Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeeds of Hope-Memorandum of Understanding-01.26.2009 ob5` S7 O OVW 2009-1724 CFDA 16.528 Seeds of Hope Memorandum of Understanding WHEREAS Seeds of Hope (SOH) and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging (HVAAA) have come together to collaborate and to make an application for the Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program grant; and WHEREAS, the partners listed below have agreed to enter into a collaborative agreement in which SOH will be the lead agency and named applicant, and the other agencies will be partners in this application; and WHEREAS, the partners herein desire to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding setting forth the activities to be completed including the development and implementation of enhanced services; and WHEREAS, the application prepared by SOH and approved by the other partners is to be submitted to the Office on Violence Against Women on or before January 28, 2009; this agreement is made by and between the parties listed in the next paragraph: 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, and 4) Waterloo Police Department. Description of Partner Agencies. Seeds of Hope (SOH) provides domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking assistance services in Grundy, Hardin, and Black Hawk counties in Iowa. 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 1 Hawk Grundy Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault since 1995 and the Marshall Hardin Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault since 1996. In fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008, provided services to 551, 482, and 590 clients respectively in Black Hawk County. Combined clients in Hardin and Grundy counties for the same fiscal years were 83, 138, and 139 respectively. These numbers reflect the greater population of Black Hawk County. The main reason that SOH decided to focus grant funds on Waterloo, the largest municipality in Black Hawk County is that this will be the most efficient use of grant funds to reach the largest number of underserved clients. For example, in FY 2008, SOH provided services to 768 clients, and of these 468 received services from the Waterloo DART advocate. In addition, we believe that women later in life are an underserved population. SOH keeps statistics on clients age 60 and over, and of these 768 clients in FY 2008 only eight were age 60 or older. Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging (HVAAA) is a private, not-for-profit agency serving elders throughout 10 counties in Northeast Iowa, including Black Hawk County. HVAAA is the primary agency providing these services and provides a comprehensive range of cervices for the elderly For example, in FY 200R, HVAAA provided 196,908 Home Delivered Meals, 17,481 units (1 hour) of Case Management services, 248 units of advocacy services, 3363 units of outreach services, 390 units of legal assistance, 380 units of emergency response services, 383 units of assessment and intervention services, 322 units of counseling services, and 1263 units of training and education. The Waterloo Police Department is the largest law enforcement agency in Black Hawk County, and covers the city of Waterloo. With a population of 65,988 (2006 estimate based on U.S. census), Waterloo is the largest city in Black Hawk County. In FY 2007 there were the 2 following arrests made by the Waterloo Police Department: 311 simple domestic violence assaults, 54 aggravated domestic violence assaults, and 127 sexual assault crimes. The Black Hawk County Attorney's office covers the Black Hawk County, and is responsible for the prosecution of domestic violence and sexual cases in Waterloo. History of Relationship. SOH began collaborating with the Waterloo Police Department immediately upon the expansion into Black Hawk County on July 1, 2005. SOH has a Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) advocate based in the Waterloo Police Department offices. The Waterloo Police Department has a representative on the Black Hawk Grundy Coalition Against Domestic Violence. SOH also began collaborating with the Black Hawk County Attorney's office immediately upon the expansion into Black Hawk County. The County Attorney Victim/Witness Coordinator also is a member of the Black Hawk Grundy Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and works closely with the SOH DART advocate. SOH and HVAAA have served on several committees together in the past three years, learning about the services that each agency provides. For example, SOH advocates and HVAAA social workers have served together on countywide support service committees that have examined the need to collaborate on common problems faced by agency clients. These have included the need for transportation services as well as dealing with the flood of May and June 2008. Development of Application. Based on their work together on the countywide support service committees, as well as other committees, SOH and HVAAA began to recognize that women later in life were underserved regarding domestic violence and sexual assault services. Older women were not reporting their experiences of domestic violence and sexual assault, and law enforcement agency staff were not trained in how to identify these issues for older women. 3 SOH then approached HVAAA regarding the need to train SOH staff in issues for women later in life, HVAAA staff in identification of domestic violence and sexual assault for women later in life, and the need to train and educate Waterloo Police Department and Black Hawk County Attorney staff in these issues. HVAAA expressed considerable interest in the cross-training, with the goals being improved identification of violence and abuse issues for women later in life, increased referrals to SOH for these issues, enhanced services for women later in life, and improved identification of cases via law enforcement. What was lacking and therefore needed were the funds to implement the necessary training. Thus SOH agreed to be the lead agency on the grant to the Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program grant, with HVAAA, the Waterloo Police Department, and the Black Hawk County Attorney's office being the partner agencies. Seeds of Hope met with representatives from the other partnered agencies, described the grant, delineated the required 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 agenr.ie3 rer.ngnized and identified the need to participate in the trainingc 