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Home My WebLink About20141081.tiff RESOLUTION RE: APPROVE APPLICATION FOR JUVENILE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE DIVERSION FUNDING FOR PILOT PROJECTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2015 AND AUTHORIZE ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL 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 an Application for Juvenile Restorative Justice Diversion Funding for Pilot Projects in Fiscal Year 2015 from 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 the Youth and Family Connections agency, to the Colorado Restorative Justice Council, commencing in July 2014, and ending in June 2015, with terms and conditions being as stated in said application, and WHEREAS, after review,the Board deems it advisable to approve said application, 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 Application for Juvenile Restorative Justice Diversion Funding for Pilot Projects in Fiscal Year 2015 from 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 the Youth and Family Connections agency,to the Colorado Restorative Justice Council be, and hereby is, approved. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado,that Krista Britton, District Attorney's Office, be, and hereby is, authorized to electronically submit said application. The above and foregoing Resolution was, on motion duly made and seconded, adopted by the following vote on the 7th day of April, A.D., 2014. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ELD COUNTY ORRADO ATTEST: dims& w , ; - k 4 3 eQoina 0 / I��'�`•uglas ademach , Chair Weld County Clerk to the Board � �� Sid 7 LLA a lAt(--( • i86i L .q!t _._ : a Kirkmeyel, Pro-Tem/ BY: ► 1 �. I l i��' i t •.- - 5 ' Dep y Clerk to the Boa • , �,N,,,,. P. Conway APP ED A O --- �� _ Mike�rrKz County Attorney William F. arcia Date of signature: CO: Mfre) 4/84 2014-1081 DA0024 Juvenile Restorative Justice Diversion Funding for Pilot Projects vv'a5 Section 1.Information Judicial District Inforination:Include the judicial district number,elected District Attorney name,and the counties served by the district. " The 19th Judicial District serves Weld County. The elected District Attorney for the 19th Judicial District is Ken Buck. Primary Contact Name: Kirsta Britton Email: kbritton(a)co.weld.co.us Office Phone: 970-356-4010 Alt.Phone: x4775 Mailing Address: PO Box 1167 City: Greeley CO I Zip:80632 Amount ire%uestedj foW'much funding°are you regrleshn 12 gfor F0152(This $ is for 7nly 01¢thrgugh Jnlle2015),. / t ;All/ Section 2. Juvenile RJ Diversion Program Information Program Status: PILOT established in HB13-1254 Target Population:Describe the program's target group"ofjuvenile offenders,and how many juveniles you'anticipate will be served ' The Juvenile Diversion Program serves first time offenders age 10-17. The Diversion program has a goal of serving 200 juveniles in calendar year 2014 and will refer approximately 100 of those juveniles to Restorative Justice Services. Partner Organizations: If applicable,identify any,partner organizations In dude partner name,main contact person, phone,e-mail,and mailing address. These are organizations expected/a provide direct services to juveniles on Youth and Family Connections will coordinate the Restorative Justice volunteers to facilitate conferences. Kelly Schramm—Executive Director 2835 W. 10th Street Greeley, CO 80634 970.351.5475 Office 970.673.2152 Cell 970.351.5484 Fax Icschramm@youthandfamilyconnections.org Partner Organizations'Roles'and Responsibilities:For partners identified above,describe any collaborative effort,- partnership,or contract support that is directly related to this program. Include what services partners will provide and their qualifications for providing those services."-.- , Youth and Family Connections (YFC)will employ or contract with a Restorative Justice Coordinator who will coordinate training and conference scheduling of Restorative Justice volunteers. The DA's Office Diversion program will send referrals for RJ Conferencing to YFC who will then coordinate the volunteers to facilitate the conference. Youth and Family Connections is a central hub for juvenile and family services in the county,making their partnership with the Pilot Program desirable to stakeholders. Please include with this application a Letter of Commitment orMOUfrom each partner organisation,clearly stating' their understanding of their role in the District Attorney's juvenile RJ diversion program. ; Section 3. Juvenile RJ Diversion Program Narrative A. Description of Juvenile RI Diversion Program:Describe the program,including how you are incorporating. the principles and best practices of RI. What,are the eligibility criteria for participants?What is the implementation plan? What training is needed for staff?How will you know if your program is successful? 