Responses to the

Incarcerated minors receive mental health care only in crisis situations and only minimal one to one therapy. The County agrees with the findings. Additional mental health services are provided to youth admitted to the Substance Abuse Unit. This unit provides dual diagnosis treatment services to a maximum of 24 youth (at any given time) with co-occurring disorders (substance abuse and mental health). Mental Health staff works collaboratively in this endeavor with a County contracted substance abuse provider. Services are provided for 4 to 6 months and include individual and group therapy, family groups, psychosocial education, case management, and linkages to other resources. Youth 17 are required to complete six months of aftercare services upon completion of this in-custody component. J. Juvenile Hall is staffed for mental health treatment. " Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.6 p.m. " Saturday; 8a.m.-12noon " Sunday, none " Holiday, none The County agrees with the finding. K. Psychological counseling occurs in close proximity of others with limited privacy. The County agrees with the finding. L. Dysfunctional families, physical abuse, substance abuse and parents who are incarcerated contribute to the problem of adolescent mental health in Juvenile Hall. The County agrees with the finding. Clinical evidence has shown that the above behaviors may contribute to juvenile delinquency. M. The new Juvenile Justice campus: " Initially, will have a bed capacity of 330 with annual incremental increases to 480. " Will have 240 beds for juveniles waiting for their day in court. " Will have 240 beds for minors sentenced up to one year. The County agrees with the findings. The current budget (FY 2005-06) provides funding for the 330 bed capacity. N. The current limited staff at Juvenile Hall takes care of the mental health needs of approximately 320 minors. The County agrees with the finding. Non-duplicated services and contacts are approximately 330 a month and duplicated services and contacts are approximately 1,000 a month. O. There will be no additional mental health staffing at the new Juvenile Justice campus. The County disagrees with this finding. The Department Children and Family Services, Mental Health Board and community leaders are exploring all avenues to address the mental health needs of juvenile justice minors. P. The mental health staff at Juvenile Hall is comprised of: " Three Licensed Clinicians " Three Unlicensed Clinicians 18 " One Licensed Clinical Supervisor " One Psychiatrist for 8 hours a week " Two Community Mental Health Specialist with Bachelor Degrees " One Office Assistant The County agrees with the finding. Q. Juvenile Hall mental health funds are limited: " Not one dollar from Fresno County's General Fund has been dedicated to address adolescent mental health in Juvenile Hall. " Juvenile Hall's mental health staff receives Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMSHA) grant in the amount of $293,244. " Mental Health Realignment funds derived from the California State sales tax revenues and vehicle license fees are used for mental health staff. " Proposition 63, passed in 2004, will generate money for mental health by the year 2007. The County agrees with the findings however; the County's Health Realignment. funds for Health and Mental Health must be matched with County General Fund money in order for the County to receive Realignment. Human Services are projected to receive approximately $138 million for 2005-06 and will require a match of just over $11 million. Of the eleven million dollar match, approximately $7.6 million is returned to the general fund or a justice department. Realignment revenues and local matching funds are directed for deposit into three accounts within the Health and Welfare Trust Fund: Social Services Account, Health Account and Mental Health Account. The County agrees with the finding however, Proposition 63 statute prohibits the use of these funds for detained and committed youth. Proposition 63 restricted uses for juvenile justice population to wraparound and discharge services. In addition, these funds may be received as early as 2006. R. Fresno County has not developed an organized system of care for adolescent mental health. The County disagrees with the finding. The Juvenile Justice Mental Health Collaborative was established in January 2005, to develop an organized system of care for adolescent mental health. A comprehensive approach to address need is a key component of the proposed Fresno County Federal Children's System of Care Grant. 19

"California State University, Fresno does not offer a teaching credential for Career Technical Education." This statement is accurate. Up until about five years ago, the only teaching credential in career technical education at California State University, Fresno was a Vocational Education Single Subject Credential that prepared future teachers in mechanics and industrial technology. This program was suspended and eventually terminated due to the lack of students expressing interest in this career track. It is very likely that the decline in the number of students enrolling in high school vocational education and Regional Occupational Program (ROP) courses since the 1970s has caused much of the decline in interest at the university level. Should the prospective pool of students expand in this area, the university would be willing to consider offering the Career Technical Education credential. If interest increases, the faculty and administration at the university will consider whether the tracks or options within that credential should remain in industrial arts or include other technical career possibilities.

"The lack of adequate Career Technical courses limits the number of qualified applicants for positions in the trades." This is likely to be the case for middle and high school students in our region. At the university level, very few career technical courses are offered. When they are offered, they more often attract students planning to enter careers at mid-level or higher. In cases where technical courses are appropriate in our majors, they often provide incentive for our students because they provide hands-on experience in the student's chosen profession. Thus, technical courses at the university level can assist students in making steady progress toward the bachelor's degree, just as similar courses can among middle and high school students. Findings #21 through 24 seem to be reasonable summaries. Technical coursework seems most suitable for the middle and high school years with some acceleration in the community college years. Also it appears that drop out rates and drug testing are factors in whether some of our citizens are able to secure and retain jobs. Conclusions of the Grand Jury Report Conclusions #1 through #3 seem to follow from the work conducted by the Grand Jury review process. Conclusion #4 "There is unanimity in our community that a comprehensive career technical education program be offered in the public schools." From our review of the web site, the recent Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) Superintendent's Advisory Task Force, and the Report prepared by the Regional Occupation Program (ROP) for the Grand Jury, it is difficult to determine that there is unanimity on this topic. As the report details, there are many needs competing for funding in FUSD. As the ROP report indicated, there has been a history of dwindling resources being allocated to ROP projects in our county and elsewhere. Whether those making decisions about funding will agree that technical education programs will be placed as a higher priority than API scores, for example, remains to be seen. Conclusions #5 and 7 through 10 appear to be consistent with the information in the Report. Conclusion #6 "The requirements of a - g college prep courses prevent schools from meeting the needs of students who do not plan to attend college." It seems that this conclusion is only partially accurate. That is, a - g requirements generally appear to make it more challenging for non-four year college bound students to graduate from high school. However, administrators, teachers and students at Duncan Polytechnic have demonstrated that satisfying the a - g requirements and enrolling in career technical coursework is also possible. Perhaps this statement should be considered for revision as it is only partially accurate and because it contradicts Conclusion #9. It seems that addressing the revision of the K through curriculum to accommodate a - g requirements and technical coursework would be of great benefit to those not planning to complete a four-year college degree. Of course California State Standards for vocational and technical education should be taken into 11 consideration. One possibility would be to encourage two to four additional high schools in Fresno to create a Duncan-like curriculum and monitor their successes. Hopefully those successes would include higher graduation rates and lower drop out rates.