County to fund Victim Witness Program

County to fund Victim Witness Program
by Nathan Rushton, The Eureka Reporter 6/8/2005

After several weeks of having their jobs in limbo, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday resolved the fate of several employees in the District Attorney’s Office’s Victim Witness Program — at least for one more year.

A short-term, one-year allocation of $121,410 will be provided from the Health and Human Services budget, which was approved by the supervisors, to fund three of the four Victim Witness Program positions, which have focused on domestic violence.

The victim witness specialist positions were recommended to be disallocated in May following the denial of a U.S. Department of Justice grant last year that has been the source of the funding for part of the DA’s Victim Witness Program for several years.

“Because of the significant health and human services needs that can often be experienced by victims of or witness to criminal activity, the Department of the Health and Human Services is able to provide funding for three full-time Victim Witness Program specialists for one year through the use of discretionary social services funds,” said County Administrative Officer Loretta Nickolaus.

She said using the discretionary funds also has the added advantage of allowing the DA’s Office the additional flexibility in the assignment of cases because the specialists won’t be limited to domestic violence cases.

However, Nickolaus said the Health and Human Services Department couldn’t fund the full-time coordinator position.

“The Victim Witness Program, under the umbrella of the District Attorney’s Office, has been instrumental in reducing the trauma victims and witness often experience in the wake of crime,” Nickolaus said.

In mid-May, a routine consent-calendar agenda item that recommended the layoff of four victim witness positions was pulled for discussion by Supervisor Jill Geist.

Concerned with the future of the program, the supervisors directed staff from the County Administrative and the Health and Human Services offices to work with the DA to seek other sources of funding to maintain the services.

The Victim Witness Program employees provide assistance to crime victims in explaining court processes, going to court with them and keeping them informed of court dates.

Nickolaus, in her report on the issue to the board, said there were two issues the county was facing — the short- and long-term funding for the program.

Nickolaus said that the grant from the Department of Justice was not approved for the fiscal year 2005-2006, although a grant application that was submitted to the federal government for the subsequent fiscal year was still pending.

Nickolaus said a joint solution worked out through the DA’s office, Health and Human Services and the County Administrative offices recommended the county provide a short-term bridge funding for one fiscal year.

She said the one-time fund allocation would allow the DA’s Office the opportunity to seek other funding sources and additional flexibility in managing the Victim Witness Program.

Supervisor John Woolley said it was unfortunate that such a valuable service to the community was dependent on grant funding.

Paula Arrowsmith-Jones, a manager of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team, said the positions are essential to the domestic violence prosecution process.

“They are a vital part of an overall response to violence in our community, not only around domestic-violence issues, but all victims of crime needing support in terms of being able to withstanding the process of prosecution,” Arrowsmith-Jones said.

In other business, the board held a public hearing to receive comments on the In-Home Support Services employees, whose union representatives are undergoing contract negotiations with the county.

The home care workers presented the supervisors approximately 2,000 signed petitions they collected asking for a pay increase and health benefits.

Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.

Related:
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ER - Board of Supervisors talks over grant denial for program 5/11/2005
NCJ - VICTIM PROGRAM THREATENED: 5/12/05
ER - Gallegos says program is safe 5/15/2005
ER - Victim witness program funds sought by county 5/18/2005
TS - Proposed cuts to victims program delayed May 18, 2005
TS - My Word - DA leadership: The 8-step program May 24, 2005
County to fund Victim Witness Program The Eureka Reporter 6/8/2005
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