Item 5 - DACC Data Packet — original pdf

Backup

Downtown Austin Community Court Advisory Board DACC Service and Data Overview Board Packet – July 19, 2024 Community Services  Community Services Program (CS) – Participants fulfill community service hour requirements through public space cleaning, beautification projects, graffiti abatement, and working at DACC’s Edgar Fincher III Program Garden, which donates all food and eggs to local providers who feed the homeless community. o Number of Community Services Requests Completed  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 – Jun. 2024): 829 o Acreage of Work Completed  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 23.19  Violet KeepSafe Storage Program (VKS) – Free storage located downtown with secure bins to store vital documents, family memories, clothing, bedding, and more. Operates 7:00am- 11:00am and 1:00pm-7:00pm, seven days a week. Program employs people with lived experience to improve service experience and create workforce opportunities. o Number of Active VKS Participants  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 549 o Number of Interactions with VKS Participants  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 19,120 Court Services  Restorative justice and problem-solving court – Fine-only court with emphasis on alternative resolutions, and provides an immediate connection to onsite case managers, basic needs, and social service resources. DACC resolves Class C criminal offenses in catchment area, and Proposition B and State camping ban cases citywide. o Number of Cases Filed  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 2,096 o Number of Cases Docketed  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 4,715  Clinical Diversion Program (CDP) – Dedicated case managers serve people engaging in Court Services to improve connection to case management and social services, while also improving appearance and case completion rates. o Number of CDP Clients:  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 216 o Number of Cases Resolved through Participation in CDP:  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 342  DACC Mobile Court Pilot – This Pilot, initiated by Council Resolution 20230816-016, is intended to connect people in the community with solutions for resolving cases while providing immediate connection to services and resource navigation through case managers onsite. o Warrants Cleared during Mobile Court:  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 74 o Cases Docketed during Mobile Court:  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 105 Homeless Services  Walk-in Case Management – Provides assistance obtaining identification documents and signing up for public benefits, access to basic needs, and linkages to mental health, physical health, and substance misuse services. o Number of Walk-in Case Management Interactions  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 13,250 o Average Daily Walk-in Case Management Interactions  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 72.8  Intensive Case Management – Person-centered, housing-focused services with low caseloads and wrap around supports. DACC’s Intensive Case Management and Walk-in Case Management programs both serve as a diversion from criminal justice involvement by meeting people’s needs before situations escalate to involve law enforcement. o Number of Clients Connected to Housing  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 36  *Includes 4 people housed through ESG RRH Program Support Services - Responsible for special projects and support for all DACC units, administration for the department, internal and external communications, community engagement, support for the DACC Advisory Board and the Austin Homelessness Advisory Council, and social service contracting.  DACC-funded social service contracts –Long- and short-term housing solutions, SOAR application assistance and representative payee services, and substance misuse, mental health, and peer support services for clients served directly by DACC. Also includes contracts that serve the Austin Community such as the Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (EMCOT) and funding six Integral Care mental health and peer support staff that serve on the Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST). o Number of Social Service Contract Payments Processed  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 – Jun. 2024): 108 o Amount of Social Service Contract Payments Processed  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): $4,778,929  Austin Homelessness Advisory Council (AHAC) – Approximately 15 people with lived experience meet biweekly to provide input on policies, programs, and practices impacting people experiencing homelessness. DACC provides facilitative and administrative support to ensure AHAC can continue to serve as a vital and ongoing resource for City departments and the community. o Hours of Input Gathered from Austin Homelessness Advisory Council Members  FY 2024 (Oct. 2023 - Jun. 2024): 443 COMMUNITY COURT NEWS A newsletter brought