⚠️ 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: F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F19, F20, F21, F22, F23, F24, F25, F26, F27, F28, F29, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37, F38, F39, F40, F41, F42, F43, F44, F45, F46, F47, F48, F49, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57, F58, F59, F60, F61, F62, F63, F64, F65, F66, F67, F68, F69, F70, F71, F72, F73, F74, F75, F76, F77, F78, F79, F80, F81, F82, F83, F84, F85, F86, F87, F88, F89, F90, F91, F92, F93, F94, F95, F96, F97, F98, F99, F100, F101, F102, F103, F104, F105, 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, F201, F202, F203, F204, F205, F206, F207, F208, F209, F210, 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, F301, F302, F303, F304, F305, F306, F307, F308, F309, F310, F311, F312, F313, F314, F315, F316, F317, F318, F319, F320, F321, F322, F323, F324, F325, F326, F327, F328, F329, F330, F331, F332, F333, F334, F335, F336, F337, F338, F339, F340, F341, F342, F343, F344, F345, F346, F347, F348, F349, F350, F351, F352, F353, F354, F355, F356, F357, F358, F359, F360, F361, F362, F363, F364, F365, F366, F367, F368, F369, F370, F371, F372, F373, F374, F375, F376, F377, F378, F379, F380, F381, F382, F383, F384, F385, F386, F387, F388, F389, F390, F391, F392, F393, F394, F395, F396, F397, F398, F399, F400, F401, F402, F403, F404, F405, F406, F407, F408, F409, F410, F411, F412, F413, F414, F415, F416, F417, F418, F419, F420, F421, F422, F423, F424, F425, F426, F427, F428, F429, F430, F431, F432, F433, F434, F435, F436, F437, F438, F439, F440, F441, F442, F443, F444, F445, F446, F447, F448, F449, F450, F451, F452, F453, F454, F455, F456, F457, F458, F459, F460, F461, F462, F463, F464, F465, F466, F467, F468, F469, F470, F471, F472, F473, F474, F475, F476, F477, F478, F479, F480, F481, F482, F483, F484, F485, F486, F487, F488, F489, F490, F491, F492, F493, F494, F495, F496, F497, F498, F499, F500, F501, F502, F503, F504, F505, F506, F507, F508, F509, F510, F511, F512, F513, F514, F515, F516, F517, F518, F519, F520, F521, F522, F523, F524, F525, F526, F527, F528, F529, F530, F531, F532, F533, F534, F535, F536, F537, F538, F539, F540, F541, F542, F543, F544, F545, F546, F547, F548, F549, F550, F551, F552, F553, F554, F555, F556, F557, F558, F559, F560, F561, F562, F563, F564, F565, F566, F567, F568, F569, F570, F571, F572, F573, F574, F575, F576, F577, F578, F579, F580, F581, F582, F583, F584, F585, F586, F587, F588, F589, F590, F591, F592, F593, F594, F595, F596, F597, F598, F599, F600, F601, F602, F603, F604, F605, F606, F607, F608, F609, F610, F611, F612, F613, F614, F615, F616, F617, F618, F619, F620, F621, F622, F623, F624, F625, F626, F627, F628, F629, F630, F631, F632, F633, F634, F635, F636, F637, F638, F639, F640, F641, F642, F643, F644, F645, F646, F647, F648, F649, F650, F651, F652, F653, F654, F655, F656, F657, F658, F659, F660, F661, F662, F663, F664, F665, F666, F667, F668, F669, F670, F671, F672, F673, F674