Miami-Dade Legislative Item
File Number: 260504
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File Number: 260504 File Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Version: 0 Reference: R-363-26 Control: County Commission
File Name: FY 25-26 SUMMER ARTS & SCIENCE CAMPS FOR KIDS GRANTS Introduced: 3/20/2026
Requester: Department of Cultural Affairs Cost: Final Action: 5/5/2026
Agenda Date: 5/5/2026 Agenda Item Number: 8C1
Notes: Title: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE FUNDING OF 27 GRANTS FOR A TOTAL OF $850,000.00 FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 SUMMER ARTS & SCIENCE CAMPS FOR KIDS GRANTS PROGRAM FOR VARIOUS ENTITIES; WAIVING RESOLUTION NO. R-130-06; AUTHORIZING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR’S DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE GRANT AGREEMENTS AND TO EXERCISE ALL PROVISIONS, INCLUDING THE CANCELLATION PROVISIONS, CONTAINED THEREIN
Indexes: NONE
Sponsors: Sen. Rene Garcia, Prime Sponsor
Sunset Provision: No Effective Date: Expiration Date:
Registered Lobbyist: None Listed


Legislative History

Acting Body Date Agenda Item Action Sent To Due Date Returned Pass/Fail

Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee 4/14/2026 3D Forwarded to BCC with a favorable recommendation

County Attorney 3/23/2026 Assigned Melissa Gallo 3/30/2026

Jimmy Morales 3/20/2026 Assigned Office of Agenda Coordination

Office of Agenda Coordination 3/20/2026 Assigned County Attorney 5/5/2026
REPORT: CUA - Melissa Gallo - no sponsor - pending April cmte - Attachment: Grant Agreement - item has 42 pages

Legislative Text


TITLE
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE FUNDING OF 27 GRANTS FOR A TOTAL OF $850,000.00 FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 SUMMER ARTS & SCIENCE CAMPS FOR KIDS GRANTS PROGRAM FOR VARIOUS ENTITIES; WAIVING RESOLUTION NO. R-130-06; AUTHORIZING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE GRANT AGREEMENTS AND TO EXERCISE ALL PROVISIONS, INCLUDING THE CANCELLATION PROVISIONS, CONTAINED THEREIN

BODY
WHEREAS, this Board desires to accomplish the purposes outlined in the accompanying memorandum, a copy of which is incorporated herein by reference,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board hereby waives the requirements of Resolution No. R-130-06, and approves funding of 27 grants for a total of $850,000.00 from the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids Grants Program as follows:
1 Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida, Inc. $31,500.00
2 ArtSouth, A Not-For-Profit Corporation $32,090.00
3 Chapman Partnership, Inc. $40,000.00
4 Diva Arts & Entertainment, Inc. $30,310.00
5 El Ingenio, Inc. $32,030.00
6 Fantasy Theatre Factory, Inc. $40,000.00
7 Friends of the Bass Museum, Inc. $32,090.00
8 Locust Projects, Inc. $18,230.00
9 Mahogany Youth Corporation $32,360.00
10 Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center, Inc. $32,620.00
11 Miami City Ballet, Inc. $32,230.00
12 Miami New Drama, Inc. $24,120.00
13 Miami Stage Company/Miami Children's Theater, Inc. $30,110.00
14 Miami Theater Center, Inc. $23,330.00
15 Moonlighter FabLab, Inc. $30,710.00
16 Museum of Contemporary Art, Inc. $32,420.00
17 Paige & Friends Helping Hands, Inc. $30,570.00
18 Para Bajitos, Inc. $31,700.00
19 South Florida Youth Symphony, Inc. $29,650.00
20 South Temple Empowerment Project, Inc. $29,520.00
21 The Children�s Voice Chorus, Inc. $40,000.00
22 The Florida City Foundation, Inc. $31,560.00
23 The Opera Atelier, Inc. $40,000.00
24 The Salvation Army $30,050.00
25 True Mirage, Inc. $31,960.00
26 University of Miami $30,790.00
27 Voices of Miami, Inc. $30,050.00



This Board further waives the requirements of Resolution No. R-130-06 requiring all contracts to be in final form and executed by the party contracting with the County, and authorizes the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee to execute grant agreements, in substantially the form of the sample attached hereto, with each grantee for and on behalf of Miami-Dade County, Florida and to exercise all provisions, including the cancellation provisions, contained therein.

HEADER
Date:
To: Honorable Chairman Anthony Rodriguez
and Members, Board of County Commissioners
From: Daniella Levine Cava
Mayor
Subject: FY 2025-2026 Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids
Grant Award Recommendations in the Amount of $850,000.00

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Executive Summary
This item is requesting that the Board of County Commissioners (Board) approve the recommendations of the Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids (SAS-C) Grants Program totaling $850,000.00 for 27 applicants. The SAS-C Grants Program allocates funding to nonprofit organizations that provide underserved children in Miami-Dade County with opportunities to attend high quality cultural arts or science summer camp programs at little or no cost. The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs (Department) grants programs are promoted to hundreds of organizations and individuals through the Department�s website, e-newsletter, press releases, social media platforms, recurring workshops and informational flyers. The Department also promotes the programs through partner organizations and collaborations with Commission District offices. Applicants are offered one-on-one consultations, workshops and technical assistance, including a corrections process, prior to the panel review. Despite this outreach, no applications were received for this grants program representing work taking place in Commission Districts 10 or 13, and an applicant representing work taking place in Commission District 12 did not meet the scoring threshold established by the Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids Grants Panel to be recommended for funding. However, any child residing in Miami-Dade County is eligible to participate in any camp location regardless of their home district. The recommendations are made by the Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids Grants Panel and the Cultural Affairs Council (Council). The funds were allocated via the FY 2025-2026 County Budget.