to you by DACC’s Communications Team Top stories in this newsletter 6.28.2024 Capital Metro Collaborative Partnership Community Services Grant Award Partner Spotlight DACC’s Numbers regarding Capital Metro Collaborative Partnership Laura Torres provided an interview on behalf of DACC for an educational their Community video produced by Capital Metro Intervention Specialists, which is part of their broader efforts around public safety and connecting individuals to services. The video can be viewed here, and is featured in broader educational blog about Cap here. Metro’s Thank you, Laura, for representing DACC well and for your work to collaborate directly with Cap Metro to help support this important program! Please read the Partner Spotlight below for more information about Capital Metro’s public safety efforts and work to serve the community. Intervention Community Specialists, available Community Services Grant Award The E.R. Fincher III Garden, maintained by the Community Services Unit, has historically relied on the Urban Forestry Department and Austin Parks and Recreation for irrigation by filling two 1,200-gallon water tanks on site. But it was never guaranteed and often the Crew Leaders would run out of water, resulting in trees dying and vegetation unable to be harvested and donated to a local homeless services organization. On May 2, 2024, DACC was awarded $22,500 from the Urban Forest Funding Portal to establish our own water source, enabling Crew Leaders to enhance gardening activity, plant additional fruit trees, and offer future programming and educational opportunities at the Garden. Crew Leaders, and community service participants alike, have shared that getting to complete hours at the Garden is more fulfilling and enjoyable than other activities considered community service. We are very excited to enhance the Garden and provide more opportunities for those that we serve to benefit from the space. DACC leadership would like to thank and recognize Bailey Gray for shepherding us through this grant process and helping bring these additional resources to DACC, to ultimately benefit the community we serve! and process improvements Cadence Adjustment for DACC Special Projects DACC has a philosophy of continual quality assurance, which includes managing workloads while being responsive to the service needs of our community. In an effort to continue special projects vital to DACC’s connectivity across staff, equity in the department, and communication with our team, while also balancing increased demand on the department, several monthly efforts will now continue on a quarterly basis. Community Court News: In an effort to ensure we’re sharing meaningful information while also managing workloads, we’ll be releasing Community Court News quarterly. As time sensitive and important updates arise, we’ll continue to reach out to staff with updates provided through emails, unit staff meetings, and other methods as appropriate. We welcome suggestions for content for Community Court News to ensure we’re sharing all the incredible work each of you do with the rest of our department. Midday Mixers: Conducting these quarterly will coincide with our Employee of the Quarter recognition while also allowing the Celebrations and Activities Committee opportunities to put together random voluntary events during off months that provide a forum to enjoy each other’s company without having any structured activity. Equity Team Meetings: This team has been working on identified implementation efforts across several priorities, and continues to be a resource to ensure DACC is using an equity lens for our work. Transitioning these meetings to quarterly allows for subgroup work to take place between meetings to bring action, and more time for our equity team members to participate in those efforts. Partner Spotlight — Capital Metro Capital Metro (Cap Metro) is Austin’s regional public transportation provider, and has been operating since 1985. Cap Metro works every day to give residents, commuters, and visitors the best possible transit options available to match their busy everyday lives. Please see the following information about their overall Mission, Core Values, and Vision, their innovative approach to public safety, and some of our collaborative efforts: Mission: To empower, enhance, and serve the region and its communities through the responsible delivery of high-quality public transportation. Core Values: Safety, Equity, Transparency, Sustainability, and Innovation Vision: Cap Metro is integral to the region and its communities, providing connectivity, fostering economic activity, and ensuring safe, environmentally sustainable, and equitable access to opportunity. Three-Team Approach to Public Safety strategically uses resources, ensuring that riders feel safe and get the precise help they need, when they need it. These teams include: Public Safety Ambassadors: Trained professionals in the community, equally skilled in customer service and security, ready to assist with everything from transit passes to directions, while ensuring your safety. When needs are identified, Ambassadors work to connect riders to appropriate resources, including making connections with Cap Metro’s Community Intervention Specialists for linkages to resources and services. More information available here and here. Community Intervention Specialists: When more comprehensive assistance is needed, Community Intervention Specialists step in. These on-staff social workers are equipped to connect individuals to essential resources, such as housing, food or healthcare, ensuring a supportive and responsive approach to each unique situation. More information available here and here. Transit Police Officers: For those rare moments when law enforcement is necessary, our dispatchers are on standby to call local police. Cap Metro is currently building a Transit Police team (pending TCOLE certification) trained specifically for our transit environment, ensuring focused and effective responses. The Vision is, “To adopt an industry-leading model of transit policing where all feel understood, welcomed and safe choosing Cap Metro as their preferred method of transportation.” More information available here and here. Cold Weather Shelter, Cooling and Warming Center partner: DACC and Cap Metro both play vital roles as part of Cold Weather Shelter (CWS) operations, with DACC serving as the embarkation hub where people can register for services, and then be transported to CWS sites by Cap Metro. Cap Metro also provides free transportation to warming and cooling centers when needed, helping ensure we’re connecting community members with resources during weather events. Transit Passes to Support Unhoused Community: These new transit passes provide convenient and accessible transit options for unhoused individuals in the Travis County Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). DACC has been helping the people we serve sign up for these passes, which help ensure individuals experiencing homelessness have access to essential services, employment opportunities and community activities at no cost to them or providers. More information available here. Valued Partners: Both DACC and Cap Metro strive to provide innovative, responsive, and compassionate services for members of our unhoused community, and everyone we serve. The programs featured here are just the tip of the iceberg for everything Cap Metro does for Austin and surrounding areas, and we’re grateful for all of the opportunities we’ve had to work closely together to better serve the public. Message from the Court Administrator In light of the United States Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, I wanted to share with you all the official City of Austin statement that is being shared with media, stakeholders, and the community: important implications for municipalities and The City of Austin recognizes the importance of the United States Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson. The case relates to the ability of local governments to enforce laws prohibiting camping on public property and the ruling has individuals experiencing homelessness across the nation. The City of Austin recognizes that homelessness is not a crime and therefore reaffirms its commitment to developing comprehensive solutions that prioritize housing, support services and dignity for all individuals. The City has a record number of homeless shelter beds today, more than 2,200 people are benefiting from City -funded rapid rehousing programs, and over 1,000 new housing units are being built across Austin for individuals experiencing homelessness. Enforcement of applicable laws related to camping in public places is one of many tools and solutions used by the City in appropriate circumstances. We will continue working with neighbors and stakeholders to ensure actions and policies balance public safety with people’s rights and needs. At DACC, we will continue to align our work with our mission to empower people to thrive by providing impartial justice and compassionate community-based services. While we don’t expect operational changes related to this ruling, we will keep you all apprised of any further developments. Thank you all for your tireless work to serve our community and being part of our City’s approach to addressing homelessness through connection to meaningful and impactful services. Staff Updates in June 28th. Staff Departures: Laura Torres has accepted a supervisor position with the Victim Services Austin Police Department, her last day with DACC will Laura be started her career at DACC on October 29, 2018. During her time here, Laura has made many contributions to our success and culture. These include serving clients through our Intensive Case Management program, working on the HOST team, serving on the Equity Team since it’s inception, and being a Coordinated Assessment hero. While we’re going to miss her dearly, we wholeheartedly support her decision to expand her skills and career with Victim Services. Details to follow on a celebratory farewell event for Laura. Please thank Laura for everything she has done for us and the homeless community. Staff Promotions: Jenna Pywell has been promoted