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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 $257,695 in Victim of Crimes Act (VOCA) funding for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021; Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizing unanticipated grant revenue of $145,341 from CalOES in FY2020/21 and increasing expenditures by $145,341 (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, 2021
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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 $257,695 in Victim of Crimes Act (VOCA) funding for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021; and
2. Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizing unanticipated grant revenue of $145,341 from CalOES in FY2020/21 and increasing expenditures by $145,341 (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, 2021.
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 most recently convened this group in 2020. The 2020 VSSC, over a series of meetings, identified and agreed to address the following crime victim service gaps and needs:
• Increase access to domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking resources in area high schools through outreach, prevention, and intervention activities.
• Increase awareness of and access to victim services to individuals in underserved communities.
• Increase courtroom advocacy through Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children in foster care as the result of being victims of abuse and neglect.
On December 6, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution accepting VOCA funding in 2015 for the 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, with additional funding available becoming 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.
On December 10, 2019, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to receive additional VOCA funding for the XC program, and adopted a resolution to amend the List of Numbers in Classifications of positions within the District Attorney’s Office to extend the 2.0 FTE Social Worker II (Limited-Term) positions through December 31, 2020.
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 and Limited-Term positions through the end of 2021 and further meet the needs of crime victims in the community.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The $145,341 of VOCA grant funding and related expenditures were not included in the District Attorney’s Adopted budget for FY2020/21 due to notification of funding being unavailable prior to the Supplemental Budget process. The remainder of the grant, $112,354, will be appropriated during the Mid-Year Budget process. There will be no additional financial impact to the County General Fund.
The $145,341 ATR includes $12,500 in appropriations to continue funding CASA for 50% of a 1.0 FTE CASA Volunteer Supervisor for the period of January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021. Volunteer hours created by the efforts of the CASA Volunteer Supervisor will offset the 25% required match.
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2020/21 Adopted Budget.
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 this agency. 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