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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10052004 - SD4 SEAt TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS * ` '* i COSTA FROM: Jahn Sweeten COUNTY E County Administrator ' "cont DATE: October 5, 2004 r SUBJECT: Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program Award SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATIONS) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S): 1. ACCEPT United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women "Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program" (GTEA) two year grant in the amount of$800,000 on behalf of the County; 2. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to negotiate with the Federal Office final compliance with special conditions, including budget, and to execute on behalf of the County the Federal Grant Award related documents and those contracts, listed below, required to implement GTEA; 3. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to contract with Applied Survey Research for evaluation services to assess the effectiveness of the proposed activities in achieving stated goals for an amount not to exceed $20,000; 4. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to contract with a consultant to conduct a safety audit to provide data on system strengths and weaknesses and develop recommendations and strategic actions to improve criminal justice system capacity for an amount not to exceed $10,000; 5. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to contract with STAND! Against Domestic Violence to provide advocacy and support for victims of domestic violence for an amount not to exceed $341,275, 6. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to contract with flay Area Legal Aid to provide assistance in restraining order actions for victims of domestic violence and with immigration matters in an amount not to exceed$53,919; 7. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to contract with the Office of the Sheriff- Coroner to expand the multi jurisdictional domestic violence database for an amount not to exceed $65,900, 8. AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or his designee to contract with the California Superior Court to provide judges with access to case information on prior arrests for an amount not to exceed$99,072. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _X_YES SIGNATURE: -RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE PROVE _OTHER SIGNATURE(S): f ACTION OF BOARS APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED_.4'OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS{ABSENT f. ) TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact:Devorah Levine 538-3017 ATTESTED JOHN SWEETEW CLERK THE BOARD OF SUPERVi ORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc:Devorah Levine,CACI Capt.Steve Fuqua,Sheriff BY r41f` '�� °' ,DEPUTY Nancy Valencia,Probation Brian Balker,District Attorney Martha Rosenberg,Superior Court Gloria Sandoval,STANDI Against Domestic Violence via CAO Jennifer Moxiey,Say Area Legal Aid via CAO Sgt.Mark Gagan,Richmond Police Department via CAO Capt.Alan Cantando,Antioch Police Department via CAO FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact on the county general fund. These are all federal funds. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: The Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Initiative supports three of Contra Costa's community outcomes ("Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood", "Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing" and "Communities that are Safe and provide a High Quality of Life") through coordinated intervention services designed to reduce domestic and family violence and elder abuse. BACKGROUND/REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION(S): This Board Order addresses various issues in the "Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program" (GTEA) operation, which began on September 1, 2004 and will conclude on August 31, 2006. On September 14, 2004 the County was notified of its $800,000 award under GTEA funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. Since 1997, the"Grants to Encourage Arrests" program has been successfully implemented in Contra Costa County by the City of Antioch in collaboration with STAND! Against Domestic Violence(a community-based domestic violence agency), the District Attorney, Probation, and law enforcement. Under the supervision of its countywide"Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence" initiative, Contra Costa County will centralize and institutionalize its existing coordinated community response funded through the"Grants to .Encourage Arrests"program, adding program components and expanding partner collaboration, including the Superior Court. "Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence" will expand and coordinate services to ensure victim safety and offender accountability. With GTEA funds the County will: 1)provide domestic violence training for officers and dispatchers from multiple law enforcement jurisdictions in the county; 2) enhance the investigative capacity of criminal justice agencies through the expansion of the multi jurisdictional domestic violence database; 3)conduct county-wide annual warrant sweeps of domestic violence offenders; 4)hire a bilingual deputy probation officer to supervise domestic violence offenders; 5)provide legal advocacy for victims of domestic violence; 6) offer training for judges in criminal, civil, and juvenile court on the coordinated response to domestic violence; 7)provide prior arrest case information to judges issuing restraining orders; and 8) conduct a safety audit on the county's criminal justice system. The Office of the County Administrator will serve as the lead agency and will be responsible for administrative and fiscal oversight of the project. Project partners are: STAND! Against Domestic Violence, Bay Area Legal Aid, Superior Court of California- County of Contra Costa, Contra Costa Department of Probation, Contra Costa Department of the Sheriff, Contra Costa Office of the District Attorney, the City of Antioch Police Department, and the City of Richmond Police Department. Following are explanations of fiscal items in the Board Order. 1. Applied Survey Research- $20,000 The evaluation firm will design and document an evaluation plan process (i.e. training participation and victims receiving legal advocacy) to assess the effectiveness of the proposed activities in achieving; stated goals. GTEA costs are estimated at$10,000 per year for a total of$20,000 for 24 months. 2. Safety Audit $10,000 An outside consultant with experience in conducting audits and Domestic Violence (DV) expertise will be hired to conduct the safety audit. The consultant will (1) consult on the design of the audit, (2) conduct audit in partnership with project evaluators and (3) prepare a written report. GTEA costs are estimated at $4,000. SB425 a vital records surcharge will fund an additional $6,000 for the safety audit. 3. STAND! Against Domestic Violence—_$341,275 STAND! Against Domestic Violence will provide bilingual advocacy and support for victims of domestic violence following the police report, during court proceedings through accompaniment and legal services, and provide safety planning, and direct linkages to comprehensive DV services (emergency lodging/shelter, foodd and clothing, peer advocacy, case management and individual and group counseling). $341,275 will be used to support the costs of DV advocates, administrative staff, fringe benefits, staff training, program materials, mileage, administrative costs and client assistance. 4. BE Area Legal Aid - $53,919 Bay Area Legal Aid will be responsible for supervising an attorney providing services in the Restraining Order Clinic. Bay Legal will provide same-day assistance to low income DV victims in preparing restraining order pleadings, provide assistance with Violence Against Women Act applications for victims with immigration matters and translate materials. $53,919 will be used to support the costs of attorneys, translators and law clerks. 5. Office of the Sheriff Coroner-$65,900 These funds will increase the investigative capacity of criminal justice agencies through enhanced Domestic Violence (DV) data integration. The Sheriffs Office currently oversees a DV database system containing DV reports from 25 law enforcement jurisdictions (to date over 26,520 reports have been entered). The Sheriffs Office will collaborate with partners to design an enhanced DV relational database linked to the Automated Regional Information Exchange System (ARIES). $6.5,90€3 will be used to support the cost of a database technical contractor($45,000) and hardware and software($20,900). 6. California Sggerior Court- $99,072 The Court will hire staff to search databases (i.e. run CLETS (California Law Enforcement Technology System checks)—capturing data on criminal cases pending,prior arrests, CTAS records etc. This information, vital in assessing risk., will assist judges in criminal and family law cases, resulting in significant improvements to the system and judicial decision-making. $99,072 will be used to support staff salaries and fringe benefits.