REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 29, 2022
FROM
JASON ANDERSON, District Attorney
SUBJECT
Title
Non-Financial Agreement with Rialto Police Department for District Attorney Victim Advocacy Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve a non-financial agreement with the Rialto Police Department for an onsite Victim Advocate II from the District Attorney to provide services to victims of crime or witnesses to crime effective March 29, 2022 through December 31, 2022.
(Presenter: Michael Fermin, Chief Assistant District Attorney, 382-3662)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). This is a non-financial agreement with the Rialto Police Department for an onsite Victim Advocate II from the District Attorney to provide services to victims of crime or witnesses to crime. For the second consecutive year, the District Attorney (Department) has received County Victim Services Program grant funding (XC grant) from the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), which will be utilized to fund this onsite Victim Advocate II position. The grant period is effective January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022, and requires a new application each year.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Penal Code section 13835 et seq. provides, upon Board of Supervisors (Board) recognition, for the Department to serve as the major provider of comprehensive services to victims of crime and witnesses in the County. Since 1980, the Department has provided services to victims of crime, primarily funded through the Victim Witness Assistance Program grant from Cal OES.
On February 8, 2022 (Item No. 36), the Board approved the Grant Subaward Agreement for funding from Cal OES for the XC grant. This funding aligns with the Department’s initiatives to reach victims of crime more quickly and to better serve victims in outlying and underserved regions of the County. This is the second year that the Department has been awarded the XC grant.
In the first year of receiving the XC grant, the Department expanded its advocacy services by using grant funds to place one Victim Advocate II (Advocate) at the Barstow police station and another Advocate on the same campus as the Needles Sheriff’s Department. In this second year, the Department is further expanding its police-based advocacy program by placing an Advocate at the Chino and Rialto Police Departments. The non-financial agreement with the Chino Police Department was approved by the Board on February 8, 2022 (Item No. 36). The non-financial agreement with the Rialto Police Department was recently completed and the Department is presenting the agreement for approval at the first available Board date.
The Victim Advocate II placed at the police stations will provide services to victims of all types of crime, in the immediate aftermath of the crime, with crisis intervention, emergency financial assistance for food, clothing and lodging, and referrals to other agencies and resource assistance. Emergency funeral and burial assistance will also be provided to the family members of deceased victims of crime.
Pursuant to County Policy 05-13 and in accordance with 2022 Cal OES Subrecipient Handbook Section 1.055, the Department seeks Board approval to enter into the related agreement and take the necessary steps, as more fully set forth in the recommendations above, to facilitate the provision of services to victims.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Katherine Hardy, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 28, 2022; Finance (Carl Lofton, Administrative Analyst III, 387-5404) on March 14, 2022; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on March 14, 2022.