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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20162056.tiffRESOLUTION RE: APPROVE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PILOT PROJECT AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN - YOUTH AND FAMILY CONNECTIONS WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, pursuant to Colorado statute and the Weld County Home Rule Charter, is vested with the authority of administering the affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and WHEREAS, the Board has been presented with Memorandum of Understanding for the Restorative Justice Program between the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf of the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office, and Youth and Family Connections, commencing upon full execution of signatures, and ending June 30, 2017, with further terms and conditions being as stated in said memorandum of understanding, and WHEREAS, after review, the Board deems it advisable to approve said memorandum of understanding, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, that the Memorandum of Understanding for the Restorative Justice Pilot Project between the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf of the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office, and Youth and Family Connections, and be and hereby is, approved. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Board that the Chair be, and hereby is, authorized to sign said memorandum of understanding. The above and foregoing Resolution was, on motion duly made and seconded, adopted by the following vote on the 29th day of June, A.D., 2016. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WELD COUNTY, COLORADO ATTEST: diticti CAk. Mike Freeman, Chair Weld County Clerk to the Board BY: teve Moreno County Attorney Date of signature CC: CCA.-C K(3) -7/ O'x'7 / `aO l Co Sean P Conway Pro-Tem /to; a e A. Cozad 2XCosen ra Kirkmeyer eutc71 2016-2056 DA0025 MICHAEL J. ROURKE District Attorney ROBERT W. MILLER Assistant District Attorney Office of the District Attorney Nineteenth Judicial District 915 10TH Street P.O. Box 1167 Greeley, CO 80632 Phone: (970) 356-4010 Fax: (970) 352-8023 www.weldda.com To: Board of County Commissioners From: Kirsta Britton Director, Juvenile Diversion Date: June 27, 2016 RE: Juvenile Diversion MOU with YFC for Restorative Justice Program For your approval and signature, is the Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration between Youth and Family Connections and the District Attorney's Office in regards to the Juvenile Diversion Restorative Justice Program. The DA's Office contracts with YFC for service provision. Minor updates were made to the previous MOU to better reflect the current agreement. This version was approved by Bob Choate. 2016-2056 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WHEREAS, the following Memorandum of Understanding (Agreement) outlines the Agreement between the Weld County Board of County Commissioners ("County"), on behalf of the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office, ("District Attorney" or "D.A.") and Youth and Family Connections ("YFC") regarding the Restorative Justice Pilot Project in Colorado's 19th Judicial District. WHEREAS, the District Attorney has received grant funding for the Restorative Justice Pilot Project, and desires to contract with YFC for the purpose of providing Restorative Justice services, as described in Colorado House Bill 13-1254. WHEREAS, YFC intends to provide Restorative Justice services on behalf of the District Attorney, in accordance with this Agreement and with Colorado House Bill 13-1254 and other applicable law. NOW THEREFORE, the undersigned organizations in good faith are resolved to execute this Memorandum of Understanding and enter into an Agreement as follows: 1. TERM. The term of this Agreement shall be from the date of execution through and until June 30, 2017. 2. GOALS. a. Through the pilot program, the Restorative Justice program is designed to facilitate and encourage diversion of juveniles from the juvenile justice system to Restorative Justice practices, both to provide data to assess the efficacy of Restorative Justice to reduce recidivism, to assist in repairing the harm caused to victims and the community, increase victim, offender, and community member satisfaction, and reduce cost; and to promote the restorative justice principles of reconciliation, responsibility, reintegration, respect, relationship -building and restitution. b. Through the Restorative Justice program, the District Attorney and Youth and Family Connections intend to facilitate and encourage diversion of juveniles from the juvenile justice system when diversion may prevent juveniles from committing additional criminal acts, restore victims of crime, facilitate the juveniles' ability to pay restitution to victims of crime, and reduce the number of cases in the juvenile justice system. Restorative justice should ensure accountability while allowing juveniles to avoid the collateral consequences associated with criminal charges and convictions. 