Appointments Committee - Regular Meeting

So Okay. I'd like to call to order the community vitality and safety committee meeting of 04/23/2026. Clerk, can you please call the roll? Councilman Palmer? Here. Vice chair Scott? Here. Councilman Walker? She's gonna be here. She's absent currently. Chair Rapa? Here. Public comment. Do we have anyone here for public comment? No. No one's here. I'm oh, hold on. It's on Thursday. Doctor. Nina Freeman.

Great. I'd for you to read that. Yes, please. To request to speak during public comment, Friday's on the agenda. Sign up for the room if you've added it already. If you're speaking virtually, please press raise one button while I'm using the note or start on your phone. Your name and the last word is called out. Okay. So it sounds like we have one person who is virtual. So Doctor. Amanda, what's your last name?

It's Ryman.

Oh, thank you. I can't see it all. It's kinda cut off. Doctor. Ryman, do you wanna when you like, once you start talking, the clock will start. You have three minutes.

Okay. So thank you so much. My name is doctor Amanda Ryman. I am a public health researcher and social worker, and I've been studying the impact of the criminal justice system, drug policies in particular, on vulnerable populations for over twenty five years. I was very excited to see the consideration of expanding the therapeutic courts on the agenda tonight, and I just have a few comments about that.

So while I do think it is very important to give people an alternative to the criminal justice system and to give them the therapeutic tools that they need to prevent recidivism, I would like to support the idea of a precharging diversion program similar to LEAD, which I know was mentioned in the report, that would really prevent people from getting involved in the criminal justice system in the first place. It is said that this program would be considered if there were staffing abilities at the local law enforcement level. I do wanna point out that in the 2526 budget, there was nearly an equal increase in police funding as there was a decrease in neighborhood and community services funding. And overall in Tacoma, 47% of arrests were for low level nonviolent drug offenses between 2013 and 2023. These laws are also not applied equally.

These laws are applied more heavily to people of color. Black people were 4.2 times more likely, and Latino people were 1.1 times more likely to be arrested for a low level nonviolent drug offense than a white person. And, also, when we talk about drug use specifically, the visibility of using drugs publicly is gonna be more common among people that have economic disadvantage. So they don't have houses to go to. They don't have privacy.

And so a lot of times, they're also dealing with mental health issues, and therefore, they are forced to use drugs in public. I would like to see a situation where these folks are not brought into the criminal justice system, where they are given the options for public health treatment, substance use treatment, and support without having to deal with the gross misdemeanor attached to these crimes currently. As mentioned in the report, a lot of times, people don't show up. They have barriers to even getting involved in the pretrial system, and therefore, a warrant goes out. They end up getting arrested.

And then we have all of the collateral sanctions associated with having an arrest in addition to mental health issues, housing instability issues, and employment issues. So I would encourage the committee as they're talking about this today not to discard the idea of some kind of outside of the criminal justice system option to give services to people in Tacoma who really need it and not have them be involved in the criminal justice system at all. So I thank you very much for your time.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you showing up and everything you had to say. Thank you. Alright. So do you have anyone else? Doesn't look like we do. So we'll close public comment, and we'll start with our first briefing item, which is the Crystal Jensen Family Justice Center informational briefing with Nadia Van Ader, director of the Crystal Jensen Family Justice Center. You're welcome to come right up here. Just right here. Yep.

And just for so everyone knows who's online, council member Scott, advised myself. We both serve on the Crystal Judson Justice Center Board. Thank you all for having me here. It's nice to see you. Again, my name is Madam Lynn Mattatter.

I'm the director of the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center. So while they were gone presenting, but, also, you have to wait for half the day. That works. So for anyone who's online, we're we're having a little bit technical difficulties, but we're gonna go ahead. And as soon as the slideshow can come up, we'll put it up there, but we're gonna have a fanatic as it just Okay.

So we'll just start with the first slide. The first slide lays out our mission and vision. Our goal is really to work in partnership with survivors, community members, and different systems and community partners to ensure that survivors, as they're navigating systems and resources, that they really have the best human options. And then the next slide about our about the Family Justice Center. The FGC is an international model.

It's really about a collocation and collaboration. This work cannot be done in a silo, and that's really what the efficacy model is about. And it's about collocating system and community partners, and this does two things. First, this allows survivors to more easily navigate systems and resources because it's in one spot, warm handoffs are covered. The other part means that professionals, because of physically sharing space, they have the ability to collaborate in a much different way, which is going to have better outcomes for survivors long term as well.

So we opened our doors in 2005. We are just up the street on Court E, and we have six on-site community partners that support the work that the center does. And this when someone comes in to engage in services, they're receiving things like safety planning, domestic and education, support on domestic violence protection orders, access to DSH and others DSHS and other services, help connecting into other resources and options. And if they choose to engage with the criminal justice side, if they've connected to us first, we can facilitate that connection through release of information if that choice is up. Like I said at the beginning of this, collaboration is key.

This work cannot be done alone. And so having those agencies in one location is good help to do, and we partner with over 25 organizations on a regular basis. So even if they're not physically located with us, we have close partnerships where we are doing handoffs and referrals and helping to connect those into their next steps. So the next slide, page four, is just a little bit about the services that we offer. So we have, again, many individuals that are located at the center.

We have six on-site partners. That includes our sister's house, Superior Court, Department of Social and Health Services, Department of Child Support, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. I'm gonna cut all of those, just maybe in the wrong order. And, again, it makes it easier for survivors to navigate those resources. We have eight programs that we've designed with the power and control wheel in mind.

For those that aren't familiar, that was something that was put together by providers back in the seventies that helped explain what the topics of violence are in different ways that abusers will systematically isolate survivors from their resources and options. And so we developed our programs with this in mind with the idea to disrupt the different spokes of it. So I'm gonna start up in the top left with our confidential advocacy. This is when someone comes in and connects to our community advocates. They are talking through safety planning, domestic violence education, and different resources and options that are gonna be supportive of that.

And what I haven't mentioned yet is we are here to work with folks wherever they're at in their their journey. So sometimes people will come in and say, I don't even know if I want to look at leaving. I don't even know if I'm in the right place. And other folks when they come in are saying, I wanna put a plan together to So wherever they're at, we're there to help provide them support and so they can stay as safe as possible. The next one up there is our legal program, and this is two pronged.

All of our advocates are cross trained in filing domestic violence protection. And this is really intentional with the idea that when someone comes in and engages with us, if they wanna have a conversation around a protection order, they can continue to have that conversation with the same advocate. And if they decide to file, the advocate can guide them through that process. The other prong of that program is we partnered with Tacoma Pro Bono where we're doing direct referrals to their family safety project for support around family law. And it's minimizing how many times they're having to tell a story.

So if someone comes in and wants that family to want peace because they've already met with the advocates to discuss safety and what history is, we're doing that referral and including the history of what's going on and what their needs are, and then that program reaches out to them. If someone is needing legal services outside of that, we're talking through what program would be appropriate and helping to direct referrals there. So whether it's around housing justice or immigration or other legal needs, we'll connect with those programs in addition to. I'm gonna come back to our criminal justice services program. So the next one is our survivor well-being program, and this is helping someone in their next steps of their.

So we have volunteer chaplains that experience your support. We offer a support group, art circle. We have a committee of survivors that help inform programs that we do. And if we're not the right fit, maybe they need something that's a different day or time, we'll talk with them about what do need to provide in the community is gonna be a better fit for that and how we need to build a connection so they can get service. Then we rotate down to financial services.

We have DSHS on-site one day a week to help us take benefits. We have Department of Child Support on-site one day a week. We do direct referrals to WIC. Our team helps clients apply for crime victim compensation. And if you're not familiar with that, that acts like the secondary insurance through the state if someone's a victim of a crime and needs help bills.

