TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES File No. 12-0923 Your HOUSING, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Committee reports as follows: HOUSING, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT relative to approval of the results of the Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Request for Proposals (RFP) for Citywide Gang Prevention and Intervention Services, authorization to negotiate and execute or amend various contracts, and related actions. Recommendations for Council action, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR: 1. AUTHORIZE the Mayor, or designee, to negotiate and execute contracts with the organizations listed below to provide gang prevention services in two designated GRYD Zones, for the period October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, for the amounts indicated below, subject to approval of the City Attorney, as to form and legality and compliance with City contracting requirements: Prevention Services in GRYD Zones GRYD Zone Agency Amount* Funding Source Southwest II Brotherhood Crusade $675,000 General Fund Rampart Bresee Foundation $337,500 General Fund Rampart El Centro Del Pueblo $337,500 General Fund Total: $1,350,000 2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor, or designee, to negotiate and execute a contract with Chapter Two, Inc. to provide gang intervention services in the Florence-Graham GRYD Zone, for the period beginning October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, in an amount up to and not to exceed $375,000, subject to the approval of the City Attorney as to form and legality and compliance with City contracting requirements and availability of funding. 3. AUTHORIZE the Mayor, or designee, to negotiate and execute contracts with the organizations listed below to provide gang prevention services for the Secondary Areas for the period beginning October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, for an amount not to exceed $253,125 per designated area from the funding sources listed below, subject to approval of the City Attorney, as to form and legality and compliance with City contracting requirements: Prevention Services in Secondary Areas Secondary Area Agency Amount* Funding Source Central Youth Policy Institute $253,125 General Fund South Watts Labor Community Action $253,125 General Fund Committee Valley Child and Family Guidance Center $253,125 General Fund West Children's Hospital Los Angeles $253,125 General Fund Total: $1,012,500
4. AUTHORIZE the Mayor, or designee, to negotiate and execute contracts with the organizations listed below to provide gang intervention services in the Secondary Areas for the term beginning October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, for various amounts and funding sources indicated below, subject to approval of the City Attorney, as to form and legality compliance with City contracting requirements: Intervention Services in Secondary Areas Secondary Area Agency Amount* Funding Source Central Public Health Foundation $151,875 General Fund Enterprises, Inc./Aztecs Rising South Toberman Neighborhood Center $236,250 General Fund Valley Communities In Schools of the San $151,875 General Fund Fernando Valley, Inc. West V2K/H. E. L. P. E. R. Foundation $151,875 General Fund Total: $691,875 5. AUTHORIZE the Mayor, or designee, to negotiate and execute a contract amendment with Communities In Schools of the San Fernando Valley, Inc. in support of the 2011 summer aquatics program at Panorama High School, for the period ending December 31, 2012, in an amount up to and not to exceed $20,000, transferred from the Department of Recreation of Parks, Fund 301, Dept. 88 to the Mayor's Fund 100, Dept 46, Account 003040 (Contracts), subject to the approval of the City Attorney as to form and legality and compliance with City contracting requirements and availability of funding. 6. AUTHORIZE the Mayor, or designee, to prepare Controller's instructions and/or make technical adjustments that may be required to implement the actions approved by the Mayor and Council on this matter, subject to the approval of the City Administrative Officer, and authorize the Controller to implement these instructions. Fiscal Impact Statement: The Mayor reports that the recommendations in this report comply with City Financial Policies in that the proposed funding is balanced against established revenue approved in previous Council actions and from state and federal grants. All funding is subject to the availability of grant funds and funding determinations by Mayor and Council. Community Impact Statement: None submitted. SUMMARY At a special meeting held on October 10, 2012, the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee considered a transmittal from the Mayor (Mayor s transmittal) dated September 28, 2012, relative to approval of the results of the Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Request for Proposals (RFP) for Citywide Gang and Intervention Services; authorization to negotiate and execute contracts for the period October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013; and authorization to amend the contract with Communities in Schools, Inc., in the Valley Secondary area with a revised end period of December 31, 2012; and related actions. Page 2 of 5
The Director of the Mayor s Gang Reduction and Youth Development Office, and staff, appeared before the Committee Chair to provide an overview of the Mayor s transmittal dated September 28, 2012 relative to the results of the GRYD RFP for Gang Prevention and Intervention Services and to respond to related questions. The Committee Chair noted that the service provider contracts are cost reimbursement contracts for small non-profits on the front lines providing gang prevention and intervention services that do not have resources to carry them for months at a time, and therefore Council consideration is needed as soon as possible. Additionally, the Chair noted that the recommendations in the Mayor s transmittal are all within the scope and funds of the Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget approved by Council and signed by the Mayor, with the exception of a $20,000 transfer of funds from the Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) (originally transferred to RAP from Council District 6 discretionary funds) to Communities in Schools of the San Fernando Valley, Inc. for a summer aquatics program, and no additional funding is being sought. The GRYD Director and staff addressed the Committee and reported that the Mayor s GRYD Office conducted a rigorous RFP process and is seeking authorization to execute the contracts so that there is no interruption in service. The Mayor s GRYD Office conducted two RFP s. The first RFP was to provide prevention or intervention services within the GRYD Zones across the City. The majority of GRYD Zones have already begun providing services, however there were two Zones in which additional time was needed to complete the RFP process and those included the Southwest II and the Rampart Zones. In the Southwest II GRYD Zone, the proposed contract will be with the Brotherhood Crusade, and in the Rampart GRYD Zone the Zone and the proposed contract funding will be split between Bresee Foundation and El Centro Del Pueblo service providers. These contracts will be effective October 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. The second of the RFP s was