To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Probation Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: David Koch, 565-2732
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Recommended Action:
Title
Adopt a Gold Resolution proclaiming the week of July 19 - July 25, 2020, as Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week in Sonoma County.
End
Executive Summary:
In recognition of national Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week 2020, this report highlights some of the Sonoma County Probation Department’s recent work and its role in creating a safe, healthy, and caring community.
Discussion:
National Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week is recognized by the American Probation and Parole Association, a 100,000 member-strong organization of community corrections professionals. During this week, we pause to honor the compassion, strength, and determination of the Sonoma County Probation Department in creating a safer community while helping to rehabilitate offenders and guide them toward positive, productive lifestyles.
Sonoma County Probation is committed to
• reducing recidivism,
• fostering accountability,
• promoting positive behavior change, and
• safeguarding the community.
-Probation Department Mission Statement
Following are some of Probation’s recent accomplishments both in the Adult Division, which provides community supervision for offenders and defendants, and in the Juvenile Division, which supervises juveniles in the community and at Probation custodial facilities.
Adult Offender Services
The Adult Division collaborates with treatment and mental health providers, community-based organizations, and law enforcement to bring accountability to the conduct of probationers and guide them toward meeting their court obligations and becoming responsible, contributing community members.
Within Adult Offender Services, Probation’s Day Reporting Center (DRC) is Sonoma County’s hub of evidence-based programming for adult offenders reentering the community from jail or prison. Staff from Probation, Health Services, Human Services, and community-based organizations work together to deliver a broad range of programs designed to protect public safety and stabilize offenders.
“The staff at DRC has really helped me to stay encouraged and motivated to make the necessary changes to better my life.”
-DRC Participant Comment
The Probation Department continually seeks innovative programming that serves to improve success rates of offenders re-entering the community. With this goal in mind, we recently selected “Five Keys” to provide educational services at the DRC. Five Keys was founded in 2003 by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department as the first accredited charter high school in the nation to provide diploma programs for adults in county jails. Today, the school offers high school education, vocational skills, life skills classes, and access to college and workforce programs to students of any age and regardless of background or circumstance. Five Keys is accredited and offers education at no charge to students or Sonoma County.
Pretrial Services
Traditionally, courts have based decisions of release from pre-adjudication incarceration partly on defendants’ ability to meet financial burdens of bond or bail, a system that may release dangerous defendants while incarcerating those who pose little risk to their communities. By contrast, under the pretrial services program, release decisions consider defendants’ risk of 1) posing a threat to public safety, and 2) failing to appear in court. By using a validated assessment tool to predict these risks, the program protects the public and allows lower-risk defendants, regardless of financial status, to remain in the community while awaiting adjudication.
Informed by these assessments, the Superior Court determines appropriate levels of pretrial supervision, which can range from monthly check-ins at the Probation Office for low-risk defendants to field visits from a Probation Officer coupled with GPS monitoring for higher-risk defendants. Defendants who cannot be safely supervised in the community remain incarcerated.
The Court began using pretrial services in January 2015, and the program has grown rapidly from 689 pretrial grants in calendar year 2015 to 2,000 grants in calendar year 2019, as judges increasingly embrace this risk-based approach. Pretrial grants are set to increase further this year as Sonoma County’s response to the Coronavirus forces jail populations to decrease. Indeed, the number of defendants on pretrial supervision has soared from 422 on January 20 to 635 on June 1. Over the same period, the jail population has decreased dramatically such that there are now far more individuals on pretrial supervision than are in jail.
Juvenile Services
Probation’s Juvenile Division works with internal and external partners to offer youths and their families a multitude of pro-social and rehabilitative services. Through this work, youth build skills and connect to the community in a meaningful way. Probation’s Juvenile Division has responded with dedication and creativity to community disasters and crises by working to maintain programs and services.
In the last year, an external evaluator highlighted many strengths of the Juvenile Division’s programs and policies, including substantial declines in arrests, referrals, and use of out-of-home placements; increased efforts to divert lower-risk youth and focus system resources on higher-risk youth; and expansion of evidence-based services and data-driven decision making. Lastly, preliminary findings from an evaluation of California’s Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project showed improved recidivism outcomes, achieved using a “wraparound services” model, and that Sonoma was the only participating County in the State where this was the case.
Community Support
Through fires, power shut-offs, and the current pandemic, Probation has stepped up to change lives, reduce crime, and restore community. Our many contributions include the following:
• Implementing new procedures to ensure the safety and security of youth in Juvenile Hall and Probation Camp in response to the Coronavirus;
• Quickly allocating resources to manage a burgeoning pretrial release population during the Coronavirus;
• Managing an influx of state prisoners released early to Sonoma County as California rushed to reduce prison populations in April 2020;
• Preparing reports and staffing Adult and Juvenile Courts handling custody and other matters to keep cases moving as smoothly as possible;
• Using technology and distancing protocols to continue engaging youth and adults on supervision to address service needs while providing accountability;
• Providing field and administrative resources to the County Emergency Operations Center while maintaining all mandated operations;
• During the October 2019 Kincade fire, Probation ensured the safety of the youth in our care by evacuating Probation Camp and maintained safe operations at the Juvenile Hall during the October and November 2019 public safety power shutoffs with limited or no power available; and
• Providing peer support team activities to ensure the morale and wellbeing of our probation professionals who work tirelessly with those who have committed or been victims of serious crimes.
Sonoma County Probation Camp
Probation Camp is a 24-bed, short-term correctional treatment facility for 15-1/2 to 18-year-old males committed by the Juvenile Court. First established in 1955, Probation Camp provides positive opportunities for the young men committed to the program, resulting in more productive citizens and safer communities.
Activities include fully equipped industrial woodworking and metal shops that provide experience operating equipment necessary for employment in the industry or construction fields. Youth may earn Camp Employability Skills Competency Certificates in Welding, Carpentry, and Culinary Arts.
Support Probation Camp by going to <https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Probation/Probation-Camp/> and ordering some of the great products these young men produce, such as picnic tables, barbecues, gates, and outdoor storage containers.
Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week 2020
Every day, Probation works hard to reduce recidivism, foster accountability, promote positive behavioral change, and safeguard the community. During Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week, we invite the community to join us in honoring this committed group of professionals.
Prior Board Actions:
07/21/15 - 07/23/19: Board Resolutions Proclaiming Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 19-20 Adopted |
FY20-21 Projected |
FY 21-22 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
|
|
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
National Probation Supervision Week 2020 Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.