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Affirm the District Attorney’s acceptance of a California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) grant for the County Victim Services Program (XC) in the amount of $255,489 in 2018 Victim of Crimes Act (VOCA) funding for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020; Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizing unanticipated grant revenue of $127,748 from CalOES in FY2019/20 and increasing expenditures in Salaries and Benefits by $127,748 (4/5 vote required); Adopt a resolution to amend the List of Numbers in Classifications of positions within the District Attorney’s Office to extend 2.0 FTE Social Worker II (Limited Term) through December 31, 2020; and Authorize the County Administrator to execute a $25,000 contract amendment with Court Appointed Special Advocates Solano (CASA) to fund a Volunteer Coordinator for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No __X_
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No __X_
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The District Attorney (DA) recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Affirm the District Attorney’s acceptance of a California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) grant for the County Victim Services Program (XC) in the amount of $255,489 in 2018 Victim of Crimes Act (VOCA) funding for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020; and
2. Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizing unanticipated grant revenue of $127,748 from CalOES in FY2019/20 and increasing expenditures in Salaries and Benefits by $127,748 (4/5 vote required); and
3. Adopt a resolution to amend the List of Numbers in Classifications of positions within the District Attorney’s Office to extend 2.0 FTE Social Worker II (Limited Term) through December 31, 2020; and
4. Authorize the County Administrator to execute a $25,000 contract amendment with Court Appointed Special Advocates Solano (CASA) to fund a Volunteer Coordinator for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The purpose of the CalOES’ XC Program is to provide one-time funding to help fill gaps and needs in victim services. The grant required the implementation of a “Victim Services Steering Committee” (VSSC) to identify these needs in Solano County, with membership required from various County departments, law enforcement agencies, and educational and health care providers. The DA convened this group in 2016 and the VSSC, over a series of meetings, identified and agreed to address the following crime victim service gaps and needs:
• Increase victim advocacy on middle and high school campuses in Solano County.
• Create a multi-disciplinary approach to helping elders who are subject to undue physical and mental abuse.
• Increase support for crime victims seeking protection orders through advocacy.
• Increase the amount of non-acute sexual assault examinations for child victims.
• Increase resources for crime victims that address the immediate health and safety concerns at the time an incident of violence occurs.
• Increase courtroom advocacy through Court Appointed Special Advocates for children in foster care as the result of being victims of abuse and neglect.
• Create a multi-disciplinary approach to addressing the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
On December 6, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution accepting $532,430 in 2015 VOCA funding for XC program to fund services to fill the crime victim service gaps and needs identified by the Steering Committee. The original grant award period was from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018. Additional funding (2017 VOCA) of $386,749 became available for this program for the period of July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, which the Board accepted by resolution on January 8, 2019. At that time, the Board also adopted a resolution to amend the List of Numbers in Classifications of positions within the District Attorney’s Office to add 2.0 FTE Social Worker II (Limited Term) through December 31, 2019 and authorized the County Administrator to execute a $25,000 contract amendment with CASA to recruit and train volunteers for the period of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019.
Acceptance of the new funds and amendment of the List of Numbers in Classifications will enable the DA’s Office to extend the identified services through the end of 2020 and further meet the needs of crime victims in the community.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2019/20 Adopted Budget. The $255,489 of 2018 VOCA grant funding and related expenditures were not included in the District Attorney’s Adopted budget for FY2019/20. The remainder of the grant will be appropriated in FY2020/21. There will be no additional financial impact to the County General Fund.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board can choose not to accept the grant funding or amend the position allocation; however, this is not recommended as this will prevent Solano County from using VOCA funding from CalOES and may affect its potential to receive future awards from these agencies. It would also prevent the DA’s Office from providing the identified services to crime victims.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Department of Human Resources has reviewed and concurs with the departmental recommendation.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION