To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Probation Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: Chief Vanessa Fuchs, (707) 565-2731
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Juvenile Trauma Counseling and Violence Prevention Services
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize the Chief Probation Officer to execute agreements with Seneca Family of Agencies in the amount of $890,000 and Hanna Center in the amount of $545,000, for juvenile trauma counseling and violence prevention services for an initial term of October 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027; to execute up to three one-year renewal options for a maximum six-year agreement values of $2,100,000 and $1,220,000 respectively; and to execute amendments to these agreements that do not substantively change the agreement terms with the approval of County Counsel.
end
Executive Summary:
The Probation Department requests Board approval to execute professional services agreements with Seneca Family of Agencies (Seneca) and Hanna Center (Hanna) to provide juvenile justice-involved youth trauma counseling and violence prevention services for an estimated 60 combined clients per year.
Discussion:
The Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) involves a partnership between the State of California, counties, and community-based organizations to enhance public safety by supporting community-based programs that have been proven to be effective in reducing crime and delinquency among at-risk youth and youth involved in juvenile justice.
With guidance from the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council, Probation is responsible for oversight and delivery of the JJCPA-funded programs and has prioritized the limited available resources to provide evidence-based services to youth who are assessed as moderate-high or high risk to reoffend. The Department of Justice and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration support youth-focused violence prevention programs as effective methods to enhance public safety while improving outcomes for juvenile justice-involved youth. (See <https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/programs/youth-violence-intervention-initiative/overview> and <https://youth.gov/youth-topics/violence-prevention>.)
These service agreements will be funded with JJCPA, and this funding source encourages Probation departments to fund service agreements with community-based providers. This funding source is described in the Fiscal Summary section of the Board item.
For the best results, youth programming should target criminogenic needs (needs likely to be linked to criminal behavior) and stabilizing factors based on individual needs assessments. The contractors’ services address criminogenic needs and stabilization factors of Probation’s delinquency population using evidence-based or evidence-informed programming, both to teach skills and behavioral alternatives to violence and to provide treatment for psychological trauma resulting from violence or other adverse experiences.
Services will be provided by culturally competent, gender responsive counselors. Contractors will work with youth in the areas of developing healthy relationships, addressing issues of trauma, developing positive coping skills while decreasing negative behaviors, and learning better ways of communicating within the family support system. Services will be delivered in the Juvenile Hall, clients’ homes, and county-wide in the community. This evidence-based practice is a high priority for Probation, as we have many youths currently in our custody with pressing needs for trauma counseling and violence prevention services.
Contracts with the current providers for trauma counseling and violence prevention services, Lifeworks of Sonoma County and Verity, expire on June 30, 2026. Current need exceeds these providers’ capacity. Therefore, Probation opened a Request for Proposals to expand the department’s service provider network to address an urgent need for more services. Petaluma People Services Center, Seneca Family of Agencies, Verity and Hanna Center submitted proposals.
Proposals were evaluated by members of the Probation Department and the City of Santa Rosa’s Violence Prevention Program Manager. Evaluators selected proposals from both Hanna and Seneca to provide trauma counseling and violence prevention services. These two organizations were selected because of their stated ability to meet the program criteria and level of services. The bidders selected provide much-needed capacity to deliver trauma counseling to youth in Probation’s care. Probation will keep the current contracts with Lifeworks and Verity in place until they expire on June 30, 2026, and renew these contracts within the Chief Probation Officer’s authority for special cases to victims of sexual trauma and bilingual treatment for relationships that already exist to maintain continuity of care.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
None
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY24-25 Adopted |
FY25-26 Projected |
FY26-27 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$391,000 |
$522,000 |
$522,000 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$391,000 |
$522,000 |
$522,000 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
$391,000 |
$522,000 |
$522,000 |
|
Fees/Other |
|
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Use of Fund Balance |
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General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$391,000 |
$522,000 |
$522,000 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
This agreement is funded with Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) funds. Every fiscal year since 2001, JJCPA funds are appropriated and allocated to counties on a population-based formula. The annual budget for the JJCPA is approximately $3.8 million and the current fund balance for these funds is $7.4 million. The cost for these agreements is well within the annual budget capacity of the JJCPA.
The department’s FY 24-25 budget is anticipated to have sufficient appropriations to cover the costs for these agreements, and future year budgets will include appropriations for these agreements.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
Seneca TCVP Agreement
Hanna TCVP Agreement
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None