AB 109 Capacity Building Program
Program Description
The County seeks to enhance the ability of current and potential partners to deliver appropriate and effective rehabilitative reentry services to the residents of Contra Costa by providing them with free intensive trainings from industry experts, professional consultations, and individualized technical assistance. This capacity building effort is designed to help up to six community based organizations self-assess their current capacity for effective management and programmatic service delivery, translate these assessment results into an action-oriented Capacity Development Plan, and subsequently implement two or more components of this Capacity Development Plan by June 2019.
Each organization selected to participate in the program will receive support in areas that are related to both general organizational development and effective reentry program service delivery. Selected organizations will build organizational capacity through participation in at least two full day group trainings, an ongoing community learning environment, and no less than 20 hours of personalized assistance. Potential areas for organizational development support include:
- Personnel, Volunteers, and Leadership;
- Fiscal Management and Sustainability;
- Planning and Evaluation;
- Building and Managing External Relations; and
- Organizational Structure and Operations.
Similarly, participating organizations will have the opportunity to enhance their reentry service delivery abilities by gaining an improved understanding of topics such as:
- Sector specific Best Practices;
- Understanding Criminogenic Needs and Recidivism Risk;
- The Responsivity Principle
- Effective Use of Electronic Records; or
- Identifying and Implementing Evidence Based Practices
Understanding that the entire Capacity Development Plan is unlikely to be fully implemented during the term of this program, it is the intent to connect participants in the program to other resources that may further assist with capacity development. Organizations who complete the program will leave with a detailed plan of action that can support their future growth and development.
Program Eligibility
Participation in the Office of Reentry and Justice (ORJ) Capacity Building Program is open to any community based organization that is currently providing services in Contra Costa County that are specifically for individuals who are currently incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, who have other prior involvement in either the criminal or juvenile justice systems, and the family members of any of these individuals. An organization that is not currently providing services directly to any of these local populations is also eligible to participate if the organization has reasonably certain plans to begin providing eligible services within the next 18 months.
Any questions should be sent via email with the subject of "Question – ORJ Capacity Building Project" to Donte Blue.
Application Process
Organizations interested in participating in this program should apply.
The requirements listed below are mandatory. The Office of Reentry and Justice (ORJ) reserves the right to waive any nonmaterial variation.
- Anyone interested in participating in this program can apply by submitting this online application to the ORJ. The ORJ
will stop accepting applications at 11:59 p.m. on August 8, 2018has extended the application period and will now stop accepting applications at 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Friday, August 24, 2018, and by August 10, 2018, the ORJ will begin notifying applicants that they have been selected for participation in the program. Every organization who has been selected for participation will be notified by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 27, 2018, and the ORJ will not attempt to notify any organization that they were not selected for participation in this program. Please note the time to apply for this opportunity has expired. - The ORJ will review all applicants and makes its selection based on the selection criteria described below. These criteria will be used to select up to six program participants with the first three selections being made from organizations who have contracted with the County for reentry services for either juveniles or adults in the past three years. All remaining applicants will then be considered for selection to participate in the program when either there are no more applicants who have contracted with the County in the past three years, or the first three participating organizations have been selected. The ORJ will verify each applicant’s preferential status as a current or previous partner, and all such decisions by the ORJ shall be final.
- No one will be charged to apply or participate in the program, and each applicant and program participant must bear their own costs they may incur by applying and/or participating in the program.
- Once submitted an application may not be withdrawn. If an applicant is selected and declines participation when offered, the ORJ reserves the right to immediately select a new applicant for participation in the program.
- Only an organization who is able to provide written proof their application was submitted (i.e. email, confirmation page printout, or other written evidence) may appeal any decision of the ORJ related to this selection process. Appeals must be submitted in writing and should be addressed to Lara DeLaney, Senior Deputy County Administrator and Director, County Administrator’s Office of Reentry & Justice, and received at 651 Pine Street, 10th Floor, Martinez, CA 94553, no sooner than 10:00 a.m. on
Friday, August 13, 2018Wednesday August 29, 2018, and no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) on August 31, 2018. Notification of a final decision on the appeal will be made in writing to an applicant within five (5) business days of receiving the written appeal, and the decision of the ORJ on the appeal shall be final and not subject to further review. When submitting an appeal, the appellant must clearly state the action appealed, the harm caused to the appellant, and the remedy sought. Appeals shall be limited to the following grounds:- Failure of the County to follow the selection procedures and adhere to requirements specified in this selection process.
- There has been a violation of conflict of interest as provided by California Government Code Section 87100 et seq.
- A violation of State or Federal law.
- As part of the application process, applicants must agree to provide staff to participate in the program until June 30, 2019, if the applicant accepts an offer to participate in the program. This participation by an applicant’s staff shall include attending up to four day-long trainings over the course of the program. Applicants must also agree to work cooperatively with the County’s technical assistance consultant for this program, Jeweld Legacy Group, and provide this consultant with the records and access to personnel necessary for the consultant to provide effective capacity building and technical assistance services.
- Each application will be a public record that will be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Government Code, § 6250, et seq.) and the County’s Better Government Ordinance (County Ordinance Code, Title 2, Division 25) once six applicants have accepted an offer to participate in the program, ORJ has exhausted the applicant pool from which to make a selection from to participate in the program, or the selection process has been canceled by ORJ.
Selection Process
- Applicants who are verified by ORJ as having contracted with the County in the past 3 years to provide reentry related services to either adults or juveniles in Contra Costa County shall be considered before any other application until there have been three organizations selected for participation in the program, or all such applicants have been considered.
- In considering who should be selected to participate in the program, the ORJ shall review the narrative responses of each applicant providing a score between 0 and 10, with more points being awarded to responses that best achieve each of the following:
- The response is complete and responsive.
- The response displays a good understanding the program’s potential benefits.
- The response is concise and specific.
- In selecting between applicants with similar scores, the ORJ will utilize the following prioritization list with #1 being the highest priority for selection:
- Organizations that have contracted with the County to provide reentry services in the past 3 years
- Organizations currently providing reentry services in Contra Costa
- Organizations with their headquarters or main office in Contra Costa County
- Organizations with an operating budget under $500,000 in the most recently completed tax year
- Organizations that have been in existence 18 months or less
- Organizations with 10 paid staff members or less
- Organizations with 5 or less volunteers