Reso 2020-3127 - Laserfiche WebLink

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�NNY est City of Sunny Isles Beach - n 18070 Collins Avenue Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 (306) 947-0606 City �yF CA9't F�O"�oo5w (305) 949311Hall 3 Fax lT Of SVN �� MEMORANDUM TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Jeniffer Viscarra, Commissioner DATE: 10/15/2020 RE: Donation to KidSide, Inc. RECOMMENDATION: This Resolution is presented for your consideration. REASONS: Section 172-5 of the City's Code of Ordinances provides that the City Commission may make monetary donations to charitable organizations, so long as it is approved by the affirmative votes of at least four (4) members of the City Commission. The proposed resolution, if approved, would authorize a monetary donation to KidSide, Inc. in an amount not to exceed Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500.00). KidSide, Inc. is a non-profit organization that raises funding through donations for the benefit of Family Court Services ("FCS"). FCS was created in 2001 to provide services to low-income families involved with the Miami -Dade family court system, including but not limited to family therapy, individual therapy (children and adults), reunification therapy, therapeutic visitation, and supervised visitation. In addition to resolving issues with which these families contend, the overarching goal of FCS is to provide families with the skills they need to enable them to resolve subsequent disputes constructively with a minimum need for legal intervention or impact on the community, including local police resources being utilized to intervene in family disputes. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, FCS has seen a dramatic increase in cases due to the adverse impact the global pandemic has had on families, especially those that are affected by substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health issues. Currently, FCS is critically underfunded and cannot keep up with the demand for services. Therefore, if a Judge from the Family Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami -Dade County decides that a family can benefit from FCS, there will likely be a significant waiting period for the family, making a difficult and painful process even longer. FCS has often found itself in the difficult position of having families wait 4 to 6 weeks for their initial appointment for in- house services and 3 to 6 months to commence supervised visitation. Notably, by being denied timely access to the critical services provided by FCS, families in high conflict disputes are more likely to experience domestic violence and other volatile situations that necessitate the intervention of the local police. Many families from the City have benefitted from the services provided by FCS. In fact, during the years of 2017, 2018 and 2019, FCS served over 1,051 residents of the City (this figure does not include the children of those families), and it is anticipated that these figures will continue to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. A charitable donation