title
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ACCEPTANCE OF GRANT FUNDS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA BOARD OF STATE COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,019,656, FOR THE CALIFORNIA VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION (CALVIP) GRANT FOR THE PERIOD OCTOBER 1, 2022 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2025, AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF GRANT AGREEMENTS
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve a resolution to:
1. Authorize the City Manager to accept grant funding from the State of California Board of State Community Corrections California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant; and
2. Authorize all required appropriations and expenditures in compliance with and for the purposes stated in the project agreement over a three-year period; and
3. Authorize the allocation of a full-time grant funded Outreach Worker Supervisor position for the duration of the three-year grant term; and
4. The grant funds received hereunder shall not be used to supplant expenditures controlled by this body; and
5. The City of Stockton agrees to ensure all matching funds required for the grant are provided and abide by the terms and conditions of the grant Agreement as set forth by BSCC; and
6. The City Manager, or designee, is authorized and directed to execute on behalf of the City of Stockton, all required contracts or agreements with the granting agency, provide additional information and furnish such documents as may be required, execute all documents and amendments or extensions pertaining to the grant project; and
7. The City Manager, or designee, is hereby authorized to take appropriate and necessary actions to carry out the purpose and intent of the resolution.
body
Summary
In June 2022, the City of Stockton’s Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) applied to the State of California’s Board of State Community Corrections (BSCC) CalVIP Grant Program (Attachment A). On September 8, 2022, the City of Stockton OVP was notified by the BSCC that the application was approved in the amount of $2,019,656 for a three-year period.
Stockton’s Operation Ceasefire has produced a multi-year community-wide reduction in gun and gang violence. These reduction strategies utilize credible messengers, focused deterrence, intensive case management, and wraparound services, all of which address the needs of those at highest risk of becoming a perpetrator or victim of gun violence. The Office of Violence proposes to build on this success by expanding Ceasefire strategies to youth ages 12-17 while also creating a youth prevention/intervention program focused on deterring people from violence. Utilizing the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model, the OVP and community partners seek to create a youth prevention/intervention steering committee to collectively, through an integrated system, address Stockton’s gun violence. Equally crucial as suppressing violence in Stockton is fostering wellness and resilience in individuals, communities, and service providers impacted by gun violence. The OVP and partners will engage in trauma-informed activities focused on healing and wellness. The grant period runs from October 1, 2022, to December 31, 2025.
DISCUSSION
Background
The California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program was established through the Budget Act of 2019 (Assembly Bill 74, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2019) and appropriated $136,000,000 in funding for competitive awards to cities and community-based organizations to support evidence-based violence reduction initiatives.
On October 11, 2019, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1603 (Chapter 735, Statutes of 2019) - also known as the Break the Cycle of Violence Act - which adds Section 14130 to the California Penal Code, codifying the establishment of the CalVIP Grant and the authority and duties of BSCC in administering the program, including selection criteria for grants and reporting requirements to the Legislature.
The Break the Cycle of Violence Act specifies that the purpose of CalVIP is to “improve public health and safety by supporting effective violence reduction initiatives in communities that are disproportionately impacted by violence, particularly group-member involved homicides, shootings, and aggravated assaults.” CalVIP Grants shall be used to support, expand, and replicate evidence-based violence reduction initiatives, including but not limited to hospital-based violence intervention programs, evidence-based street outreach programs, and focused deterrence strategies.
These initiatives seek to interrupt cycles of violence and retaliation to reduce the incidence of homicides, shootings, and aggravated assaults. Further, these initiatives are primarily focused on providing violence intervention services to the small segment of the population that is identified as having the highest risk of perpetrating or being victimized by violence in the near future.
