Commissioners Court Meeting

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

Return to the Minutes Page

52.

Meeting Date:	09/14/2015
VCLG Grant Award
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to ratify and authorize the acceptance of a Victim Coordinator and Liaison Grant (VCLG) from the Office of the Texas Attorney General (OAG) in the amount of $42,000 for the continued salary and fringe benefits of a crime victim advocate; and authorizing the Webb County Judge to execute all relevant documents; and any other matters incident thereto. This grant does not require a match. The grant award renewal was sent by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Thursday, August 20, 2015, and was required to be signed/returned no later than Friday, August 28, 2015. [Grant Fund 322]

Issue: 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 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 continue to be provided with direct victim services, training, and outreach/education.

Background:

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.

The purpose of the Victim Coordinator and Liaison Grant (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:

On May 11, 2015, the Webb County Commissioners’ Court vote to authorize the submission of the Webb County Sheriff’s Office application to the Office of the Attorney General.

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	322
Funding Source:	Grant
Balance:	Not Applicable
Financial Impact:
$42,000 grant funds (salary & fringe benefits for a Crime Victim Advocate)

Attachments
VCLG