District Of Columbia 2023-2024 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill B25-0344 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
2	2	OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO
3	3	THE JOHN
4	4	A. WILSON BUILDING
5	5	1350 PENNSYLVANIA A VENUE, N.W., SUITE 106
6	6	WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
7	7	June 15, 2023
8	8	Nyasha Smith, Secretary
9	9	Council
10	10	of the District of Columbia
11	11	1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
12	12	Washington, DC 20004
13	13	Dear Secretary Smith,
14	14	Today, along with Councilmembers Henderson and Parker, I am introducing the "Office ofUnified
15	15	Communications Transparency and Accuracy Amendment Act
16	16	of 2023." Please find enclosed a
17	17	signed copy
18	18	of the legislation.
19	19	The "Office
20	20	of Unified Communications Transparency and Accuracy Amendment Act of 2023"
21	21	would:
22	22	• Require the Office
23	23	of Unified Communications ("OUC") to make several updates to the
24	24	311 system to allow residents to submit service requests for porous flexible pavement
25	25	sidewalk repairs, leaf collection, neighborhood quality
26	26	of life issues related to business
27	27	alcohol sales, and maintenance to electrical wires, utility poles, and fire hydrants, and to
28	28	redirect users to the National Park Service ("NPS") website when a user provides a
29	29	property location that is under NPS jurisdiction.
30	30	• Require OUC to collect and publicly post data each month on the agency's website on the
31	31	number
32	32	of 911 calls received that are eligible to be diverted to alternative responses and
33	33	the number
34	34	of those eligible calls that are diverted.
35	35	• Require OUC to publicly post data each month on the agency's website on agency
36	36	operations, such
37	37	as the number of call-taker and dispatcher errors and the cause of those
38	38	errors, the number
39	39	of shifts operated under minimum staffing levels, call to answer times,
40	40	the number
41	41	of calls dropped, and the number and type of 911 misuse calls.
42	42	• Add a representative from OUC
43	43	to the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board.
44	44	The Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety recommended that several
45	45	of these reforms be
46	46	included in the "Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Support Act
47	47	of 2023". Specifically, the Committee first
48	48	recommended that OUC add an option for porous flexible pavement material within the Sidewalk COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
49	49	OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO
50	50	THE JOHN
51	51	A. WILSON BUILDING
52	52	1350 PENNSYLVANIA A VENUE, N .W., SUITE 106
53	53	WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
54	54	Repair service group in the District's 311 system. The "Office of Unified Communications
55	55	Transparency and Accuracy Amendment Act
56	56	of 2023" includes this addition to the 311 system as
57	57	well as several others that are notably absent. As a result of these gaps, residents regularly contact
58	58	DC Council constituent services staff members and the Mayor's Office
59	59	of Community Relations
60	60	staff members
61	61	to report issues, which then must be relayed manually to agencies. This is an
62	62	inefficient process and could be easily remedied by providing a 311-request reporting option. In
63	63	the case
64	64	of reporting NPS maintenance requests, it can be difficult for residents to distinguish
65	65	between District property and NPS property given that
66	66	90 percent of parkland in the District is
67	67	under NPS jurisdiction. By creating a mechanism within the 311 system to reroute users to the
68	68	NPS website when an NPS property is selected, the District can greatly simplify the reporting
69	69	process.
70	70	The Committee also recommended that the "Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Support Act
71	71	of 2023"
72	72	include a requirement that OUC publicly post data on the number
73	73	of 911 calls received that are
74	74	eligible for diversion to alternative responses, and the number
75	75	of those eligible calls diverted.
76	76	These diversion programs include the Department
77	77	of Behavioral Health Access Help Line, the
78	78	Department
79	79	of Transportation for non-injury auto crashes, the Department of Public Works for
80	80	parking enforcement, and the Fire and Emergency Medical Services ("FEMS") Department Nurse
81	81	Triage Line. As the District works to divert non-emergency
82	82	911 calls to non-law enforcement
83	83	agencies, data collection
84	84	is critical to track agency progress, ensure agencies are staffed
85	85	appropriately
86	86	to respond quickly, and to identify opportunities to expand diversion eligibility
87	87	categories. Diverting non-emergency calls from FEMS and the Metropolitan Police Department
88	88	("MPD") will allow first responders
89	89	to respond more quickly to emergency calls for service.
