Title
CONTRACT NO. K-1314-40: A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND THE CROSSROADS YOUTH AND FAMILY CENTER, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $285,087 FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE COMMUNITY INTERVENTION CENTER FROM JULY 1, 2013, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2014, AND BUDGET APPROPRIATION.
Body
BACKGROUND: The City of Norman juvenile program in conjunction with the Crossroads Youth and Family Center, Inc., (“Crossroads”) was awarded a federal and state grant from the Office of Juvenile Affairs (“OJA”) to implement a Community Intervention Center (“CIC”) in early 1997. Originally, this was a pilot project and the City of Norman was one of five cities to open a CIC. This program began in October of 1997 and is located at 1900 West Robinson in Westwood Park.
The CIC is a county wide collaborated project. The federal money for the program was originally “seed” money to start the program. By design of the grant, the federal funding ceased three years after the inception of the program. Funding for the program is now from the state through OJA. Since that time, the CIC program has been very successful and is considered one of the premier projects of OJA. The CIC program was the first program to have a partnership between a local government, the state government, youth service agencies and multi-jurisdiction law enforcement agencies.
The purpose of the CIC is to provide a community-based location for law enforcement officers to take juveniles who have been apprehended for committing an offense that is not detention-eligible for the purpose of holding, supervising and releasing the juveniles to a parent or guardian as appropriate. The goal of the program is two-fold: to return law enforcement officials back to duty in a quick manner, and to have a consistent entry for juveniles into the juvenile justice system where they can be offered social services and evaluated for needs.
It is important to note that while both the CIC and the Emergency Youth Shelter are operated by Crossroads Youth and Family Services, Inc., each project has different funding sources and budgets. It is not an option to divert or commingle funds from any contract or grant earmarked for CIC operations and between Crossroads, OJA or the City of Norman to assist in funding either the Shelter or any counseling service or outreach project.
Under the administrative rules adopted by the OJA, the juveniles may be held at the CIC for up to twenty-four (24) hours until a parent, guardian or responsible adult can be located. If a parent is not located within the 24-hour time period, the juvenile is transferred to the Emergency Youth Shelter where deprived children are held. The CIC is open twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven days a week and is staffed by two staff members at all times for safety purposes. While at the CIC, information for court and social service referrals are gathered. To obtain custody of a child at the facility, the parent or responsible adult must, upon their arrival, sign a promise to appear in court and assure that the child also appears in court. If a juvenile misses a court date, both the parent and the juvenile may receive additional citations and/or have a warrant issued for their arrest under City ordinances.
Prior to the CIC, police officers were delayed several hours at a time, trying to contact and wait for a parent to take responsibility for an arrested juvenile. The CIC allows an officer to release the juvenile defendant to CIC custody, which allows the officer to return to patrol duties within minutes. The CIC, in conjunction with juvenile municipal court programs, has been an important tool in dealing with juvenile crime in the community.
A previous requirement to receive the federal and state grant funding was for the participating municipalities to contribute a percentage of matching funds for the program. According to statistical information available, the City of Norman Police Department uses the facility approximately 65% of the time, and the City of Moore uses the facility approximately 20% of the time. The remaining use of the CIC is split between many other cities including: Noble, Lexington, Blanchard, Purcell, Wayne and other local municipalities.
Although the state technically no longer requires matching funds, they strongly encourage the continuation of matching funds from the municipalities. OJA has indicated that funding participation by the benefited cities will be a factor considered in future reapplications for funding. Practically, the cities’ matching funds have become a necessity for continued use of a 24-hour 7 day a week facility as state and federal funding have decreased. The contributory funding from cities of $95,000, has previously been split between the City of Norman - $40,000, Moore - $40,000, Lexington - $5,000, Noble - $5,000 and Purcell - $5,000.
The City has been notified that OJA has awarded $245,087 to fund CIC operations from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. As in the past, to receive this funding from the state for this program a municipality must demonstrate its ability to provide the services required under the OJA Contract. One method of demonstrating the ability to provide required services under the program is to contract with a designated youth service agency, such as Crossroads. With the contract in place, the City will then notify OJA of the contract and execute documents that will allow Crossroads to submit invoices directly to OJA for payment under the contract as appropriate.
DISCUSSION: Two years ago, the City approved Contract No. K-1112-10 with OJA to provide for the funding and operation of the CIC. As in years past, the City then subcontracted with Crossroads to operate the CIC. Contract No. K-1112-10 with OJA contained an automatic renewal provision for fiscal years ending June 30, 2013 (FYE13) and June 30, 2014 (FYE14). The renewal process by OJA is outlined in Section I.A. and can be effectuated by issuance of a change order by OJA. OJA has elected to exercise that option for FY14 rather than issuing a new contract packet.
During the fiscal year ending 2008, Council requested that the matching funds from the City for this project be removed from the regular budget and later appropriated out of the General Fund balance as the contracts came before Council. Similar to the procedure used since FYE08, this item proposes the $40,000 matching funds portion of the grant to be paid to Crossroads Youth and Family Center Inc. be appropriated from the General Fund Balance to the Legal Department - Other Professional Services (010-2220-412.40-99).
If Contract No. K-1314-40 with Crossroads is approved to continue the operation of the CIC, the City will provide an executed copy of the contract to OJA, along with providing an Affidavit of Assignment to Crossroads and OJA allowing direct payment to Crossroads from OJA. The City’s matching contribution will be paid directly to Crossroads upon approval of the contract.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff has reviewed the change order issued by OJA for FY14 which demonstrates the intent of OJA to exercise the automatic renewal provision of Contract No. K-1112-10 and recommends its approval. Additionally, staff has reviewed and recommends approval of Contract No. K-1314-40 with Crossroads Youth and Family Center to continue operations of the Community Intervention Center; an appropriation of $40,000 from the General Fund balance (010-0000-253.20-00) to Other Professional Services (Legal Department, account 010-2220-412.40-99); and an Affidavit of Assignment to allow direct payment of OJA funds to Crossroads.