8/14/2017 scgrandjury.org Mail - Jails in Santa Cruz County Sheriff response Grand Jury Jails in Santa Cruz County

Inmates are kept at Water Street Jail for medical reasons alone when they are otherwise eligible for the increased services and programming at Rountree. This denies programming to an otherwise-eligible inmate that may increase their ability to succeed upon community reentry. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Inmates are not denied programming because they are unable to transfer to Rountree. We currently provide 80-100 hours weekly of programming at the Main Jail. Inmates are eligible to transfer to Rountree when they are medically stable, whether they have a chronic condition or otherwise. Other criteria, such as behavior and security rating, can also affect whether or not an inmate is eligible to transfer to Rountree.

The Crisis Intervention Team keeps notes in inmate records, but not minutes of meetings or a summary of daily record changes. Without a meeting summary, there is no documentation of continuum of care and context for decision making. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): General summary notes on high risk inmates are prepared each day at the meeting and forwarded to facility managers, mental health and medical personnel. These notes are general in nature to not violate HIPAA. Detailed patient care file notes are kept by Medical and Mental Health staff.

The Sheriff’s Custody Manual includes a general description of a safety cell’s allowable use. This results in the inappropriate housing of inmates in cell O13. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Personnel must complete a placement criteria form (computerized assessment in JMS) to ensure all safety cell placements (including 013), are proper and comply with legal requirements. After an assessment is completed, the Watch Commander must approve placements in Safety or Sobering Cells. The Administrative Sergeant further reviews all placements to ensure compliance and a monthly compliance report is generated.

Long term inmates at Water Street may suffer from Vitamin D deficiencies due to lack of exposure to natural sunlight. Medical staff have not tested inmates for possible Vitamin D deficiencies. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Laboratory tests are done as medically indicated based on evaluation/assessment of signs, symptoms or medical history. Inmates are provided with outside yard time that exceeds health guidelines for adequate exposure to the sun for vitamin D generation.

Water Street, a maximum security facility, has no means of detecting non-metal contraband other than physically searching an inmate. This increases the chance of dangerous items being brought into the facility. X AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): We have reviewed various technologies for scanning inmates as they enter our facilities in the past. There were concerns about the placement of the scanners and costs as well as exposure to radiation by staff. We will continue to monitor the development of new technologies and work with our staff to implement them in the future.

The empty Blaine Street facility indicates a lack of long-range facility planning and coordination. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The current facility at Blaine Street is not a fully secured facility. In the last several years, various criminal justice reforms have meant that we are no longer housing minimum security inmates in sufficient numbers. By opening up a unit at Rountree to house minimum and medium security female inmates we were able to reduce the population pressure on the female units at the Main Jail. In February 2017, the Sheriff’s Office applied for a grant to convert the Blaine Street Facility to another use. We were unsuccessful in our application and are now reviewing other options to maximize the use of the facility. These options include training in a new gender-specific classification tool, which will allow us to better classify female inmates, and upgrading the security infrastructure at the Blaine Street facility. The Sheriff’s Office will report back to the Board of Supervisors on the utilization of Blaine Street in January 2018.

When asked about program effectiveness and measurements of success locally, staff were unable to provide scorecards, analytics, or follow-up information on recidivism or success. This impacts their programs and future funding. AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): In-custody programming is provided through a variety of sources, namely AB 109 funding and Inmate Welfare Funds (IWF). A part of AB 109 implementation mandated the creation of a Community Corrections Partnership which established committees and workgroups responsible for monitoring implementation and outcomes. All AB 109 awarded contractors including those who provide in-custody programming provide weekly data reports to the Probation Department who administers the funds. Outcomes are then reported to the Board of Supervisors. The CCP also established a System Evaluation and Data Work Group that makes recommendations to the Probation Department and the Executive Committee of the CCP regarding data collection, analysis and overall system operations. As part of the newly developed Division of Reentry, the Sheriff’s Office has created a team of officers and civilian staff responsible for creating a seamless system of assessment, programming, and reentry services for inmates. A key part of the Division of Reentry is to track and report outcomes. The SCSO is scheduled to report back to the BOS in the next year.

The county “Boarder Program” at the Ben Lomond Conservation Camp is less costly to the county than housing inmates in the county jail system. AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion X DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The boarder program has been utilized in the past for qualifying inmates with a desire to attend. The Division of Re-Entry will continue to use this program as a re-entry opportunity for those interested in this type of program and those who’s risk and needs assessments favor the program.