City Council Meeting
September 20, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Guillermo Cespedes
City Administrator Chief, Violence Prevention
SUBJECT: FY22 Byrne Discretionary Grant DATE: August 26, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution To Accept and Appropriate A Byrne Discretionary Grants Program Award From The Office of Justice Programs Bureau Of Justice Assistance (BJA) In An Amount Not To Exceed Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) For The Period Of October 1, 2022, To September 30, 2024 (24 Months); And To Authorize The City Administrator To:
1. Take All Steps Necessary For The City To Receive The BJA Grant;
2. Add One (1) 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Program Analyst I Position To The Department Of Violence Prevention (DVP) For The Term Of January 1, 2023, To May 31, 2024, (17 Months) For A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand Five Hundred Twenty-Nine Dollars ($199,529);
3. Allocate BJA Funds In An Amount Not To Exceed Four Hundred Seventy-One Dollars ($471) To Augment Existing Violence Prevention Services In The DVP Through September 30, 2024.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution, if adopted, will authorize the City Administrator to: (1) accept and appropriate a Byrne Discretionary Grant Program award from the BJA in the amount of $200,000 for the grant term of October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2024 (24 months); (2) allocate CalVIP funds in an amount not to exceed $199,529 to fund one (1) 1.0 FTE Program Analyst I positions for 17 months; and (3) allocate BJA funds in an amount not to exceed $471 to augment existing violence prevention services through the DVP.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The DVP, through the City of Oakland, has been awarded a grant for $200,000 from the BJA through its Byrne Discretionary Grant Program to fund administrative support for the department’s violent incident crisis response activities. The DVP will use this grant award to hire Aug 29, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY22 Byrne Discretionary Grant
Date: August 26, 2022 Page 2
City Council Meeting
September 20, 2022
a 1.0 FTE Program Analyst I for 17 months, beginning January 1, 2023. Once hired, the Program Analyst I will engage in the following activities:
1. Manage contracts with eight community-based organizations (CBOs) that are funded through the DVP to hire and supervise violence interrupters and hospital-based responders. This will involve reviewing and processing quarterly invoices, tracking service metrics in relation to contract deliverables to ensure grantees are on target, and ensuring that grantees are regularly entering accurate and timely service delivery data into the DVP’s data management system.
2. Provide administrative support to violence interrupters and crime scene response advocates who participate in the DVP’s triangle incident response (TIR) to shootings and homicides. This will involve developing agendas and documents for TIR coordination meetings, coordinating financial support for families and victims, supporting crime scene response advocates in making referrals for families and victims to needed services and resources, and reviewing TIR data recorded in the DVP’s data management system to ensure accuracy and follow-through on response activities.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The hiring of a Program Analyst I to support the DVP’s violent incident crisis response activities will allow violence interruption, hospital response, and triangle incident response activities coordinated and funded through the DVP to happen more efficiently and effectively by freeing up existing staff to focus on implementation activities rather than contract management and administrative support. This additional support for the DVP’s violent incident crisis response activities addresses the citywide priority of holistic community safety by increasing the capacity of violence interrupters, hospital responders, and DVP TIR responders to mediate violence and provide needed healing services to victims.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to accept and appropriate a BJA grant for a total of $200,000 for the grant term of October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2024 (24 months). The BJA grant will be appropriated into the Department of Justice Fund (2112), Oakland Unite Organization (70211), Byrne 2023-2024 Project (TBD),and Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The DVP did not conduct public outreach in the development of the BJA grant proposal due to the low grant amount and the clear need for additional administrative support for violent incident crisis response activities.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY22 Byrne Discretionary Grant
Date: August 26, 2022 Page 3
City Council Meeting
September 20, 2022
COORDINATION
The City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and the City Administrator’s Office were consulted during the preparation of this agenda report and corresponding resolution. Once hired, the funded Program Analyst I will work closely with the five community-based organizations funded through the DVP’s violent incident crisis response sub-strategy (Youth ALIVE!, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, Trybe, Inc., Community & Youth Outreach, Inc.) to oversee contracts and support implementation activities.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
Through funded organizations and its direct service staff, the DVP delivers three primary violent incident crisis response services to reduce the likelihood of future violence and improve relationships between community members and city government: (1) violence interruption; (2) hospital-based response; and (3) a 24/7 response to shootings and homicides known as the triangle incident response.
Violence interruption, which involves credible messengers forming relationships with high-risk individuals in order to mediate conflicts, connect individuals to services, and promote a message of non-violence, is widely regarded as an effective approach to gun violence reduction. Multiple evaluations of the Cure Violence model of violence interruption in Baltimore, Chicago, New York have demonstrated significant reductions in shootings and homicides.1 The DVP directly employs five violence interrupters and will fund an additional 17 violence interrupters through CBOs during FY22-23 and FY23-24.
Hospital-based violence prevention workers connect with individuals during their recovery period in the hospital to promote a message of anti-violence and connect victims to resources and services that can help them avoid future violence perpetration or victimization. Hospital- based intervention programs have been implemented in cities across the country with consistently positive impacts on violence recidivism.2 In FY22-23, the DVP will fund three hospital-based responders through a local CBO to support shooting victims recovering at local hospitals.