from a Clinical Case Manager to Clinical Case Manager Supervisor, following nearly five years of service with DACC. Jenna has contributed greatly to DACC and the people we serve in her roles as a housing-focused case manager, walk-in case manager, and in her assignment to the Homeless Outreach Street Team. Jenna has also been an it’s invaluable member of the Equity Team since inception. Prior to working for DACC, Jenna cofounded an equestrian therapy program and worked with youth experiencing homelessness at Lifeworks. She brings a vast clinical knowledge to the position, and will supervise that Kate previously led. We’re looking forward to seeing all the good she’ll bring to this new position, please reach out and congratulate her! New Staff: Fernanda Veloz Salas began working as an intern with DACC on June 7, 2024, and will be part of our team through the summer. Fernanda, a second-year graduate student, is on a transformative journey, pursuing a dual Master’s in Public Affairs and women’s and gender studies from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She brings an interdisciplinary perspective to DACC with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition from Universidad de Guadalajara and is now expanding this foundation with the dual Master’s program. Her academic and professional journey, marked by significant growth and development, has equipped her with an understanding of public policy, social justice, and the systemic barriers experienced by marginalized communities, and more recently, with data visualization and data processing skills. During this internship, Fernanda is eager to apply her skill set in health sciences, public affairs, and women and gender studies to make significant the Rapid Rehousing team from recommendation the Quarter. By Reminders Nominate a colleague for Employee of the Quarter - Please take a moment and recognize one of your colleagues for the standout job they are doing by submitting your nomination for Employee of the Celebrations and Activities Committee, nominations for EOQ will now be open year-round, and your nomination will be included in the voting process of the quarter in which it was submitted. The link for the nomination form https://forms.office.com/ g/5RmWWfSZLV DACC Apparel - DACC apparel is available to all DACC employees. New employees have access to a $150 DACC apparel allowance upon hire and existing employees have access to a $75 DACC apparel allowance each subsequent year on the anniversary of their hire date. The apparel allowance is subject to change by the Court Administrator based on funding availability. is available at: To Order: The link to the website to identify items is: https://www.companycasuals.com/ austinscreenprinting/start.jsp. Locate the item(s) you want and then send the information to your supervisor to place an order. There are no prices listed on the website but generally speaking, tops run about $35 ea. and jackets are about $75 ea. DACC Opportunities for Input Suggest an activity - The Celebrations and Activities Committee is planning our team quarterly activities and other events. Please feel free to send any ideas you have for group activities to Robert Kingham. Submit topics for staff email updates and/or annual report • Staff email updates – We want staff across all DACC Units to know about the good and significant work happening across our department. If you have significant program changes or any small or big success stories, please send them to Laura Williamson to be included in these email updates • Annual Report – We’re looking to expand and redesign how we report about our work annually. There’s flexibility on both format and content. Laura Williamson is working on meeting with all the units to share more about these efforts; please send any formatting or subject ideas you have directly to her. This report is something we can share with all stakeholders to educate about and celebrate DACC’s work. DACC’s Numbers section This is intended to show a small snapshot of the being great work our across done department. We’ll continue to update the information shared here as DACC’s data practices are enhanced through the Data Maximization Project. All the numbers below are fiscal year to date. Community Services: • Community Services Requests Completed: 829 • Acreage of Work Completed: 23.19 • Active Violet KeepSafe Storage (VKS) Participants: 549 Interactions with VKS Participants: 19,120 • Court Services: • Cases Filed: 2,096 • Cases Docketed: 4,715 • Clinical Diversion Program (CDP) Clients: 216 • Cases resolved through participation in CDP: 342 • Court case checks during Mobile Court: 534 • Cases docketed during Mobile Court: 105 • Warrants cleared during Mobile Court: 74 Homeless Services: • Walk-In Case Management Interactions: 13,250 • Average Daily Walk-in Case Management Interactions: 72.78 • Clients Connected to Housing: 36 Support Services: • Social Service Contract Payments Processed: 108 • Social Service Contract Payments Processed: $4,778,929 • Hours of Input Gathered from Austin Homelessness Advisory Council Members: 443 Upcoming Events Quarterly