Public Safety Committee
April 9, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Holly Joshi
City Administrator Chief of Violence
Prevention
SUBJECT: Additional CalVIP Staff Positions DATE: March 11, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Authorize The City Administrator To Add Two
1.0 Full-Time Equivalent Case Manager I Positions And One 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent Program Analyst I Position To The Department Of Violence Prevention For The Period Of April 1, 2024, To June 30, 2025, Using Funding From A California Violence Intervention And Prevention Grant Accepted By The City In July 2022 Through Resolution No. 89367 C.M.S.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution will authorize the City Administrator to add two 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) Case Manager I positions and one 1.0 FTE Program Analyst I to the DVP from April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, using savings from the DVP’s Cohort 4 California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) grant that was awarded by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) in June 2022.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Original CalVIP Grant. In July 2022, the City of Oakland accepted a grant through Cohort 4 of the BSCC’s CalVIP Program in the amount of $5,999,948 for the term of July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2025 (Resolution No. 89367 C.M.S.). The purpose of the grant was to focus services and resources on individuals affiliated with street groups in Oakland in order to reduce shootings and homicides. Originally, the grant funded the following staff and activities:
• Six family coaches and one family coach supervisor were tasked with implementing a six-month family coaching model with group-affiliated individuals and their families in order to improve family communication, cohesion, and access to services. • Twenty-seven community engagement team (CET) members were engaged to perform outreach to group-affiliated individuals in order to mediate potential conflicts before they resulted in violence and refer individuals to services. The grant also tasked CET members with identifying environmental contributors to violent crime among known street groups (e.g., lack of lighting on specific street corners).
Jestin Johnson (Mar 28, 2024 18:30 PDT)
Mar 28, 2024
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Additional CalVIP staff positions
Date: March 11, 2024 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
April 9, 2024
• Family coaches and CET members received training in the REWIRE cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) curriculum to enhance their ability to support positive behavior change among group-affiliated individuals.
Scope Modifications to CalVIP Grant. After implementing the family coaching model with high-risk clients from June 2023 to January 2024, DVP staff have determined that the model, while appropriate for an at-risk youth population, is not appropriate for adult clients who are directly involved in violence for two reasons:
1) Adults involved in group and gun violence require services at a higher frequency and duration than the family coaching model dictates. The family coaching model involves three in-person contacts between family coaches and clients per month, with services ending after 6 months. Adults who are most likely to perpetrate gun violence in the near term require daily contact over 12 to 18 months in order to sustainably impact behavior.
2) The family coaching model relies heavily on the active participation of another adult involved in the participant’s life and requires the DVP life coach and participant to build a case plan that includes family goals and milestones. This model is most applicable to youth who live with and rely on caregivers to support their basic needs. Adults at the center of violence have varied relationships with their families so a life coaching model dependent on family participation is not appropriate.
In March 2024, the BSCC approved a scope modification allowing the DVP to pivot its original family coaching model to an intensive life coaching model for the remainder of the grant period.
This pivot aligns with the City of Oakland’s recommitment to implementing the Ceasefire focused deterrence strategy, which focuses on those at the center of violence and led to a 32% decline in homicides from 2012 to 2019. A recent audit commissioned by Mayor Thao’s Office revealed Ceasefire has not been implemented with fidelity in Oakland since 2019, during which time shootings and homicides have returned to pre-Ceasefire levels.
Features of the DVP’s intensive life coaching model include the following:
• Life coaches build deep relationships with participants, provide intensive supports, and maintain caseloads of no more than 8 individuals.
• Life coaches communicate daily with clients and have in-person contacts 2-4 times per week.
• Life coaches are trained in cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) concepts and utilize them in their work with clients to influence thought patterns and behaviors • Length of service increases-clients retained for 12-18 months.
Additionally, the scope modification approved by the BSCC allowed the DVP to significantly reduce its number of CET members. After working with CET members from January to September 2023, DVP staff have determined that a cohort of 27 CET members requires extensive supervision and oversight that is not possible with the DVP’s current staffing structure.
Additionally, specific CET members have proven to be more effective in mediating conflicts and brokering peace agreements than others. The DVP paused its CET work at the end of September 2023 to reassess the effectiveness of individual CET members, establish a highly Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Additional CalVIP staff positions
Date: March 11, 2024 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
April 9, 2024
supportive supervision structure for future CET work and establish a process for hiring CET members as part-time City employees. In July 2024, the DVP intends to hire up to six of its original 27 CET members to continue street outreach work for the duration of the grant.
