DVAC Minutes – September8, 2017Approved March 9, 2018

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Edmund G. Brown Jr.
Governor / / Mark Ghilarducci
Director

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ADVISORY COUNCIL (DVAC)

Friday, September8, 2017, at 10:30 am

California Partnership to End Domestic Violence

1107 9th Street, Sacramento CA 95814

Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Sheri Farinha,Connie Chung Joe, Jean M. King, Nancy O’MalleyBen Schirmer, LyndaSmallenberger, Nilda Valmores, Christine Ward

Cal OES Staff Present: Leigh Bills, Ricki Hammett, Nicole Watanabe

Phone: Sylvia Mata, Bethany Renfreefrom Senator Jackson’s office, Debra Suh

Absent: Cherri Norvell Allison (Chair), Anastacia L. Snyder (Co-Chair),Patricia Giggans, Louis Gill

  1. CALL TO ORDER

Ben Schirmer, Domestic Violence Advisory Council (DVAC)Sergeant-At-Arms, called the meeting to order at 10:39am.

  1. NEW DVAC MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS

The new DVAC Member’s introduced themselves.

  1. CAL OES UPDATES

Leigh Bills, Cal OES Victim Services Division Chief, provided the following updates:

  • Cal OES is awarding almost $300 million dollars annually. Currently there are 86 programs and more than 900 individual grant subawards. Cal OES has 60 staff. Six more will be hired in the Victim Services and Public Safety Branch.
  • Cal OES has created 20 new programs with VOCA Victim Assistance funds. There is a Request for Proposal out for the Innovative Response to Marginalized Victims and the Victim Services Training Programs.A Family Therapy Program and Child Advocacy Program Request for Proposal will be released soon.
  • Victim Services is continuing to incorporate monitoring into Grants Management, as an extension of our existing program oversight.
  • Information regarding the Discretionary Training Grants will be posted on the Cal OES website. Cal OES is still working on a listserv for information on funding notices.
  • Cal OES has not received the VOCA or VAWA awards yet.

Ricki Hammett, Cal OES Domestic Violence Unit Chief, provided the following updates:

  • The 2017 Domestic Violence Assistance (DV) Program Request for Application was released in July and the Domestic Violence unit is processing 102 applications. There was a new fund, the California Domestic Violence Victims Fund, this year for the DV Program which was due to a tax check off on income tax forms.
  • The DV unit is working on a funding recommendation for the Specialized Emergency Housing Program and hopes to send out the notifications within the next few weeks.

A discussion was held about needed a quorum to hold meetings, lack of attendance, and the possibility of lowering the amount of times the DVAC committee meets to three times a year. The DVAC members also discussed the possibility of teleconferencing and of possible using ZOOM. The DVAC asked for Cal OES to bring to the next DVAC meeting possible meeting dates for next year that make the most sense. The DVAC members came to a consensus on cancelling the December 2017 meeting.

  1. REVIEW AND APPROVE MINUTES FROM MARCH10, 2017 DVAC MEETING

The DVAC members accepted the March 10, 2017 DVAC Meeting Minutes as written.

  1. 40-HOUR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COUNSELOR TRAINING REQUEST FOR APPLICATION (RFA) LANGUAGE UPDATES

Jacquie Marroquin, Director of Programs, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership) provided a PowerPoint about the 40 hour training. The DVAC members discussed how the 40-hour training should be provided. The consensus was that distance learning could be used for establishing and creating common language and establishing background, but not all training should be provided this way.

The DVAC asked Cal OES to survey the field about the 40 hour training.

  1. REVIEW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM COMPONENTS AND REQUEST FEEDBACK

Ms. Marroquinprovided a PowerPoint to the DVAC.This PowerPoint introduced the Partnership’s plan to launch a campaign to grow funds and modernizing servicesin California, beginning in November. The Partnership will ask to double the amount of state money available for the Comprehensive Domestic Violence Assistance Program and will request to amend legislation regarding the 14 core services under the Comprehensive Domestic Violence Assistance (DV) Program. The Partnership is putting together a task force for implementation. The task force will answer questions and take concerns.

DVAC had a lively conservation around the Partnership’s new campaign and the changes it may bring to the required components to the DV Program. The Domestic Violence field was responsible for passing legislation in 1985 around the core services.

  1. CAL OES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PROJECT DIRECTORS’ MEETING POTENTIAL TRAINING TOPICS

The Partnership will cover confidentiality, privilege, and mandated reporting.

Cal OES will provide training on Grants Management. The DVAC did not have any other suggestions for training topics.

  1. CALIFORNIA PARTNERSHIP TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UPDATES

The Partnership’s annual membership meeting will be September 11-12, 2017.

The statewide DV Conference will be March 5-6, 2018 inBurlingame at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.

Nilda Valmores, Executive Director of My Sister’s House, brought up the Blue Shield report that will be released, regarding the State of the DV field.

  1. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
  • DVAC Meeting Schedule
  • Trainings Topics for the DV Projects
  • The Partnership’s CampaignUpdates
  • Survey field about 40 hour training modules
  • Update on the Blue Shield report on the State of the DV Field
  • Partnership will host a Zoom Teleconference
  1. ADJOURNMENT

Mr.Schirmeradjourned the meeting at1:03pm.