In 1997 POST applied for, and was the recipient of, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grant funds to develop and present domestic violence and sexual assault training to peace officers and public safety dispatchers. The grant originates from Federal funds provided to the CA Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) that serves as the distributor and grantor of record.
The grant was historically administered by a POST management fellow or a member of POST staff. POST contracted with San Diego Regional Training Center (SDRTC) to present the courses, paid SDRTC in response to their invoices, and was then reimbursed from the grant quarterly.
Each year of the grant POST was required to make an in-kind match of 33.333% of the total grant amount that was met through Letters of Agreement (LOAs) for all Subject Matter Expert (SME) course development meetings, instructor travel for the course presentations and Training Reimbursement Requests (TRRs) for the students attending. This ranged from $120,000 to $150,000 per year depending on the actual grant amount.
POST continued to be awarded the funds through FY 2013-14. In FY 2014-15 OES advised that there would be new and extensive requirements for the application of grant funds. Staff determined the new requirements would put a substantial staffing and financial burden on POST and declined to request grant funds for that fiscal year.
SDRTC staff indicated they would be willing to apply for the grant, however as a non-profit they would not be able to meet the total in-kind match requirement. At the June 2014 meeting, staff proposed to the Commission that POST enter into an Operational Agreement with SDRTC which would allow the regular reimbursements to instructors and students of the VAWA courses be credited towards the grant required in-kind match.
Since that time SDRTC has annually been awarded the VAWA grant funds and the Executive Director has approved the renewal of the Operational Agreement to assist in contributing to the in-kind match.
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