90	90	The "Office
91	91	of Unified Communications Transparency and Accuracy Amendment Act of 2023"
92	92	also codifies several commitments made by OUC Director Heather McGaffin during her
93	93	confirmation hearing. These include publicly posting data on the number
94	94	of shifts operated under
95	95	minimum staffing levels, the number
96	96	of call-taker and dispatcher errors, the cause of those errors,
97	97	and the agency's response, call to answer times, and the number and type of911 misuse calls. This
98	98	legislation also would require the agency
99	99	to post data on the number of 911 calls in the call queue
100	100	for over
101	101	15 seconds, which is the national standard, and the number of those calls that are dropped
102	102	by the caller.
103	103	OUC continues to struggle with answering calls quickly and accurately dispatching FEMS and
104	104	MPD. This has led to community distrust in OUC and a somewhat strained relationship with
105	105	partner agencies. By increasing transparency and acknowledging the action the agency is taking
106	106	to address errors, OUC will take an important step towards rebuilding public confidence. COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
107	107	OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO
108	108	THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
109	109	1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 106
110	110	WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
111	111	Finally, this legislation adds a representative from OUC to the Domestic Violence Fatality Review
112	112	Board ("DVFRB"). 911-callers, such
113	113	as those who are in potentially fatal domestic violence
114	114	situations, may not be able to explicitly communicate to the call-taker that they are in danger.
115	115	While OUC call-takers receive specialized training
116	116	to identify when a caller may be experiencing
117	117	domestic violence, OUC should be involved in the DVFRB to ensure the training provided
118	118	to call
119	119	takers and dispatchers is most effective, and to provide recommendations,
120	120	as appropriate, to
121	121	enhance the District's work to reduce domestic violence fatalities.
122	122	Should you have any questions about this legislation, please contact my Committee Director,
123	123	Michael Porcello, at mporcello@dccouncil.gov.
124	124	Thank you,
125	125	Brooke Pinto 1
126	126	2
127	127	3
128	128	4
129	129	5 Councilmember Christina Henderson
130	130	6 Cou
131	131	7
132	132	8
133	133	9 AB~L
134	134	10
135	135	11
136	136	12
137	137	Councilmember Brooke Pinto
138	138	13 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
139	139	14
140	140	15
141	141	16 To require the Office of Unified Communications to expand 311 service request options; to
142	142	17 require the Office of Unified Communications to collect and post publicly on the Office's
143	143	18 website the number of calls eligible to be diverted to alternative responses and the
144	144	19 number of those calls diverted, and data on daily call-taking and dispatching operations;
145	145	20 and to add the Office
146	146	of Unified Communications as a member of the Domestic Violence
147	147	21 Fatality Review Board.
148	148	22 BE IT ENACTED
149	149	BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
150	150	23 act may be cited as the "Office of Unified Communications Transparency and Accuracy
151	151	24 Amendment Act
152	152	of 2023 ".
153	153	25 Sec. 2. The Office of Unified Communications Establishment Act of 2004, effective
154	154	26 December 7, 2004 (D.C. Law 15-205; D.C. Official
155	155	Code§ 1-327.51 et seq.), is amended by
156	156	27 adding a new section 3207c to read
157	157	as follows:
158	158	28 "Sec. 3207c. 311 services.
