues and other policy threats. The group identified three broad roles for LIBRE in the coming period: 1) to coordinate work that allies are undertaking to address the climate of fear and concern among immigrant communities; 2) to prepare responses and community support in anticipation of the proposed "public charge" policy changes; and 3) to build on LIBRE's current model and ongoing work to increase LIBRE's reach and provide services that immigrant families need despite new impediments to engagement. As the threats facing our immigrant neighbors continue to grow and the stakes become ever higher, the LIBRE Steering Committee submits this proposal with a request for $152,500 to enable our successful collaborative to meet the challenges in this coming year. LIBRE partners will seek additional resources to address the rising costs of living affecting our staff, which will lead to improved staff retention and allow us to maximize our community impact. A detailed description of our plan for the year to come follows below I. What is the status of Public Charge determinations and what is the "chilling effect"? REV: 12-20-19 RL ATTY/AGR.2019.322/Legal Aid Society of San Mateo (Page 8 of 14)