, F675, F676, F677, F678, F679, F680, F681, F682, F683, F684, F685, F686, F687, F688, F689, F690, F691, F692, F693, F694, F695, F696, F697, F698, F699, F700, F701, F702, F703, F704, F705, F706, F707, F708, F709, F710, F711, F712, F713, F714, F715, F716, F717, F718, F719, F720, F721, F722, F723, F724, F725, F726, F727, F728, F729, F730, F731, F732, F733, F734, F735, F736, F737, F738, F739, F740, F741, F742, F743, F744, F745, F746, F747, F748, F749, F750, F751, F752, F753, F754, F755, F756, F757, F758, F759, F760, F761, F762, F763, F764, F765, F766, F767, F768, F769, F770, F771, F772, F773, F774, F775, F776, F777, F778, F779, F780, F781, F782, F783, F784, F785, F786, F787, F788, F789, F790, F791, F792, F793, F794, F795, F796, F797, F798, F799, F800, F801, F802, F803, F804, F805, F806, F807, F808, F809, F810, F811, F812, F813, F814, F815, F816, F817, F818, F819, F820, F821, F822, F823, F824, F825, F826, F827, F828, F829, F830, F831, F832, F833, F834, F835, F836, F837, F838, F839, F840, F841, F842, F843, F844, F845, F846, F847, F848, F849, F850, F851, F852, F853, F854, F855, F856, F857, F858, F859, F860, F861, F862, F863, F864, F865, F866, F867, F868, F869, F870, F871, F872, F873, F874, F875, F876, F877, F878, F879, F880, F881, F882, F883, F884, F885, F886, F887, F888, F889, F890, F891, F892, F893, F894, F895, F896, F897, F898, F899, F900, F901, F902, F903, F904, F905, F906, F907, F908, F909, F910, F911, F912, F913, F914, F915, F916, F917, F918, F919, F920, F921, F922, F923, F924, F925, F926, F927, F928, F929, F930, F931, F932, F933, F934, F935, F936, F937, F938, F939, F940, F941, F942, F943, F944, F945, F946, F947, F948, F949, F950, F951, F952, F953, F954, F955, F956, F957, F958, F959, F960, F961, F962, F963, F964, F965, F966, F967, F968, F969, F970, F971, F972, F973, F974, F975, F976, F977, F978, F979, F980, F981, F982, F983, F984, F985, F986, F987, F988, F989, F990, F991, F992, F993, F994, F995, F996, F997, F998, F999, F1000, F1001, F1002, F1003, F1004, F1005, F1006, F1007, F1008, F1009, F1010, F1011, F1012, F1013, F1014, F1015, F1016, F1017, F1018, F1019, F1020, F1021, F1022, F1023, F1024, F1025, F1026, F1027, F1028, F1029, F1030, F1031, F1032, F1033, F1034, F1035, F1036, F1037, F1038, F1039, F1040, F1041, F1042, F1043, F1044, F1045, F1046, F1047, F1048, F1049, F1050, F1051, F1052, F1053, F1054, F1055, F1056, F1057, F1058, F1059, F1060, F1061, F1062, F1063, F1064, F1065, F1066, F1067, F1068, F1069, F1070, F1071, F1072, F1073, F1074, F1075, F1076, F1077, F1078, F1079, F1080, F1081, F1082, F1083, F1084, F1085, F1086, F1087, F1088, F1089, F1090, F1091, F1092, F1093, F1094, F1095, F1096, F1097, F1098, F1099, F1100, F1101, F1102, F1103, F1104, F1105, F1106, F1107, F1108, F1109, F1110, F1111, F1112, F1113, F1114, F1115, F1116, F1117, F1118, F1119, F1120, F1121, F1122, F1123, F1124, F1125, F1126, F1127, F1128, F1129, F1130, F1131, F1132, F1133, F1134, F1135, F1136, F1137, F1138, F1139, F1140, F1141, F1142, F1143, F1144, F1145, F1146, F1147, F1148, F