And then we also partner with an organization to offer financial literacy series, and we normally do that about twice a year. Then we have our outreach program, and this is screening domestic violence police reports, calling out to the listed survivors to see what help looks like for them and what resources they need. We call out on nonfatal strangulation forensic exams, and I'll talk about that more in the next slide. And then we're out in the community meeting presentations as well. Our domestic violence helpline is meant as a low barrier way for survivors to connect in.

Sometimes it's family members or friends that are calling, survivors, or other professionals. And then our emergency support services is things that funding doesn't normally cover, but is that emergency stopping. We try to always have food on-site, whether clients are having it there or something that we have to go. We try to always have menstrual products, diapers, wipes, toiletries. We partner with an animal organization to do pet supplies, and over the winter, we have a.

All of those services are free. They're all confidential. They're survivor driven, so clients can choose how long they engage with us for. Then we've got our criminal justice program. Anything that happens on our community side is confidential, so we do not disclose to our system partners. But if someone's working with us and wants to engage with them, we can help facilitate that connection with we've got proper releases. What's nice about that colocation is if they are working a case, they will often refer them to us, and then we'll do warm handoffs where we'll reach out to them and say, you know, there's a case going on. What would be supportive for you? What resources? How can we help? So that's how we partner

with that case.

If we can do the next slide, please. So this takes a snapshot of what our team was up to in 2025. We have we like to say we have a small but mighty team. While it is a small team, they do a lot of work in the community and provide really amazing care. So in 2025, they answered just shy of 6,000 helpline calls.

We had over 2,000 on-site visits from survivors. After clients come in, they provide follow-up care if they want, and so the team also did follow-up care over 2,000 times. The team reached out to survivors on police report and nonfatal strangulation over 1,600 times. So nonfatal strangulation is when someone is strangled, but during the assault, would they survive that interaction? But that is incredibly lethal, and there's a lot of damage that can cause.

And so we partnered with SANE nurses who respond out, do forensic exams, see if there's any care that the survivor needs, and they send those referrals to us when we call out. There was legislation passed, I believe this was in 2022, that allowed those to be covered the same way that sexual assault is answered. So a survivor could go in and get that exam done whether it's reported to long course or and receive the care that would be. Sorry. I I skipped over that one. That was a 163

times that

we reached out to survivors about fetal circulation. We offered 56 different support group sessions or workshops, and the team supported a 131 domestic violence petitions coming out of our office. Just a couple extra things to think about with this. Forty nine percent of our clients identified some history of strangulation throughout their relationship, and fifty percent of our clients identified component of sexual violence throughout the relationship. Next slide, please.

So of that snapshot, this focuses in on how many of those were connected to City Of Tacoma residents. So of the on-site visits, over a thousand of them were City of Tacoma residents, and follow-up was provided 1,300 times. We connected with 411 individuals from police reports and from nonfatal strength examination exams that identified living in Tacoma City limits. And 79 of the protection orders that were filed on-site were supporting survivors that were coming to. Next slide, please.

This is just a snapshot of the survivors that are coming in and accessing care at the center. The race and ethnicities to tax in the bottom right, how our program works, and how we report out to funders. Folks identify if they are Hispanic or non Hispanic, and then they can identify race outside of that. So that's why if you're looking at all of those numbers, they will add up to a 100 because 18% identify as Hispanic, and then they identify in those other categories as well. And then the other thing to note on this is income is 45% of our clients identify that they are receiving under $20,000 a year.

Even if you jump up to the next category of 20 to $35,000, it's expensive to live in our community. And so most of our clients are already struggling to make ends meet on top of. Next slide, please. So when someone initially comes in with agency services, at the end of that meeting, do we have them complete a care survey, which we used to see, you know, do they feel like they were able to address safety planning? Do they know more about the dynamics of domestic violence and resources to connect to?

And so this is statistics from our care surveys from 2025. So ninety percent of clients reported feeling better able to handle their situation. Ninety five had a better understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence, and ninety two percent of clients reported they identified to their safety plan. And then ninety seven reported that they knew where to connect into resources in the future if they needed support. Next slide, please.

So just to kind of recap on some excitements over the past couple of years that we've had. The first step here is language access. This is something that's always been important to us. But the past two years, we've really been able to expand that. We have in addition to English, we have six languages spoken on-site. We have Khmer, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Swahili, and Somali. In 2025, we supported 11 different languages through language access, so whether that was on-site or interpreters. And that's just an exciting step to say that we are connecting with survivors of whatever language they feel most

comfortable in.

The next one up there is our internship program. We've always prided ourselves well, say The past fifteen years, we've really prided ourselves on our internship program, having a strong program, working with universities, and sending out interns into the world with a really good set of skills to go into an entry level advocacy position. But we've really took a hit during COVID, and we've worked really hard to get it back up to what it was. And I think we have expanded. So in 2025, we hosted 12 interns from six different universities, and we've expanded how many graduate students and not just undergrads that we've been able to have as well.

So that was exciting. Then we have staff trainings and collaborations. When we pivoted to remote care and co during COVID, it also meant all of our staff meetings went virtually, which gave us the ability to expand offering to community partners. And even since we've rotated back in and doing care on-site, we've continued to keep staff meetings virtual because it means partner agencies can join in a much easier way than sending someone down to the office. And so in 2025, 11 of our staff meetings were open to partner agencies.

And on average, we had 27 folks from 18 different organizations that attended. And that is really nice to be able to say because it one, when we bring somebody in, it means many organizations are caring about their resources. But it also means that advocates are having the ability to see each other even if it's virtually so that when they are handing off clients' care, they know who they're reaching out to. Strangulation exams, that is something that is just really shows the partnership and really expanded how many of those happen each year. And then the last one up there is expanding collaborations and partnerships.

Again, this is the cornerstone of what the FJC model is, and so we really try to lean into that. Being that we are a government partner, it means that we sometimes have access to different seats at the table than our nonprofit partners do. And that gives us the ability to make sure that we are bringing them in so that they also have a voice and a seat at the table. Next slide, please. Some of the things that we're looking at in the future is standing to a bigger and better space, a more trauma informed space.

We are in an alleyway. We love to be in a much better space with windows that just gives us the ability to expand and grow programming and partnerships. Of course, expanding funding because we need that to be able to grow those things. But really dialing into some of the programs specifically, we are focused on growing our survivor well-being program of really expanding how we can support survivors in their next steps of the healing process. We would love to be able to expand if that therapy or additional support groups and services such as that.

And then partnerships don't end. You have to nurture those things. Those are things that continue to grow and evolve. And so just really how do we use people's need and support community partners and grow our partnerships with the organization. That is all I have.

Thank you, Nadia. And I realized we probably should should have started a little bit before because maybe we making sure that council member Palmer, since she's new, maybe doesn't know. We have an ILA, the city of Tacoma does with Pierce County, where we both give money into supporting the administration of the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center. We're looking at redoing the ILA right now. I've been working with council member or with chair council member Hitchin chair Hitchin from the Pierce County Council on what it will look like for the next generation of Crystal Jensen Family Justice Center.

I think that's really important to understand that trauma brought this about, but wonderful things are growing from it. I think I really appreciate your leadership. You did just become the director recently, and now we have a a new assistant director, deputy director, that we just appointed on Monday, which is great. And I'm really looking forward to what can happen with the foundation that you have that's part of Crystal Jensen. Could you just remind everybody when your taco day is? Are you taco fundraise fundraiser? July 17. Yes. Thank you. I'm looking at the counter, but July 17, it's a Friday.

We have traditionally had a bar of q and r parking lot, and we shifted to tacos this year. You will all be getting invitations, so please record calendars from 11:30 to one. And then all of the funds rates from that goes to support our emergency picking service as well. And I know, like, let everybody ask questions, but I just wanna mention that some of the things that you didn't mention that you see you post the domestic violence commission meetings once every every month. It's the first Thursday of the month at noon, and we're actually meeting in person now at YWCA, which is really great.