Recommendation
It is recommended that the Board of County Commissioners approve the funding of 27 grants for a total of $850,000.00 for the FY 2025-2026 Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids Grants Program. In addition, it is recommended that Resolution No. R-130-06 (requiring contracts with non-governmental entities be signed by the other parties before being submitted to the Board of County Commissioners) be waived in order to expedite the allocation of funding support for these time-sensitive youth arts programs.

Scope
The impact of this agenda item is countywide.

Delegation of Authority
The County Mayor or Mayor�s Designee is delegated the authority to execute the grant agreements and exercise all provisions, including cancellation provisions contained therein.
Fiscal Impact/Funding Source
The FY 2025-2026 Adopted Budget indicates that the 2026 Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids Grants Program has been budgeted and is derived from funds granted to the Department from The Children�s Trust ($825,000) and General Fund ($25,000) as approved
in the Department of Cultural Affairs� Budget. Refer to the table below for additional information.

Revenue Name Budget Reference Fund Code Revenue Amount
� Other Revenues (The Children�s Trust)
� General Fund Countywide � FY 2025-26 Adopted Budget Volume 2, page 184
� Budget Ordinance 25-98, Agenda Item H, page 911
S1031

� $825,000
� $25,000

Track Record/Monitor
Each nonprofit cultural organization recommended for funding has a track record for responding to Department grant requirements and contractual conditions. Ashlee Thomas, Interim Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, is responsible for monitoring the grant contracts.

Background
The SAS-C Grants Program was created as a joint initiative of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and The Children�s Trust. The objective of the SAS-C Grants Program is to allocate funding to nonprofit organizations that will provide underserved children in Miami-Dade County with opportunities to attend high quality cultural arts or science summer camp programs at little or no cost. Funding through the SAS-C Grants Program is intended to augment existing programs, providing more children with the opportunity to participate in cultural arts and science summer camps. Applicants to this program must have a minimum one-year track record of providing high quality arts or science summer camp programs for children and/or youth in Miami-Dade County.

The Department�s grants programs are promoted to hundreds of organizations and individuals through the Department�s e-newsletter, press releases, through social media, in regular on-going workshops, through partner organizations, in collaboration with Commission District offices, grants informational flyers, and on the Department�s website. Applicants are offered one-on-one consultations, workshops, and technical assistance, including a corrections process, prior to the panel review. Despite this outreach, no applications were received for this grants program representing work taking place in Districts 10 or 13, and an applicant representing work taking place in District 12 did not meet the scoring threshold established by the Summer Arts & Science Camps for Kids Grants Panel to be recommended for funding. Any child residing in Miami-Dade County is eligible to participate in any camp location regardless of their home district. In addition to these SAS-C funded projects, The Children�s Trust supports Department-wide efforts to fund additional summer camps, as well as year-round activities taking place across all (13) Commission Districts through the All Kids Included (AKI) initiative and Youth Arts Enrichment Grants Program (YEP), including activities occurring in Commission Districts 10, 12 and 13.

The Panel specifically evaluated each applicant organization based on the following competitive review criteria: (1) impact, (2) artistic/scientific merit, (3) management capability, and (4) reach/priority considerations.

Priority attention for evaluating applications was given to:

� projects that addressed children whose ability to participate in such programs may be limited by geography, economics, or disability;

� projects in which unduplicated children underwritten by SAS-C funding will attend the camp program for four weeks or more; and

� projects offering expanded programs and/or capacity in order to reach a broader population of underserved children.

It is recommended that Resolution No. R-130-06 (requiring contracts with non-governmental entities be signed by the other parties before being submitted to the Board of County Commissioners) be waived. These grant recommendations are being submitted to the Board immediately subsequent to their thorough evaluation by the Cultural Affairs Council and while
the Department of Cultural Affairs simultaneously issues grant agreements for execution by grantees, subject to the Board�s approval of this agenda item. It is in the best interest of the County to waive Resolution No. R-130-06 and proceed in this manner in order to expedite grant allocations for time-sensitive summer youth arts programs. This �dual track� approach saves from one to two months of time in providing funding support to projects that have been evaluated through a thorough and already lengthy grants review process. As a safeguard, the Department negotiates the grant agreements by closely adhering to the descriptions of projects that are summarized in the list of grant projects attached to this memorandum to ensure that grant funds are used strictly for the activities that are listed in this memorandum and represented in the subsequent grant agreements.

The FY 2025-2026 SAS-C Grants Panel convened on February 11, 2026, and made these funding recommendations. The Cultural Affairs Council convened on February 19, 2026, wherein the FY 2025-2026 SAS-C recommendations of 27 applicants for a total of $850,000.00 were approved unanimously.

Attached is a list describing the projects being recommended for funding.


________________________
Jimmy Morales
Chief Operating Officer



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