DACC Midday Mixer staff gathering, please plan to attend in person. • What: Quarterly • When: Tuesday, July 16th, 1:30p-2:30p • Where: DACC Training Room 2024 City Holidays: • Independence Day - Thursday July 4 Labor Day - Monday, September 2 • • Veterans Day - Monday, November 11 • Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 28 • Thanksgiving Friday - Friday, November 29 • Christmas Eve - Tuesday, December 24 • Christmas Day - Wednesday, December 25 Empowering people to thrive by providing impartial justice and compassionate community-based services COMMUNITY COURT NEWS A newsletter brought to you by DACC’s Communications Team Top stories in this newsletter 5.31.2024 Medication Storage Coverage Action at May 30th City Council Meeting Partner Spotlight DACC’s Numbers Medication Storage Coverage Following the launch of DACC’s Medication Storage Program, we shard this press release and had the following positive coverage of our services. Thanks to Jennifer Sowinski for her leadership on developing this program to address a critical unmet need for the people we serve, and to all of her team that made bringing these services online possible! Media coverage included: Video coverage from KVUE Online piece from KLBJ Radio Online piece by Austin Journal Online piece published on Hoodline.com Online piece posted on Texas Behavioral Health and Justice Technical Assistance Center Action at May 30th City Council Meeting The following three items passed unanimously: Item 112 - Council Resolution directed the City Manager to, “implement the Mobile Court Program of the Downtown Austin Community Court, identify funding sources, and evaluate opportunities to collaborate with community organizations to support that program.” Please read the Resolution both for awareness about the direction approved, and to see all of the great highlights about DACC’s work that were included. In addition to the posted sponsor Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison and posted cosponsors Council Members Vanessa Fuentes, José ''Chito'' Vela, Mackenzie Kelly, and Zohaib ''Zo'' Qadri, Council Member Alison Alter asked to be added as a cosponsor from the dais This Resolution highlights support for and acknowledgment of the success of DACC’s Mobile Court Pilot, based on the DACC Advisory Board’s budget recommendation and this memo, including a third-party analysis, that was shared with City Council on March 27, 2024 DACC leadership wants to recognize so many on DACC’s team who made this possible, by developing and implementing these services, providing services at Mobile Court events, and providing support for Mobile Court and DACC operations generally during Mobile Court days. The next steps for the potential increase in funding for staff and resources will be considered as part of the City budget process, which would ultimately be finalized in mid August. DACC leadership will keep staff apprised as updates become available about process and timeline. Mental Health Diversion Pilot: We had two items approved on the agenda related to the Mental Health Diversion Pilot, listed below. For an overview of these items and background of efforts leading us to this point, please see this memo we released on May 23rd. Item 8 – Authorized negotiation and execution of an interlocal agreement with Integral Care, Travis County, and Central Health establishing a Mental Health Diversion Pilot Oversight Board. This Oversight Board formalizes a collaborative process to ensure coordination across all parties investing in and providing services, foster intentional communication throughout the Pilot, and help to evolve services and develop recommendations together for future funding and programming related to the Pilot. Item 9 - Authorized negotiation and execution of an interlocal agreement with Integral Care to implement a Mental Health Diversion Pilot. The Pilot will expand service hours at Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) to 24/7 operations, including access to a prescriber onsite and 23- hour observation services. PES services will be provided by Integral Care and funded by Central Health and Travis County. The Therapeutic Diversion Program (TDP) component of the Pilot will provide access to up to 90 days of care, including behavioral health services, peer support, and working toward connection to stable exit options through housing-focused case management services. TDP services will be provided by Integral Care and funded through Travis County and the City of Austin through this agreement managed by DACC. Partner Spotlight — Homeless Strategy Office strategically, The City of Austin Homeless Strategy Office (HSO) serves as a focal point for addressing homelessness and comprehensively, compassionately. Effective December 4, 2023, HSO transferred from being under Austin Public Health to a stand-alone office reporting to the City Manager’s Office. The primary responsibilities of HSO include: • Procuring, managing, and monitoring homelessness-related contracts between the City and third-party vendors. • Overseeing operations at City-owned homeless agencies to expand and