I also think that, you know, the expansion of protection order filing in different ways has been a plus for Crystal Jensen. And, also, the online virtual court option for people has been also for survivors really helpful. Yeah. So prior to prior to COVID, when someone files a domestic violence protection order, they would have to physically go into the courthouse. They held court hearings Monday through Friday at 1PM. They could physically go in, and that's a scary place to go. Have to go to security. If you've got kiddos, you're training that would be at childcare. You've got to deal with parking. It was very overwhelming to just sit in that courtroom for upwards of a couple of hours.

With COVID and allowing things to go virtual, they couldn't that was a huge shift. They have maintained a hybrid courtroom since they come back. So folks can join virtually, or they can go in person. And we have a number of clients where they will come in on the day of their hearing and just say, I feel safe here. I wanna join from here. You know, can I sit in the chaplain's office with a quiet room? And we'll get them squared away, and then they can connect with their advocate afterwards. And that is a much nicer space to go to than having to walk through the doors of the system. Thank you. So I'm gonna open it up.

Does anyone have any questions? I'll just say I went recently and and toured the facilities and really appreciated the space. You know, you talked about the programming and that, but you also talked more in-depth about, you know, what your the feeling that you want folks to have when they come in and feeling safe and feeling that, you know, it's a place that they could get help. And I really felt that. So I it was a great introduction to the work that you all do, and do need to get you into somewhere with some windows.

I did take that away from that visit. I'm curious about because I wasn't sure about the partnership between Pierce County and Tacoma. And it seems like there's a large significant number of people who were coming in from outside. I was just wondering if there's like, where where else folks are usually coming. So the majority of our clients are in Pierce County, and then about half of them are coming from the city.

But from there, it's all around. And it is that is something that is, I believe, gonna be explored when they open the ILA is are there other jurisdictions that can help me into that? I don't know that that's gone anywhere yet. I mean, it's just kind of floating around at this point, but that is a conversation there. Because I know we're having, you know, a regional conversation around the homelessness topic.

And so, know, you it seems like this is something that, you know, ties into that, but then also is something where services are best maybe rendered on a countywide level, it sounds like. So I'm curious to know how that conversation goes. And then I was also wondering about, like, the call because there's about 6,000 calls into the helpline. And then can

you help me understand that number a

little bit better as far as, like, because are some of the folks coming in and making up the on care site that aren't in those follow-up call numbers? Or So so the helpline is just our general number where folks can call in and get that completely once again, but I don't know what this is to how do I get to you? How do I do a protection order? And we always have an advocate on that phone during our our hours, which is 08:30 to 04:30, Monday through Friday. And those calls can range from two minutes to an hour and a It's really meant to or what that what does that person need at home?

But, ultimately, when we're on the phone with them, we're talking about how can we get you in here so you can sit down with an advocate and really unpack what's happening so we can do a deeper dive around safety and resources and options and protection order providing support. If someone calls in on the helpline and they are saying, I absolutely cannot get in, there's no transportation or some other area that's preventing, then we would kind of juggle staff around so that someone can hold that call for longer or they would schedule a a virtual appointment. And then the 2009 is folks that are physically walking through the door to access care. And then after they've worked with an advocate, the 2862 is, you know, them following the advocate following back up with them to say, like,

you know, how did service the protection

of her go? Or were you able to screen source to kinda that follow-up touch? So each one would be a separate category, if that makes sense. Does that answer? Yeah. Thank you. Does that answer your questions?

I don't have any questions, but I just wanna share, again, my appreciation for the

work that you all do and how dedicated you are to

it and how much time you care you put into the work, especially, you know, with limited resources and constraints and and and that I'm excited for.

Thank you. I see councilmember Walker is here online. I just wanna make sure she has an opportunity to say something if she'd like to. Okay. I'll take that Ezapine out. Mhmm. K. She sounds like she's really excited and happy for her. Thank you so much, Natalie. I appreciate you. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah. Thank you. Alright. Next up is therapeutic courts and support services. And I'm a therapeutic approach model informational briefing, and I'd like to ask judge D. A. Sontag from to court to join us. And, Jason, introduce yourself.

Commissioner Johnson.

You very much. But we have commissioner Johnson here as well. So you'd like to start. Okay. Thank you. Well, chair Rambaugh, vice chair, Scott, Hunter Palmer, chancellor Walter, so thank you so much for for having us here today. We're really just excited, honestly, just to have this space and this opportunity. We met recently with Vicky and Caleb and Sarah with neighborhood and community services and really just our very good efforts as

a whole, and then also just kind

of actually see what some of the barriers are so that we might have an action plan to move forward. So it's work. Alright. Okay. Thank you, Molly. We're trying to navigate all of this for us. Here. Go ahead and try again. Yeah. Thank you. So, yeah, very briefly. So commissioner Johnson and I are here. Both judge Flores and judge are out of town. Otherwise, they would have been here with us today. I'm really grateful for our court operations supervisor, Andrea Grant, for being here, and our therapeutic court coordinator, Emily Spencer Felton, is here.

Really, it's been a very big team effort in collaboration of really examining our courts, examining our therapeutic courts, and really coming together with a very thoughtful and, I think, a really reasonable request on how we can connect more people to services. So what we're gonna do briefly is just

do a quick review.

I think I've spoken to all of you about therapeutic quirks at nauseam, so I'm not gonna do that today. But we're just gonna talk a little bit about it just so we can also just kinda talk about the successes and then also just the limitations because how we're not able to reach everybody on a target population, which really just kinda lays the the framework, and the foundation for what we're gonna wanting to do as far as the therapeutic approach overall. So next slide, please. I think that's just about me. You know about me.

Moving on. Alright. So our two current therapeutic court models, our behavioral health court was launched in June 2023. It's a twelve month program, and it's going to serve our community members that have serious and persistent mental health diagnoses. Our community court program is gonna serve a broader spectrum of folks.

It is a three, six, or nine month program, and that's determined by the severity of the charge. And then that's gonna serve people that are facing housing instability, food insecurity, really just working to try to navigate the program, maybe mild mental health, substance use disorders, things like that. So that's really gonna be our target population. A bit more broader in scope for community court participants, whereas we have that mental health diagnosis when it comes to behavioral health court. Last thing, today is actually community court Thursday. Friendly reminder, everybody's welcome to come visit us in the beautifully renovated downtown public library where we hold community court on Thursday. So we had three graduations today. It was fantastic. Alright. Next slide, please.

So this is showing you from when we started in 2023 to the end twenty five what our referrals look like. And because you have to have that connection with the mental health diagnosis, you're gonna see much fewer referrals into behavioral health court. But this just shows you how many overall referrals, the decline cases, which we're gonna explain as to as to why, the entries we've had, the unsuccessful terminations, Both of those numbers actually include, us, unfortunately, losing one participant in each of our programs, the graduations we've had, and then the program numbers as of today. So, our participants, are are connected with, case managers. They have an intensive case manager.

They work, and they're connected to substance use disorder treatment, mental health services if they're looking to explore vocation, employment, housing, you know, if there's housing opportunities that we can connect them to. So these are the things that we're trying to connect our participants with. And everybody works together. So it's, the prosecutor, the judge, the defense attorney, the case managers, treatment providers, we all come together into very collaborative work with our therapeutic courts. And then we're able to have the positive results and the positive feedback that we get from our participants, so she'll be able to share a little bit of that with you here.

So Emily conducts exit interviews with our participants. We really want that constructive criticism so that we can continue to improve our programs and make sure that they're better for our participants. But they also say nice things about us. Honestly, one of the favorite things that I get to read is that they don't feel judged. And so it might be my job title, but it's not my job description.

So when I hear that from folks, it honestly is the best compliment that I think I can receive. But they feel supported. They don't feel I think it was mentioned earlier how intimidating it can be to walk into a courtroom or to walk into a courthouse and all the the extensive screening and maybe some tax traumas and things. We're in the library, especially for, where they can just walk in and be gently I would scream gently with Chris who's got his his wand. But, otherwise, it's a really welcoming space, and people feel respected.