1 .464 azo 3. DUTIES OF YOUTH AND FAMILY CONNECTIONS. a. YFC will recruit, interview, train, and supervise a group of volunteer Restorative Justice Conference Facilitators. YFC will coordinate all steps of training and supervision for volunteers. Training will relate to Restorative Justice principles, including reconciliation, responsibility, reintegration, respect, relationship -building, and restitution. This will be done with traditional and social media, community presentations, and volunteer and stakeholder training and will be on -going. b. YFC shall hire a Restorative Justice Coordinator using Restorative Justice grant funds awarded to the District Attorney. The Restorative Justice Coordinator shall be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Restorative Justice program. c. YFC volunteers will collect all required paperwork which shall be provided by the YFC Restorative Justice Coordinator to the D.A. Office Diversion Director. d. YFC will submit appropriate invoices for salary, mileage, supplies and other expenses in a timely manner. YFC agrees that all invoices will be itemized and that all supporting documentation will be attached thereto. e. YFC will not provide case assessment or case management unless upon specific request of the DA's Office. f YFC and/or its designees or volunteers will administer all surveys provided by the state of Colorado. Specifically, YFC will administer pre-program and post -program surveys to offenders, and will ensure that offenders complete both the pre-program survey and the post -program survey at a matched rate of no less than 75 percent. YFC will additionally administer post -program surveys to victims and community members, and will ensure that those surveys are appropriately submitted to the State of Colorado. YFC will provide information/reports to the District Attorney upon request on the following: (i) The number of juveniles who reach a Restorative Justice Agreement; (ii) The number of juveniles who do not reach a Restorative Justice Agreement; (iii) The number of victims who were contacted for participation in the Restorative Justice program; (iv) The number of victims who participated in the Restorative Justice program; (v) The number of victims who declined to participate in the Restorative Justice program; (vi) The number of victims who submitted victim impact statements; (vii) The number of victims who sent a surrogate; (viii) Victim surveys; and (ix) Offender surveys. h. YFC will collaborate with the District Attorney to complete a cost -benefit analysis to determine cost savings of the program. g. i. YFC will collaborate with the District Attorney as much as possible to ensure success of the Restorative Justice program. 2 4. DUTIES OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY. a. The D.A. will assess all first time juvenile offenders for appropriateness in diversion and restorative justice programming based on offense, victim input and resources. The D.A. will attempt to contact victims of crime for input on restoration of harm and use that to determine restorative justice eligibility. b. The D.A. will refer juveniles to the Restorative Justice program as an alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system. c. The D.A. will provide case management services for all Restorative Justice cases. d. The D.A. will collect all fees from Restorative Justice program participants as required by law for Diversion Fees and Restorative Justice Program Fees. This includes determining what those fees should be on a sliding scale, if necessary. e. The D.A. Office Diversion Director will be responsible for all data collection and reporting as required by the State for funding and assessment purposes. The Diversion Director will complete all grant applications following the standard procedure as set by the Board of County Commissioners for grant funding requests. f. Using systems available to District Attorney's Offices, the Diversion Director will check recidivism one year post program completion. g. The D.A. will provide data to the State as required by Colorado House Bill 13-1254. h. The D.A. will collaborate with YFC as much as possible to ensure success of the Restorative Justice program. 5. FUNDS. a. The District Attorney's Office will collect all funds from the state RJ fund and will disburse those funds to YFC, as the contracted agency, based on satisfactory performance of contracted obligations. An invoice will be provided to the DA's Office quarterly, for personnel costs, and will be submitted to the state with routine reporting documents. YFC will submit invoices for mileage and supply expenses quarterly, which will be reimbursed up to but not exceeding the budgeted and awarded amount. Funds will be provided to YFC, or its designated fiscal agent, at the beginning of the quarter, once they are received from the State. Additionally, YFC will receive 50 percent of the total amount of collected program fees for Diversion clients who participate in Restorative Justice and/or Restore with YFC, which YFC agrees to use costs associated with maintaining and further developing the Restorative Justice and Restore programs. On a quarterly basis, The DA's Office will submit to YFC the total amount of program fees collected for each youth, and the total due to YFC for their portion of fees collected for youth who 3 participate in Restorative Justice and/or Restore. YFC, or its designated fiscal agent will receive these funds after the close of the quarter. b. The budget provided to YFC will contain line items for personnel, operating, travel, and foreign language translation. YFC will be responsible for spending the budgeted amounts within the budgeted limits. YFC has spending authority for purchases within the budget limits for amounts less than $1,500. For individual expenditures greater than $1,500.00 for items within the operating and travel line items, the YFC Executive Director must obtain written spending authorization from the named Project Director. c. The parties expressly recognize that this Agreement, and all funds discussed herein, is subject to the availability of Restorative Justice funds from the State. If in the future such funds are decreased or eliminated, neither the County nor the District Attorney shall be responsible to pay for YFC services except with those Restorative Justice funds received from the State. 6. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. YFC shall perform its duties hereunder as an independent contractor and not as an employee of Weld County. YFC shall be solely responsible for its acts and those of its agents and employees for all acts performed pursuant to this Agreement. Neither YFC nor any agent, volunteer, or employee of YFC shall be deemed to be an agent or employee of County. YFC and its employees and agents are not entitled to unemployment insurance or workers' compensation benefits through County and County shall not pay for or otherwise provide such coverage for YFC or any of its agents, volunteers, or employees. Unemployment insurance benefits will be available to YFC and its employees, volunteers, and agents only if such coverage is made available by YFC or a third party. YFC shall pay when due all applicable employment taxes and income taxes incurred pursuant to this Agreement. YFC shall not have authorization, express or implied, to bind County to any agreement, liability or understanding, except as expressly set forth in this Agreement. YFC shall have the following responsibilities with regard to workers' compensation and unemployment compensation insurance matters: (a) provide and keep in force workers' compensation and unemployment compensation insurance in the amounts required by law and (b) provide proof thereof when requested to do so by County. 7. INSURANCE AND INDEMNIFICATION. YFC shall defend and indemnify County, its officers and agents, from and against loss or liability arising from YFC's acts, errors or omissions in seeking to perform its obligations under this Agreement. YFC shall provide necessary workers' compensation insurance at YFC's own cost and expense. YFC shall provide its own liability coverage, which shall cover any and all acts of YFC employees, agents, and volunteers. 4 8. TERMINATION. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time by providing the other party with a 30 day written notice thereof Furthermore, this Agreement may be terminated at any time without notice upon a material breach of the terms of the Agreement. In the event of an early termination, YFC shall be paid for work performed up to the time of notice and County shall be entitled the use of all material generated pursuant to this Agreement. 9. NON -ASSIGNMENT. YFC may not assign or transfer this Agreement, any interest therein or claim thereunder, without the prior written approval of County. 10. NON-EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT. This Agreement is nonexclusive and County may engage or use other contractors or persons to perform services of the same or similar nature. 11. FUND AVAILABILITY. Financial obligations of the County payable after the current fiscal year are contingent upon funds for that purpose being appropriated, budgeted and otherwise made available. By execution of this Agreement, County does not warrant that funds will be available to fund this Agreement beyond the current fiscal year. 12. SEVERABILITY. If any term or condition of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, this Agreement shall be construed and enforced without such provision, to the extent that this Agreement is then capable of execution within the original intent of the parties. 13. GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY. No term or condition of this Agreement shall be construed or interpreted as a waiver, express or implied, of any of the immunities, rights, benefits, protections or other provisions, of the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act §§24-10-101 et seq., as applicable now or hereafter amended. 14. NO THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARY. It is expressly understood and agreed that the enforcement of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and all rights of action relating to such enforcement, shall be strictly reserved to the undersigned parties and nothing in this Agreement shall give or allow any claim or right of action whatsoever by any other person not included in this Agreement. It is the express intention 5 of the undersigned parties that any entity other than the undersigned parties receiving services or benefits under this Agreement shall be an incidental beneficiary only. 15. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS APPROVAL. This Agreement shall not be valid until it has been approved by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado or its designee. 16. CHOICE OF LAW. Colorado law, and rules and regulations established pursuant thereto, shall be applied in the interpretation, execution, and enforcement of this Agreement. Any provision included or incorporated herein by reference which conflicts with said laws, rules and/or regulations shall be null and void. 17. VENUE. In the event of a dispute arising under this Agreement, the parties agree that venue is proper in the Weld County District Court, located in Greeley, Colorado. 18. ATTORNEYS FEES / LEGAL COSTS. In the event of a dispute between County and Contractor, concerning this Agreement, the parties agree that each party shall be responsible for the payment of attorney fees and/or legal costs incurred by or on its own behalf. In Witness Whereof, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement the day and year provided below. Approvals: Weld County District Attorney Date Execu eDirector Date Youth & Family Connections 6 ATTEST: ddrAIA) Weld Chi nt,M Clerk to the Bgard , WELD COUNTY, COLORADO BY: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Deputy CI k to the Bo� �„�� Mike Freeman, Chair Controller APBROVED County Attorney JUN 2 9 2016 PROVEQ AS TO S TANCE: lected Official or epartment Head Director of General Services 7 aO//o - aZb6 Hello