DATE: November 6, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Lisa A. Smittcamp, District Attorney-Public Administrator
SUBJECT: Retroactive Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution Grant Agreement
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive Grant Agreement and Certification of Assurance of Compliance for the Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution program with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), for the period July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 ($270,060).
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. This program was approved by your Board on July 10, 2018 and the original signed documents were submitted to Cal OES on July 17, 2018. The District Attorney-Public Administrator (DA-PA) was notified on August 28, 2018 of the awarded grant funding through this competitive application process. On October 9, 2018, Cal OES notified the DA-PA that they were unable to locate the original documents and requested the DA-PA to re-submit the documents with original signatures to complete the agreement process. In addition, Cal OES informed the DA-PA that the incorrect version of the Certification of Assurance of Compliance was included with the application documents. The recommended action requests signature for the corrected documents. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended action is not approved, the revenue, appropriations and staffing (one Deputy District Attorney IV and one Victim Advocate) associated with this program will be eliminated from the FY 2018-19 District Attorney Org 2860 Adopted Budget.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
The request to approve and authorize the Cal OES grant documents is retroactive because the DA-PA was notified on October 9, 2018 by Cal OES that they were unable to locate the original signed documents that were submitted on July 17, 2018.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Revenues of $202,545 and required 25% Net County Cost match of $67,515 total $270,060 for the Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution program budget and are included in the FY 2018-19 District Attorney Org 2860 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
The Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution program funds one Deputy District Attorney IV position to vertically prosecute domestic violence cases from the rural areas of Fresno County and one Victim Advocate to guide victims through the legal process. The goal of the program is to concentrate vertical prosecution efforts toward repeat offender domestic violence defendants, as well as dating violence, stalking and sexual assault defendants, thereby targeting the most serious offenders and reducing the level of domestic violence in Fresno County. Fresno County is one of eleven counties that have been successful at competing for these funds since 1998.
The recommended action will authorize the Chairman to execute a Grant Award Face Sheet and Certification of Assurance of Compliance with Cal OES to continue the Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution program for FY 2018-19. The original Certification of Assurance form submitted to Cal OES on July 17, 2018 was the incorrect version. This revised Certification of Assurance of Compliance form no longer contains the special conditions related to the Victims of Crime Act funds. All other material provisions of the Cal OES grant award documents are the same as the grant documents approved and authorized by your Board on July 10, 2018. Once approved, the executed Grant Award Face Sheet and Certification of Assurance of Compliance will be forwarded to Cal OES to finalize the agreement process.
If grant funding for this program is discontinued, all associated positions will be eliminated.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #31, July 10, 2018
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Cal OES
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa