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CC - Authorization for the City of Culver City to Serve as a Pass-Through Agency for Receiving State Funding of up to $4.5 Million Over Two Years for a Culver City Based Non-Profit Organization - New Earth Organization.
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Meeting Date: June 7, 2021
Contact Person/Dept: Onyx Jones/Finance
Phone Number: (310) 253-5640
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (06/01/2021)
Department Approval: Onyx Jones, Chief Financial Officer (06/01/2021)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the City to serve as a pass-through agency for receiving state funding of up to $4.5 million over two years for a Culver City based non-profit organization - New Earth Organization.
BACKGROUND
New Earth Organization, a Culver City based non-profit organization which provides mentor-based arts, educational, and vocational programs to youth ages 13-25. On July 8th 2019, City Council adopted a resolution approving the City’s participation in the youth reinvestment grant program through the State Agency, Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC). The grant amount was for $763,014 to be paid over a three-year period. The New Earth organization runs The Youth Reinvestment Grant Program for the City which targets youth ages 13 to 25 and who are at risk of entering the juvenile justice system or further involvement in the system. Diversion services provided under this grant need to be trauma-informed, evidence-based, culturally relevant, and developmentally appropriate.
New Earth partners with the Culver City Police Department to divert youth ages 13-17 to their center in Culver City prior to arrest and enroll them immediately in programs and mental health support. New Earth Organization is serving over 800 people per year in Culver City and throughout Los Angeles County.
New Earth has 14 years of experience operating other successful mentorship programming, arts education, and re-entry services inside juvenile detention centers and camps. New Earth was recently selected by Los Angeles County to manage the Residential Vocational Treatment Center at the former Camp Gonzalez in Malibu. This project is believed to be the first in the nation to transition a juvenile camp into a voluntary vocational treatment facility for trauma-impacted youth. New Earth is a community leader dedicated to providing the tools young people need to create lifelong success.
DISCUSSION
California State Senator, Sydney K. Kamlager of Thirtieth Senate District is requesting to Senate Budget Committee and Budget Subcommittee No. 5 for additional funding for New Earth Organization. The two-year $4.5 million proposal to build out New Earth’s
infrastructure to better position the organization as one of the most effective and responsive community-based alternatives to address the needs for alternatives to detention, placement, and incarceration. This budget allocation will also allow the organization to expand and improve the full array of wrap-around services and programs for system-involved and at-promise youth by building out a robust mental health department providing acute and individualized trauma care.
New Earth intends to use the state allocation to further strengthen and deepen the services they currently provide as well as to:
1. Develop a true mental health model that bolsters our clinical efforts - adding therapists and mental health professionals who are equipped to provide the in-depth trauma support needed for the youth we serve and their families as well as an evidence-based treatment model that deals with trauma and addiction and also supports families.
2. Build several emergency shelters and transitional living units for their youth who desperately need permanent housing.
3. Fund their reentry model and work with all youth in the probation camps and juvenile halls throughout Los Angeles County to ensure a smooth and successful transition back into the community with jobs, education, mental health support, housing and transportation available to them at New Earth upon release.
4. Continue to strengthen our diversion model with both the Culver City Police Department and the Culver City School District to keep vulnerable youth out of the court system while focusing on prevention and intervention.
If the State Senate Budget Committee approves the requested amount, the city will be the pass-through agency and would receive the funds from the State and release the funds to New Earth.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no direct fiscal impact to the City. If the $4.5 million in funding is approved by the State, Finance Staff will work directly with the State to determine what level of staff time will be required to administer and oversee the grant. Based on the information provided by the State, Finance will work with the City Attorney’s office to develop a memorandum of understanding with the New Earth Organization, if necessary.
ATTACHMENTS
ATT_06_07_2021_A Letter from Senator Sydney K. Kamlager to State Senate Budget Committee
MOTION
That the City Council:
Authorize the City to serve as a pass-through agency for receiving state funding of up to $4.5 million over two years for a Culver City based non-profit organization - New Earth Organization.