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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeeds of Hope...-Memo of Understanding-02.11.2008 Memorandum of Understanding This agreement is made on this day the 4th of February 2008, by and between the parties listed in the next paragraph. The parties agree as follows: Identity of the parties. The following partner agencies are authorized to enter into this agreement: 1) Seeds of Hope, 2) Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging, 3) Black Hawk County Attorney, 4) Waterloo Police Department, 5) Grundy County Attorney, 6) Grundy County Sheriff, 7) Hardin County Attorney, and 8) Hardin County Sheriff. Purpose. The parties have entered into this agreement for the purpose of fulfilling the obligations of a grant received by Seeds of Hope from the United States Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women to develop and enhance services for women aged 50 and over who are victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Term. The term of this agreement shall be from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2011, or consonant with the grant funding period. The parties have the authority to extend this agreement contingent upon the necessary completion of the project activities past the term of the agreement. Roles and Responsibilities of the Parties. Seeds of Hope agrees to oversee and provide financial administration for the grant. The partner organizations agree to: 1) develop the multi- disciplinary team to provide training to law enforcement in their respective communities, 2) send the representative from their agency on this multi-disciplinary team to the"Training of Trainers" Component, and 3)provide the training to law enforcement in their respective communities (see Letters of Commitment). Seeds of Hope agrees to bring national expert(s) to the respective communities for the 1 Advanced Law Enforcement Training, and the law enforcement agencies (Waterloo Police Department, Grundy County Sheriff, and Hardin County Sheriff) agree to send their detectives, investigators, and other personnel as needed to this Advanced Law Enforcement Training (see Letters of Commitment). The county attorney offices (Black Hawk County Attorney, Grundy County Attorney, and Hardin County Attorney) agree to send prosecutors in their jurisdictions to the Prosecutor's Workshop (see Letters of Commitment). Seeds of Hope agrees to encourage judges in Black Hawk, Grundy and Hardin Counties to attend the Judicial Institute. Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging agree to send representatives to the 1.5 day training to enhance participants' subject matter expertise on elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and based on this training to conduct trainings for their peers at the local level in their respective communities. The partner organizations further agree to: 1) conduct cross training for each organization in the grant to help each agency understand better the role each agency plays in addressing elder abuse in their respective communities, 2) create and enhance a multi-disciplinary collaborative community response to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, and 3) as part of this community response to review their own policies and protocols to determine the extent to which they are designed to aid in improving the identification, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of cases of elder abuse, exploitation and neglect, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The applicant agency Seeds of Hope agrees to commit to the two phase effort: 1) the 12 2 month Planning Phase, which includes but is not limited to conducting a community needs assessment in each community, developing a strategic plan for outreach and service delivery to be submitted to OVW for review and approval prior to release of funds for the Implementation Phase, providing training to its staff, and reviewing agency policies and procedures to ensure that they are inclusive of older victims, and 2) the Implementation Phase, which includes but is not limited to implementing outreach and the delivery of services to older victims, and to continue working with OVW and OVW Technical Assistance providers to successfully execute the implementation plan. Seeds of Hope further agrees to fully participate in the evaluation of the program and to report on performance measures and grant-funded activities through the timely submission of complete semi-annual progress reports. Execution. Any failure to meet the responsibilities of the contract and the goals set forward render the contract null and void. In the event that grant funds are not appropriated, this contract is null and void. The parties have entered into the above agreement and have caused their duly authorized representatives to execute this agreement. Collaborative History. Seeds of Hope opened as a victim service agency in 1995 in Grundy County, and expanded to Hardin County in 1996 and Black Hawk County in 2005. Seeds of Hope began collaborative relationships with the partnered agencies for this grant in the years that we began services in the respective counties. Seeds of Hope has been a member of the Black Hawk Grundy Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault since 1995 and the Marshall Hardin Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault since 1996. Seeds of Hope is the lead partner agency on this grant. Seeds of Hope met with representatives from the other partnered agencies, described the grant, delineated the required 3 activities (e.g., participation in the training activities, creating and enhancing a multi-disciplinary collaborative community response to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation), and requested the participation of each partnered agency. The partnered agencies recognized and identified the need to participate in the trainings for criminal justice personnel and the training to enhance participants' subject matter expertise on elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The partnered agencies also recognized and identified the need to develop and implement a strategic plan to create and enhance a multi-disciplinary collaborative community response to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation in their respective communities. Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging has identified immediate areas for collaboration such as their Education Center. As the lead agency, Seeds of Hope agreed to write the grant and develop the budget plan. Planning and Development Teams. Two victim service advocates and the Executive Director from Seeds of Hope, the Waterloo Police Department Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) officer, and a representative from each of the other partnered agencies will comprise the planning and development team. Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging serve all three counties (Black Hawk, Grundy and Hardin). The three planning and development teams will thus consist of: 1) Seeds of Hope, Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging, Waterloo Police Department, and Black Hawk County Attorney, 2) Seeds of Hope, Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging, Grundy County Sheriff, and Grundy County Attorney, and 3) Seeds of Hope, Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging, Hardin County Sheriff, and Hardin County Attorney. There will be biweekly meetings of the planning and development team in each community to 4 develop the project as described in the Planning Phase, and to monitor the progress of this development. Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging will develop the methodology for and conduct the needs assessment. Based on this needs assessment, the planning and development teams will develop the strategic plan for outreach and service delivery to be submitted to OVW for review, ensure that the trainings are completed, and ensure that each of the partnered agencies completes a review of its policies and procedures to ensure that they are inclusive of older victims as required. We are planning to provide outreach and service delivery via the criminal justice system in each community as well as hospitals, medical offices, churches, Department of Human Service, and community centers. For example, the Waterloo Police Department DART officer responds to victim service domestic violence calls and refers victims to Seeds of Hope. We plan to expand this for victims of elder abuse via the required trainings (knowledge enhancement), and implementation of the strategic plan. Both Seeds of Hope and the DART officer are members of the Black Hawk/Grundy Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition which coordinates the community response to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in Black Hawk and Grundy Counties. The partnered agencies agree to expand on this collaboration to create and enhance services for victims of elder abuse. Commitments Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging agree to send 75% of their staff to the direct trainings for victim assistants and the nonprofit program that serves elder victims. This training will be based on the Training of Trainers component and the needs assessment. Examples of topics will include, but not be limited to: Domestic Violence basics 5 (Power and Control Wheel, dynamics of domestic abuse, myths and facts of domestic violence, effects of domestic violence on children), barriers to leaving abusive relationships, and coping skills of victims. Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging also agree to send representatives to the 1.5 day OVW training. Each of the partnered undersigned agencies agree to participate in the cross training for victim service organizations, courts, law enforcement, and nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations working with elder victims in their respective communities. The planning and development team for each county will develop this cross training during the Planning Phase based on the Training of Trainers component and the needs assessment. Topics will include those listed above, as well as discussions of each agency's respective role in addressing elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Each of the partnered undersigned agencies agree to create and enhance a multi- disciplinary collaborative community response to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. This response will be based on the cross training, and the needs assessment. We will enhance the existing response in each county by building on and enhancing the Black Hawk/Grundy Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the Marshall/Hardin Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Seeds of Hope has learned via other grants that cross trainings such as these can form the basis for this collaboration and grow into the collaboration. We will do that with this project as well. Each of the partnered undersigned agencies agrees to engage in the two phase effort 1)planning, and 2)implementation to provide services to older victims. 6 Each of the partnered undersigned agencies have agreed to their goals for the project and acknowledge approval of the proposed project budget. The partnered undersigned agencies will contribute staff time to go to the planning and development team meetings, and trainings, as described in this Memorandum of Understanding. The partnered agencies will also contribute existing office space for staff to work on the grant. Signature of party responsible for program commitment to this grant and date: Seeds of Hope Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging Black Hawk County Attorney Waterloo Police Department Grundy County Attorney Grundy County Sheriff Hardin County Attorney Hardin County Sheriff 7 R ' ' �