The triangle incident response (TIR) is a 24/7 crime -scene response to shootings with injury and homicides that aims to reduce retaliatory violence, reduce levels of trauma experienced by impacted ind ividuals, and improve relationships between community and government partners. The TIR involves a coordinated, timely response to crime scenes or hospitals from the following three parties: (1) a violence interrupter who assesses likelihood of retaliation, implements strategies to interrupt retaliation, and shares responsibility for crowd
1 Cure Violence Global. (2021). The Evidence of Effectiveness. Retrieved May 18, 2022, from https://cvg.org/wp- content/uploads/2021/09/Cure-Violence-Evidence-Summary.pdf 2 Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. (2016). Healing Communities in Crisis: Lifesaving Solutions to the Urban Gun Violence Epidemic. https://giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Healing-Communities-in-Crisis.pdf.
Juillard C., Smith R., Anaya N., Garcia A., Kahn J.G., & Dicker R.A. (2015) Saving lives and saving money: hospital- based violence intervention is cost-effective. J Trauma Acute Care Surg: 78(2):252-7.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY22 Byrne Discretionary Grant
Date: August 26, 2022 Page 4
City Council Meeting
September 20, 2022
control and attending to the family of the victim; (2) a representative from the DVP who coordinates with DVP-funded agencies to connect victims and their families to needed services and resources, facilitates communication between OPD and victims regarding investigation activities, and shares responsibility for crowd control and attending to the family of the victim; and (3) law enforcement officers who process evidence at the crime scene, share pertinent information with DVP representatives, and share responsibility for crowd control as a last resort.
The TIR was first developed and implemented in Los Angeles when the DVP’s current Chief of Violence Prevention, Guillermo Cespedes, was Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles’ Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD). From 2012 to 2020, TIR partners in Los Angeles responded to 5,673 incidents.3 An evaluation of this strategy from 2012 to 2014 demonstrated a high level of trust and functioning between TIR partners,4 and an evaluation of the strategy from 2014 through 2017 found that a response of the triangle incident response partnership reduced gang-related retaliations by 41%.5 The TIR has been implemented in Oakland since April 2021 through coordination by the DVP and in partnership with OPD and DVP-funded CBOs.
The City of Oakland has contracted with Urban Institute from August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2025, to evaluate these strategies in Oakland as part of a larger evaluation of Measure-Z-funded programs and services.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic benefits.
Environmental: There are no environmental benefits.
Race & Equity: The vast majority of shooting and homicide victims in Oakland are people of color. In 2021, African Americans represented 41% of assault-with-a-firearm victims and 59% of homicide victims even though they represent less than 25% of the Oakland population. By supporting the delivery of efficient and effective violence incident crisis response activities funded and coordinated by the DVP, BJA grant funding will contribute to a reduction in retaliatory violence and trauma that disproportionately impact Oakland’s black and brown community members.
3 Ervin, Storm, et al. Implementing Youth Violence Reduction Strategies: Findings from a Scan of Youth Gun, Group, and Gang Violence Interventions. Jan. 2022,
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/105302/implementing-youth-violence-reduction-strategies_0.pdf. 4 Cahill, Meagan, et al. Evaluation of the Los Angeles Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program: Year 4 Evaluation Report. Sept. 2015, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/77956/2000622-Evaluation-of-the- Los-Angeles-Gang-Reduction-and-Youth-Development-Program-Year-4-Evaluation-Report.pdf. 5 Brantingham, Jeffrey, et al. The Impact of the GRYD Incident Response Program on Gang Retaliations. June 2020, https://www.juvenilejusticeresearch.com/sites/default/files/2020- 08/GRYD%20Brief%202_The%20Impact%20of%20the%20GRYD%20IR%20Program_6.2020.pdf.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY22 Byrne Discretionary Grant
Date: August 26, 2022 Page 5
City Council Meeting
September 20, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Council To Accept and Appropriate A Byrne Discretionary Grants Program Award From The Office of Justice Programs Bureau Of Justice Assistance (BJA) In An Amount Not To Exceed Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) For The Period Of October 1, 2022, To September 30, 2024 (24 Months); And To Authorize The City Administrator To:
1. Take All Steps Necessary For The City To Receive The BJA Grant;
2. Add One (1) 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Program Analyst I Position To The Department Of Violence Prevention (DVP) For The Term Of January 1, 2023, To May 31, 2024, (17 Months) For A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand Five Hundred Twenty-Nine Dollars ($199,529);
3. Allocate BJA Funds In An Amount Not To Exceed Four Hundred Seventy-One Dollars ($471) To Augment Existing Violence Prevention Services In The DVP Through September 30, 2024.
For question s regarding this report, please contact Guillermo Cespedes, Chief of the Department of Violence Prevention, at 510-238-2916.
Respectfully submitted,
Guillermo Cespedes
Chief
Department of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by: Mailee Wang
Administrative Services Manager
Department of Violence Prevention
Prepared by: Jenny Linchey
Budget and Grants Administrator
Department of Violence Prevention
Guillermo Cespedes (Aug 29, 2022 15:44 PDT)