1149, F1150, F1151, F1152, F1153, F1154, F1155, F1156, F1157, F1158, F1159, F1160, F1161, F1162, F1163, F1164, F1165, F1166, F1167, F1168, F1169, F1170, F1171, F1172, F1173, F1174, F1175, F1176, F1177, F1178, F1179, F1180, F1181, F1182, F1183, F1184, F1185, F1186, F1187, F1188, F1189, F1190, F1191, F1192, F1193, F1194, F1195, F1196, F1197, F1198, F1199, F1200, F1201, F1202, F1203, F1204, F1205, F1206, F1207, F1208, F1209, F1210, F1211, F1212, F1213, F1214, F1215, F1216, F1217, F1218, F1219, F1220, F1221, F1222, F1223, F1224, F1225, F1226, F1227, F1228, F1229, F1230, F1231, F1232, F1233, F1234, F1235, F1236, F1237, F1238, F1239, F1240, F1241, F1242, F1243, F1244, F1245, F1246, F1247, F1248, F1249, F1250, F1251, F1252, F1253, F1254, F1255, F1256, F1257, F1258, F1259, F1260, F1261, F1262, F1263, F1264, F1265, F1266, F1267, F1268, F1269, F1270, F1271, F1272, F1273, F1274, F1275, F1276, F1277, F1278, F1279, F1280, F1281, F1282, F1283, F1284, F1285, F1286, F1287, F1288, F1289, F1290, F1291, F1292, F1293, F1294, F1295, F1296, F1297, F1298, F1299, F1300, F1301, F1302, F1303, F1304, F1305, F1306, F1307, F1308, F1309, F1310, F1311, F1312, F1313, F1314, F1315, F1316, F1317, F1318, F1319, F1320, F1321, F1322, F1323, F1324, F1325, F1326, F1327, F1328, F1329, F1330, F1331, F1332, F1333, F1334, F1335, F1336, F1337, F1338, F1339, F1340, F1341, F1342, F1343, F1344, F1345, F1346, F1347, F1348, F1349, F1350, F1351, F1352, F1353, F1354, F1355, F1356, F1357, F1358, F1359, F1360, F1361, F1362, F1363, F1364, F1365, F1366, F1367, F1368, F1369, F1370, F1371, F1372, F1373, F1374, F1375, F1376, F1377, F1378, F1379, F1380, F1381, F1382, F1383, F1384, F1385, F1386, F1387, F1388, F1389, F1390, F1391, F1392, F1393, F1394, F1395, F1396, F1397, F1398, F1399, F1400, F1401, F1402, F1403, F1404, F1405, F1406, F1407, F1408, F1409, F1410, F1411, F1412, F1413, F1414, F1415, F1416, F1417, F1418, F1419, F1420, F1421, F1422, F1423, F1424, F1425, F1426, F1427, F1428, F1429, F1430, F1431, F1432, F1433, F1434, F1435, F1436, F1437, F1438, F1439, F1440, F1441, F1442, F1443, F1444, F1445, F1446, F1447, F1448, F1449, F1450, F1451, F1452, F1453, F1454, F1455, F1456, F1457, F1458, F1459, F1460, F1461, F1462, F1463, F1464, F1465, F1466, F1467, F1468, F1469, F1470, F1471, F1472, F1473, F1474, F1475, F1476, F1477, F1478, F1479, F1480, F1481, F1482, F1483, F1484, F1485, F1486, F1487, F1488, F1489, F1490, F1491, F1492, F1493, F1494, F1495, F1496, F1497, F1498, F1499, F1500, F1501, F1502, F1503, F1504, F1505, F1506, F1507, F1508, F1509, F1510, F1511, F1512, F1513, F1514, F1515, F1516, F1517, F1518, F1519, F1520, F1521, F1522, F1523, F1524, F1525, F1526, F1527, F1528, F1529, F1530, F1531, F1532, F1533, F1534, F1535, F1536, F1537, F1538, F1539, F1540, F1541, F1542, F1543, F1544, F1545, F1546, F1547, F1548, F1549, F1550, F1551, F1552, F1553, F1554, F1555, F1556, F1557, F1558, F1559, F1560, F1561, F1562, F1563, F1564, F1565, F1566, F1567, F1568, F1569, F1570, F1571, F1572, F1573, F1574, F1575, F1576, F1