The OVP proposed to partner with Friends Outside, El Concilio, Choices, San Joaquin County Office of Education, Be Smooth Inc., Mora Learning Institute and UC Davis to strengthen and advance Operation Ceasefire partnerships and approaches to collectively reduce violence in our community. Peacekeepers have made a dramatic impact on the lives of key individuals that have been at the heart of violence in the community. However, while Operation Ceasefire is being successfully implemented in Stockton, the Marshall Plan anticipated the need for programs to expand. The Marshall Plan envisioned providing Operation Ceasefire services to a range of clients and reaching beyond clients to their support networks. In addition, the Marshall Plan calls for carrying a violence reduction message to the Stockton community at large.
In consideration of the OVP’s current programs and activities, we propose to enhance these efforts to accomplish the goal of reducing homicides, non-fatal injury shootings, and aggravated assaults city-wide by 1) Engaging more high-risk individuals overall, 2) Expanding the current model to include prevention strategies, 3) Improving the outcomes of clients and family members, and 4) Improving coordination efforts between violence prevention agencies.
Present Situation
On September 8, 2022, the City of Stockton OVP was notified by the BSCC that the application was approved in the amount of $2,019,656 for a three-year period. The CalVIP grant period is legislatively designated for the period of October 1, 2022, through December 31, 2025. Given this timeframe, the BSCC requested that grant recipients execute the formal grant documents and demonstrate City Council approval and authorization for grant funding appropriation. In compliance with grant requirements, staff now presents to the City Council the authorizing Proposed Resolution.
OVP seeks funding from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) CalVIP program to expand its current model and the city of Stockton’s community violence intervention ecosystem, to address gun violence overall, while immediately decreasing homicides and non-fatal shootings in the near term.
Goal1: Engaging more high-risk individuals by expanding the age demographic and target population. The OVP worked primarily with young adults from the ages of 18-35. But because of the increase in youth violence, the OVP proposes to expand its target population to include high-risk youth ages 12-17 years old, who are likely to become victims and/or perpetrators of gun violence.
Goal 2: Incorporating Prevention Strategies. Strengthening and enhancing the OVP’s Public Health approach to gun violence. The OVP already uses a public health approach to curb gun violence. However, funding will help strengthen this approach by incorporating prevention strategies to address social determinants of health and root causes that lead to high-risk behaviors. In so doing, the OVP proposes to create two new committees (Violence Prevention Steering Committee and Referring Council) and servicing at-risk transitional age youth that will expand its current model and help achieve its goal of reducing gun violence overall.
Goal 3: Improving the Outcomes of clients and their family members with trauma-informed practices.
a. Crisis Response - The OVP proposes to partner with a local mental health provider who will partner with Peacekeepers to provide in-the-moment crisis management to families and victims of gun violence.
b. Addressing Trauma through Mental Health Services - The OVP proposes to use funding to execute a professional services contract to address client and staff trauma through the use of a Mental Health Clinician and provide trauma healing training.
Goal 4: Improving the coordination between violence reduction partners. The OVP currently conducts weekly Strategy Meetings composed of interventionists--without law enforcement--to discuss ongoing and brewing conflicts. Discussions are held around meetings and build staffs’ professional and socioemotional capacity to include additional partners.
A summary of how the grant funding will be allocated is included below in Table 1.
Table 1
The grant requires the City to subcontract with one or more Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) for a minimum of 50 percent of the grant funds. The OVP and the community partners have a shared interest in supporting individuals and their families at highest risk of violence to make safer and healthier choices for themselves and for the Stockton community. In the Ceasefire framework, each partner has an important complementary role in the overall effort to reduce violence.
• Office of Violence Prevention - A full-time Outreach Supervisor will oversee the expansion of Operation Ceasefire strategies to youth ages 12-17. Grant funds will also be used to provide support for proper coordination of intervention and prevention strategies. OVP will hold monthly strategy meetings to discuss new referrals and outreach strategies for potential clients. These meetings will also serve as a space to discuss referrals previously made with provided updates.