They feel heard, and they feel like we're really trying to help them. So what we're gonna see next is a little bit of the numbers. So what you're gonna see is over 50% of therapeutic court referrals are declined. And then now we're gonna kinda break down as to why. We're gonna see it's a little bit different for community court participants and a little bit different for behavioral health court participants. And, really, what you're gonna see, and this is something we're chatting with with Vicky and the team about, is really it's just a lack of reentry supports. What's difficult, particularly for commissioner Johnson, is when we have an individual who's charged and they're facing an arraignment, you know, our options are either released on personal recognizance to the same circumstances for which brought them into custody and or even nominal bail is something that they're not

be able to to post.

And so a lack of reentry support is a big barrier for individuals who might otherwise qualify for our therapeutic court programs. And as a result, we're just unable to reach our target population. So for behavioral health court, you're gonna see fifty six percent of individuals decline. I will say that right now, we are working with researchers from the University of Washington Tacoma. They are doing a local validation of our risk needs assessment, and they're also making recommendations to our programs so that we can try to decrease that number.

We want more individuals who would fit into that program to want to be in that program. So what changes can we do as a team to make it more more enticing and more favorable as an option for resolution for folks? And then on, what was the next one? For community court, the biggest one on the top right, you're gonna see 49% is because warrants are served. So they're otherwise eligible. Maybe a referral is put in. However, they go on a warrant status. Unfortunately, our, you know, our team is limited by what contact information we have. Likely, that contact information has changed. It's really hard to reach them.

So, again, we're losing that target population because they're not able to get in therapeutic courts because of the lack of stability. So this is our solution. We, as a court, we would like to apply our therapeutic court to as a therapeutic court approach to our entire court system. So from the very beginning at arraignment to the very end of their case, whether it's a dismissal or whether it's the end of their probationary term, we wanted to be able to apply case management type system, a very, hands on helping connect individuals to services system throughout our entire program, so from arraignment all the way until case closure. So this is a therapeutic court approach.

It does include, therapeutic courts, but it also provides a court support services. So in our materials, which I know that there's a lot, I'm just gonna highlight a few things. We were fortunate enough, commissioner Johnson applied for earlier this year. We received a grant from the Center for Effective Public Policy. They came and observed our courts.

They observed commissioner Johnson arraignment. They observed our therapeutic courts, our traditional courts, and they made some recommendations to us. One of those recommendations, and you might be familiar with this in the Pierce County system, is a pretrial services department. So then commissioner Johnson would have an opportunity to release somebody with supervision or with some more ability to help connect them to services. And then also case support services unit, which is be more of, like, a traditional I use the word probation, but really the community service department that would help them after resolution with their case.

But, again, still connecting them to services, helping them complete court conditions. So, really, it's just applying the approach that works so well for those that are in our therapeutic course programs to really all of our port users. So there's three main categories that we are focusing on to be able to accomplish this goal. First and foremost, we want to expand and stabilize our therapeutic ports. Our therapeutic ports are great.

They work, but we're just not getting enough people into them. So we wanna make sure that we expand and stabilize those programs and then the development of this court support services unit. Thirdly, we want to expand evidence based court appearance support strategies. That's another recommendation from the Center for Effective Public Policy, and then we'd like to just dive into each of these a little bit more. Alright.

So given, these these observed, therapeutic court referrals and and information that we have, what we wanna do is we wanna increase therapeutic court access. So what we know is that individuals, if they're able to be out of custody prior to resolving their case, it's gonna increase their opportunities for therapeutic courts. They're not in custody for two weeks on their first pretrial conference and then facing an offer that they could just take credit for time served and be released. What we know is that we're able to increase reentry services and have them out of custody and connected with somebody in pretrial services, then it will expand their opportunities to enter therapeutic courts. We also want to add a certified peer support specialist.

This is somebody that we wanna contract with that could work with any court user. This is somebody that has so a certified peer support specialist is state certified. They have lived experience, and they can help folks navigate the criminal legal system, whether they're in therapeutic courts and or just traditional court. And then we want to seek therapeutic court funding stability. So we are asking, with the exception of the one tenth of 1% funding that we have through the city for our security over at community court, we are then exclusively funded by AOC state funding as well as BJA federal funding.

So we'd like at least like to have our therapeutic court team, their positions at least guaranteed so that if we were to lose that funding, we wouldn't lose our very important therapeutic court programs. And then under the development of our court support services unit, you'll see that last year, the city approved, and we have in our budget this year, the support services unit manager. So that's gonna be the individual who is gonna be developing this support support services unit. That's gonna be overseeing both the pretrial side as well as the post disposition court support services side. So we'll be able to reallocate some team members to the end of the pretrial and then also provide that post disposition support.

So once they either are found guilty and or if they plead guilty, court imposes, conditions, we currently don't have a probation department. So whether you're in compliance or you're facing a sanction, you come before the judge. So there's a lot of a lot of hearings of the judicial officer. Whereas if they have a court support services unit specialist, they could just be checking in with them, and it would only have to come back before the court if they were facing a potential violation or a sanction. And then they would be able to help them connect them to services. A lot of times, folks just struggle with the paperwork. Your honor, I did the evaluation. You told me to do it. I did it. The paperwork is not the logistics of it.

It's just not easy to navigate for folks. And so having them have somebody that really help them connect and complete those services and get the paperwork done is gonna be a big a big help to them. And then the reason why we're asking for IT support and also just data expert is because we wanna make sure that we can answer any questions stakeholders. You know, is pretrial services working? Is court support services, know, you know, working? How are therapeutic courts? Who's being referred? We literally want to be able to answer every question that's asked of us, and we need the help to make sure that we have IT specialists and or the data analysts and experts to be able to help us have that data. Joyce knows that's really important with the work we've already done. We know it's really important for the work that we wanna continue to do.

And, again, wanna make sure that when we're in spaces like this, like, I can answer all the questions that they would come about. So that's really important. And then really just increase, access to our courts. So we want to implement another recommendation from the center is implement automatic text reminders. It's evidence based best practice.

But if you send somebody a court reminder just like when you're going to the dentist, they'll actually appear for that seven AM cleaning, which I do when I get the text reminder. So we wanna implement that. There is a cost about $14,000 a year, but we know that it increases, appearances and reduces failures to appear. We're also gonna be increasing warrant quash opportunities. Here soon at the municipal court, you'll be able to quash a nominal warrant of $250 or less at the counter, and, commissioner Johnson's gonna be holding weekly walk in warrant watch dockets.

And then your hearing for which you had failed to appear previously would then just be rescheduled. And then we want to continue to increase reentry support services, and that's a very broad category of of of things that we can do. But at the arraignment, if we're able to release to detox, if we're able to release to an inpatient bed day, if we're able to release to pretrial services, Really expanding the opportunity for stabilization is gonna keep people out of custody. It's going to have them come back to court to address their case. But when they do that, they're gonna be in a more stable space so that they can make the best informed decision on how to resolve their case.

They can exercise their constitutional right to go to trial. They can take a plea bargain, or then they have the ability to enter one of our therapeutic courts. So here is the fiscal impact as as we see it, for the things that we are asking for. You'll also see a lot of the things that are currently grant funded, and then also some of the things that are already currently in our budget. And, again, there's a lot of, like, there's a lot of work.

There's a lot of collaboration. If with this request, you know, what we're trying to do is be very respectful, very mindful of budget restraints. And if there's individuals at the at the city already that can help us with data and technology and things. We're happy to collaborate and do those things. But the best the best calculations that we could put together is what we would need here to be able to apply the therapeutic or approach to all of to come on.

And I'm happy answering questions you might have. Well, thank you so much. That's fantastic, Commissioner Johnson. I'm gonna open it up to questions from my peers. Council member Palmer, do you have questions?

The language. You know, it's not this is a different world than. So I when we're saying that folks aren't when we're talking about the warrants as being a declined referral or reason, it's because they didn't show up for court, and then there's a a warrant issued. Right? Yes. Okay. Thank you for So for community court so after six six months, after warrant issues, the referral ends, that they they come back, the referral would would reopen. It's just if they're it's a prolonged warrant then. Yes. Okay.