the shelters. • Collaborating with City community organizations availability of housing. • Coordinating public outreach, including compassionate encampment closures. clean-up, space management, and • Working with the Communications and Public help manage Information communications regarding the City’s approach efforts to assist unhoused residents overcome homelessness. Office to • Working with the Intergovernmental Relations Office to manage relationships between the City and local, state, and federal agencies and officials. • Collaborating with Austin/Travis County's Homelessness Response System partners to uphold best practices, policies, and procedures for organizations that serve unhoused people in our community. • Engaging with and local philanthropic entities to broaden the funding base for homeless services. businesses compassionately Housing-focused Encampment Assistance Link (HEAL) Initiative: HSO leads HEAL efforts, which are intended unsafe close to encampments in our city by offering people experiencing homelessness a direct pathway to shelter and opportunities to attain stable housing, sustainably in unsafe areas. A full reducing public camping the most to services timeline, and press releases for each HEAL Initiative location can be found here. Partnership with DACC HSO and DACC share values around connecting people that are experiencing homelessness impactful and person-centered. Due to the alignment around our shared mission, values, and the people we serve, we established a standing monthly collaborative meeting with leadership of HSO and DACC to ensure open lines of communication for awareness of the work each of our organizations are tasked with, in addition to creating ongoing dialogue around collaboration opportunities. Examples of areas we have worked together include: • Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) – HOST oversight and planning efforts are housed at HSO, and DACC has a case manager on HOST, for services, and prioritizes HOST referrals administers the contract with Integral Care to fund staff on HOST. DACC coordinates closely with HSO on these efforts and are grateful for this continued partnership. • Cold Weather Shelter – Both DACC and HSO play roles when the City prepares for weather emergencies, and have collaborated together directly on planning and implementation of Cold Weather Shelters and other emergency response efforts. • ARPA-funded Rapid Rehousing at DACC – DACC partnered with HSO to administer funding to hire case including five housing-focused staff, managers and a supervisor, and administer funding for housing expenses for clients served by these case managers. Recently, HSO moved from the APH campus on Levander Loop to the fourth floor of OTC. We’re excited to have them so close by, which will only enhance our ability to collaborate. Please be sure to say hello to our neighbors when you see them in the building. immensely grateful for the collaborative DACC relationship that has been fostered between our staff and HSO. In addition to our standing monthly joint leadership meetings, members of our teams are in regular contact to navigate community issues as they come up, and we’re fortunate to have such dedicated partners serving our community. More information about their work can be found here. is Message from the Court Administrator As we stand at the threshold of new opportunities and challenges, I wanted to take a moment to share some words of encouragement and optimism about the exciting future ahead of us. The work we do at the Downtown Austin Community Court is vital to the well-being of the clients we serve, our city, and its residents. Each day, your dedication, compassion, and hard work make a tangible difference in the lives of individuals in our community. As we move forward, we have every reason to look to the future with hope and confidence. The future holds the promise of progress and innovation. With our collective effort, we can continue to enhance our programs and services by building on our past successes and learning from our experiences. Let us embrace new technologies and approaches that can streamline our processes, improve our efficiency, and allow us to address the evolving needs of our community. Let us continue to foster partnerships and collaborations that can amplify our impact and bring more resources to those we support. Most importantly, let us remain united and supportive of one another. The strength of our team lies in our core values of trust, equity, integrity, accessibility and collaboration. By working together, we can overcome any obstacles that come our way and achieve remarkable success. As we look ahead, let us envision a future where everyone in Austin has access to the support and opportunities they need to thrive. Let us dream big, set ambitious goals, and push the boundaries of what we can accomplish. The possibilities are limitless, and our potential is boundless. Thank you for your unwavering dedication and passion. Let us move forward with optimism, determination, and a renewed sense of purpose. Together, we can create a brighter and more just