1 2014-1081 Juvenile Restorative Justice Diversion Funding for Pilot Projects FY•15 For existing programs,summarize implementation&measures of success to date. Limit response to one page. The Weld County Juvenile Diversion Program diverts first time juvenile offenders from traditional prosecution in the juvenile court system. Drug,gang, violent, and sex related offenses are ineligible for Diversion. Restorative Justice has been used sporadically when volunteer facilitators have been available. Through collaboration with the existing Youth and Family Connections(YFC)program, and as a result of HB 13-1254, a process to provide Restorative Justice services to Diversion youth has been initiated. The Diversion program refers youth to YFC who will coordinate a pool of trained Restorative Justice volunteer facilitators who will then facilitate appropriate Restorative Justice conferences with referred juveniles. RJ Pilot Funds will be used to employ a Restorative Justice Coordinator who will coordinate community volunteers to facilitate conferences. The RJ Coordinator will provide training, supervision and support to the community volunteers and will be involved in community outreach. On-going training will be required both to support existing volunteers and to train new volunteers. Additionally,to meet the needs to the DA's Office Diversion program to be able to increase the caseload and also provide appropriate levels of service to clients and reporting to the state,a Diversion RJ Case Manager will be hired to fulfill the increased needs as a result of participation in the pilot program. Satisfaction surveys, provided through the initiative, will be administered so that victims and offenders will be able to help determine the programs' level of success. Additionally, subsequent offense rates for youth who go through a Restorative Justice Conference will be gathered to determine if RJ has an impact on recidivism. B. State Mandates:All state funded Juvenile RJ diversion programs must meet the legislative mandates of HB13-1254-and related protocols developed by the RJ Council-in the design, implementation,evaluation and data collection for the program.Describe your program protocols,technology and staff capacity to meet these speck mandates:I) appropriate screening for eligibility;2)administration ofpre/post participant surveys;3)collection of data on participant demographics& case outcomes;4)collection of recidivism data;& 5)timely reporting to the state of all required program information.Be specific as to how all required data will be collected&reported,including who will be responsible for this. Limit response to one page (note: The RJ Pilots are expected to utilize the cloud-based data collection system upon its launch.) The Diversion Director, employed by the District Attorney, will provide referral to Restorative Justice and all case management for Diversion participants. All cases are screened for Restorative Justice appropriateness based on the offense and victim response. A diversion intake process then occurs. If the juvenile appears appropriate for RJ and Diversion at the intake,the referral is made to the YFC program to coordinate volunteers who will carry out the Restorative Justice process. Volunteers are provided a packet of information for each juvenile as well as blank forms including consent to conference, agreement, report forms and pre-and post-survey forms as provided by the state. All forms, including surveys, will be utilized appropriately as a part of the conference.These forms will be returned to the Diversion Director as soon as possible after the conference. The Diversion Director will collect the information from these forms and any agreement items that result from conference. Demographic data is collected at intake and maintained in multiple databases for other reporting obligations. All demographic data, outcomes and recidivism data, along with any other mandated information, will be gathered and reported by the Diversion Director to the state by required dates. All data is maintained in an Excel spreadsheet and exported into required data systems for reporting, in this case into the cloud-based data collection system. In order to perform these functions,additional technology and staff will be required for both the District Attorney's Office Diversion Program and the Youth and Family Connections program in order to be in compliance with HB13-1254 requirements. C. Goals,Objectives,Outcomes and Tmmeframes:Please briefly note the program's overarching goals. Use the form below and add goallobjectiveloutcome/timeframe sections as needed Objectives are relative stepping stones with measurable outcomes and timeframes. Program Goal: Increase community safety and decrease recidivism, through the use of Restorative Justice conferencing to help build a stronger community. Through the pilot program, 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, 2 Juvenile Restorative Justice Diversion Funding for Pilot Projects FY'15 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 Objective: Gather data regarding Objective: Increase victim, Objective: Promote the 5 R's of juveniles who have been diverted as a offender,and community member Restorative Justice by involving result of Restorative Justice satisfaction with the