Title
Dept/ Agency: Office of the Mayor
Action: ( X ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Contract
Purpose: Consulting services for the continued implementation of the Newark Community Solutions and Newark Youth Court within the Newark Municipal Court
Entity Name: Fund for the City of New York, Inc.
Entity Address: 121 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10013
Contract Amount: Not to exceed $932,600.00
Funding Source: Economic Development Trust Fund for the City of Newark
Contract Period: January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor ( ) Prof. Ser. () EUS
( ) Fair & Open ( ) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP ( ) RFQ
( ) Private Sale ( ) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( X ) n/a
Additional Information:
No Action Taken, June 18, 2014
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WHEREAS, from January 2007 through 2008, with the support of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, the City of Newark, worked with the non-profit Fund for the City of New York, Inc.'s incubator project, the Center for Court Innovation (the "Center for Court Innovation") and the Fund for the City of New York, Inc., (the "Fund") and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice to complete a feasibility study of adapting the community justice model to the City of Newark's Municipal Court system (Copy of Final Report is Attached); and
WHEREAS, as part of the feasibility study for the City of Newark, the Center for Court Innovation with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the Newark Center for Collaborative Change undertook a thorough needs assessment that included more than twenty (20) community meetings, attended by more than four-hundred (400) community residents, focus groups of residents, community leaders and ex-offenders, as well as surveys and interviews with leading law enforcement officials; and
WHEREAS, as a result of this feasibility study, the Center for Court Innovation worked with the City of Newark and its Municipal Court to develop a blueprint for implementing a community justice initiative based at the Newark Municipal Court House (Copy of the Final Approved Blueprint is Attached); and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark and the Center for Court Innovation successfully received authorization in 2010 by the New Jersey Administrative Office of Courts to open Newark Community Solutions, as the project is now known (Copy of Chief Justice Rabner's Approval is Attached); and
WHEREAS, from April 2010 through August 2011, with the approval of the United States Department of Justice and funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Local Program, the City provided funding to the Fund to develop, implement and operate the City's Newark Community Solutions (originally, known as the "Newark Community Court") and the Newark Youth Court projects, whose aims are to offer alternatives to incarceration for youth and other offenders accused of low-level crimes; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor, and the Chief Judge of the Municipal Courts are desirous of continuing the services provided by Newark Community Solutions; and
WHEREAS, from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, with the approval of the Newark Municipal Council and funding from the Community Economic Development Trust Fund, the City can provide funding to the Fund to continue operations of the City's Newark Community Solutions and Newark Youth Court Projects; and
WHEREAS, in 1996, the Fund for the City of New York, Inc., created an incubator project entitled the "Center for Court Innovation," which has extensive experience developing, implementing and operating community courts and youth courts throughout U.S. and internationally; and
WHEREAS, the Center for Court Innovation created the nation's first community court project, the Midtown Community Court, and has since designed and supported the development of numerous other community court projects in the U.S. and internationally, including, among many others, the Red Hook Community Justice Center, Bronx Community Solutions, the Harlem Community Justice Center, Vancouver Community Court (British Columbia, Canada) and North Liverpool Community Justice Centre (England); and
WHEREAS, since 1998, the Center for Court Innovation has created and operates more than seven (7) youth court projects; and
WHEREAS, the Center for Court Innovation has now been operating Newark Community Solutions since April 2010 and New Jersey's only existing Youth Court, the Newark Youth Court, since April 2009, whose aim is to offer alternatives to incarceration for youth and other offenders accused of low-level crimes and to closely monitor compliance to ensure completion of such alternatives; and
WHERAS, the Fund's Center for Court Innovation's services are specialized and qualitative in nature, and the organization has the expertise, training and a proven reputation in these areas and these programs were specifically developed for Newark by the Center for Court Innovation; and
WHEREAS, due to unique nature of the work performed as well as the qualifications and past performance, the City seeks to continue its' support of this work by engaging the consulting services of the Fund in the amount of $932,600.00 from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, for continued implementation of the Fund's Center for Court Innovation, including Newark Community Solutions and the Newark Youth Court projects; and
WHEREAS, the Fund is a duly incorporated not-for-profit corporation and therefore exempt from compliance with State Pay-to-Play Law, N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.5 and Newark Executive Order ME0-07-0001 and that the Fund is authorized by the New Jersey Department of State to conduct business activities in the State of New Jersey and is registered as a charity and files annual reports with the New Jersey Department of Law and Safety, Division of Consumer Affairs.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator and the Chief Judge of the Newark Municipal Court are hereby authorized to enter into a contract with the Fund for the City of New York, Inc., 121 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10013, for the purpose of consulting and implementation of Newark Community Solutions and Newark Youth Court, for the period of January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, in an amount not to exceed $932,600.00.
2. The contract is ratified from January 1, 2014 to the date of adoption.
3. Attached is a Certification of Funds from the Acting Chief Financial Officer stating that there are sufficient and available funds for the purposes stated herein. Funds are provided from the Community Economic Development Trust Fund.
4. There shall be no amendments or changes to this contract without approval of the Newark Municipal Council.
5. There shall be no advance payments on this contract in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:5-16.
6. A copy of the fully-executed contract herein authorized shall be filed in the Office of the City Clerk by the Business Administrator.
7. A notice of this action shall be published in the newspaper authorized by law to publish a legal advertisement and as required by law within ten (10) days of its passage.
STATEMENT
This Resolution hereby ratifies and authorizes the Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator and the Chief Judge of Newark Municipal Court, to enter into and execute a contract with the Fund for the City of New York, Inc., 121 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10013, for the purpose of consulting services for the continued implementation of Newark Community Solutions and Newark Youth Court within the Newark Municipal Court, in the City of Newark, for the period of January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, in an amount not to exceed $932,600.00.