Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Victim Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee forwards two District Attorney grants for victim services and elder-abuse work
Summary
The committee recommended two retroactive grants from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services: $163,000 for an innovative response-to-victims program targeting ZIP codes with high community violence, and $200,000 for an elder-abuse program focusing on pedestrian incidents and financial fraud.
The Budget and Finance Committee on April 15 recommended that the full Board retroactively authorize two grants to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office that the DA's office says support victim services and targeted outreach.
Dr. Gina Castro Rodriguez, Chief of the Victim Services Division, said the two California Governor's Office of Emergency Services grants fund the DA's innovative response to victims program ($163,000) and an elder-abuse program ($200,000) for the 2020 grant year. She said the DA's victim services division is established in the city charter, has been operating for 40 years, and in 2019 served about 8,500 victims of violent crime and paid roughly $1.3 million in victim compensation.
Dr. Castro Rodriguez said the innovative response grant targeted young men of color and victims affected by community violence in four ZIP codes (94110, 94112, 94124 and 94134) because the office's data show higher incidence and lower engagement in those neighborhoods. The elder-abuse grant focuses on elders who are victims of pedestrian accidents and fatalities and on financial fraud; the DA partners with Walk SF and Vision Zero for outreach. She noted the DA has produced COVID-19 financial-fraud educational videos in multiple languages.
Supervisors asked if the programs address 'blessing scams' common in the Chinese community and whether nursing-home facility fraud is covered. Dr. Castro Rodriguez said a third of last year's presentations were delivered in Cantonese and Mandarin and that the office does targeted outreach through community events; the DA partners with the Elder Forensic Center and the ombudsman but has not yet expanded into systematic nursing-home facility fraud investigations due to capacity constraints.
A public commenter, Linda Chapman, described an alleged elder-abuse incident she said occurred while she was a patient at the Jewish Home and said she had received limited assistance in getting the matter investigated. The claim was made during public comment and was not adjudicated in the hearing.
The committee voted to forward the two grants to the full board with a positive recommendation; roll call recorded ayes from Supervisors Walton and Mandelmann and Chair Fewer (3 ayes).
