Public Safety Committee July 22, 2025
AGENDA REPORT TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Holly Joshi City Administrator Chief of Violence Prevention SUBJECT: Apricot Amended Use Policy and Annual Report DATE: July 1, 2025 City Administrator Approval Date: RECOMMENDATION Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Accepting The Department 5 Apricot Annual Report And Approving The Amended Apricot Use Policy As Approved By The Privacy Advisory Commission On June 5, 2025 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) uses a data management system called Apricot to collect information from its staff and funded agencies related to service delivery and grant management. City Council approved a five-year Apricot system in July 2022. At that time, the City Council also accepted Apricot Use Policy, which was approved by the Privacy Advisory Commission in July 2022. The Privacy Advisory Commission unanimously approved the first annual report and amendments to the use policy in June 2024, which the City Council later approved in September 2024 (Resolution 90446 C.M.S.). The DVP returned to the Privacy Advisory Commission on June 5, 2025, to present its second annual report and request amendments to the existing use policy, both of which the Privacy Advisory Commission approved. The proposed resolution, if adopted, will accept the 2025 Apricot Annual Report and approve the amended Apricot Use Policy. BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY The DVP is charged with reducing group violence, intimate partner violence, and commercial sexual exploitation in Oakland. To do this, the DVP invests in immediate crisis response services and near-term interventions that stabilize victims and prevent additional violence, as well as longer-term, intensive support services for individuals caught in cycles of violence. Specifically, the DVP performs three primary functions: 1. Supervise and deploy a team of direct service staff who perform intensive life coaching and violence interruption work with individuals at the highest risk of imminent violence.
Jestin Johnson (Jul 7, 2025 21:37 PDT)
Jul 7, 2025
Jestin D, Johnson, City AdministratorSubject: Apricot 360 Amended Use Policy and Annual Report Date: July 1, 2025 Page 2 Public Safety Committee July 22, 2025
2. Fund community organizations to deliver a range of violence intervention and healing services to community members at the center of violence. 3. Convene and build capacity among community organizations that form the ecosystem of violence intervention services in Oakland to enhance our collective capacity to prevent violence, deliver effective, coordinated services, and create a safer and healthier Oakland. To adequately monitor and evaluate services delivered and funded by the DVP, the DVP requires a data management system that allows staff from the DVP and funded agencies to enter information related to service delivery and grant management. On July 26, 2022, the City Council approved a five-year contract with Bonterra, Inc. (formerly known as Social Solutions Global, Inc.) in the amount of $533,056 for the term of August 1, 2022, to June 30, 2027, for the Apricot system. At that time, the City Council also aApricot Use Policy, which was approved by the Privacy Advisory Commission on July 12, 2022 (Resolution 89380 C.M.S.). In June 2023, the City Council approved adding $91,451 with Bonterra, Inc. to fund additional user licenses, for a total contract amount of $624,597 (Resolution 89797 C.M.S.). Since its implementation in January 2023, Apricot has been used by DVP and CBO staff in the following ways: Direct service staff and supervisors from the DVP and funded CBOs use the system to track and monitor enrollment, service engagement, milestones, and outcomes for individual services, as well as attendance, duration, and content of group services. DVP staff who coordinate services use the system to ensure that individuals receive timely, comprehensive, and coordinated services and follow-up. DVP data and evaluation staff use Apricot to monitor service delivery and outcome data across each strategy and prepare reports about services delivered for a range of external stakeholders. Fiscal and grant staff within the DVP and CBOs use the system to manage grant budgets, monitor grant deliverables, and prepare quarterly invoices. External evaluators use service delivery and outcome data collected through Apricot to evaluate DVP programs and services. establishing ordinance (Ordinance No. 13349 C.M.S.) states that annual reports and recommendations on the use of the surveillance technology must be reviewed and approved by the Privacy Advisory Commission and City Council. The DVP presented its 2025 Apricot Annual Report and amended Apricot Use Policy to the Privacy Advisory Commission on June 5, 2025, and both items received unanimous approval.
