Commissioners Court Meeting

Issue viewing agenda items? Click here to switch to the old format.

Return to the Minutes Page

Meeting Date:	08/22/2016
Continuation of Payment for Crime Victim Advocate
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to approve the continued payment of eligible salary and fringe benefits of the grant funded Crime Victim Advocate under the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) Grant No. 1661651, Victim Coordinator and Liaison Grant (VCLG) Program until receipt of the FY 2017 grant agreement and for as long grants funds are available; and any other matters incident thereto. The pending grant award has already been approved for both FY 2016 and FY 2017 fiscal years, but the actual grant agreement is issued out each fiscal year and is currently pending arrival from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). According to the grant manager at the OAG in an e-mail dated August 9, 2016, the Webb County Sheriff's Office "should hopefully be receiving the FY 2017 contracts sometime within the next month." [Fund Source 322]

Issue: The purpose of the VCLG program is to fund through Office of the Attorney General (OAG) grants the mandated positions described in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 56.04, specifically Victim Assistance Coordinators (VAC) in prosecutor offices and Crime Victim Liaisons (CVL) in law enforcement agencies. Victims of violent crime suffer significant financial duress, emotional trauma, and physical injuries. While the State of Texas has set up a system to compensate these victims for their expenses and financial losses due to death, disabling injuries, and emotional trauma utilizing collected court costs from convicted offenders, the victims often must navigate the complex state compensation system and extensively document their benefit eligibility while still under emotional and physical distress.

Solution: The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) provides grant funds for the fulfillment of this position of crime victim advocate mandated by the Texas law. Furthermore, the Webb County Sheriff’s Office grant funded Crime Victim Advocate offers critical support, facilitates/expedites filling out detailed paperwork, provides needed guidance through the bureaucratic process, and delivers outreach/education to the local community.

Result: Victims of violent crime in Webb County, including victims from special populations, such as children, youth, rural, colonia, monolingual, and elderly populations, will be provided with direct victim services, training, and outreach/education.

Background:

The pending grant award has already been approved for both FY 2016 and FY 2017 fiscal years, but the actual grant agreement is issued out each fiscal year and is currently pending arrival from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). According to the grant manager at the OAG in an e-mail dated August 9, 2016, the Webb County Sheriff's Office "should hopefully be receiving the FY 2017 contracts sometime within the next month." This grant has been continually re-funded since 2005 funded by the Office of the Texas Attorney General (OAG) for the Webb County Sheriff’s Office. Specifically, this grant funds the continuing salary and fringe benefits of the Crime Victim Advocate at the Webb County Sheriff's Office since the purpose of the VCLG program is to fund the mandated positions described in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 56.04, specifically Victim Assistance Coordinators (VAC) in prosecutor offices and Crime Victim Liaisons (CVL) in law enforcement agencies.

Previous Court Action:

This grant application is approved on a biennial basis. Since Fall 2005, this grant-funded position/slot has been funded by the Office of the Texas Attorney General (OAG) for the Webb County Sheriff’s Office.

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	322
Funding Source:	Grant
Balance:	Not Applicable
Financial Impact:
$42,000 anticipated grant funding for the upcoming fiscal year

Attachments
Request for Agenda Item