originally issued in January 2012 for Prevention Services in Secondary Areas and, due to a lack of proposals, was re-issued upon the advice of the City Attorney with a new due date of March 2012. The Mayor s GRYD Office received several proposals (as listed in the Mayor s transmittal dated September 28, 2012, contained in the Council File 12-0923), and is reporting the results for the Secondary Areas as follows: for the Central Area, the proposed contract is with Youth Policy Institute; for the South Area, the proposed contract is a continuation of service with Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC); for the San Fernando Valley Area, the proposed contract is also a continuation of service with the Child and Family Guidance Center; and for the West Area, the proposed contract is with a new contractor: Children s Hospital Los Angeles. All of these agencies will receive an amount of up to $253,125. For Intervention services for the Secondary Areas, the Mayor s GRYD Office wishes to award contracts as follows: for the Central Area, the proposed contract is with Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc./Aztecs Rising; for the South Area, Toberman Neighborhood Center; for the San Fernando Valley Area, continuation of service with Communities in Schools of the San Fernando Valley, Inc.,; and for the West Area, V2K H.E.L.P.E.R Foundation (formerly known as Venice 2000). All of the agencies will receive an amount of up to $151,875 with the exception of Toberman Neighborhood Center which will receive an amount of up to $236,250 due to greater need for intervention services in the South Secondary Area. The Committee Chair inquired whether some of the service providers recognized that, although they were doing good work on the front lines, there may be administrative limitations that may have caused them to combine or align their efforts with other organizations that have more strengths in that area. The GRYD Director responded that there was one intervention organization that required a fiscal receiver for a year to assist in getting its books in order, so the Mayor s GRYD Office made an agreement that the organization would be receiving its funding Page 3 of 5
for a year through a fiscal umbrella. Additionally, that organization was provided with additional technical assistance on fiscal matters by GRYD staff. The Mayor s GRYD Office has observed that prevention and intervention service agencies are recognizing it is equally important that they focus on their administrative paperwork with the same level of dedication as their prevention and intervention service work, however, for the most part there have been relatively few issues over the past 5 years. In terms of the RFP process, the Committee inquired whether there were any appeals, and if so, what is the status. Mayor s GRYD Office staff reported that all proposing agencies, including the top scorers, have an opportunity to appeal. If there is a final score within a specific region, the proposers all receive notification letters that provide information regarding the period in which to request an appeal. If an appeal is filed, the Mayor s GRYD Office reviews the appeal to ensure meets minimum qualifications and determines that an appeals board will take place. Appeals were received by the Mayor s GRYD Office and those cases were heard before an appeals board that includes the City Attorney as part of the appeals process. Written notification is then provided to the proposer regarding the results of the appeal and additional points can be awarded based on the appeal. For example, a proposer for the prevention Central Secondary Area received additional points that boosted their score to within a five point range to proceed to the interview process, which is the next level. Once interviews are conducted, the proposer is notified again in writing and is provided with an additional opportunity to appeal. In two regions the South Secondary Area and the Central Secondary Area, proposers received opportunities to appeal. A letter was received from the Youth Policy Institute, which was the top proposer, but this agency later withdrew its request for an appeal. The Mayor s GRYD Office Director reported that the appeal process is very transparent and, with the guidance of the City Attorney, the process has been improved. Lastly, the Committee requested information on whether the GRYD Program was achieving the desired results, how Council will know that the Program is working, and the process used for determining the Program s goals. The GRYD Director advised the Committee that the GRYD Program undergoes a rigorous review by the Urban Institute in Washington DC every year, and that its report will be issued December 1, 2012. In the meantime, the GRYD Director provided the following GRYD Program statistics for 2011(comparing 2007 to 2011): 29% reduction in gang-related crime in the GRYD Zones 42% reduction in shots fired in the GRYD Zones 33% reduction in homicides in the GRYD Zones (compared to 15% outside the GRYD Zones) 48% reduction in assaults with a deadly weapon against police officers inside the GRYD Zones (compared to 9% outside the GRYD Zones) 49% of youth currently being served in the Program have reduced their risk factors below the threshold of the highest risk of them becoming gang members 48% decrease in participation in gang activity 35% decrease in association with known gang members 47% decrease in gang fights Additionally, the GRYD Director reported that the Program has worked to strengthen parental supervision in a targeted approach to those who are heading households, and that the GRYD Program has moved to a multi-generational approach toward working with families. Page 4 of 5
The GRYD Director also reported the following statistics for the GRYD Office s Summer Night Lights (SNL) Program (since 2008): 1.8 million visit to the SNL sites 1.1 million meals served 3,500 jobs made available 35% reduction in gang-related part I crime 35% reduction in homicides Relative to goal setting, the GRYD Director responded that although the GRYD Program is doing well in reducing risk factors and crime, the next phase is a transformational approach towards the way that neighborhoods view gang crime so that it is no longer seen as the norm. Additionally, goals are driven by evaluation so that when the Urban Institute releases its annual report, the Mayor s GRYD Office will respond to it and goals will be defined by what the data shows. For example, boundaries of some GRYD Zones have been stretched to cover additional areas due to crime data received from the Crime Analysis Unit through cooperative data sharing. The GRYD Director noted that ultimately the GRYD Program is moving away from emphasis on gang issues as an individual youth problem and more towards a multi-generational family solution, i.e. re-tooling the focus and engaging families. After providing an opportunity for public comment, the Committee recommended approval of the recommendations in the Mayor s transmittal and requested that the City Administrative Officer report on the recommendations to the Council at the time it considers this matter. This matter is now forwarded to the Council for its consideration. Respectfully submitted, HOUSING, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEMBER CÁRDENAS: RE: WESSON: ALARCÓN: PERRY: VOTE ABSENT ABSENT REW 10/10/12 12-0923_rpt_hced_10-10-12 Not Official Until Council Acts Page 5 of 5