Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Juvenile Reentry topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves acceptance of federal juvenile reentry grant, creates retroactive grant-funded social worker position
Summary
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee approved accepting a roughly $461,000 Second Chance Act grant to continue San Francisco—s Juvenile Collaborative Reentry Unit and amended the salary ordinance to add a retroactive 0.4 FTE grant-funded social worker while retaining existing matched funding within department budgets.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee voted to accept a federal Office of Justice Programs award to continue San Francisco—s Juvenile Collaborative Reentry Unit and amended the annual salary ordinance to create a retroactive 0.4 full-time-equivalent grant-funded social worker position.
Connor Johnston, legislative aide to the item sponsor, told the committee the grant continues a program begun in 2009 and that a prior three-year grant totaled $660,000. He said the new award is about $461,000 and will support coordinated case planning for youth returning from out-of-home placement. "This grant does require 100% matching funds from the city, but $412,000 of that has already been appropriated to the juvenile probation department and to the public defender's office," Johnston said, adding that the remaining $48,000 is an in-kind match from the California Supreme Court.
Catherine Maguire, Director of Finance for the Juvenile Probation Department, described the reentry model as a team-based approach that pairs a judge, attorneys, probation officers, social workers and a case manager to plan for a youth—s release and provide follow-up services for six months to two years. She said the pilot expected to serve 200 youth but served about 140; in 2011 there were 118 commitments to out-of-home placement that could represent the population the unit serves. "In any way you measure recidivism, our numbers are down," Maguire said.
Severin Campbell of the Budget Analyst Office told the committee the award requires a 50% match of the $461,000 and described how the funds will be allocated: it would pay for 1.5 existing deputy juvenile probation officers, one existing social worker in the Public Defender—s Office, consultant services and create one new 0.4 FTE juvenile probation social worker retroactive to February. Campbell recommended an ordinance amendment specifying that the new position is grant-funded and terminates when the grant ends.
After limited public comment raising a procedural jurisdiction question, Supervisor David Campos moved to include the Budget Analyst—s amendment, and the committee approved the item as amended "without objection." The committee also moved to excuse Supervisor Malia Cohen from the meeting.
Next steps: the committee advanced the amended ordinance for placement on the Board of Supervisors agenda. No roll-call vote tally was recorded in the committee transcript.