159	159	29 "(a) Within 180 days after the effective date
160	160	of Office of Unified Communications
161	161	30 Amendment Act
162	162	of 2023, the Office shall permit persons to submit the following requests via the
163	163	3 1 District's
164	164	311 system at all times:
165	165	1 32 "(1) Maintenance of porous flexible pavement sidewalks by the District
166	166	33 Department of Transportation ("DDOT") by selecting porous flexible pavement as the material
167	167	34 within the Sidewalk Repair service group;
168	168	35 "(2) Maintenance of electrical wires, regardless of the responsible agency or
169	169	36 private entity;
170	170	37 "(3) Maintenance
171	171	of utility poles, regardless of the responsible agency or private
172	172	38 entity;
173	173	39 "(4) Maintenance
174	174	of fire hydrants;
175	175	40
176	176	41
177	177	"(5) Leaf collection by the Department of Public Works ("DPW");
178	178	"(6) Graffiti removal by DPW;
179	179	42 "(7) Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration response to issues relating to
180	180	43 alcohol sales, including:
181	181	44 "(A) After hours sales
182	182	of alcohol;
183	183	45 "(B) Breach
184	184	of a settlement agreement;
185	185	46
186	186	"(C) No Alcohol Beverage Control ("ABC") manager on duty;
187	187	47 "(D) Noise;
188	188	48 "(E) Operating without an ABC license;
189	189	49 "(F) Overcrowding;
190	190	50 "(G) Sale to intoxicated persons;
191	191	51 "(H) Sale to minors; and
192	192	52 "(I) Trash.
193	193	53 "(b) Within 180 days after the effective date of Office of Unified Communications
194	194	54 Amendment Act
195	195	of 2023, the Office shall direct 311 system users to the National Park Service
196	196	2 55 website when a user provides a property location that is under National Park Service
197	197	56 jurisdiction.".
198	198	57 Sec.
199	199	3. The Office of Unified Communications Establishment Act of 2004, effective
200	200	58 December 7, 2004 (D.C. Law 15-205; D.C. Official Code§ 1-327.51 et seq.), is amended by
201	201	59 adding a new section 3207b to read
202	202	as follows:
203	203	60 "Sec. 3207b. Call data collection and posting.
204	204	61 "(a) Every month the Office shall collect and publicly post on the Office's website the
205	205	62 number of calls eligible to be diverted and the number of calls diverted to the:
206	206	63 "(1) Department of Behavioral Health ("DBH") Access Help Line;
207	207	64 "(2) District Department
208	208	of Transportation ("DDOT") for non-injury auto
209	209	65 crashes;
210	210	66 "(3) Department of Public Works ("DPW") for parking enforcement; and
211	211	67 "(4) Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department ("FEMS") Nurse Triage
212	212	68 Line.
213	213	69 "(b) Every month the Office shall publicly post the following data on the Office's
214	214	70 website:
215	215	71 "(1) Descriptions of each call-taker and dispatcher error, the cause of the error,
216	216	72 and the corrective action taken by the Office;
217	217	73 "(2) Number of shifts operated under minimum staffing levels;
218	218	7 4 "(3) Average and maximum call
219	219	to answer times;
220	220	7 5 "( 4) Average and maximum answer
221	221	to dispatch times;
222	222	76 "(5) Number of calls in the queue for over fifteen seconds;
223	223	77 "( 6) Number of calls dropped following a queue time of over fifteen seconds; and
224	224	3 78 "(7) Number and type of 911 misuse calls.".
225	225	79 Sec. 4. Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act of
226	226	80 2002, effective April 11, 2003 (D.C. Law 14-296; D.C. Official Code Section 16-1053(a) §16-
227	227	81 1053), is amended as follows:
228	228	82 (a) Paragraph (9) is amended by striking the phrase"; and" and inserting a semicolon in
229	229	83 its place.
230	230	84 (b) Paragraph ( 10)
231	231	is amended by striking the period and inserting the phrase "; and" in
232	232	85 its place.
233	233	86 ( c) A new paragraph (11) is added to read as follows:
234	234	87 "(11) The Office of Unified Communications.".
235	235	88 Sec. 5. Fiscal impact statement.
236	236	89 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the Budget Director as the fiscal impact
237	237	90 statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved
238	238	91 October 16, 2006 (12 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code§ 1-301.47a).
239	239	92 Sec. 6. Effective date
240	240	93 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor ( or in the event of veto by the
241	241	94 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as
242	242	95 provided in section 602( c )(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December
243	243	96 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code§ 1-206.02(c)(l)), and publication in the District of
244	244	97 Columbia Register.
245	245	4