And then kinda speaking to, I guess, what the commenter said during public comment. It's my if they complete the program, what happens to their records? For therapeutic courts? Yeah. Yes. So both behavioral health court and community court are pretrial contracts. Mhmm. So upon successful complete with prejudice. And I actually I think it was Doctor. Reiman.

I'm really grateful that she that she spoke and kinda set the tone. We just met recently with chief Patty Jackson, the state the manager city manager's office, and then also mayor Ipsen about kind of, like, all kinds of options. And while this a precharging diversion, like, the lead program in King County is successful, and the court is happy to have some of those conversations. It really is up to law enforcement and the proxy attorney's office to really create those options that that I think the court, you know, would be supportive of. But that's just not our pure view as as we just take what's what's being charged and then from arraignment moving forward.

But the court would certainly support all options, right, for for diversion, prearrangement, post arraignment. What we're looking at is our our current therapeutic ports are post arraignment. We're trying to expand those, but certainly would not take away from any creativity and innovative prediversion, precharging programs. Yeah. So thank you for doing that. Thank you for Doctor. Ryan's comments. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. I'm super excited that this is here in Tacoma as an option, and I think it just makes sense to support however we can. So thank you for all the info, and I'm happy to dig more into it. Thank you very much.

And I'll I'll say a lot of those declines, if the warrant's been outstanding for six months, they've missed the window. Generally, they come back for me on the morning, random document. If warrant's the been out there, I have to decide whether to release them again. It promise to appear in post bail world. There's multiple warrants that are outstanding. They've been out of jurisdiction. I have it's not a moral question. It's a question, are they likely to reappear if I release them again? Quite often, the answer is no. So impose some nominal bail.

If they remain in custody, they'll coordinate about two weeks pretrial. Generally, they're gonna choose to plead and get out and then not take advantage of the benefit community course. So it creates a cycle. We miss a lot of these people. They and because of issues outside their control and lack of housing, drug addiction, and things, we're trying to kinda stop that that process and bring more of these people into these programs really to help them overall.

And I've covered the judge in community court a few times. There's a short term benefit of them getting their case dismissed. There's a long term benefit of them helping themselves get walk out better than when they came in, And we community corporately does that. In fact, the graduations I've been part of, they said that over. Thank you guys so much for help. So it's not, like, punitive. They're we're actually helping them walk out better. That's that's the goal. And down the road, reduce recidivism. We won't see them as much.

You know, it betters their lives. It betters the city of Tacoma. It betters the whole community. So we're just trying to create a model where we can bring more people in, help them, and not have the cycle blocking people out who trespasses.

Did jog another question. Do is there a virtual option for to appear in court? Yes. We just expanded all of our dockets in the departments to be hybrid. So whether it's out of custody arrangements, pretrial, readiness, review hearings, there is an online option. So virtual appearances, we have to be able to simultaneously hear and see folks. But, yes, it's been utilized, and it hasn't been increasing appearance. So That's great.

Yeah. And

then I guess but we have my last question is I'd love to see kinda the numbers because it it feels like in the long run, some of these things would help, like, save money. Right? Because they're they're not having the recidivism in in in that. And so I'd like I think it would help the case if we could see, hey. Right. How much could this actually save us in the long run from from having these positions filled? Yeah. Absolutely.

And data collection is a big part of Tara Blair's report that talks about that. That's one of our requests is Mhmm. What what's the data show? And we don't we don't exactly know what our baseline is, and we want to just show that these things will improve all all these baseline results. But, you know, collecting data takes time. We don't we don't have an easy way of doing that. We definitely need a person or a group tasked with doing that. It's gonna help us to be able to show you. We know writ large, the studies show these things help recidivism in reducing costs to the city and society at large, but, you know, we need to show here that that's those results. You know?

It's gonna make it's gonna make financial sense. We need to show that, and we we definitely need the staff.

Absolutely. And we and we'll also have the numbers. You know, what like, currently, what do we pay at Pierce County Jail where they're originally booked? And then our long term contract with the jails. How how much money are we paying for in the jail for bookings and how much that's costing too. Absolutely. Yeah. I think that there's significant cost savings that we can illustrate to the council for sure.

Thank you. Thank you. Questions? Yes. So thank you guys for the presentation. For the therapeutic the challenges when we're talking about, like, reentry support, can you talk a little bit about what those I think you touched on it a bit, but, like, talk a little bit about what those reentry supports look like and who's, like, responsible for providing that. Does that happen through the court? Is that community organizations, like, nonprofits that do that work? Is it a collection combination of all of that?

The latter. Absolutely. I think it it needs to be a collection of efforts of of nonprofits, of of individuals that the city can contract with directly. I think the court can be involved with some of that, but I think it's just also looking to see what our service providers are. Detox beds, inpatient beds, transitional housing, low income housing.

I mean, housing is is this, you know, most thing I mean, on this, is the most significant barrier to stabilization, especially for those that are just as involved. And so I think it needs to be a collection of efforts. But I think that, you know, we have the people that we can get around the table to try to to make those. Like, are we able to carve out a few beds for court users and and things like that? Because, you know, again, at Raven, right, if we have the options of diverting folks directly to services, it's gonna be a no brainer to release them to do those things, especially with these low level of.

And so I think the the umbrella of reentry supports is is so broad, but mainly, you know, housing, transitional housing, and then also, yeah, housing, food support, phone access, transportation, things like that. I mean, I think it really is what can the city provide. What is the city already providing? Right? Also learning I know that he sent us over, like, all the providers that we currently contract with and how can we work with them to be already connecting folks with those, and then also what can be expanded on. So Sorry. All it depends. I'm sorry. That's No. No. No.

That's all your answer. I I think it's you know, I I it I've only started to understand more, like, what goes into reentry and, like, what folks are looking for and, like, what that all encompasses. So I just figured it'd be it'd be good to hear it on the

record of play.

Yes. Just in case anybody else and maybe and I did I did learn a few extra things, so I'm glad that I asked it. Thank you. And then last, I just wanted to on the fiscal impact part, I just wanted to so I I can see that the text reminder system is 15,000. These services here that are, like, the FTEs on under the the court support with this a time for a survey by the one. Yes. Unit. Those are all those would all be new positions that would need to be fund funded somewhere.

So yeah. So, yes, so the one thing we'd be asking for is so a court support services specialist, That would be, to use old terminology, as a probation officer. So that just has a degree requirement that would not be able to reallocate current staff to. So that would be a position that we would need. And then the court supports technician and then the court information technology analyst, either if we have to hire new staff or if there's somebody that's already working for the city that we could partner with.

We just currently, with our current team, do not have the capacity or the expertise to be able to answer a lot of these stated questions. So we just put them in there just to kind of highlight the importance. And if we're not able to to use that, then things that we we may need. Okay.

And then the peer support specialist would also be in need such

It would be. Yes.

Yes. Alright. I just wanna make sure

I was I was understanding. Thank you. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think the peer support specialist, I think, would just be just an incredible asset to our core. Again, traditional court users, therapeutic court users. I think being able to connect with individuals with lived experience and just somebody that can be there with you to help navigate the system, I just think would be an incredible asset to our core and our focus.

Oh, okay. I think the peer support's, like, just that program that allows people to kind of come back and really use that lived experience in a way that is not only helping somebody else navigate through it, but I imagine if you're able to get in that position where you can be in that role and use your lived experience, there's probably a bit of healing in that for you as well. And so I just yeah. I think it's a it's a great program, and I think you'd be a great addition.

Thank you. Mhmm. That was it. Thank you. Thank you. I'm just gonna see if councilmember Walker is on if she has any questions. Sure. Okay. So I I already asked you a lot

of questions when we talked,

and I probably have more questions, but we have to do interviews. Of course. And that's for Sierra, and I wanna thank you both for being here and for bringing her to the late team. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for your ask, and we will see what we can do. Thank you. I I really appreciate all of your time. Thank you so much, though. Thank you.

