A new policy being considered in Scarborough would require a Scarborough-only focus for social-service agencies receiving funding through the town budget.

Town Council Chairman Bill Donovan said the goal would be to “clearly benefit Scarborough residents in need of life essentials,” including heat, food and clothing, among other needs.

The issue is on the agenda for the Town Council, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Dec. 2, after the Current’s print deadline.

In the current fiscal year, Scarborough is spending $60,000 to help support 14 social-service organizations, including Project GRACE and the Southern Maine Area on Aging, both in Scarborough, as well as the American Red Cross and two home health nursing groups, according to budget documents.

Donovan said the new funding policy is not “meant to be exclusionary, but the feeling was that because we are talking about tax money, it should be clearly focused on providing support for (those in need in) our own community” first.

Until decisions are made on the annual applications for funding from the various social-service groups for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, it’s unclear whether any of the outside agencies now being funded would be negatively impacted.

Donovan said the new policy is coming forward for a vote because the council felt it “lacked a framework for deciding how to allocate charitable funds” through the municipal budget.

He said the policy is the result of a unanimous recommendation from the council’s Rules and Policies Committee, which he headed prior to the November election.

He said the issue of how to best spend the town’s charitable funds was referred to Rules and Policies by the Finance Committee after this year’s budget was approved last spring.

“We worked over the summer and fall to develop a clearer direction” for how the money should be spent, Donovan said this week.

“We ended up agreeing that the focus should be more on Scarborough-based agencies and a narrower band of needs,” he added.

“We are not trying to limit funding, but we want to be more targeted toward supporting the neediest in our community,” he said.

Councilors Jean Marie Caterina and Peter Hayes were also on the Rules and Policies Committee when the new funding policy was reviewed.

“I support this policy because we are leveraging dollars to support those Scarborough citizens most in need,” Caterina told the Current.

And, she said, by spending the town’s charitable dollars closer to home, “there is a (beneficial) multiplier effect for every dollar invested.”

Caterina believes what should happen going forward is that “agencies who work with Scarborough residents should have an advantage in securing dollars.”

Both Donovan and Caterina said they don’t anticipate cutting the overall amount of the annual charitable donations made by the town, but they also said any organization getting funding must be Scarborough-focused.

Heading into Wednesday’s council meeting, Donovan said he hopes to get full council support for this new policy, which also has the backing of Town Manager Tom Hall.

Under the new policy, requests for funding would “only be considered from agencies that are Scarborough-based and who provide the majority of their services to Scarborough residents.”

In order to be eligible for town funds, the agencies must also show that they meet “a documented material need of the Scarborough community, such as food, shelter, safety or health care.”

Each application for charitable funding would also be evaluated on whether “the program or service reduces costs to the town; the program or service will be more cost-effective than a town administered program; (and whether) the program or service will provide quality, non-discriminatory servicesw, that demonstrates cooperation or innovation” among providers.

Under the policy, it would be up to Hall to present recommendations for charitable funding to the Town Council in conjunction with submission of the annual municipal budget.

He would also have the authority to give greater weight to any application for charitable aid. In addition, under the new policy, “all awards (of funding) will be reviewed to determine if expected outcomes were achieved. (And), the results will be considered in the evaluation of future awards.”

Prior to Wednesday’s council meeting, Steffi Cox, executive director at Project GRACE, said her organization, which received a total of $10,744 from the town this fiscal year, “is always pleased to partner with the town in addressing the needs of the most vulnerable in the community.”

She added, “We, of course, don’t do all this alone. There are many worthy (groups) throughout Scarborough who lend a hand when it really counts, and Project GRACE is very fortunate to have many longstanding partnerships” with many of them.

Overall, Cox said, “We are very thankful for all who join us in caring about our neighbors. We think it makes for a stronger, healthier, happier community.”

Other outside agencies receiving significant funding from the town budget include the HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, based in Saco, which got $17,117 this year; VNA Home Health & Hospice, based in South Portland, which got $9,300; and The Opportunity Alliance, based in Portland, which got $7,520.

The Current was unable to reach officials from the visiting nurse services before deadline, but James Gemmell, vice president of communications at The Opportunity Alliance, said his agency considers Scarborough to be “a key community partner” and that it would likely continue to ask the town for funding help.

He said since The Opportunity Alliance hands out heating fuel assistance to residents of Scarborough each year, Gemmell believes the agency would still qualify for charitable giving from the town even under the new policy.