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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/09/2021 06 Authorize Mayor to Sign Violence Against Women Grant Application 1 to\'4\lyy tbxk ik 1 + PPP d g. PPP+P i�lti ittYlltYlt.\ta. BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. 6. For Meeting of: March 9, 2021 ITEM TITLE: Resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign documents related to an Office on Violence Against Women Grant application to seek funds to improve the City of Yakima response to domestic violence SUBMITTED BY: Cynthia I. Martinez, Senior Assistant City Attorney SUMMARY EXPLANATION: This item was considered by the Council at the regular Business Meeting on March 2, 2021. However, the item was tabled due to Council's concerns regarding lack of communication with the Yakima YWCA (YWCA), a non-profit organization that provides services to victims of Domestic Violence in the City of Yakima. Staff was directed by Council to communicate with Cheri Kilty, the Director of the YWCA, and share our plans to apply for The Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) grant. It was always staff's intention to meet with Ms. Kitty with the goal of enlisting YWCA as a partner in this effort as evidenced by the draft MOU document. The YWCA and the services they provide are critical in the response to Domestic Violence. Staff spoke with Cheri Kilty on March 3, and scheduled to meet with her on Friday, March 5. The proposed MOU has been forwarded to her in advance of the meeting. This item will be reconsidered by Council on March 9, 2021. The Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) is a component of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)to administer grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act and subsequent legislation, and provides national leadership on issues of domestic violence (DV), dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OVW grants support coordinated community responses to hold offenders accountable and increase the safety of victims. Units of government may apply for the grants, which means the Mayor will have to sign the grant application with the Council's approval. The goal of the application will be obtain funding for Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT)training and a second Prosecution Division DV advocate. Each of these requests will be discussed below. The Council has previously embraced the idea of initiating a City of Yakima Coordinated Response to Domestic Violence Team (CCRT)(Council Business Meeting, September 11, 2018). CCRT is a team comprised of staff and Community partners who are involved with DV incidences, from the 911 call taker to the probation officer, who coordinate every link of the response by understanding the role of each party and developing shared goals. The result is a 2 transparent response that can be understood, examined, and improved. Once this result is achieved, the circle of responders is enlarged to include other agencies, community, and faith based groups. Our initial City of Yakima CCRT partners will include City Communications, YPD, City Prosecutors, Yakima Municipal Court, Yakima County Probation and the YWCA. We are seeking grant funds to provide training to a City of Yakima CCRT (the team). In 2020, crimes of domestic violence comprised 29% of the City of Yakima Prosecution caseload, or 886 cases. This percentage is high when compared with other communities in the state. These cases take the most resources in the Division because the stakes are high for the victim and the defendant. With the exception of a few cases, most rely on the cooperation of the victim and developing a positive relationship with the victim takes time and a special skill set. Fortunately, and thanks to the initiative of the City Council, the Prosecution Unit now has a DV advocate on staff. The DV advocate, Maria Rosales, has improved our victim outreach. Her bilingual skills ensure that we are reaching most of our victim population. At any given time we have 250 domestic violence cases pending. Ms. Rosales performs the following tasks for those cases: a) Provide support and case management to DV victims during criminal proceedings; b)Assess and address victims'safety needs and other concerns related to prosecution; c) Provide crisis support and ongoing safety planning; d) Explain legal processes, options and potential outcomes to DV victims; e) Work cooperatively with community-based DV advocates and advocacy programs; f) Convey DV victim input to all system-based professionals; g) Ensure victims' rights are understood and honored (RCW 7.69.030); h)Accompany DV victims to joint interviews, defense interviews, and court hearings; i) Consult closely with prosecutor on victim issues and case concerns; and j) Provide advocacy for children similarly involved in the DV criminal case. The variety and complexity of the tasks performed by our sole DV advocate mean our resources are stretched thin. In addition, she is tasked with coordinating the City of Yakima CCRT. This project will take time, especially initially, and will impact her ability to perform advocacy. We will seek grant funds to add a second Domestic Violence Advocate to the Prosecution Division staff. The Grant application is due the end of March and decisions are announced by October 1, 2021. For Council's consideration is a resolution that will authorize the Mayor to sign a letter of intent, the grant application, MOU with partners, and any other documents required for the Grant. ITEM BUDGETED: NA STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Public Safety APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION: Adopt resolution. ATTACHMENTS: Description Upload Date Type 3 D R+74,=-OVIti Grail ANlicahop 32Y2n21 Resolution D Memorandum of Uncic7tanciing 3ix2n21 avirrdcl 4 RESOLUTION NO. R-2021- A RESOLUTION authorizing the Mayor to sign documents related to an Office on Violence Against Women Grant application to seek funds to improve the City of Yakima response to domestic violence. WHEREAS, the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) is a component of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to administer grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act and subsequent legislation, and provides national leadership on issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and WHEREAS, OVW grants support coordinated community responses to hold offenders accountable and increase the safety of victims; and WHEREAS, on September 11, 2018, the Yakima City Council, after a presentation on the Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) to Domestic Violence, voted unanimously to direct staff to inventory the City of Yakima response to domestic violence and to add a DV Advocate position for consideration in the 2019 budget; and WHEREAS, the City Staff has inventoried the response and believes the City would benefit from a City of Yakima CCRT; and WHEREAS, the OVW funds CCRT training and victim services; and WHEREAS, units of local government, including the City of Yakima, are eligible to apply for such grants and the documents, including a Memorandum of Understanding with our partners, must be signed by the Mayor; now therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YAKIMA: The Yakima City Council authorizes Mayor Patricia Byers to sign an Office on Violence Against Women Grant application, Memorandum of Understanding with our community partners and other related documents required to complete the grant process prepared by staff. ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL this day of March, 2021. ATTEST: Patricia Byers, Mayor Sonya Clear Tee, City Clerk 5 Memorandum of Understanding City of Yakima Coordinated Community Response Team Implementation Project and Expansion of Victim Advocate Services The City of Yakima will direct an initiative to: 1) Implement a multidisciplinary Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) to address Crimes of Domestic Violence occurring within the City of Yakima with the goal of understanding, streamlining and improving the response. 2) Provide CCRT members with training on CCRT and expose them to ideas implemented across the country that increase victim safety, provide victim services and hold DV perpetrators accountable with the plan of implementing ideas that will improve our response system. 3) Increase City of Yakima victim advocate services. The below signatories will work in close conjunction with the proposal project and its staff in any manner that will help ensure its effective implementation through all relevant areas of the City of Yakima. They agree to follow mutually agreed-upon protocols responding to misdemeanor offenses of dating violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking, occurring within the City of Yakima. They commit to working together to ensure the success of the project. Members of the newly formed City of Yakima CCRT will be dedicated to the ongoing evaluation of our services and to expanding membership to include representative from constituency groups that work to provide services to underrepresented communities. The City of Yakima representatives understand that our elected officials support this project and the other signatories are essential to the success of the project. All signatories have reviewed and approved the proposed budget. The Yakima YWCA is a non-profit non-governmental victim services organization located in the City of Yakima that has statutory privilege within the City of Yakima therefore no client information can be disclosed to any entity without the victim's consent. The City of Yakima has a Professional Services Agreement with the YWCA funded by a STOP Grant to provide victim services to City of Yakima residents. They currently host the Yakima County Coordinated Community Response Team which the City of Yakima is a member and participates. They have offered cross-consultation to our program, and have shared pertinent information, statistics, and educational materials. They have also participated in professional training to law enforcement and the community. The YWCA and the City of Yakima are committed to working together to ensure seamless service delivery of sensitive assistance to victims who live in the City of Yakima. The City of Yakima will work with the Yakima YWCA to ensure that victims receive comprehensive assistance. The Yakima County Probation Department is contracted to monitor City of Yakima probationers, including those ordered to be monitored for Domestic Violence offenses. The City of Yakima's relationship with Yakima County Probation began in 2006 and they are committed to communicating a probationer's progress or lack of progress with the Memorandum of Understanding/City of Yakima OVW Grant Proposal/Page lof 3 6 City of Yakima Municipal Court. The Yakima County Probation Department will participate in the City of Yakima CCRT. Yakima County Probation and the City of Yakima are committed to working together to ensure that Domestic Violence offenders are held accountable for their probation requirements. Yakima Communications, Yakima Police Department, and the City of Yakima Prosecution Division are all City Departments/Divisions tasked with responding to incidents of Domestic Violence. Yakima Communications handles all calls for emergency and police and fire dispatch services. They are the first to interact with victims of dating violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking, who are located in the City of Yakima and dispatch a response that is sensitive to their safety needs. The effort to protect the victim and hold the defendant accountable begins with that initial response. The police are the in-person responders to a victim's call for help. Yakima Police are highly trained on issues of Domestic Violence and use the County adopted DV Incident report which includes a risk assessment. Finally, the City Prosecution Division is responsible for the prosecution of all adult misdemeanor Domestic Violence crimes committed within the City of Yakima. The Yakima Municipal Court has provided a Letter of Commitment in support of the project. Memorandum of Understanding/City of Yakima OVW Grant Proposal/Page 2of 3 7 Signatories for the Memorandum of Understanding Cheri Kilty Date YWCA Director Name Date Yakima County Probation Patricia Byers, Date City of Yakima Mayor Matthew Murray Date Police Chief City of Yakima Wayne Wantland, Date Communications Director City of Yakima Cynthia Martinez Date Prosecution Division Supervisor City of Yakima Memorandum of Understanding/City of Yakima OVW Grant Proposal/Page 3of 3