Jestin D, Johnson, City AdministratorSubject: Apricot 360 Amended Use Policy and Annual Report Date: July 1, 2025 Page 3 Public Safety Committee July 22, 2025
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES This resolution, if adopted, will allow the City Council to accept 2025 Apricot Annual Report and amended Apricot Use Policy, as recommended by the Privacy Advisory Commission. It will also enable the DVP to continue using Apricot to support service delivery and grant management activities with appropriate privacy and security safeguards. Annual report findings 5 Apricot Annual Report details the following information regarding usage of Apricot from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024: Apricot was used by approximately 20 DVP staff and 180 CBO staff to track service delivery or perform grant management activities. Individual-level data were entered for over 3,000 participants. The DVP shared de-identified data on services delivered and personally identifiable information for participants who provided their consent with its external evaluation partner, Urban Institute, as approved in the use policy. The DVP did not receive any complaints or concerns about Apricot related to its protection of civil rights and civil liberties. DVP data and evaluation staff communicated with numerous grantees to integrate their feedback regarding ways to improve the user-friendliness of the system. The DVP did not receive any public records requests pertaining to Apricot. There were no data breaches or unauthorized access to the Apricot system. Use of the Apricot system has been helpful to the DVP in the following ways: The system has allowed DVP staff to easily access and share aggregate data regarding DVP-funded services in City Council reports, grant applications, and public dashboards. The system has allowed DVP staff to coordinate service delivery within the DVP and across funded agencies. Data collected through Apricot has served as the primary source of data for evaluations , as well as an evaluation of an external grant from the California Board of State Community Corrections to demonstrate the impact of services. Weekly performance reports generated through Apricot using data entered by DVP direct service staff allowed DVP leadership to monitor service delivery related to the -Lifeline strategy and ensure services were delivered with the expected intensity. Oakland ended 2024 with a reduction of over 30% in homicides and shootings, suggesting that the reimplementation of Ceasefire-Lifeline with model fidelity was highly successful in reducing group-driven violence. Use Policy Amendments The DVP has proposed the following two amendments to the current Apricot Use Policy, all of which were approved by the Privacy Advisory Commission on June 5, 2025: The approved use policy states that DVP staff who coordinate services delivered by community-based organizations can access service data entered by those agencies. We have amended Jestin D, Johnson, City AdministratorSubject: Apricot 360 Amended Use Policy and Annual Report Date: July 1, 2025 Page 4 Public Safety Committee July 22, 2025
delivered by community-based organizations can access service data entered by those agencies. This will allow staff who manage community grants to review service data on a regular basis to determine whether services are being delivered in accordance with the scopes of work and best practices. The approved use policy states that DVP staff who can access individual-level data entered by community-based organizations in Apricot maintain current certifications in HIPAA and Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) research, ethics, and compliance training. After further consideration, we have determined that the HIPAA and CITI trainings are not relevant for individuals who access data in Apricot since HIPAA-protected data are not collected and DVP staff do not use data collected for research purposes. The use policy was amended to say that DVP staff who have access to individual-level data entered into Apricot by community-based organizations will complete a training called About Privacy and Confidentiality for Non-HIPAA Covered Entities from Relias Academy at least once every two years. This training is far more applicable to the actual usage of the Apricot system by DVP staff. The Apricot system supports the citywide priority of holistic community safety by allowing the DVP to collect information needed to effectively coordinate and fund critical violence prevention and intervention services. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact associated with approving the updated Apricot Use Policy. The contract with Bonterra, Inc. for the Apricot system is for $624,597 over five years. Table 1 provides the cost by fiscal year. Table 1. Bonterra, Inc. contract costs by fiscal year. Fiscal year Description of fees Total proposed amount 2022-2023 System development $71,000 User accounts & training/support $49,014 Contingency $10,000 2023-2024 User accounts & training/support $120,505 2024-2025 User accounts & training/support $120,505 2025-2026 User accounts & training/support $124,150 2026-2027 User accounts & training/support $129,423 Total $624,597 The DVP has determined that Apricot is more cost effective than its prior data management system, Cityspan. The annual cost of Cityspan was $70,000, which included $13,500 in base system usage costs and $56,500 in project management and custom programming costs (report building, data cleaning, data extractions, etc.) billed at $150 per hour. The Apricot system can be customized and configured by internal DVP staff, eliminating the need for costs associated with project management and custom programming. DVP staff spend approximately 20 hours per week performing tasks in Apricot that would have required outsourcing to Cityspan at the rate of $150 per hour, for an annual cost of $156,000. The total annual cost of Cityspan to the Jestin D, Johnson, City AdministratorSubject: Apricot 360 Amended Use Policy and Annual Report Date: July 1, 2025 Page 5 Public Safety Committee July 22, 2025
DVP would have been $169,500, including $13,500 for base system usage. This suggests that Apricot represents a savings of approximately $40,000 to the DVP annually. PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST The 2025 Apricot Annual Report and the amended Apricot Use Policy were publicly noticed, presented, and approved at the June 5, 2025, meeting of the Privacy Advisory Commission. COORDINATION In preparing this report and resolution, the DVP and the Office of the City Attorney. The DVP also sought review and approval from the Privacy Advisory Commission. PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP The Apricot system was implemented in January 2023 and currently has 200 users. Thus far, better understand how programs are being implemented and who is being served, as detailed under Analysis and Policy Alternatives. Additionally, data collected through Apricot have served as the primary source of data for Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy, lic Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act, and an evaluation of an external grant from the California Board of State Community Corrections. SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES Economic: There are no economic benefits. Environmental: There are no environmental benefits. Race & Equity: Group violence and gender-based violence in Oakland disproportionately impact people of color. Between January 31, 2024, and December 31, 2024, 53% of clients who received services funded by the DVP related to group violence or gender-based violence were African American, and 25% were Latinx. The Apricot system will support enhanced service delivery and coordination for residents impacted by group violence and gender-based violence, leading to greater healing and reduced victimization. It will also allow the DVP to evaluate its services and focus resources on practices that are most effective in reducing racial disparities. ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Accepting The Department Of 5 Apricot Annual Report And Approving The Amended Apricot Use Policy As Approved By The Privacy Advisory Commission On June 5, 2025 Jestin D, Johnson, City AdministratorSubject: Apricot 360 Amended Use Policy and Annual Report Date: July 1, 2025 Page 6 Public Safety Committee July 22, 2025
For questions regarding this report, please contact Dr. Holly Joshi, Chief of Violence Prevention at [email protected]. Respectfully submitted, Holly Joshi, Chief of Violence Prevention Department of Violence Prevention Reviewed by: Jenny Linchey, Deputy Chief of Grants, Programs, and Evaluation Department of Violence Prevention Prepared by: Caitlin Grey, Data and Evaluation Planner Department of Violence Prevention Attachments (3): A: 2024 Apricot Use Policy B: 2025 Apricot Use Policy C: 2025 Apricot Annual Report