criminal community volunteers in training sanctioning and the resulting justice system through RJ and conferencing. recidivism rates. conferencing. Outcomes: 80%of juveniles who Outcomes: At least 75%favorable Outcomes: Train and maintain a complete an RJ Conference won't and constructive exit surveys to pool of 20-30 community volunteers reoffend within one year. help inform program development. in RJ conferencing. Timeframe: Recidivism will be Timeframe: Survey administration Timeframe: Recruitment and checked one year post completion. will occur after each conference. training will be on-going so that sufficient volunteers are available to facilitate conferences. D. Long Term Plan: What plans does the district have to sustain juvenile RJ diversion? What would happen in the event state funds are not available or later become unavailable? Limit your response to a half page. The existing Juvenile Diversion Program will provide referrals to YFC for Restorative Justice as long as YFC is able to coordinate volunteers for conferences. Additionally,the DA's Office will assist in doing background checks for YFC volunteers. Being able to offer Restorative Justice conferences to multiple referral sources fits into the long term goals for YFC. Ideally, once the program is established as a result of the pilot program funds,YFC will be in a position to offer conferences to other referral sources which will provide better service to our community and also diversify funding sources. Successful outcomes from the pilot program phase will be used as evidence of success when applying for other funding opportunities. Section 4. Juvenile RJ Diversion Budget Budget Narrative:Explain program needs relative to expenses.If this is a continuation of an existing program,how will this new money help continue Juvenile RJ Diversion services? What other sources offunding or in-kind contributions are available? What fees,if any,will be charged to the juvenile?What is the anticipated cost per referral, including your formula for this estimate?Limit your response to a half page. The existing Juvenile Diversion Program was funded with a goal of diverting 100 juveniles per year. As a result of HB 13-1254 and the addition of a Restorative Justice referral opportunity,the goal has been increased to divert 200 cases per year and refer 100 of those cases to Restorative Justice Conferencing. Additional funds are needed to increase the capacity of uveniles served and the data reporting requirements required of the existing program. The Restorative Justice program is new and requires new staff and additional dollars for start up expenses. The existing Diversion Program has been funded by DCJ Diversion grant funds and a match from the county since 2006. Funds for fiscal year 2014-2015 have been applied for as a part of the DCJ competitive grant process. Youth and Family Connections is funded by grants and state and local dollars. In kind contributions from both agencies include space,technology, phones,and supervision costs. The recommended$125 Restorative Justice program fee, or a reduced amount,will be collected when possible. However,based on the economic realities of our community,this is not anticipated to be a significant contribution. If we base our cost per referral based only on the amount of funds requested, divided by the goal of serving 100 youth per year, that puts the cost per referral around$1230 per youth served. This number increases significantly if we include the existing costs of program operation that must occur in order to run Diversion and YFC so that we have a platform by which to participate in the Pilot Program. 3 Juvenile Restorative Justice Diversion Funding for Pilot Projects I FY'15 Expenses Category Explanation/Detail Total Personnel: I half time Diversion Staff person will provide $79,500 assessment,case management,referral to RJ,and all data collection and reporting for the pilot project. 1-.75 Restorative Justice Coordinator will be employed through Youth and Family Connections to provide training,supervision and support to the community volunteers and will be involved in community outreach. Training: Training needs to occur to get all volunteer $2000 facilitators educated on conference facilitation. Provider/Service Contracts: Operating: This includes expenses for technology copies,toner, $2500 conference refreshments and other operating supplies. Travel: Travel funds will cover expenses to trainings and $2000 meetings. Other:please specify $500 is budgeted in the event that a Spanish speaking $500 facilitator needs to be obtained in order to serve monolingual Spanish speaking conference _participants. Please note by name any other revenue sources for the Juvenile RJ diversion program. DC.1 Diversion Grant funds have been applied for through a competitive grants process. Awards will be announced in Total Anticipated Offender Fees: $5000 Match or In Kind support: $100,672 Total State Funds Requested: $86,500 Total Cost for Juvenile RJ $187172 Diversion Program: Other information you feel important for the RJ Council to know: 4 Hello