(a) Establishment. There shall be an Office of Victim and Witness Rights (the “Office”) to coordinate services provided by the City to victims and witnesses of all types of crime. The Office shall be a department of the City, and shall include such officers and employees as are authorized pursuant to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter. The Mayor shall appoint a Director of the Office (the “Director”). The Director shall be a department head, and shall have the powers and duties given to a department head under the Charter and Municipal Code.
(b) Duties and functions. Except as otherwise provided in the Charter, and in addition to any other duties assigned by ordinance or pursuant to Charter Section 4.132, the Office shall have the following duties:
(1) Services to Victims and Witnesses. The Office shall itself provide, or shall monitor and coordinate the provision of, comprehensive services to victims and witnesses (referred to, collectively, as “clients”) of all types of crimes. Such comprehensive services shall include but not be limited to translation services for non-English-speaking victims and witnesses and interpretation services for the deaf or hard of hearing; follow-up contact to determine whether a client received necessary assistance; field visits to a client’s home, place of business, or other location, whenever necessary to provide services; facilitation of volunteer participation in the provision of client services to encourage community involvement; and services for elderly clients, as appropriate to their particular needs.
(2) Consultation and coordination with public safety agencies. The Office shall consult and coordinate with all relevant City agencies, including but not limited to the Police Department, District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, Adult Probation Department, Department of Public Health, Human Rights Commission, and Department on the Status of Women, as needed to provide effective services in the areas listed in Section 2A.430(b)(1) above.
(3) Survey. On at least an annual basis, the Office shall survey clients served by the Office for feedback regarding the quality, adequacy, and scope of services to clients provided, monitored, or coordinated by the Office. In conducting this survey, the Office shall seek input from community groups in evaluating whether the services to clients have been culturally competent and tailored to meet the priorities of marginalized groups. No later than March 1 of each year, starting in 2023, the Office shall present to the Board of Supervisors a report summarizing the results of the survey covering the prior calendar year and the Office’s plan for adapting its operations to meet the needs identified in the survey, including the priorities expressed by members of marginalized groups. At the time it submits the report, the Office shall make available to the Board of Supervisors the raw survey results used to compile the report. Such data shall be presented in deidentified form and may, at the discretion of the Office, be presented in aggregate form.
(4) City service evaluation. The Office shall, in coordination with other City departments, analyze survey results and other data reflecting the needs of clients and the degree to which specific categories of needs are being met by current City services, and shall recommend to the Board of Supervisors policies for addressing identified unmet needs. The Office’s evaluation and reporting procedures shall comply with the standards set forth in Part 4, Title 6, Chapter 4, Article 2 of the California Penal Code, as may be amended from time to time.
(5) Consolidation plan. No later than one year after appointment of a Director of the Office, the Office shall introduce at the Board of Supervisors an ordinance that describes a proposed plan for consolidating all City services for victims and witnesses under the Office.
(6) Other duties. The Board of Supervisors may modify the duties of the Office set forth in subsections (b)(1) through (b)(5), and may add to those duties or transfer any of those duties to other City departments, by ordinance approved by a majority of the Board.
(Added by Proposition D, 6/7/2022, Eff. 7/10/2022)