577, F1578, F1579, F1580, F1581, F1582, F1583, F1584, F1585, F1586, F1587, F1588, F1589, F1590, F1591, F1592, F1593, F1594, F1595, F1596, F1597, F1598, F1599, F1600, F1601, F1602, F1603, F1604, F1605, F1606, F1607, F1608, F1609, F1610, F1611, F1612, F1613, F1614, F1615, F1616, F1617, F1618, F1619, F1620, F1621, F1622, F1623, F1624, F1625, F1626, F1627, F1628, F1629, F1630, F1631, F1632, F1633, F1634, F1635, F1636, F1637, F1638, F1639, F1640, F1641, F1642, F1643, F1644, F1645, F1646, F1647, F1648, F1649, F1650, F1651, F1652, F1653, F1654, F1655, F1656, F1657, F1658, F1659, F1660, F1661, F1662, F1663, F1664, F1665, F1666, F1667, F1668, F1669, F1670, F1671, F1672, F1673, F1674, F1675, F1676, F1677, F1678, F1679, F1680, F1681, F1682, F1683, F1684, F1685, F1686, F1687, F1688, F1689, F1690, F1691, F1692, F1693, F1694, F1695, F1696, F1697, F1698, F1699, F1700, F1701, F1702, F1703, F1704, F1705, F1706, F1707, F1708, F1709, F1710, F1711, F1712, F1713, F1714, F1715, F1716, F1717, F1718, F1719, F1720, F1721, F1722, F1723, F1724, F1725, F1726, F1727, F1728, F1729, F1730, F1731, F1732, F1733, F1734, F1735, F1736, F1737, F1738, F1739, F1740, F1741, F1742, F1743, F1744, F1745, F1746, F1747, F1748, F1749, F1750, F1751, F1752, F1753, F1754, F1755, F1756, F1757, F1758, F1759, F1760, F1761, F1762, F1763, F1764, F1765, F1766, F1767, F1768, F1769, F1770, F1771, F1772, F1773, F1774, F1775, F1776, F1777, F1778, F1779, F1780, F1781, F1782, F1783, F1784, F1785, F1786, F1787, F1788, F1789, F1790, F1791, F1792, F1793, F1794, F1795, F1796, F1797, F1798, F1799, F1800, F1801, F1802, F1803, F1804, F1805, F1806, F1807, F1808, F1809, F1810, F1811, F1812, F1813, F1814, F1815, F1816, F1817, F1818, F1819, F1820, F1821, F1822, F1823, F1824, F1825, F1826, F1827, F1828, F1829, F1830, F1831, F1832, F1833, F1834, F1835, F1836, F1837, F1838, F1839, F1840, F1841, F1842, F1843, F1844, F1845, F1846, F1847, F1848, F1849, F1850, F1851, F1852, F1853, F1854, F1855, F1856, F1857, F1858, F1859, F1860, F1861, F1862, F1863, F1864, F1865, F1866, F1867, F1868, F1869, F1870, F1871, F1872, F1873, F1874, F1875, F1876, F1877, F1878, F1879, F1880, F1881, F1882, F1883, F1884, F1885, F1886, F1887, F1888, F1889, F1890, F1891, F1892, F1893, F1894, F1895, F1896, F1897, F1898, F1899, F1900, F1901, F1902, F1903, F1904, F1905, F1906, F1907, F1908, F1909, F1910, F1911, F1912, F1913, F1914, F1915, F1916, F1917, F1918, F1919, F1920, F1921, F1922, F1923, F1924, F1925, F1926, F1927, F1928, F1929, F1930, F1931, F1932, F1933, F1934, F1935, F1936, F1937, F1938, F1939, F1940, F1941, F1942, F1943, F1944, F1945, F1946, F1947, F1948, F1949, F1950, F1951, F1952, F1953, F1954, F1955, F1956, F1957, F1958, F1959, F1960, F1961, F1962, F1963, F1964, F1965, F1966, F1967, F1968, F1969
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
early adequate education for prevention
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Those letters which can be answered easily and with little delay should be completed ed immediately.
