TITLE
RESOLUTION DIRECTING COUNTY MANAGER TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF INCLUDING VICTIM SERVICES CENTER WITHIN THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT THROUGH A PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

BODY
WHEREAS, Victim Services Center is a not-for-profit organization established at the request of the Florida State Attorney�s office to help victims of all ages recover from the effects of trauma, and is licensed by the Florida Department of Children & Families as a Selective Substance Abuse Prevention Program; and
WHEREAS, Victim Services Center provides free service, in the form of individual treatment, advocacy, support groups, training, therapy and community awareness programs, in English, Spanish, and Creole to Miami-Dade County residents who are victims and witnesses of crime and who qualify under the Florida Victims Compensation Act; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County funds its own victim services program and desires to broaden its reach and impact; and
WHEREAS, Victim Services Center has proposed developing a formal public/private partnership with Miami-Dade County, through the Police Department, to form an umbrella organization for victim services, which it claims will benefit Miami-Dade County in the form of additional training and assisting more victims at less expense; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County needs to determine the feasibility of such a partnership; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County believes that a feasibility study would benefit from the input of the State Attorney�s Office of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and the office of the Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The County Manager is directed to study the feasibility of establishing a public/private partnership with Victim Services Center within the Miami-Dade County Police Department. The new partnership would perform such functions as providing individual treatment, advocacy, support groups, training, therapy and community awareness programs to victims and witnesses of crime. The feasibility study would include the State Attorney�s Office of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and the office of the Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Section 2. The County Manager shall submit a written report to the Board of the County Commissioners within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this resolution.