Title
District Attorney recommending the Board approve and authorize the execution of perpetual agreement 4071 with CALICO - CACC, Children's Advocacy Centers of California, for the ongoing usage fees for the Collaborate Case Management system, a cloud software developed by Network Ninja.
FUNDING: N/A
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 (Cal OES) to aid in obtaining NCA accreditation for the El Dorado County Multi-Disciplinary Interview Center (MDIC). 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 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 required to use software for case tracking, it is imperative that the CAC have a secure system for storing, sharing, and maintaining case records for this program. The Children's Advocacy Centers of California (CACC), a program of CALICO, is providing funding on behalf of the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office for the installation and ongoing use of the Collaborate Case Management system. This program will be used to support the Cal OES Child Advocacy Center (KC) Grant initiatives by enabling the Child Advocate Coordinator, Deputy District Attorneys, and Victim Advocates to share information about cases where a multi-disciplinary interview has taken place, but a case has not yet been presented for filing decisions. The victim advocates will be able to clearly see updates to be able to keep victims and their families appraised of progress. The system will also track services provided to families after they participate in a forensic interview, which will enable counselors and victim advocates to better serve the needs of each family.
CACC has agreed to continue funding the usage fees for Collaborate in future years (provided that CACC receives continued grant funding to do so). CACC will be billed by Network Ninja for the installation, migration, and license fees directly. CACC will remit payment directly to Network Ninja. There are no direct expenses for El Dorado County for the use of Collaborate Case Management.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose to not approve this perpetual agreement and the District Attorney would have to find an alternative solution for tracking cases to meet the National Children's Alliance accreditation requirement for the Child Advocacy Center.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
19-0229 Board Approval of Cal OES KC Grant for the period of April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no change to Net County Cost.
Should the CALICO Center be unable to cover the ongoing license fees in future years, the District Attorney would be responsible for the expense.
These fees would be eligible for reimbursement through the Child Advocacy Center (KC) 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