F2
early, sustained corrective treatment for the offender
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Those complaints which need further investigation and for which no quick answer was ·e possible will be sent a letter acknowledging receipt and proposed action. Some letters were summarized to the whole jury if the content seemed to justify this procedure. A few of the letters resulted in considerable discussion as to the best procedure to follow. Many were not within Grand Jury responsibility and were referred to other authority. To expedite action on the letters, the committee received excellent assistance from the office staff, ct legal advisor and investigator. They were diligent and objective in giving counsel and advice to committee members. Gerald A. Calhoun, Chairman, Criminal Complaints Committee Approved by Grand Jury November 30, 1970 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT Standing: Addison Quarles Lloyd Dickey Dan Donohue Turner Alexander Seated: Christine Mather Lucille Deasy, Secretary Ray Dodds, Chairman Patricia Krogstad Voris Marker For several years, a Smog Committee has been a part of each Los Angeles County Grand Jury This committee has attended a hearing before the Los Angeles Zoning Commission in regard to noise at International Airport. The committee was represented at the Mayor of Los Angeles Anti- pollution Conference. A meeting was held with Mr. Fuller just prior to his retirement as head of the Air Pollution Control District. A tour of the Long Beach and San Pedro Harbors in the city-owned launch, "Angelina", was made by the committee. An investigation into the chemistry of detergents was begun by a special task force and continued by the committee. It was learned that all detergents made in the United States since 1965 are biode- gradable. They break down in the sewage disposal plant into such components as to reduce the con- tamination of the bodies of water into which they flow. There is a difference of opinion as to the results in home cesspools. The Grand Jury took no affirmative action concerning the committee's resolution against oil drilling in San Pedro Harbor; it endorsed the committee's opinion that California should take part in the civil suit against the major automobile manufacturers, claiming collusion to prevent cleaner running engines. Letters concerning this action were sent to Governor Reagan and Attorney General Thomas J. Lynch. The committee has recognized that there is no simple answer to the problems of environmental control. Its hope is to help disseminate the basic truth that the so-called CONSUMER does not exist – there are only USERS. Nothing is ever destroyed, it only changes in form; the waste material is usually equivalent in volume to the original product. This is strikingly demonstrated by the old automobiles that clutter the It's a small world; all the extractive industries are working on an exhaustible supply. It is our plan and purpose to help set the processes of recycling and recovery in motion. On August 24th the Environmental Control Committee did another inspection of the harbors, this time as guests of the Los Angeles City Fire Department aboard a Fire Boat. In addition to the crew, who was very cooperative and informative, Mr. Roy Hampson of the State Water Quality Control Board was along to point out the factors that contribute to the problem. It was a pleasure to hear him say that their efforts had met with considerable success. The best evidence is that the water will again support some fish and animal life. Anchovies and seals have returned to the harbor and are present in considerable quantities. However, he pointed out a number of sources of pollution which indicated that their job is not complete. It seemed evident that a satisfactory patrol of the harbors and coast of the County, with the numerous sources of possible pollution, requires more than the two assigned to the task. The committee wrote to the Director to that effect. Consistent with the committee's previous position of opposing oil drilling in San Pedro Harbor, a state- ment was issued opposing exploratory core-hole drilling at Pacific Palisades Beach. With the approval of the Grand Jury, statements of this opinion were sent to the Board of Zoning Appeals and other interested parties. In pursuance of the subject of oil pollution, it was learned that Los Angeles City Ordinances allow an exploratory core-drilling permit without a public hearing. They also require that only owners of prop- erty within 300 feet of the site shall be notified. A recent change in the administrative rules of the City Department of Building and Safety requires an interested citizen to deposit $1,000 in cash or cashier's check and pay $20.00 per hour — minimum fee $20.00 - for the privilege of examining and drawing or blueprint on file. It is even being applied to plot plans. Both of these matters are, in the opinion of the committee, detrimental to the public welfare and the public knowledge so necessary to environmental control. All involved and interested parties have been so advised. Mr. Robert Chass, the new head of APCD, accepted the invitation to address the Grand Jury on Thurs- day, November 5. In reviewing the year, it seems that contributions toward improving the environment were miniscule. The committee hopes that it has aroused a few more people to the size and urgency of the problem, and that future Grand Juries will see the need to continue this task. RECOMMENDATIONS 1) A strong and sustained program should be instituted to educate people to the advan- tages of living near their work. The establishment of communities by industries could be a part of the plan.
