LA County Board

3. Improving the Process for Undocumented Immigrant Victims and\nSurvivors to Request Immigration Visa Certifications from County\nAgencies\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisor Hahn: Instruct Department Heads\nthat maintain records related to the certification of U and T visas, including the\nSheriff, District Attorney, and the Director of Children and Family Services, in\nconsultation with the Executive Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, in the\nDepartment of Consumer and Business Affairs, the Los Angeles County\nDomestic Violence Council (DVC), and County Counsel, to review existing\npolicies and practices relating to the access of police reports and other records\nimpacting crime victims, including identification documents required of the\nvictim to access such records, as well as the ability of legal representatives of\nthe victim to access the records; assess current policies and procedures\nrelated to visa certification to ensure that there is adequate access,\nconsistency, and uniformity for eligible individuals to obtain visa certifications,\nand said policies and procedures are effectively disseminated to the public in a\nculturally and linguistically appropriate manner; assess current training\nprotocols for impacted Department staff, and determine how to strengthen\ntraining standards to ensure that eligible individuals obtain visa certifications in\na consistent and uniform manner; and take the following actions:\nInstruct the Executive Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, in\ncollaboration with the DVC, County Counsel, the Sheriff, the District\nAttorney, and the Director of Children and Family Services, to report\nback to the Board in writing within 180 days on the above directives, as\nwell as recommendations on how to standardize certification requests,\nestablish uniform procedures to certify requests, and implement a clear\nand uniform appeals process for certification denials across all certifying\nCounty Departments; and\nInstruct the Executive Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, in\ncollaboration with Chief Executive Officer and the Directors of Public\nSocial Services and Public Health, including their DVC and Office of\nWomen’s Health, and in consultation with other relevant County\nDepartments, to identify gaps in services for immigrant survivors of\ndomestic violence, trafficking, and other violent crime, and report back to\nthe Board in writing within 120 days with recommendations to address\nidentified service gaps, with such recommendations to include, but not be\nlimited to, legislative solutions to allow State funding to support legal and\nsocial services for immigrant domestic violence survivors, and solutions\nleveraging existing County programs to bridge identified service gaps by\nproviding necessary County resources and funding. (23-2528)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisor Hahn\nPublic Comment/Correspondence