City Council
November 12, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Holly Joshi
City Administrator Chief of Violence Prevention
SUBJECT: DVP Emergency Relocation Grant DATE: October 14, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Amending An Existing Grant Agreement With The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform For Violence Prevention And Intervention Services For The Period Of October 1, 2023, To June 30, 2025, To Add One Hundred Ninety-Eight Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($198,750) That Was Originally Awarded To Youth Alive For October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, For A Total Grant Amount Not To Exceed Five Hundred Forty-Eight Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($548,750), With The Ability To Extend The Agreement For An Additional Three Months In An Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Sixteen Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($116,250) Contingent On Available Funds.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to add $198,750 to an existing grant between the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) and the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) to fund emergency relocation services for individuals at risk of lethal violence due to group affiliation from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend relocation services for an additional three months if funding is available. The DVP originally granted funding to Youth Alive to deliver these services, but Youth Alive notified the DVP that it can no longer perform emergency relocation services effective October 1, 2024, due to staffing constraints.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
FY23-25 Grant Agreements. In September 2023, the City Council approved Resolution 89899 C.M.S. and authorized grants to 23 community-based organizations (CBOs) to deliver violence prevention and intervention services from October 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend grants through September 30, 2025, if Oakland’s Safety and Services Act, also known as Measure Z, is reauthorized during the November 2024 election. Grantees were selected through a request for qualifications (RFQ) #267700,4, which was released in December 2021 and received applications from 70 agencies.
Resolution 89899 C.M.S. awarded $463,750 to Youth Alive to provide emergency relocation services to Oakland residents who are at immediate risk of lethal violence due to group Jestin Johnson (Oct 30, 2024 17:00 PDT)
Oct 30, 2024
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: DVP Emergency Relocation Grant
Date: October 14, 2024 Page 2
City Council
November 12, 2024
affiliation from October 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend services for three months at a cost of $66,250 if Measure Z is reauthorized. Emergency temporary relocation services allow individuals to relocate to a safer location until the immediate danger is abated or a long-term plan has been established. The relocation process entails performing outreach to the individual within 24 hours of receiving a referral from the DVP to begin the relocation process, identifying relocation options based on the individual’s circumstances and eligibility for various types of housing, and facilitating the relocation by processing payments.
Resolution 89899 C.M.S. also awarded $350,000 to NICJR to deliver youth diversion services from October 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend services for three months at a cost of $50,000 if Measure Z is reauthorized. Youth diversion services provide an alternative to the traditional criminal justice system for youth who are charged with qualifying offenses by allowing youth to complete a program that promotes accountability and healing in lieu of charges being filed. Youth receive intensive life coaching services while developing and implementing a plan to repair the harm they caused, which includes participating in a restorative conference with the individual(s) they harmed. Youth who complete the program have their charges dropped and do not enter the juvenile justice system.
Notification of Service Changes. In June 2024, Youth Alive notified the DVP that it is unable to deliver emergency relocation services beyond September 30, 2024, due to staffing capacity challenges.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to add $198,750 to an existing grant between the DVP and NICJR to fund emergency relocation services for individuals who are at immediate risk of lethal violence due to group affiliation from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend relocation services for three months through September 30, 2025, at an additional cost of $66,250 if Measure Z is reauthorized. The amended grant with NICJR, which will include both emergency relocation and youth diversion services, will total $548,750 from October 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend relocation and diversion services for three months for an additional cost of $116,250 if Measure Z is reauthorized.
Emergency relocation for individuals who are at imminent risk of lethal violence due to group affiliation is a priority service that should continue for the remainder of the grant period, regardless of Youth Alive’s inability to provide the services. If funding for emergency relocation services is not re-awarded to a different agency for October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, approximately 30 individuals who are at imminent risk of lethal injury due to group violence in Oakland will be unable to leave Oakland and will likely become future victims of shooting or homicide. If funds are re-awarded for this period but Measure Z is not reauthorized, services will terminate on July 1, 2025, and will be unavailable to approximately 7 individuals who will require services from July 1, 2025, to September 30, 2025.
The DVP seeks to re-award funding for relocation services from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, to NICJR. NICJR is a key partner in the City of Oakland’s Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy, which focuses intensive social services on group-affiliated individuals who are at the highest risk Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: DVP Emergency Relocation Grant
Date: October 14, 2024 Page 3
City Council
November 12, 2024
of imminent gun violence, and therefore intimately understands the population of individuals who will require emergency relocation services. NICJR’s executive director also previously oversaw relocation services for Ceasefire-Lifeline clients as executive director of Community & Youth Outreach. In February 2025, the DVP will release a new request for proposals to solicit applications from community-based organizations to deliver violence intervention services that will start October 1, 2025, including emergency relocation services.
