Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Amendment to Agreement with San Mateo County Bar Association for Legal Representation Services provided by the Private Defender Program
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing:
A) An amendment to an agreement with the San Mateo County Bar Association (SMCBA) for indigent legal defense and other services provided by the Private Defender Program (PDP) for the term July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2028, and increasing the amount by $2,453,264 for a new amount not to exceed $128,099,533; and
B) The County Executive or designee to execute amendments associated with this agreement that will not result in any net cost to the County’s General Fund.
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BACKGROUND:
In 1963, the United States Supreme Court's decision in Gideon v. Wainwright established that any person accused of a crime who cannot afford to employ an attorney has a constitutional right to the appointment of free counsel. Since 1968, the County's indigent legal representation has been provided by the PDP through a contract with the SMCBA.
On September 14, 2022, Governor Newsom signed the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (“CARE”) Act. The CARE Act created a new court program where adults with qualifying, serious mental health conditions can access behavioral healthcare, stabilization medication, housing, and other community services.
The State CARE Courts must appoint qualified legal services projects (QLSPs) to represent respondents. For San Mateo County, both the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo (LASSMC) and San Mateo County’s Public Defender Program (PDP) will serve CARE Court clients.
Annually, the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission (LSTFC) CARE Court Grants Committee will determine the budget for each County and any additional QLSPs, support centers, and other entities that apply for the CARE Court Grant. During the July 15, 2024 meeting, the LSTFC approved an allocation of $397,996 to San Mateo County with $224,830 awarded to LASSMC, leaving $173,166 for the PDP.
DISCUSSION:
The current five-year agreement with SMCBA expires on June 30, 2028. Since the current agreement’s execution, the PDP has seen an increased level of cases and has added services to meet the growing needs of their clients including additional managing attorneys, social workers, immigration counsel, and a youth special advocate. The expansion of services also requires an expansion of the PDP’s office space.
In addition, with the July 1, 2024, implementation of CARE Court services PDP will take on additional cases and offer additional legal services. Therefore, the original budgeted fiscal year not to exceed amounts need to be amended.
PDP has requested an ongoing agreement increase of $420,831 per fiscal year beginning FY 2024-25 for the addition of the services mentioned above. Furthermore, the PDP portion of County CARE Court funding is $173,166 for fiscal year 2024-25.
*For the fiscal years 2025-2028, CARE Court funds of $173,166 will be used as an assumed base until the California State Bar approves the amounts for each fiscal year. Therefore, the County Executive’s Office requests the Board of Supervisors’ approval to have discretion to modify the PDP agreement amount annually to align with the California State Bar’s disbursement of CARE Court funds to San Mateo County. This increase will be fully funded by the CARE Court funds and not result in an increase to Net County Cost.
The updated fiscal year budgeted not to exceed amounts for additional services provided by the PDP are as follows:
PDP Amended Agreement Amounts by Fiscal Year
|
Fiscal Year |
Based Amount |
CARE Court Fees |
Total Amount |
|
FY 2023-24 |
$23,666,049 |
0 |
$23,666,049 |
|
FY 2024-25 |
$24,796,862 |
$173,166 |
$24,970,028 |
|
FY 2025-26 |
$25,540,767 |
$173,166* |
$25,713,933 |
|
FY 2026-27 |
$26,306,991 |
$173,166* |
$26,480,157 |
|
FY 2027-28 |
$27,096,200 |
$173,166* |
$27,269,366 |
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Description |
Target |
|
1) Attorney Performance: The Private Defender Program is committed to continuous improvement and ensuring attorneys representing their clients are qualified and well-resourced. The program’s executive team is committed to fully monitoring attorney performance. Annually, the executive team comes together and evaluates the performance of all PDP attorneys. Attorney performance is monitored through annual self-evaluations, regular court evaluations, caseload monitoring, client relations, attorney requests, and legal training benchmarks. Selected attorneys are then requested to meet with management regarding their work for the year, to determine if there are additional growth opportunities and available resources to enhance their performance. |
100% |
|
2) Client Satisfaction: PDP will maintain a 70% positive feedback rating from clients. PDP tracks client feedback through their Officer of the Day program, out of the total inquiries received, only 5% have been client complaints. This Officer of the Day program is highly used and is the easiest way for many clients to communicate with PDP regarding their cases. In addition, annually PDP conducts a survey with clients who have recently closed cases, in FY 2022-23, PDP sent out 215 surveys, received 14 responses, and 13 were positive. |
70% |
|
3) Community Outreach and Engagement: Since the beginning of the formation of PDP, PDP has fulfilled 100% of all engagement requests from the community. In the future, PDP wishes to continue this level of involvement but understands that due to increased projects and programs 100% participation may not always be possible, PDP wants to ensure that at least 95% of all community engagement invitations are fulfilled. PDP strives to engage with the communities they represent and provide these communities with access to criminal justice. PDP is invested in their participation in various collaborative courts including Homeless Connect Court, Mental Health Division Court, Pathways Court, Military Diversion, Veteran’s Treatment Court, Drug Court, Multiple Driving Under the Influence Court, and Care Court starting July 1st, 2024. |
95% |
EQUITY IMPACT:
The County of San Mateo is dedicated to ensuring equitable access to justice. The agreement promotes access to justice through the provision of criminal defense and CARE Court counsel, investigators, and social workers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The amount of the agreement is increased by $2,453,264 for a new total obligation amount not to exceed $128,099,533. This increase will be partially offset by CARE Act funding in the amount of $692,664 with the balance of $1,760,600 being covered by the County’s General Fund. The contract amount for this agreement is included in the FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget September Revisions and will be included in future budgets.