future for all. Staff Updates DACC’s Numbers section This is intended to show a small snapshot of the great work being done our across department. We’ll continue to update the information shared here as DACC’s data practices are enhanced through the Data Maximization Project. All the numbers below are fiscal year to date. Community Services: • Community Services Requests Completed: 732 • Acreage of Work Completed: 20.0 • Active Violet KeepSafe Storage (VKS) Participants: 522 Interactions with VKS Participants: 17,150 • Court Services: • Cases Filed: 1,741 • Cases Docketed: 3,899 • Clinical Diversion Program (CDP) Clients: 182 • Cases resolved through participation in CDP: 294 • Court case checks during Mobile Court: 516 • Cases docketed during Mobile Court: 96 • Warrants cleared during Mobile Court: 68 Homeless Services: • Walk-In Case Management Interactions: 11,720 • Average Daily Walk-in Case Management Interactions: 72.4 • Clients Connected to Housing: 35 Support Services: • Social Service Contract Payments Processed: 84 • Social Service Contract Payments Processed: $3,722,659 • Hours of Input Gathered from Austin Homelessness Advisory Council Members: 369 Upcoming Events Quarterly DACC Midday Mixer • What: staff Quarterly gathering, please plan to attend in person. • When: Tuesday, July 16th, 1:30p-2:30p • Where: DACC Training Room 2024 City Holidays: • • Juneteenth - Wednesday, June 19 Independence Day - Thursday July 4 Labor Day - Monday, September 2 • • Veterans Day - Monday, November 11 • Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 28 • Thanksgiving Friday - Friday, November 29 • Christmas Eve - Tuesday, December 24 • Christmas Day - Wednesday, December 25 Empowering people to thrive by providing impartial justice and compassionate community-based services In April, Jeff Sounalath was selected as your Employee of the Quarter for Q2 of 2024! Jeff's nomination stated, “Jeff housed a client who felt her apartment had mold. Jeff assisted the client with advocating for herself with the property. The client had the apartment tested for mold and did find some non-dangerous mold. The client continued to feel uncomfortable living in the apartment and requested to be released from her lease. The property denied the request. This caused the clients mental health to deteriorate. Jeff assisted client with contacting and working with the Office of Civil Rights. This was a lengthily process and required significant clinical intervention in assisting the client through this process. The Office of Civil Rights ruled in the clients favor. She was able to be removed from her lease without penalty and the property was instructed to reimburse her for the mold testing, moving expenses, and furniture. Jeff's work advocating for this client and providing guidance for the client to advocate for herself, resulted in a very positive outcome”. Thank you, Jeff, for being such a valuable member of our team! Reminders Nominate a colleague for Employee of the Quarter - Please take a moment and recognize one of your colleagues for the standout job they are doing by submitting your nomination for Employee of the Quarter. By recommendation from the Celebrations and Activities Committee, nominations for EOQ will now be open year-round, and your nomination will be included in the voting process of the quarter in which it was submitted. The link for the nomination form https://forms.office.com/ g/5RmWWfSZLV DACC Apparel - DACC apparel is available to all DACC employees. New employees have access to a $150 DACC apparel allowance upon hire and existing employees have access to a $75 DACC apparel allowance each subsequent year on the anniversary of their hire date. The apparel allowance is subject to change by the Court Administrator based on funding availability. is available at: To Order: The link to the website to identify items is: https://www.companycasuals.com/ austinscreenprinting/start.jsp. Locate the item(s) you want and then send the information to your supervisor to place an order. There are no prices listed on the website but generally speaking, tops run about $35 ea. and jackets are about $75 ea. Opportunities for Input Suggest an activity - The Celebrations and Activities Committee is planning our quarterly DACC team activities and other events. Please feel free to send any ideas you have for group activities to Robert Kingham. Submit topics for staff email updates and/or annual report • Staff email updates – We want staff across all DACC Units to know about the good and significant work happening across our department. If you have significant program changes or any small or big success stories, please send them to Laura Williamson to be included in these email updates • Annual Report – We’re looking to expand and redesign how we report about our work annually. There’s flexibility on both format and content. Laura Williamson is working on meeting with all the units to share more about these efforts; please send any formatting or subject ideas you have directly to her. This report is something we can share with all stakeholders to educate about and celebrate DACC’s work.