Fresno County Grand Jury • 2013-2014

Grand Jury Annual Report*

Published: May 15, 2014 78 pages Consolidated Report

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⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.

⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F106, F107, F108, F109, F110, F111, F112, F113, F114, F115, F116, F117, F118, F119, F120, F121, F122, F123, F124, F125, F126, F127, F128, F129, F130, F131, F132, F133, F134, F135, F136, F137, F138, F139, F140, F141, F142, F143, F144, F145, F146, F147, F148, F149, F150, F151, F152, F153, F154, F155, F156, F157, F158, F159, F160, F161, F162, F163, F164, F165, F166, F167, F168, F169, F170, F171, F172, F173, F174, F175, F176, F177, F178, F179, F180, F181, F182, F183, F184, F185, F186, F187, F188, F189, F190, F191, F192, F193, F194, F195, F196, F197, F198, F199, F200, F211, F212, F213, F214, F215, F216, F217, F218, F219, F220, F221, F222, F223, F224, F225, F226, F227, F228, F229, F230, F231, F232, F233, F234, F235, F236, F237, F238, F239, F240, F241, F242, F243, F244, F245, F246, F247, F248, F249, F250, F251, F252, F253, F254, F255, F256, F257, F258, F259, F260, F261, F262, F263, F264, F265, F266, F267, F268, F269, F270, F271, F272, F273, F274, F275, F276, F277, F278, F279, F280, F281, F282, F283, F284, F285, F286, F287, F288, F289, F290, F291, F292, F293, F294, F295, F296, F297, F298, F299, F300

Findings 21 findings

F101

The Coroner should be a currently licensed M.D. /D.O. in good standing while the office continues under the current model.

F102

There is no reason that the Coroner cannot also be the PA while still under the current model; this combination continues to work well.

F103

Placing the Coroner under the Sheriff results in a potential conflict of interest for officer involved investigations, and detracts from the Coroner's office being a medical one.

F104

Establishing a Medical Examiner-Coroner will ensure Fresno County has the expertise needed to optimally fulfill the needs of its Coroner.

F105

Whichever model Fresno adopts, its current Coroner model or a Medical Examiner- Coroner model, any changes as proposed herein will be cost neutral.

F201

There will always be those who prefer to remain homeless. Thus, chronic homelessness will never be eliminated.

F202

While the official model of "housing first" is fundamentally sound and has helped reduce the number of those homeless, at the current rate of progress there will never be enough appropriate housing to eliminate the unsheltered homeless in Fresno.

F203

The 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness provided the necessary focus and coordination to receive Federal funding to help address the region's homeless problems.

F204

Servicing the homeless involves much more than simply providing shelter. In a majority of the cases serious mental health and substance abuse problems are factors leading to homelessness and impediments to implementing solutions.

F205

The local agencies, under the FMCoC umbrella, appear to be doing a reasonable and conscientious job of addressing some of the needs of the homeless population, but these efforts are fragmented and not part of a holistic approach to solving the problem.

F206

There does not appear to be a single agency, within or outside the public sector, that provides leadership and coordination of all efforts to serve the homeless in Fresno.

F207

The efforts of many well-intentioned organizations are counter-productive in that by giving (often unused) food and clothing they are viewed as enabling homelessness rather than assisting with efforts to return the homeless to self-sufficiency.

F208

The non-enforcement of ordinances regarding panhandling and shopping cart theft enable the homeless to remain independent and be a public nuisance.

F209

There is an acute shortage of "come-as-you-are" emergency shelter(s) for men in Fresno County, which increases the numbers of those on the street and hampers their return to more productive lives.

F210

The City of Fresno's police unit that deals with the homeless has been very effective in mitigating problems and preventing the reforming of encampments.

F301

CPS is doing a satisfactory job with the resources available.

F302

CPS uses a 24-hour hotline as a major part of its triage system. This system classifies cases as a two-hour or a 10-day response depending on the urgency of the case.

F303

Community agencies interviewed cite a need for an available CPS liaison.

F304

Mandated reporters in healthcare, as well as childcare advocates, cite a need for better communication and cooperation between themselves and social workers.

F305

While Rushmore is not yet fully implemented, CPS increasingly relies on the use of this data base system to help provide effective triage of children entering the system.

F306

While comments from vendors, mandated reporters, and quality assurance staff regarding CPS responsiveness, timeliness, professionalism, and follow-through were overall positive, they did cite a need for improved communication.

Recommendations 3

R1

The triage system (the protocols to determine how to respond to situations referred to the CPS Hotline).
R2

Relations with vendors (organizations contracted by the County to supplement services provided by CPS) and mandated reporters (people working closely with children as defined by Welfare and Institutions (W&I) Code.
R3

Quality assurance (internal review committee and Rushmore data system).

Conclusions 3

CL1

It is our conclusion, based on the preceding background information and discussion that at the very least the coroner should be a Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathy (M.D./ D.O.), preferably a pathologist experienced in forensic work. The fact that the Sheriff-Coroner is the predominant model in California, should not determine what is best for this county. Ultimately, we feel that Fresno County should adopt the appointed Medical Examiner-Coroner model in place in the Counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and San Francisco. This is the most professional way to structure the coroner's office function. Fresno County has achieved a size, stature, and has the facilities to attract and support a full-fledged Medical Examiner in the near future. The BOS, to our understanding, has the authority to administratively change the requirements to run for and serve as coroner prior to the filing deadline for the 2014 elections. Requiring the Coroner to be an M.D. /D.O. would not result in any cost changes within the current model. This change needs to be adopted, and we recommend that it be made immediately. The change in the Coroner's filing requirements is a first step. The BOS has the statutory authority under the California Government Code, Section 24010 to initiate necessary changes in the Fresno County Charter to allow for the appointment, presumably conducted by a select committee, of a Medical Examiner-Coroner. The BOS also can consolidate various offices, but the grand jury opposes in the strongest terms doing so with the Coroner, especially reverting back to the Sheriff-Coroner model pre-1978. The retention of the PA functions with the Coroner seems to work well currently, it and can be retained pending any change to an ME-C model.
CL2

Homelessness remains a very visible and serious problem, and will likely never be fully eliminated. The goals of the Plan provide guidance in funding requests from HUD. However, the implementation of the Plan appears flawed in its reliance on a "housing first" approach. There simply is not enough housing inventory to achieve this goal and, as a result, the local communities will continue to encounter the homeless with their inherent issues and the homeless will be without needed services. Many of the current service providers and the lack of code enforcement enable many to remain homeless. Fresno needs a more holistic approach to get the homeless off the streets and into services that will help them recover productive lives.
CL3

CPS is one of the largest agencies in Fresno County with difficult and complex responsibilities. The task of protecting children while preserving the family unit is often difficult and dangerous. Respecting different cultures is crucial as well. Given the size of the agency and the number of referrals they receive every month, this grand jury finds that CPS is doing a satisfactory job with the resources available. The recommendations contained in this report are not meant to be criticisms, but rather observations and suggestions for improvement. Based on our investigation, CPS appears to be a well-managed agency at this time.

* 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.