Title
District Attorney recommending the Board authorize the District Attorney to sign Agreement 3757 with Vidanyx LLC in the annual estimated amount of $3,259 with a one (1) year initial term which shall automatically renew for additional one (1) year terms, for the provision of a cloud-based child advocacy center video management software subscription.
FUNDING: Non-General Fund/Children's Advocacy Centers of California.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
A Child Advocacy Center (CAC) is a child-friendly facility in which law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical, and victim advocacy professionals work together to protect the emotional needs of child victims. The National Children’s Alliance (NCA) is the national association and accrediting body for a CAC. NCA sets the standards for accreditation to ensure that all children served by CACs receive consistent, evidence-based interventions that help them heal.
In 2018, the District Attorney was awarded funding from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services to aid in obtaining NCA accreditation for the El Dorado County Multi-Disciplinary Interview Center (MDIC). With these funds, the MDIC was renamed the Fausel House Child Advocacy Center (CAC) and relocated from the District Attorney's office to an independent facility located at 772 Pacific Street in Placerville. The Fausel House CAC also maintains a satellite office in South Lake Tahoe.
For accreditation, staff has been preparing written policies and procedures for child focused settings, creating new interagency protocols to ensure NCA accreditation standards can be met, and has been compiling the information necessary to receive accreditation standards. As part of the accreditation, the Fausel House CAC must begin utilizing required software for case tracking, provide surveys for families, and ensure forensic interviews are recorded and managed by the CAC for evidence and further discovery.
Because the CAC is charged with the management of interview recordings created for the use of law enforcement and child welfare workers, it is imperative the CAC have secure, encrypted, and permanent storage systems for interview files. In order to securely and confidentially store video files of forensic interviews, as well as share the files securely in an encrypted fashion throughout the evidence and discovery process in criminal and dependency courts, the District Attorney is recommending the Board authorize the District Attorney to sign Agreement 3757 with Vidanyx LLC.
Vidanyx is a cloud-based video storage system specifically built for Child Advocacy Centers to ensure video files of forensic interviews are stored and shared securely with encrypted files to ensure proper confidentiality for families served by Child Advocacy Centers. In addition, Vidanyx will provide the CAC the ability to retain video files regardless of local policies of evidence and discovery retention, which ensures files are available in the future if needed for subsequent investigations into child welfare predators. Vidanyx has provided the Fausel House CAC with a quote of a $3,259/year licensing fee based on the amount of interviews conducted in 2018.
The cost for the initial year is sponsored by grant funds issued from the National Children's Alliance to the Children's Advocacy Center of California (CACC) as outlined in the attached letter from the Children's Advocacy Centers of California, also known as the Calico Center.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could chose to not approve this Agreement. If the Board does not approve the agreement, the District Attorney's Office would need to identify another way to meet this National Children's Alliance accreditation component for the Fausel House Child Advocacy Center.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no change to Net County Cost.
The cost of the first year is being paid by grants funds issued to the Calico Center. Should the Calico Center be unable to cover the subscription costs in future years, the District Attorney would be responsible for the expense.
Should Calico Center funds be unavailable, the subscription is also eligible for reimbursement through the Child Advocacy Center Program grant award issued to the District Attorney by the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Public Safety
CONTACT
Vern Pierson, District Attorney