Federal funding cuts jeopardize jobs in Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office may lose three victim advocates and an attorney responsible for handling the office’s most serious cases due to a significant drop in the federal funding that has paid for those jobs.

District Attorney Carla Rodriguez on Wednesday asked the Board of Supervisors to make up the $780,031 difference and help preserve the jobs.

“We’re trying to do our due diligence in getting money and we are also at the same time losing very vital funding,” Rodriguez said of her office’s efforts to find other funding sources. “Federally, it’s having a devastating impact on our ability to serve our victims.”

For the first time in 15 years the office did not receive any grant funding through the federal Violence Against Women Act, which has funded an attorney handling the “most complicated” cases, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Rodriguez has submitted a $380,031 request for the board to cover the loss.

A 48% cut to federal Victims of Crime Act funding has also jeopardized the jobs of three victim advocates. For the past eight years the District Attorney’s Office has received an average $800,000 each year which has helped fund victim advocate positions, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is now looking to the county to make up the $400,000 difference for those jobs.

Victim advocates are responsible for working with crime victims, their families and witnesses as they navigate the court system for cases ranging from vandalism to sexual assault and murder. The process can take years.

“Of course, because victim advocates are impacted, the historically underserved populations, our victims, will be impacted,” Rodriguez told the board Wednesday. “We are very concerned about this.”

Rodriguez’s requests came on the third day of the board’s budget workshops this week, where county department heads highlight any fiscal needs and field questions from county supervisors. The discussions are informational but set the stage from more formal budget hearings in June when the board will vote on the 2024-25 budget.

The board will have to weigh $54.5 million in budget requests — including $8.4 million from county supervisors — against a spending blueprint that county finance officials have described as a “maintenance budget” with limited funds for new programs and services.

“We’ll come back in June and make sure that we do the right things,” Supervisor David Rabbitt, the board chair, said after board members took turns to thank Rodriguez for her presentation.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins expressed frustration with the federal government for funding a successful program for 15 years with one-time funding and “letting it die on the vine.”

“What we really need are ongoing investments that we can count on,” Hopkins said.

The District Attorney’s Office runs on an annual budget of about $33.8 million, with 130 employees. The overall county budget taking shape is set to be about $2.4 billion, covering roughly 4,400 employees, the largest single workforce in the North Bay.

If the county is unable to close the gap in the District Attorney’s Office, the loss of three victim advocates would bring the division to seven advocates and saddle those remain with caseloads ranging from 301 to 451, Rodriguez said. Current caseloads range from 250 to 400 cases.

“We’re going to be not be able to offer that kind of support to victims and witnesses in every case,” Rodriguez said in an interview Tuesday. “We’re going to have to pick and choose which get priority.”

Two of the three advocates who may lose their jobs are bilingual, which would further impact clients, Rodgriguez said.

“When you don’t speak English as a first language and you go to court it’s very scary,” Rodriguez.

Rodriguez added that she is also worried about the strain on the division’s remaining employees.

“It’s a very tough job, it’s an emotional job,” Rodriguez said. “I’m very worried about increased burnout for advocates who remain.”

Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents a majority of county employees, including victim advocates, is backing Rodriguez’s request for the board to close the $400,000 funding gap.

“These advocates are there to help people during what may be some of the hardest times in their lives,” said Ellie Campbell-Brown, vice president of SEIU 1021. “I’ve been a social worker for foster children for 16 years, and in that time every single one of those children has been helped by a victim advocate.”

Trina Martin, an SEIU steward and employee in the District Attorney’s Office, said the loss of three advocates would hurt the office’s ability to meet state law outlining victims’ rights.

“The victims of dangerous crime in this county are going to be underserved and that’s a horrible population to cut services from,” Travis Balzarini, president of SEIU 1021, said in an interview Monday.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.