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stiff enforcement of laws to get the seller for profit out of circulation and off the streets
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
That there be an annual management audit of the county which would reveal inefficiencies, waste and duplications not brought to light by the bookkeeping audit currently provided for by Statute. (See 1970 Grand Jury Contract Auditors Report.) 4) That when civil service salaries are set to be on a par with private, corporate salaries, such comparisons allow fully for the additional work security and other benefits accompanying civil service employment. Turner Alexander Catherine Corbin Curtis L. Mick Accepted by Grand Jury November 18, 1970 GRAND JURY FEES The three-member Task Force on Grand Jury fees investigated the present per diem ($10.00) in relation to present-day inflation, federal grand jury fees, and its historical purpose. The Task Force recommended and the Grand Jury accepted the following motion: "The 1970 Grand Jury recommends to the Board of Supervisors an amendment to the appropriate statute increasing the fee for grand jurors from $10.00 to $20.00 for each day's attendance." Lloyd Dickey, Chairman Daniel Donohue Don C. Seare Accepted by the Grand Jury September 28, 1970 GRAND JURY - GENERAL CONCERN This three-member Task Force researched, studied, and investigated the statutory and administrative provisions for the selecting, nominating, and installing the Los Angeles County Grand Jury. Further, it acted upon pending and anticipated legislation relative to holdover jurors (AB 197). The Grand Jury accepted the following report and motions on recommendations of this Task Force: 1) That the State Legislature and Governor be advised of this Grand Jury's opposition to AB 197 - three holdover grand jurors to be chosen by the presiding judge of the Superior Court for service on next year's jury. (The Governor vetoed this bill) 2) That the two drawings for grand jurors each year be advanced by one month (time of assuming duties not to be changed). Thus the final twenty-three jurors would be drawn the first Tuesday in December giving each juror time to study the necessary materials and re-arrange his schedule. 3) That the "Charge to the Grand Jury" be revised annually so as to contain the latest statutory provisions, and that all statutory
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regulation and control of production, distribution, importation of dangerous drugs and narcotics
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
An annual audit of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association's financial statements is performed by the Auditor-Controller's Audit Division. The audit includes a test count of securities held by the County Treasurer for the Retire- ment Association. However, no frequent test counts are made of the securities held by the Treasurer for the Los Angeles Unified or Los Angeles Junior College retirement funds. We believe the Auditor-Controller should periodically review and test the custodial functions performed by the Treasurer for these school district retirement funds. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Suggestions A) A standard format should be adopted so that all departments and institutions report the same kind of information to the Auditor-Controller. B) The information reported should include the name of the debtor, the name of the account receivable, the aging of the amount receivable, the classification (nature) of the receivable, and space for comments relating to its collectibility. C) Clear deadlines must be established and enforced for receipt of the accounts receivable information in the Auditor-Controller's office and a policy adopted whereby each depart- ment must submit a report. D) Procedures must be established to insure that all departments have included in their accounts receivable:
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Identify groups whose tasks are really carried out, or should be, by county or other governmental units.
Related Recommendations (1)
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The inventory activity reports prepared by Mechanical should be quarterly rather than annually so that action can be taken in a timely manner.
F6
Re-evaluate the need-effectiveness-cost of the groups." On November 15, 1967, "the CAO was instructed to periodically review the Board-appointed committees and commissions and report the results . . . to the members of the Board for their consideration." The CAO advised the 1968 \bar{G}rand Jury Audit Committee that" . . . we have made initial contact with 18 committees, . . ." and that "we plan to complete our review by September 30, 1969." In September 1970, the CAO wrote to the 1970 Contract Auditor that "...a limited amount of activity with regard to county commissions and committees has taken place since our last correspondence to you on November 18, 1968." The Contract Auditor advised this Audit Committee of the "limited progress in the making of periodic reviews and evaluations of these groups." From the lists supplied by the CAO, the Contract Auditor reports that: "1) Two commissions have been combined into one.