Alright. Next up. Yay. Commission on immigrant and refugee affair interviews. I'd like to call on Nicole Emery, our city clerk.

Evening, members of the CVS committee. My name is Nicole Emery, your city clerk. And this evening, you'll be interviewing six applicants, and you'll also be reviewing the applications of five individuals who are seeking reappointment or reassignment to the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. Staff requests the committee consider these reappointments and reassignment based on their prior experience on the commission and their updated applications in your packet. In addition, staff also request motions be made to remove two inactive members from the commission.

So in total, including the inactive member positions and the individual seeking reappointment or reassignment, there will be 10 total positions available to be filled on the commission this evening. Nine are member positions and one is an alternate position. The emerging leader position will remain vacant as there's no qualified applications at this time. And then just in terms of the packet you received, since the materials have went out, Crystal Gardner, who's first on your list there, has informed us she's unable to attend this evening due to a work trip but is still interested. And then for the interviews, each applicant will have two minutes to provide answers to the following two questions.

Number one, what is your understanding of CIRA's role and purpose? And number two, can you identify some crucial aspects of immigrant life that the city can accommodate or support? Please explain how providing better support to one of those crucial aspects can make Tacoma a more welcoming city to immigrants and refugees. And then following those two minute presentations, you will have an opportunity to ask additional questions. And then you have staff in the room. You have Vicky and Sarah and myself. We're all happy to answer any questions before we get started.

I'm gonna let them talk about, if it's okay first, just to talk about the removal of members because we don't usually have that happen. So if you could just talk a little bit about that. Thank you.

I will speak very briefly. Commissioners are volunteers and certainly have changes in circumstance. We do know in one case that is what happened. They had intention of designing that did not submit a resolution. In the other case, we did not have communication. Both we've been trying to confirm or reassess interest in the commission and pursue resignation at the time since June of last year, and myself and

the chair of the commission

have attempted in multiple meetings to reach out to

them both.

When we hit recruitment, we did issue a formal letter, again, just reassessing

if you wanna recommit or you may leave.

This would be an opportunity to. And, unfortunately, with some of that, the technician would like to look at the for

the work.

We appreciate your service,

and I hope that we're

able to move forward.

Okay. Thank you for explaining that, Sarah. And so in order to remove them, we have to we have to vote to remove them. Okay. Because I've never done that before.

So this is our first time. I wanna, first off, say I think you've gone I've talked to you several times about this, and I know you've gone well above and beyond trying to reach these these individuals. And one of them had intended to resign, and they just never sent the paperwork. So I just want to say that I appreciate this level of the work that it took to do this, but it says to me that there's a there is some type of accountability for being on our commissions, which I think is good because I think the the people who work on Sarah are very dedicated to this work. And those two spots being not filled by someone, but you couldn't really fill them because they hadn't left yet Just means there's two less people in our community who could do this good work.

So, yeah, so thank you. Appreciate that. Are there any questions? Wait, Sarah. Are there any questions for Sarah? Okay. Sorry. Alright. So I think what makes the most sense before we bring anyone in to interview is to go through the removals, do motions for those, and then do motions for the reappointment. And we also have someone who was an alternate, and now we're making her one of the giving her one of the positions. And so I would love to go through those motions first if that's okay with everyone at the table. Okay. Great. I'm gonna let council my my vice chair, councilmember Scott. I'll let her go ahead and start.

I move to recommend the removal of Linus Nyaga from the member to position on the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye. Opposed? Motion approved. I move to recommend the removal of Hugo Nicholas to from the member nine position on the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. Second. All those

in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. I

move to recommend the reappointment of Yulia Dibkiewski to the member five position on the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to serve a three year term retroactive to 04/01/2026 to expire 03/31/2029. This is a reappointment.

This is reappointment. These are people who've already oh, I thought that was someone there. That's not the one that moved from the alternate? No. She's down below. Okay. So reassigned. Got it. Psyched. Mhmm. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

I move to recommend the reappointment of Emanuella Sasa to the member seven position on the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to serve a three year term retroactive to 04/01/2026 to expire 03/31/2029.

Second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

I move to recommend the reappointment of Lydia Zapata to the member aid position on the commission on immigrant and refugee affairs to serve a three year term retroactive to 04/01/2026 to expire 03/31/2029.

Second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.

Aye.

Oh, opposed? Motion passes.

I move to recommend the reappointment of Mayor Chris Castro to the member 11 position on the commission on immigration refugee affairs to serve a three year term retroactive to 04/01/2026 to expire 03/31/2020. Second.

All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion passes. Okay. This is the next one. K. This is the reassignment.

I move to recommend the reassignment of Ms. Bell Hernandez to the member 10 position on the commission on immigrant immigrant and refugee affairs to expire March 1 March 31, sorry, 2020.

Second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Okay. Thank you so much for that. Okay. So now we'll start with our with the people who are we're bringing in for interviews. And go ahead, Nicole.

Great. Thank you. The first one that we'll be interviewing, we're gonna go a little out of order just for a time commitment. Olga will be the first one. Hi. Is oh. Hi. Is it Olga? Should have an unmute, maybe in the bottom corner.

Yeah.

Is there It looks like you're in here twice. Is there a way for to disconnect from one?

Oh, okay. We can disconnect or unprinted.

There we go. Okay.

Try now.

Okay. Do you see me right now?

Yes. Perfect. Welcome to the community vitality and safety committee. Olga, I'm gonna pass you to chair Rumba to begin your interview.

Okay. Hold on. But I do not see you. I do not see you at all. So, is it possible somehow for me to see you? Because I'm not able to do you hear me?

We do hear you.

I do.

Okay. We hear you. Okay. I do not see you, but it's okay. I can hear you.

That's too bad. Okay. Hi, Olga. I'm council member Sarah Rumbaugh, and you're here at the Commission for Immigrant and Refugee Affair, interviews. And we, are going to give you two minutes to answer your questions. And then we're gonna take three minutes to ask you some questions. So Sounds great, Shneur. K. Great. As soon as you start talking, we'll start the clock. So go ahead. And I know you got those questions ahead of time, so why don't you go ahead and, give us your answers?

Sounds great. Okay. The CIRA, the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, plays an important role in ensuring that the voices of immigrants such as me and refugees are presented in the city decision making. My understanding is that CIRA serves as both an advisory body to the city of Tacoma and a bridge between immigrant communities and local government. It helps identify barriers, recommends policies, and promotes inclusions and, to all residents regardless of their background that people can fully participate in a civic, economic, and social life.

One crucial aspect of immigrant life that cities can, better support is access to culturally and linguistically, appropriate services. This includes interpretation, translation, and outreach that meets people where they are. When individuals can understand and navigate systems like health care, housing, education, and legal services, they are far more likely to succeed and feel a sense of belonging. For example, improving language access in a city service can significantly reduce barriers to essential, resources. When families can communicate effectively with service providers, they can secure stable housing, access health care, and support their children's education.

This not only improves outcomes for those families, but also straightens the broader community By prioritizing inclusive, communication and culturally responsive services, Tacoma can become a more welcoming and equitable city, one where immigrants and refugees feel seen, supported, and empowered, and fully contribute, to the community and make the city to succeed. So this is my whole statement. Wow.

You got done in in record time. So I'm gonna open it up for questions and see if anyone council member Walker, do you have a question that you'd like to ask?

Sure. Olga, thank you for applying. I always like to ask all applicants the same question. Can you talk a little bit about how you work together as a team, particularly in spaces where you don't always agree with everyone?

What did you say again? Sorry. I

That's okay. Can you talk a little bit about how you work together on a team, particularly when you don't always agree with everyone?

So, the first, I would like I'm, my background, I'm instructor, nursing instructor at Bayes Technical College. So and what, first, I do like to hear the people voices. I'm not the person who all the time represent myself and strictly agree, or, strictly make adherence to my choice, but I would like to hear the other voices. Because one hat is good, but the more hats is better. So, because there's all the time, there's a different decisions that can be, achieved, and sometimes it's much more wisely, and that makes the people, to be as a team.

