Police Department
Reference: A Resolution of the City Council of the City Of Brighton, Colorado, Accepting Federal Funds Provided by a Grant from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Grant Acceptance Contract with the Division of Justice
To: Mayor Ken Kreutzer and Members of City Council
Through: Philip A. Rodriguez, City Manager
Paul Southard, Chief of Police
Prepared By: Kim Messina, VSU Coordinator
Date Prepared: December 12, 2018
PURPOSE
Grant funding allows for one Brighton/Commerce City Sexual Assault Victim Advocate Specialist (“Specialist”) to provide comprehensive victim-centered and advocacy services to sexual assault victims within City of Brighton and Commerce City. Brighton Police Department (BPD) and Commerce City Police Department (CCPD) have implemented the “You Have Options” Program (YHOP), which offers a three-tier reporting approach allowing victims to report as much or as little of an incident as desired, effectively empowering victims to drive the investigation at their own pace. The Specialist will provide statutorily-mandated Victim’s Rights Act services and will be assigned to the Commerce City/Brighton Sexual Assault Task Force. The grant will also fund a large 2-year YHOP outreach campaign through OUTFRONT Media to promote community awareness regarding medical advocacy services and reporting options in the community of Brighton and Commerce City. These grant funds will also fund the current 17th Judicial District Sexual Assault Response Team Coordinator Program (“SART Program”) which is housed within BPD.
STRATEGIC FOCUS AREA
Safe, Active and Engaged Community
BACKGROUND
The Specialist, the SART Program, and YHOP will provide services as follows:
The Specialist:
This position provides primary services to sexual assault victims and witnesses, including crisis intervention, follow-up services, information support and referrals, criminal justice support and advocacy, assisting with emergency financial assistance, legal and criminal justice system support and advocacy, personal advocacy, ensuring compliance with the Victim’s Rights Act, processing and management of YHOP, community education, and outreach services.
This position works in partnership with the Commerce City/Brighton Sexual Assault Task Force, investigators with the Commerce City Police Department, and the SART Program, as well as with other BPD/CCPD employees, departments/divisions, agencies and the public in order to deliver effective evidence-based and innovative services based on best practices. The Specialist will also receive specialized training to further his/her knowledge and abilities to provide victim-centered services.
SART Program:
The City of Brighton has served as “host” for this position since January of 2017. The SART Coordinator is a neutral position that works for all disciplines in the 17th Judicial District to increase safety and justice for sexual assault victims, especially to those agencies participating in SART by providing everything from technical support, mediation, case review coordination, and identifying available resources.
Each law enforcement agency and the district attorney’s office in the 17th Judicial District has directly benefitted from SART team activities facilitated by the SART Coordinator. Since the inception of the SART Coordinator position and the creation of SART, there have been significant changes to sexual assault investigations and prosecution practices. First and foremost are the multi-disciplinary SART Guidelines developed collaboratively by identifying best practices for each discipline responding to sexual violence. First created in 2013, the Guidelines were updated in 2018 and await signatures by the DA and all Chiefs in the 17th Judicial District.
The SART Coordinator position has been critical to ensuring that a victim-centered approach is being used in the provision of victim services, investigation, and prosecution of sexual assault crimes in the 17th Judicial District by providing consistent and focused leadership. This program has been fully funded by the 17th Judicial District Victim Assistance Law Enforcement (VALE) in 2018. We sought to diversify the funding, and for 2019/2020, half of the funding will be this Victims of Crime Act grant and the other half will be the 17th Judicial District VALE.
YHOP Campaign:
BPD/CCPD Victim Services Unit (VSU) will conduct a community awareness campaign for YHOP, a victim-centered, sexual assault reporting program implemented by Brighton in 2015 and Commerce City in 2017. The campaign will educate citizens in the community regarding medical advocacy services, and reporting options available to them. The campaign will be conducted through OUTFRONT MEDIA advertising. Without this campaign, citizens would only find out about YHOP if they were already looking to report to law enforcement. BPD and CCPD want to provide each member of our community with information regarding their options to be supported and access services that can help them define what justice means for them. The campaign is designed to provide the following: commercial advertising though OUTFRONT Media making over 9,696,388 impressions; mobile network ads will be served to mobile phones with an app based platform within zip codes in and around Brighton and Commerce City, providing 8,034,610 ads on over 150,000 + Apps not only providing education but also a direct connection to call, report or gather additional information on reporting options. This campaign is intended to saturate the Brighton and Commerce City community with YHOP education which, in turn, will empower victims to make a fully-informed decision regarding seeking medical advocacy services and their reporting options.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The grant request for $382,692.00 has been submitted through the Criminal Justice Division’s Office for Victims Program and fully funded with Victims of Crime Act funds. This grant funds January 1st, 2019, through December 31st, 2020. The grant request of $382,692.00, with matching funds of $95,673.00, is as follows:
95% of one current full-time Specialist salary and benefits ($127,674.00) and $4,524.00 training/travel (The remainder of the Specialist’s salary and benefits, approximately $6,000.00 during the two-year grant period, will be funded by the City. This position has been incorporated into the 2019 approved budget);
50% of the 17th Judicial District SART Program to include $70,107.00 salary and benefits and $4,524.00 training/travel (The remaining 50% of the program will be funded through the VALE grant.); and
100% of the YHOP Public Awareness Campaign ($152,680.00 to OUTFRONT Media).
Matching funds:
Non-grant-funded BPD/CCPD VA Specialist 2-year salary and fringe funded by the City of Brighton will make up the match for this grant request. $127,684.00 X 75% = $95,673.00.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
1) Approve
2) Decline
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval and acceptance of these grant funds. BPD is the first police department in the nation to implement YHOP. This program has been positively received by our community, and has already shown success measureable by an increase in reports and the quality of services provided to our community. BPD and CCPD have joined together to establish a cross-jurisdictional Sexual Assault Task Force in order to continue to increase the services provided to the community. Through our innovative practice and leadership, we will continue to lead the way not only here in Colorado, but across the nation.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution
Grant Award Letter