THE ANATOMY OF A GRANT: UNIVERSITY AGREES TO RUN PROGRAM (THIRD IN A SERIES)

Southeast Missouri State University crafted a $1 million grant proposal and then backed away from it because it didn't want to get into the transportation business.

But the university later agreed to administer the grant-funded transportation program at the urging of the Missouri Department of Social Services.

The program, slated to start later this year, would provide van and taxi rides to welfare-to-work recipients.

The shuttle services would provide a way for poor people to get too and from work as they seek to get off welfare.

There would no charge to eligible residents for the first year.

In future years, it is envisioned that residents who get back on their feet financially will be charged a sliding scale fee, depending on what they can afford.

The university's John Reed devised the program. He wrote the grant application last year.

Reed coordinates Southeast Missouri State University's Bootheel Initiative, an effort to help get families off the welfare rolls.

Reed previously was part owner of a private transportation company that operated shuttle buses in Washington, D.C.

Reed's grant proposal involves subsidizing 11 transportation providers in a seven-county area of Southeast Missouri.

"John Reed made it happen," said Ron Swift, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council, a not-for-profit agency in Cape Girardeau that exists to administer government grants.

But last December, Swift attended a meeting with university officials.

Swift said university officials including Dr. Ken Dobbins, then executive vice president and now university president, expressed concern about the school's proposed role.

Dobbins said, "I thought it meant we had to get into the transportation business. We didn't want to get into it."

As a result of the meeting, Reed's application was submitted to the Missouri Department of Transportation as a proposal from the Private Industry Council or PIC, whose advisory board had endorsed the plan.

The application, submitted in late December, carried a cover letter from Swift.

But officials in the Department of Social Services decided the university should lead the way instead of PIC, said Phil Richeson.

Richeson administers transit funding for MoDOT. The Southeast Missouri transit grant also involves some funding from the Department of Social Services.

In addition, the department's family services division will determine who is eligible for the shuttle rides.

Richeson said the Social Services Department wanted the university to take the lead role so the transit services could be researched and evaluated as a model for the rest of the state.

While MoDOT administers the transit grants, it was PIC and the Social Services Department that provided the matching funds needed to secure the $518,635 transit grant. Most, if not all, of the matching money also comes from federal dollars.

Dr. Paul Keys, dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Southeast, said the state viewed the university as best suited to coordinate the transportation program.

"The reason the state is coming to us on a number of things is they want accountability," said Keys.

Keys said the university is working with Washington University in St. Louis to determine the needs of welfare recipients in Southeast Missouri.

Those needs will be considered as the transportation services are put into operation.

Swift said he isn't overly concerned about the state's decision to have the university administer the transportation program.

PIC is providing most of the matching funds. "Our task is to work closely with the university to see that the money is put to the best use.

"Who is on first, in a relative sense, is very unimportant," said Swift.

But it a major concern to Terrence Kelley, who operates Kelley Transportation Co.

Kelley Transportation operates a taxi service in Cape Girardeau. It is the only for-profit operation among the 11 transportation providers listed in the welfare-to-work plan.

The others are not-for-profit agencies that already depend on government grants to transport the elderly and handicapped.

"I think the university is just trying to grab a bunch of money," said Kelley.

He complained that his tax money is going to help fund a competitor.

"I don't understand what business the university has in transportation," he said. "Their business is education."

Keys said the university has a role in serving the public and the region.

"Our philosophy has been one of meeting human needs," he said.

Many of the transportation providers in the transit plan intend to provide shuttles services along fixed routes rather than door-to-door service like that offered by Kelley's taxis.

Of the 11 transportation providers, Kelley stands to receive the fewest dollars, an estimated $25,000.

Dunklin County Transit would get the largest share, nearly $200,000 to pay for everything from leasing vehicles to paying drivers.

Still, Kelley said he wants his firm to participate in the grant program. "The more people that I haul, the more money I am going to be making."

But first the university and participating agencies will have to convince welfare recipients that they need to get off the dole.

Under Missouri's welfare-to-work rules, residents typically can secure benefits for only two years.

But Keys said many welfare recipients don't believe the rules have changed. Their parents were on welfare. They've come to rely on a government check.

"Those people have to be convinced that they have to get a job and training," he said.