Fiscal Savings. The DVP’s decision to pause CET activities from October 2023 to June 2024 has resulted in grant savings of over $800,000.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
In March 2024, the DVP submitted a budget modification to the BSCC requesting to reallocate grant savings to fund two 1.0 FTE Case Manager I positions and a 1.0 FTE Program Analyst I position for the period of April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. One of the Case Manager I positions will deliver intensive life coaching services to a caseload of up to eight individuals, increasing the DVP’s capacity to serve Ceasefire clients. The other Case Manager I position will join the DVP’s violence interruption team to relentlessly pursue individuals referred through Ceasefire for life coaching to enroll them in services and keep them engaged for at least one year. This staff member will also increase the DVP’s capacity to mediate potentially lethal conflicts before they result in violence. Lastly, the Program Analyst I will administer grants to community-based organizations who deliver services related to gun violence prevention and intervention, including emergency relocation, hospital-based intervention, and shooting and homicide response. The BSCC approved the DVP’s budget modification request.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to create two 1.0 FTE Case Manager I positions and a 1.0 FTE Program Analyst I position to implement CalVIP grant activities for the period of April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. Funding for these positions is available through the California Board of State and Community Corrections Fund (2152), Oakland Unite Org (70111 & 70211), CALVIP 2022-2025 Project (1006525), and Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The DVP developed the original CalVIP grant proposal in consultation with the Oakland Police Department, Faith in Action East Bay, the City Administrator’s Office, and the Mayor’s Office.
The Ceasefire focused deterrence model, which these positions will support, is a model that involves the active participation of and coordination between community leaders and government.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Additional CalVIP staff positions
Date: March 11, 2024 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
April 9, 2024
COORDINATION
The City Attorney’s Office, Budget Office, and the City Administrator’s Office were consulted during the preparation of this agenda report and corresponding resolution.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
The proposed resolution will increase the DVP’s capacity to deliver intensive life coaching and violence interruption services as part of the City of Oakland’s Ceasefire strategy. When implemented correctly, Ceasefire significantly reduces shootings and homicides and leads to fewer individuals entering the criminal justice system. It has been studied extensively in many cities across the country and identified by experts as the most effective approach to reducing group-led gun violence (Braga et al, 2018). From 2012 to 2019, Oakland’s implementation of Ceasefire was credited with a 32% reduction in citywide gun homicides (Braga et al, 2019).
Citations
• Braga, A., Weisburd, D., & Turchan, B. (2018). Focused deterrence strategies and crime control: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical evidence.
Criminology & Public Policy, 17(1), 205-250.
• Braga, A., Barao, L., Zimmerman, G., Brunson, R.K., Papachristos, A.V., Wood, G. and Farrell, C. (2019). Oakland Ceasefire Evaluation: Final Report to the City of Oakland.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic benefits.
Environmental: There are no environmental benefits.
Race & Equity: The majority of shooting and homicide victims in Oakland are people of color (92%). In 2023, African Americans represented 37% of shooting victims and 57% of homicide victims, even though they represent less than 25% of the Oakland population. By focusing resources on individuals who are most likely to perpetrate shootings and homicides, CalVIP grant activities will contribute to a reduction in shootings and homicides that disproportionately impact Oakland’s black and brown community members while providing individuals at the center of violence an alternative to incarceration.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Additional CalVIP staff positions
Date: March 11, 2024 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
April 9, 2024
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Authorize The City Administrator To Add Two 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent Case Manager I Positions And One 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent Program Analyst I Position To The Department Of Violence Prevention For The Period Of April 1, 2024, To June 30, 2025, Using Funding From A California Violence Intervention And Prevention Grant Accepted By The City In July 2022 Through Resolution No. 89367 C.M.S.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Holly Joshi, Chief of Violence Prevention, at (510) 920-6272.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly Joshi
Holly Joshi (Mar 28, 2024 15:29 PDT)
Holly Joshi
Chief, Department of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by:
Mailee Wang, Deputy Chief of Administration
Prepared by:
Jenny Linchey, Deputy Chief of Grants,
Programs, and Evaluation