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 4 their Education Center. As the lead agency, Seeds of Hope agreed to write the grant and develop the budget plan. Roles and Responsibilities of the Parties. NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby agreed by and between the partners as follows: 1) Seeds of Hope agrees to be the lead agency, and oversee and provide administration for the grant, and 2) the partner organizations will develop the multi- disciplinary team to provide training to law enforcement in their respective communities. Further, the lead agency and each partner agency agree to send at least one representative from their agency to attend the mandatory four day "Training of Trainers" (these will be known as the multidisciplinary training team). These representatives will include: a Waterloo Police Department law enforcement officer, Black Hawk County Attorney prosecutor, SOH advocate, and a representative from HVAAA. At least two additional persons will be sent to this training as back-up trainers. Further, lead agency and each partner agency agree to have the multidisciplinary training team provide local two day (14 hour)trainings to law enforcement, using the OVW approved curriculum. The Waterloo Police Department agrees to send personnel to attend these local two day trainings (please see Letter of Commitment). Seeds of Hope agrees to bring national expert(s) to the respective communities for the Advanced Law Enforcement Training, and the Waterloo Police Department agrees to send their detectives, investigators, and other personnel as needed to this Advanced Law Enforcement Training (see Letter of Commitment). Partner agencies recognize that attendance at this workshop will require participants to travel to this OVW-sponsored training event. The Black Hawk County Attorney's Office agrees to send prosecutors to the mandatory two and a half day national Prosecutor's Workshop on elder abuse (see Letters of Commitment). 5 Partner agencies recognize that attendance at this workshop will require participants to travel to this OVW-sponsored training event. Seeds of Hope agrees to encourage judges in Black Hawk County to attend the national Judicial Institute on elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The lead agency and partner agencies recognize that attendance at this workshop will require participants to travel to this OVW- sponsored training event. Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging agree to send representatives, as well as the project coordinator, to the two day Mandatory Direct Services "Training of Trainers" training to enhance participants' subject matter expertise. The lead agency and partner agencies recognize that attendance at this workshop will require participants to travel to this OVW-sponsored training event. Seeds of Hope and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging agree to provide local two day trainings to the Black Hawk County Attorney Office staff, victim assistants, and victim service providers based on the OVW approved curriculum (please Letters of Commitment). The lead and partner organizations further agree: 1) to conduct cross training for each tion in the grant each understand better the role each agency plays in organization �ii�. to help agency 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 6 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. Seeds of Hope (DV/SA) advocates and Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging (case management, information and assistance, caregiver specialist, and Elder Abuse Initiative staff) agree to send 75% of their staff to the direct trainings for victim assistants and the nonprofit program that serves elder victims. Each of the partnered undersigned agencies agree to create and enhance a multi- disciplinary collaborative community response for elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation based on the Planning phase of this project. Therefore, each of the partnered undersigned agrees to engage in the two phase effort: 1) the planning phase with the trainings as described above and 2) the implementation phase, based on the trainings and the community needs assessment. The partnered undersigned agencies agree to contribute staff time for the planning and development teams meetings, trainings, and development and enhancement of services based o nthe trainings and community needs assessment. The partnered undersigned agencies also agree 7 to contribute existing office for this project. 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. The planning and development team will thus consist of Seeds of Hope, Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging, Waterloo Police Department, and Black Hawk County Attorney. There will be biweekly meetings of the planning and development team to 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 agree to develop the methodology for and conduct the needs assessment. Based on this needs assessment, the lead and partnered agencies agree that the planning and development team 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 Waterloo 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 coordinates the community response to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in Black Hawk 8 County. The partnered agencies agree to expand on this initial collaboration to create and enhance services for victims of elder abuse. Timeline. 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 Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program grant. The term of this agreement shall be from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2010, 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. Any failure to meet the responsibilities of the contract and the goals set forward render the contract null and void. Commitment to Partnership. The collaboration service area includes Waterloo Iowa. The partners agree to collaborate and provide new and enhanced services for women later in life pursuant to the program narrative of the grant application attached to this agreement. Compensation for partners' contributions to this project will be provided as outlined in the attached OVW budget detail worksheet. We, the undersigned have read and agree with this MOU. Further, we have reviewed the proposed project and approve it. Signature of party responsible for program commitment to this grant: Seeds of Hope Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging Black Hawk County Attorney Waterloo Police Department 9