Merced County Grand Jury
2013-2014
Findings & Recommendations
6 findings
F1:
The Bus appears to be following the Five-Year Plan
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
Continue the present program. The Chief and his commanders are on top of present needs and resources and are looking ahead to continue the plan in a lean revenue period.
F2:
The Public Participation Plan appears to be sufficient.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
Expand on current security system to allow surveillance of entire exterior of buildings. DOS PALOS POLICE DEPARTMENT The Merced County Civil Grand Jury toured the Dos Palos Police Department for the purpose of reporting on the operations and performance of the Dos Palos Police Department Detention Center. The detention center no longer exists and any offenders are now immediately transported to Los Banos Police Department or Merced County Sheriff's facilities. Dos Palos is a city of approximately 5,000, with a police force of 8 and a well-informed Chief of Police, attuned to past, present and future needs of the city and is well- appreciated by the Chief, City Council, and City Manager. The Chief is a dog owner and trainer and provides his K-9 services to other cities in the county. In addition, he utilizes his K-9 to interact with the community. The diversity of the employees is noticeable; they appear comfortable and happy with their jobs. Dos Palos Police Department is a professionally run department that appears to be getting positive results. COMMENDATION The City Manager, Police Chief and Department employees are to be commended for their support of complete modernization of the Department in spite of budget cuts. TRIDENT CENTER The Trident Center is located at 777 W. 22nd Street in Merced. The Center opened in January 2013, as a result of the realignment phase of Assembly Bill 109, which aims at reducing prison overpopulation by allowing non-serious, non-violent, and non-sexual offenders to serve their time with the counties as opposed to the state prison. The purpose of this center is to act as a one-stop shop to assist inmates in transitioning back into society through the education of basic skills. The Center is staffed by a multi-agency organization. The Merced County Sheriff's Department, Merced County Probation Department, Mental Health, and the Merced County Human Services Agency run the program. The Sheriff's Department and Probation Department account for more than 24 positions and approximately five million dollars in state funding for the Center. The primary responsibility for the staff is the supervision of program participants. Much of the supervision is conducted through "Electronic Supervision", but more fundamental methods of surveillance are utilized The Merced County Mental Health component of the Trident Center contains judicial supervision with community mental health treatment and other support services. The initial contact takes place at the screening and assessment stage. Mental health, through the efforts of a dual-diagnosis specialist and a mental health clinician, give clients alcohol and other drug screening, individual and group counseling and medication evaluation and assistance. They also provide mental health consultation with probation, sheriff's office and H.S.A staffers at the Trident Center. The Human Services Agency is the fourth and last program contributing to the Trident Center. The H.S.A staff consists of a facilitator, an eligibility worker and one-third of a social workers' work load. Applicants are screened by the facilitator and eligibility worker to determine if the participants will qualify for the program and any available social services assistance. The program, "Leadership for Life", is designed to teach important parenting skills including communications, honesty and responsibility. Employment and child support are stressed as well as many other subjects relative to achieving a successful family. Many of the skills also apply to participants without children. The facilitator is critical to the success of the program. Participants buy into the "Leadership for Life" curriculum because the facilitator has walked in their shoes and survived the system. It is estimated that approximately 85-90% of all participants successfully complete the program. COMMENDATION The Trident Center is unique. The contributing agencies have not historically been willing to work as a cohesive unit to alter the revolving doors of our current criminal justice system, but through the strong leadership and commitment of the agencies involved in the program it may prove to be a positive step in the right direction and bring much needed change to our criminal justice system. The program has not been in existence long enough to establish a strong statistical base and supportive data should be available in a year or two.
F3:
Morale of employees, riders and public appear to be above normal
Related Recommendations (1)
R3:
An applicant, who is heavily in debt and gains employment with the county, may have access to money, or other property of great value. For all new hires we recommend the county: Develop a written procedure that requires the county to complete a reference and . a work history check. Perform a criminal history check through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Perform a credit check. Have the applicant's driver's license checked through California Department of . Motor Vehicles (DMV) and placed on the DMV pull program. The county should consider developing a county driver's license for all employees to carry and show when checking out county vehicles at the motor pool.
F4:
No credit checks are done except for certain department heads.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4:
Employees that work as a Personal Assistant for the Board of Supervisors are county employees paid through the county with county funds, as such these employees are to follow all county rules and procedures, and be treated as any other county employee.
F5:
California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) checks drivers licenses only on county employees assigned to driving positions. County of Merced does have a DMV pull program, which advises the county on changes to status of licenses.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5:
We also recommend the Board of Supervisors develop a written code of ethics and adhere to them.
F6:
All Merced County employees are under a written code of ethics, with the exception of the Board of Supervisors, as they do not have one.
Additional Recommendations
6
Not linked to specific findings.
R8:
The Department agrees with the Grand Jury's recommendation.
R9:
The Department agrees with the Grand Jury's recommendation.
R10:
The Department agrees with the Grand Jury's recommendation.
R11:
The Department disagrees with the recommendation to implement an on-site posted placard rating system. On-site posted rating systems are controversial and can mislead the consumer when a food facility's status has changed in-between inspection cycles. The Department agrees that timely posting of completed facility inspections, without a rating, is a priority to ensure the public of that facility's inspection status.
R12:
The Department agrees with the Grand Jury's recommendation.
R15:
The Department agrees with the Grand Jury's recommendation. Notation: The City of Firebaugh is not located within Merced County's health jurisdiction, but rather is located within Fresno County's health jurisdiction. The Department appreciates the noted commendation and values the work of the Grand Jury. Respectfully, afallen Lasse Kathleen Grassi, R.D., M.P.H Director KAG: kag 260 E.15th Street, Merced, CA 95341-6216 (209) 381-1200 (209) 381-1215 (FAX) www.co.merced.ca.us/health Equal Opportunity Employer STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE Dana S. Hertfelder DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Director 715 Martin Luther King Jr. Way Merced, CA 95340-6041 (209) 385-7602 (209) 725-3989 Fax www.co.merced.ca.us Building Services Parks and Recreation Roads Fleet Management County Surveyor Building & Safety Equal Opportunity Employer DATE: July 29, 2013 TO: Presiding Judge Brian McCabe ʼn. COY FROM: Dana S. Hertfelder, Director of Public Works SUBJECT: 2012-2013 Merced County Grand Jury Report MEMORANDUM Please be advised that I have received and reviewed the 2012/2013 Merced County Grand Jury Report. There are no issues in the report which pertain to matters regarding my Department, so I have no detailed comments. DSH:jlr Mike North, County Executive Office CC: M:\Word Files\LETTERS\MEMOS\2013\GRND JURY 2012-13.doc . MERCED COUNTY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT MARIA L. AREVALO
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.