So to be a team member is the best, so that's why I prioritize the other team members', decisions. And after that, based on their decision, definitely, I would like to, represent my decision. So I better, prefer to listen first. Thank you.

Alright. Does anyone else have a question for Olga? K. Well, thank you so much for your time, Olga. We really appreciate it. We'll get done with our interviews, and then we'll make our decisions tonight, and then we will, have the clerk get back to you. And thank you so

Can I talk to, since I had, finished little bit early, can I tell you, what I've been doing in Sure? In the community? So, I also represent the. Association. So I'm executive director of that organization, and we help lots of people in Tacoma.

So, we have, multiple fundings opportunity, from the city of Tacoma, and, we are so thankful for you for, that you are helping with the housing navigation and, with the resource navigations. I just wanted to say thank you guys. You're doing amazing job. And I've been also in a couple communities commissions in DOR and Washington's, state, credits, as well, family, family tax credits. So and I'm so thankful that, our Washington state plays a tremendous role to support the communities.

And, if we support the communities to achieve the, success, then definitely it's gonna be the better paying taxes, and we're gonna be better to involve in the community and give back. So this is what my statements that I wanted to say. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Olga. Really appreciate that. Thank you.

Have a good day.

You too. Holly, you might have to assist.

I'm trying to, Elizabeth.

And, so next up, we will have Ryan. Hi. Is it Ryan?

This is Ryan.

Hi, Ryan. Welcome to the community vitality and safety committee. I'm gonna pass you to chair Ramba to begin your interview.

Okay. Awesome. Thank you.

Hi, Ryan. Thank you so much for your interest in, being a part of CIRA. We, sent you some questions ahead of time, and we're going to give you two minutes to answer those. And we'll take three minutes to ask you some questions afterwards. As soon as you start talking, we'll start the clock. So whenever you start, just your time will start.

Okay. First question, my understanding of the role and purpose. So my understanding is that CIRA serves as a bridge between immigrant and refugee communities and the city, elevating, community voices, advising on policy, and helping ensure city services are accessible, equitable, and culturally responsive. What resonates what resonates me personally, is that it's not just about support. It's about representation and making sure people feel seen and included in how the city operates.

Second question, identifying some crucial aspects of immigrant life that the city can accommodate or support. One critical aspect of immigrant life here in Tacoma, for me personally is language access. If people can't understand city services, it creates barriers across everything, housing, health care, education, public safety. Improving language access through translation, interpretation, and culturally relevant outreach has a multiplier effect. It doesn't just solve one problem.

It unlocks access to all services. And so when people can speak or when people can confidently engage with the city, it builds trust, and trust is what ultimately makes a place feel welcoming. Not just policies, but whether people can, participate fully and be heard. This one's also personal for me. My mother and grandmother, are immigrants.

They came from Korea. Started off in Lakewood, and and my grandma still lives there. I've seen firsthand both how I've seen firsthand both how resilience and challenges that come with navigating a new system, and that's in large part what drew me to this opportunity. Also, my first full time job at a college, I worked at Bethel High School helping first gen local students track towards put toward postsecondary ed. It was there I realized some of the barriers, to changing situations generationally for families. They can feel invisible. Something as simple as filling out a FAFSA financial aid application and not having parents that feel safe and comfortable navigating process like that can serve as a real limitation, to families.

Thank you, Ryan. Thank you so much for your answers. Councilor Wager, do you wanna ask your question?

I would love to ask my question. Ryan, thank you so much for applying. I wondered if you could talk a little bit about how you work together with others on a border commission and particularly working together as a team when you don't necessarily all agree?

Yeah. Sure. I I just joined the Southend Neighborhood Council recently, and, I really wanted to instead of just complaining about the problems in my area, start working with the people in the community. And they've have really shown me, like, how involved and entrenched they are in making the work happen here. I think the thing is, working through differences, it it really takes a great deal of empathy and grace and understanding that everyone's life is probably equally as complicated and as difficult and as trying as yours at times.

And so I really try to carry that spirit, god willing, as much as I can throughout my interactions with everyone, whether it be at work or here in my neighborhood or my personal life. And so for me, working through differences really just is an opportunity to learn more about somebody else, and to take the focus sort of off of me and what I think is important and and, display some empathy and grace to to someone else. And, hopefully, that'll be reciprocated.

Great. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, council member Walker. Does council member Palmer or council member Scott have questions? Nope? Okay. Thank you so much, Ryan, for your time and for coming to, interview. We will be going through all of

the rest of the interviews, and

then we'll be making our decisions tonight, and then the clerk will get ahold of you. And I also wanna thank you for, joining Senco and being involved, on that super local level. Really appreciate that.

Yeah. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate all the work that you guys are doing. I know you guys are probably working super hard and, yeah, just curious to learn more about how the city functions and how I can help you a part of the solution. So thank you, guys.

Great. That's a good answer. Thank you. Have a good evening.

Yeah. Take care. See you guys.

Okay. Next, we will have Shanay. Hi. Is it Shanay?

It is.

Hi. Welcome to the Community Vitality and Safety Committee. I'm gonna pass you to chair Rambah to begin your interview.

Okay. Thank you.

Hi, Shanay. Thank you so much for your interest in our CIRA commission. And we, had it sent you two questions ahead of time. We're gonna give you two minutes to answer those. I know that's not a lot. And then after you get done with your, answers, we're gonna go ahead and ask you questions. We have about three minutes of those. So whenever you start talking, we'll start the clock.

Okay. So, thank you all for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Shanay Tracy. I am the founding founder of Mercy Share, a nonprofit legal sharing community that community that benefits programs and benefit program that provides immigrants with access to legal, community legal support and emergency family planning benefits. My understanding of the Tacoma Commission, on immigrant and refugee affairs is that it serves as a bridge between the immigrant and refugee communities and the city of Tacoma.

It advises on policies and programs to ensure that they are equitable and accessible while also building trust and ensuring community voices are included in this in the decision making process. One of the most crucial aspects of immigrant life, is access to legal support. Immigration status impacts employment, housing, and family stability. This is a person this is personal for me. I supported my fiance through the immigration detention process and saw how complex and expensive the system can be for families navigating it on the outside.

The experience reflects what my, what many families face, navigating systems without clear guidance or resources. Improving access to legal education and trusted and trusted referrals and community based support helps create stability and prevent crisis. Another critical issue is mobility. Without federally recognized identification, many immigrants are limited in their ability to travel. In practice, this can, make people feel landlocked, restricting opportunity and connection.

Cities can help by strengthening access to information, legal pathways, and community based support. Cities can also play a role in advocating for policy changes at the state level and expand access to federally recognized identification for immigrants in Washington. At the end of the day, a welcoming city is defined by access. When people can navigate systems and move freely, they don't just survive. They contribute and lead. That is the kind of impact I wanna support through my service on the commission.

Alright. Thank you so much for your answers, and I'm going to open it up for some questions from my council members, councilman Walker.

Yes. I always ask everyone the same question. So can you talk a little bit about, how you work together with others, other boards or commissions, or just a team that you've worked on, where and especially talking about what how you work together as a team when you don't necessarily always agree?

Yeah. Absolutely. So, I also, lead, as the chief administrative officer for the Institute for Black Justice. So, I am managing teams and working with teams, on a daily basis. And a lot of times, it's just being able to listen.

Listening first and being able to just sit back and look at other people's point of view, often solves a lot of the issues that people are are having and giving people the opportunity to speak and be heard and then finding compromise where there's compromise, and then finding you know, if there is if there's a legal issue that's preventing us from, from reaching that that that goal, then, you know, obviously, that sometimes that's what ends up solving the issue is legality. But a lot of times, it's just listening, and being able to to compromise when needed.

