Josephine County approves transfer of Children’s Advocacy Center to nonprofit

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to transfer the county-run Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) to Friends of Children’s Advocacy Center, approving a resolution, a transfer agreement, three grant assignments and termination of the county’s building lease so the nonprofit can operate the program starting July 1.

The board approved resolution 2025-030 to effect the transfer, then approved the related transfer agreement that moves the CAC program’s employees, contracts and county-owned equipment to the nonprofit. Commissioners also authorized three grant actions to fund CAC services and approved termination of the county’s lease for the CAC building at 700 Northwest Fifth Street while retaining a ground lease for the land.

Leah (presenter) told the board the county is required by state law to transfer employees when a county program moves to a nonprofit; she said employee salaries and benefits will remain the same and that the nonprofit agreed to preserve leave, health and retirement arrangements for the transferring staff. She said the formal transfer is scheduled to occur at 11:59 p.m. June 30 so the nonprofit will operate the program beginning July 1. The county will transfer computers and other county-owned equipment that are part of the program.

Board discussion clarified property ownership: the county owns the land under the CAC building while the Friends of CAC built and own the building. Board members were told a ground lease for the land will remain in place and the lease termination applies only to the county’s occupancy of the building. Leah said the Friends raised about $1,200,000 through a capital campaign to build and equip the facility and hold title to the building.

Commissioners and staff identified the actions the board took: approval of resolution 2025-030 transferring the CAC program; approval of the transfer agreement moving employees and contracts to Friends of CAC; approval of assignment/award actions for state grant funding to support the program, including a state grant fund award, a Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) noncompetitive grant, and a state Department of Justice grant for the CAC; and approval of termination of the county’s lease for 700 Northwest Fifth Street. Each vote recorded on the transcript carried 3–0.

The board heard from a member identified as “Scott,” who said he would not support the transfer if he were not confident in the Friends of CAC leadership and thanked Leah and county staff for their work preparing the documents. The board thanked Leah for preparing the transfer package and arranged for follow-up administrative steps.

The actions move the CAC program off the county payroll: Leah confirmed the three (technically four, counting one contractor) staff who work with the CAC will no longer be county employees after the transfer. She said the nonprofit had to agree to keep union employees whole and to offer continuity of PTO, salary and medical and retirement benefits; employees had the option to remain in PERS for one year but some chose not to. Leah said moving to a nonprofit will allow the CAC to seek additional grant and philanthropic funding streams that typically are not available to county agencies.

The board’s approval was recorded by roll call for each motion; minutes show the motion, a second and a unanimous 3–0 vote on each of the documents presented.

The board did not adopt any new county policy in this meeting; the votes transfer the program and its assets and enable the nonprofit to continue and seek outside funding.

Evidence for this article appears in the meeting transcript where Leah introduces the package and through the recorded roll-call votes approving the items.