2021-2022 Napa Civil Grand Report Napa County Juvenile Hall Good Facility Dysfunctional Governance Unused Beds Outdated

R1

Under the leadership of its current chair or of a consultant hired for that purpose, the JJC, a state-mandated body, should generate a development program that expands its current understanding of the potential of its group for leadership for the juvenile justice system. The program should include, but not be limited to, activities such as those noted below. a. Confirm with the State of California that the Commission is properly interpreting and applying state legal requirements b. Study websites presented by more active JJC’s c. Report on activities broader in scope than their own d. Critique videos prepared to explain the functioning of JJC’s e. Conduct Zoom interviews with outstanding leaders of other JJC’s f. Consult with university researchers who focus on leadership for juvenile justice g. Sponsor training sessions organized by external organizations for JJC leaders h. Attend appropriate regional and State conferences

R2

To insure oversight and transparency the Napa County Board of Supervisors should direct the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) to report to the Board of Supervisors on a regular schedule at public meetings of the BOS. The JJCC should add more public members, meet regularly as required by law, provide timely public notice of meetings with agendas, provide minutes, recorded video, and follow the requirements of the Brown Act.

R3

The Napa County Board of Supervisors should direct the JJCC to inform the public about participation in JJCC meetings, in person and by remote means and about obtaining agendas, minutes and reports necessary for participation. The JJCC should redo its webpage to create greater transparency. The Grand Jury suggests studying the San Francisco JJCC webpage (link below) as a model of transparency. The webpage should accurately reflect its origin in the law and its legal responsibilities and obligations. The webpage should also include the names and official contact information of JJCC members 11 and provide a contact number and email for questions about meetings and how to become a member. See https://www.sfsuperiorcourt.org/divisions/ufc/justice-commission https://sfgov.org/juvprobation/juvenile-justice-coordinating-council.

R4

Under the leadership of the Chief Probation Officer, the JJCC, the JJ Commission, and Napa County’s CEO should collaboratively develop a strategy for an external group’s comparison of the functionality of the existing CJNET homegrown system to a modified commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) system in use for juvenile justice in other counties. With the goal of providing meaningful data analysis and analytics, including tracking programmatic experiences and effectiveness along with required state reports, while enabling data transparency, the external comparison should include at least the features named below. a. Cost, including staff time and licensing costs. The functionality of each; especially the data analytics function. Will the system require additional IT personnel interface for data analysis and report generation (as CJNet reportedly does now) or can staff manage the system without the need to rely on an external data analyst? In sum, what functions will be delivered at the user level? b. The relative times for development (acknowledging that any COTS system will likely need to be customized) and implementation of each system. c. The availability and cost of training of each system, relying on an external data analyst. In sum, what functions will be delivered at the user level? d. The relative times for development (acknowledging that any COTS system will likely need to be customized) and implementation of each system. e. The availability and cost of training of each system.

R5

The Chief Probation Officer should engage the JJCC, the Commission, and NCOE in the design, creation, and implementation of New Horizons Academy as a way to address excess Juvenile Hall capacity and the needs of a broader range of youth. The design should focus on the provision of additional services to probationary youth not requiring detention in a secure facility, but who would benefit from a supervised residential program with easy access to a comprehensive educational program and mental health services. Some of these needy youth may be homeless. The design should also focus on the beneficial features offered by the JH’s audio studio.

R6

Leaders from the Office of Probation, from NCOE, and from the Napa County Library should meet to study programs in other counites and to develop an informal memo of understanding to outline how youth in JH will have full access to robust library services. The library program in Contra Costa County should be one of those studied. 12