Great. Thank you. You, councilor Walker. Are there any other questions for Chenay? Alright. Thank you so much for your time tonight. We really appreciate you. And we will be going ahead and doing a couple more interviews, And then we'll make our decision tonight, and we'll have the clerk get back to you. And thank you so much for your time.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we will have faith. Can you hear us?

Yes. I can hear you.

Hi, Faith. Welcome to the community vitality and safety committee. I'm going to pass you to chair Ramba to begin your interview.

Thank you.

Good evening, Faith. Thank you so much for your interest in our Sierra Commission. We sent you a couple of questions ahead of time, and we're gonna give you two minutes to answer those. And then we'll take three minutes to ask you some questions after you get finished. As soon as you start talking, we will start the clock.

K. Just a minute, please. Unfortunately, I'm not able to see the questions which you sent, but I can go ahead and introduce myself if you don't mind.

They were in your application when you applied. That's all. So feel free to just start talking. It's completely fine.

Great. My name is Faith Syango. I'm the founder and executive director at Hope Leadership Trust. Hope Leadership Trust is a nonprofit serving immigrants and you immigrants and refugees, youth, and families in Tacoma downtown where offices are located in Tacoma. Personally, professionally, I am a radiology technologist where I've worked with several organizations here in Seattle, including CEMA, which is also a nonprofit.

And the other thing, I'm also a licensed financial adviser here in Tacoma, and I have worked with immigrants and refugees for quite some time right now. And I also share a lived experiences as an immigrant, where I migrated to United States from Kenya. And and what I can say, the lived experiences are majorly for ex especially from people who are coming from Africa. And the reason why I really wanna serve in in this commission is because I wanna I'm a problem solver, and I believe in I believe in in pro in pro in providing solutions which will which will improve the quality of the immigrants who are in our in our in our in our county, which which we have seen such as language barriers language barrier, health care, poor access to health care, a lack of knowledge on how to navigate things around. And, I'll be happy to if I am offered to, a position to serve in the in the in the commission and offer the solutions which I can bring on table.

Alright. Thank you so much, Faith, for your answers. And I'm going to open it up to questions from my colleagues, council member Walker.

Thanks, chair. Thanks, Faith, for applying. Can you talk a little bit about other boards or commissions or just even groups that you've worked with and how you work with the team, particularly when you don't always agree with that team?

I have I have worked I have served in the board leadership of Hope Leadership Trust. And then I have also I I am a volunteer at youth homeless youth homeless office as a as a subcommittee member in the board. And I believe I also believe in in in diverse opinions. I believe diverse opinions are good because it strengthens it's this this strengthens organizations, strengthens how how it strengthens policies as well.

Great. Thank you. K.

Thank you so much. Are there any other I do have a question. I'm just looking I'm trying to understand your what your connection is with Tacoma. I've seen, like, there's a they have your address here in Tacoma, but then it says you're outside city limits. And so I was just curious about where you're located and if you feel like you could, like, make the meetings for the committee.

Yeah. I personally live at, but my office is in Downtown Tacoma at Broadway. And majority of the people who we work with are in Tacoma. So I'm directly involved with residents in Tacoma. That's why yes.

Thank you. That's a great question. Thank you so much. Alright. Faith, we have a couple more interviews to do. And as soon as we get those done, we're going to make our decisions tonight, and then we will have the clerk get back to you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Chair Rumba, the the last two individuals, one of them, had arrived, but let us know they're a little longer interested. And the other one, we've not been able to get in touch with. So that would be the last interview that we have scheduled for tonight.

Thank you so much for that. Okay. So, basically, we have four people we interviewed, if that's correct, I think. Correct. And we have four openings, and we have one alternate.

But we have four oranges. Either. We don't have one for the emerging emerging either. So we wouldn't have an alternate, and we wouldn't have an emerging either.

We're just

looking at number six. Yeah. So that one yeah.

So this That was the reassignment.

We already did Isabelle. So around this one, this would be the first person that we interviewed.

So I was just sending five. There's Oh, okay.

I thought it was 1234.

We do. I just said we have five spots is what I was saying.

I was saying that this is the alternate, and so it probably would've just been filling. That's what I was saying. Unless, of course, we wanted to interview the other person, and then we do not have a emerging theater. But we just we go minus just they're not in response to I think those were considered openings.

Yeah. I think that was two

They were two openings that we used.

I think I'm I think I'm under the same date.

Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We used we knew that those were gonna be open because they got included. Does that make sense? I wanna make sure I didn't mess that up. Does that make sense? I'm good. Okay. Okay. Great. Okay. Alright. So I'm gonna let vice chair she's doing all the work tonight. I'm gonna let her go ahead and do the names. And first off, is there any discussion on any other people? Is there anything that we'd like to mean, I I thought they were all great. I'm sorry. I felt like we're kind of rushing, but we have somewhere to be. But I wanna I would love to know if there's anything that you'd like to talk about or any concerns that you have. I'm very open to hearing from you. No.

I would just agree that they're I thought they were all great candidates, and I'm amazed with how we sort of have this giant list and then certain only certain people showed up. We still have this amazing variety of ways people connect to this issue, and so we'll be better for it. This is I appreciate

that answer. I thought I I just have to say, it was a really good question that you have, council member Palmer, about where Faith lives because of the things that we say is that we try to get people who are in the city, but she works in the city. So I feel like she has a really good connection Mhmm. Especially with the people that she's working on are actually here in our city. So thanks for asking that question. Alright. So whenever you're ready,

vice chair. Alright.

I move to recommend the appointment of Olga Fedubna Fedubna. Yes. To the member to position on the commission on immigrant refugee affairs to fill an unexpired term to expire 03/31/2027. Second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

I move to recommend the appointment of Brian McIntosh to the member three position on the commission on immigrant and refugee affairs to fill an unexpired term to expire 03/31/2027.

Second. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

I move to recommend the appointment of Chenay Tracy to the member's sixth position on the commission on immigrant and refugee refugee affairs to fill an unexpired term to expire 03/31/2029. Second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I move

to recommend the appointment of Faith Singo to the number nine position on the Commission on Immigrant Immigrant Refugee Affairs, the known and expired term, to expire 03/31/2028. Cindy?

All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Alright. Thank you so much, everyone. I appreciate all of your time. I know we're about five minutes after six. Looks like we don't have someone for the alternate. And if we can get an emerging leader at some point, I would love to fill that position. I think those are that's a great voice to have. So with that, I'll go back here. I would like to call on Tony Esperanza, our executive liaison for topics for upcoming meetings. Thank you, John Boswell. On May 14, we'll have a return presentation on the international property maintenance code from Nikki Weber with planning and development services.

And then on May 28, there will be a joint presentation between and Nancy Shattuck on warrant appointed attitudes. Back to you. K. Thank you so much, Okay. Since our last meeting, has anyone visited one of our committees, boards, or commissions? Yes.

I went to. They just kinda have their regular meeting. They're going to do a lot of they look reviewed complaints, so

they did a lot of that.

They also had to do a new board chair election because their current chair got a new job opportunity to get to

We'd come. Love to have you and the CPAC chairs come and be on the agenda at some point. Yeah. You're good. Sure. Think they're good. Great. So I I it was one of my topics. I wanna make sure that I mentioned it to you. Thank you so much. Mhmm. I would like to say I went to the Human Services Commission. If you haven't been to it, it was fabulous. And I'm meeting with a few of the members. I always ask for people who join our commissions or are a part of our committees if they wanna meet and talk about anything.

So if you get a chance to go to one of the meetings, I think they should be on your calendars as, like so you could, like, just let staff know that you wanna attend one of those meetings. I think it's really great to go to those commissions and committees. You just really hear about how important significant the work is that we're doing in the city because you're getting it at the at the, like, really down at the dirt level because they're working so hard to make things grow and possible. So I'd like to say, if you get a chance and you wanna go, just let staff know. Alright. Are there any other items of interest? Alright. Okay. So can I get the last motion?

I move to adjourn.

Second. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Alright. We are adjourned. Thank you.