• Peace Partners Consulting Group (PPCG) - PPCG work in close partnership with OVP leads providing direct project management while ensuring compliance as required by BSCC guidelines. PPCG will also help build out a Violence Prevention Steering Committee by coordinating the planning and implementation phases of this activity helping to develop the comprehensive citywide violence reduction strategy report to include current efforts, past initiatives, and ongoing recommendations. PPCG is a California based consulting firm specializing in grant writing and management, training, technical assistance, and advocacy for criminal justice and violence reduction agencies, offices, and organizations.
• Friends Outside - Friends Outside is a local nonprofit organization specializing in reentry and community-based services geared towards system-impacted youth, young adults, and their families. Friends Outside will provide a Youth Prevention Specialist to receive referrals for at-risk youth aged 13-25 years old. The prevention specialist will provide mentorship and wraparound services for all clients and their families. Referrals sources will include Violence Prevention Referring Council, SUSD, Community, etc... Friends Outside will also provide a relocation assistance program. This program will support high-risk clients and their families when and if there is an immediate need to relocate due to imminent threats of harm. A Resource Specialist will help coordinate rapid relocations with OVP.
• El Concilio - The OVP proposes to execute a partnership with El Concilio, a local mental health provider who will respond, with Peacekeepers, to shootings) to provide crisis management to families and victims of gun violence. The contractor will: a.) respond within 3 hrs. following gun incident, b.) offer crisis management to family of recent victims, and c.) refer victims and/or their families to additional services within 48hrs as needed.
• Choices - Will provide support groups to all OVP clients ages 12 to 35. The groups will incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Interactive Journaling to help them address past trauma and build self-efficacy while offering hope for their future.
• Be Smooth Inc. - Will provide trauma healing with a focus of a.) help mitigate current and historical trauma experienced by clients, b.) help mitigate staff secondary trauma, c.) provide on-site mental health support during Safety Meetings to offer on-going support to potential clients, d.) refer clients to community resources for on-going mental health needs, and e.) provide healing opportunities through trauma-informed training and reflective supervision.
• Mora Learning Institute (MLI) - The Mora Learning Institute (MLI) will provide a 12-session leadership training for the OVP, including the Leadership Council and Friends Outside intervention staff, to achieve the goals of this project while also enhancing the camaraderie and coordination amongst partners. Topics include organizational communication, leadership responsibility, organizational unity, workplace toxicity, resiliency, etc. In addition, MLI will provide a Life Coaching certification for this project team. Staff will receive 40 hours of instruction and coaching that will provide tools to help clients succeed, motivate, and inspire them to reach their goals, and overcome life/work challenges.
• San Joaquin Community Data Co-Op - The San Joaquin Community Data Co-Op (Data Co-Op) will provide applied research and evaluation services to the City of Stockton’s Office of Violence Prevention. This effort will center on collaborating with stakeholders and evaluating program processes and outcomes throughout implementation. The evaluation work will include a comprehensive process and impact evaluation.
Finally, a portion of grant funds will be used to complete a financial audit that covers the service period of the grant.
The Office of Violence Prevention continues to work with grant partners to finalize roles and expectations on this project and plan to bring a follow up report, with final partner agreements, to Council for approval.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The grant award is $2,019,656 accompanied by an in-kind match of $2,539,043 for a total program cost of $4,558,699. Grant structure is reflected in Table 2 below. There are no impacts to the general fund or any unrestricted funds.
To account for the grant funds the following appropriation in FY 2022-23 is necessary:
• Revenue appropriation of $2,019,656 to the FY 2022-23 CalVIP Grant in the OVP’s Special Grants fund, Reimbursements, Office of Violence Prevention Division.
• Expenditure appropriation of $2,019,656 to the FY 2022-23 CalVIP Grant in the OVP’s Special Grants fund, Reimbursements, Office of Violence Prevention Division.
The $2,539,043 of in-kind match funds derive from the Office of Violence Prevention and partner agencies staff time who will be working directly on grant activities. See Attachment B - CalVIP Cohort 4 Budget Narrative for further description and breakdown of match funds.
Table 2
Attachment A - CalVIP July 2022 Application
Attachment B - CalVIP Cohort 4 Budget Narrative