The continuation of funding for emergency relocation services supports the citywide priority of holistic community safety by ensuring that Oakland residents who are at imminent risk of violence due to group affiliation have access to services that reduce their likelihood of injury.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to relocate $198,750 that was approved through Resolution 89899 C.M.S. for Youth Alive to NICJR due to Youth Alive’s inability to deliver the required emergency relocation services from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. The required $198,750 is available in the Measure Z – Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act Fund (2252), Oakland Unite Organization (70211), Measure Z Program (PS37), and Measure Z, Project (1007432). The proposed change in the recipient agency will not involve allocating funds beyond what was already approved through Resolution 89899 C.M.S.
If a new ballot measure is authorized by voters in November 2024 and additional funds are appropriated to the DVP for grant agreements in the 2025-2027 Biennial Budget, the proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to award an additional $66,250 to NICJR to continue delivering emergency shelter services through September 30, 2025.
As in previous years, staff recommends that any unexpended balances due to grantees not meeting their deliverables be placed in the Measure Z – Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act Fund (2252), Oakland Unite Organization (70211), Measure Z Program (PS37), and Measure Z Service Prior Year Reserve Project (1004313).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
DVP staff conducted an extensive public input and planning process to develop the DVP’s 2022- 24 Strategic Spending Plan, which directly informed the RFQ solicitation for violence prevention and intervention services funded from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025. The DVP hosted four virtual community town halls from mid-February to mid-April 2021 to solicit input from Oakland residents impacted by violence, stakeholders, and community-based providers. These town halls averaged 92 attendees per event. In addition, DVP conducted 11 focus groups and 41 interviews with stakeholders, including family members who have lost loved ones to violence, DVP service providers and participants (by service strategy), local and national public health and violence prevention experts, members of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, and representatives from public partner agencies such as the Alameda County Probation Department and OUSD.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: DVP Emergency Relocation Grant
Date: October 14, 2024 Page 4
City Council
November 12, 2024
DVP staff have heard directly from community-based organizations and other stakeholders about the need to fund emergency relocation services from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, due to its positive impact on reducing violence and trauma experienced by Oakland’s most vulnerable residents.
COORDINATION
The City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and City Administrator’s Office were consulted during the preparation of this agenda report and resolution.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
Performance Monitoring. During contract negotiations, the DVP establishes metrics for pre- identified deliverables that grantees are expected to meet during the grant award period (number of participants served, number of groups held, etc.). At least monthly, grantees must enter data on services rendered into the DVP’s data management system. DVP program officers and planners review these data on a regular basis and work with grantee staff to identify strategies for improving performance metrics, when needed.
From October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, Youth Alive served 32 individuals through emergency relocation services. From October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, NICJR will be expected to complete relocation intake assessments within 24 hours for 90% of individuals who are approved for relocation services by the DVP. NICJR will also be expected to successfully relocate 90% of individuals who accept relocation services after being identified as eligible by the DVP.
Impact Evaluation. Measure Z requires the regular evaluation of funded services by an external evaluator. In 2022, the City Administrator’s Office selected Urban Institute to evaluate DVP services funded by Measure Z from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024. The first Urban Institute evaluation report will be available in Fall 2024, and the final report will be produced by September 2025.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic opportunities associated with this report.
Environmental: There are no environmental benefits associated with this report.
Race and Equity: All DVP-funded services are intended for Oakland’s most vulnerable residents who are impacted by group violence, intimate partner violence, or commercial sexual exploitation.
Of those served by DVP-funded services in 2023, 62% identified as African American, 24% identified as Latino, and 4% identified as multiracial. Continuing to fully fund emergency relocation services will reduce trauma and violence impacting these priority populations.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: DVP Emergency Relocation Grant
Date: October 14, 2024 Page 5
City Council
November 12, 2024
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Amending An Existing Grant Agreement With The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform For Violence Prevention And Intervention Services For The Period Of October 1, 2023, To June 30, 2025, To Add One Hundred Ninety-Eight Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($198,750) That Was Originally Awarded To Youth Alive For October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, For A Total Grant Amount Not To Exceed Five Hundred Forty-Eight Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($548,750), With The Ability To Extend The Agreement For An Additional Three Months In An Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Sixteen Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($116,250) Contingent On Available Funds.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Holly Joshi , Chief of Violence Prevention, at 510-920-6272.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly Joshi
Chief of Violence Prevention
Department of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by: Mailee Wang
Deputy Chief of Administration
Department of Violence Prevention
Prepared by: Gillian Caplan
Program Planner, Group Violence
Department of Violence Prevention
Holly Joshi (Oct 29, 2024 17:50 PDT)