SYN NO. _________ AGENDA NO. __________

MOTION BY SUPERVISOR YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE JANUARY 12, 1999

It has been brought to my attention that due to lack of coordination among some of the public safety and justice agencies of the County, coupled with unclear direction from the Board, the County is not responding as quickly as we should in responding to requests for grant applications. We need better and faster coordination to respond to these grant application requests.

In addition, on June 9, 1998, my motion requesting that the Sheriff's Department notify the Board offices of all grant application opportunities was adopted by the Board. We have been receiving periodic reports from the Sheriff's Department, but rather than place the responsibility on one Department, I believe that all public safety and justice related departments and agencies should be held accountable. Further, the public safety and justice departments and agencies have very capable staff within its respective grant units, and these staff members discuss issues openly and share information on an informal basis among themselves. We need to take this communication one step further in order to aggressively respond to grant opportunities and react timely to allow for a better prepared, comprehensive grant application.

THEREFORE, I MOVE THAT THE BOARD:

Direct the grant coordinators of the following public safety and justice departments of the County; Sheriff's, Public Defender, Alternate Public Defender, District Attorney and Probation, to immediately form a standing committee to review and evaluate grant opportunities timely; and

YBB:RT:jar/grant.mot

MOTION BY SUPERVISOR YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE
Page Two
January 12, 1999

Within ten days of receipt of a notice of a grant opportunity, the committee submit a written report to the Board which shall contain the following information:

-name of grant and originating agency
-decision from the committee as to whether the County will respond and which County department or agency will take the lead in gathering information for and preparing the application, and if the committee has determined that it is not appropriate for the County to respond to a certain grant notification, justification for that decision shall be stated
-timetable of events, including dates of submission for review by the Board, deadline date, etc.

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