Related Recommendations (1)
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We believe it incorrect to omit hospital inventories from County financial LAND, STRUCTURES AND IMPROVEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT: Corrective and Improvement Actions Suggested
F1970
Replies received (85% of dollar requests mailed) indicated that the Department's records were correct except for one account: The State Department of Water Resources contested a June 1969 billing for $545,642.74, of which the State had no record. A copy of the invoice is being resubmitted The Department's policy is to send unpaid accounts of government agencies or large corporations to the Road Fiscal Officer for review and action; however, it appears that there was insufficient followup on this particular invoice. We recommend that the Department make periodic reviews of the open invoice files to insure that all old invoices are investigated promptly for proper followup. REVENUES OF DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH: Suggestions A) We recommend that the Department take action to facilitate receipt of documents from its various facilities and/or use estimates based on best available information in order to insure that billings are made promptly. B) More aggressive collection action is indicated. REVENUES AND ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE - FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT: Suggestions A) At fiscal year-end the District should record its unbilled reimbursable expenditures as "unbilled receivables," with offsets to appropriate revenue accounts, and should record amounts collected in advance of related expenditures as "deferred credits" to revenue. B) A cost accounting system should be developed to segregate reimbursable expenditures from nonreimbursable expenditures at the point of origin whenever possible. This would expedite the billing process by eliminating to a great degree the tedious and time-consuming task of reviewing expenditure ledgers each time a billing is prepared. C) The District should fix the responsibility for insuring that all provisions of betterment agreements are complied with, including timely final accountings. EXPENDITURES FOR PAYROLLS: Corrective Actions Suggested 1) Steps should be taken to force compliance by departments with deadlines for reporting payroll information, so that it may be routinely processed through the computer. 2) Delays in the transmission of change information from departmental personnel and payroll sections should be eliminated by the establishment and enforcement of dead- line dates. Forms for the submission of information from personnel section to the payroll section of a department should be prenumbered so that they can be accounted To expedite changes into payroll system, consideration should be given to the possibil- ity of having change in status reports prepared by departmental personnel sections for direct submission to Special Claims, with copies to the departmental payroll sections and to the County Personnel Department. 3) Existing deadlines on the submission of absence reports by departments to Special Claims should be enforced. Departmental time clerks should report absences daily so that the departmental payroll sections will have the necessary information for the timely preparation of absence reports. Before a final salary check is given to a teminating employee, the salary rate used by 4) 3 the departmental payroll section should be verified by Special Claims. 5) A policy should be established and enforced for the timely reporting of overtime to be paid for. Computer programs should be modified to provide for automatic verification of pay rates and computation of overtime pay. 6) Regulations of the Internal Revenue relating to retention of withholding exemption certificates should be followed. 7) The problem of duplicate employee numbers is due to the use of five-digit maximum employee number (99,999 is the highest available) for approximately 85,000 different employees paid during each year. The high level of turnover requires frequent reuse of old employee numbers. By adjusting the programs to accept a six-digit number, 999,999 numbers would be available, the reuse of numbers eliminated for many years. If this suggestion presents a major problem in redesigning the computer system, an alternative is to use an alphabetical character as the first digit of the employee number. This would expand the available numbers to approximately 260,000. As a minimum procedure, an edit step should be added to the computer program to check its file for duplicate numbers every time the payroll is processed. If the County desires to continue issuing their former numbers to rehired employees, the computer would catch duplicates as soon as they enter the system and corrective action can be taken. 8) For better control of unclaimed warrants, consideration sould be given to the use of a te suspense control account with a periodic detailed listing of the warrants. Release of an unclaimed warrant should be only upon the written approval of a responsible Special Claims employee, and the unclaimed warrants on hand should be compared at surprise intervals with the detail listing. 9) We recommend a change in the method of computing deductions from pay for un- excused absences to a system which is based upon annualized working days rather than calendar days in the month of occurrence. 10) To minimize the possibility of human error and to eliminate the cost and time re- quired for the manual computation of monthly salary rates, we suggest the incorpora- tion of the required factors into the computer program so that the monthly salary g rate for each employee can be computed automatically and placed in the computer master file. Special pay rates for certain employees could also be built into the system. 11) Meaningful controls should be built into the computer program. Hours worked and gross and net pay would seem to be the logical control totals. For example, routines could be built into existing programs to compare the number of overtime or total hours input to some reasonable limit. Any item exceeding this amount would give rise to an exception listing which would be forwarded to the control group for resolution prior to the distribution of payroll checks. The same approach could be taken with regard to both gross and net pay. In this manner, any unreasonable salary (and hours) would be flagged for closer scrutiny. 12) We think meaningful control totals (such as document counts or total number of hours and/or days absent) could be used to minimize the chances of data loss or conversion error during the master file updating process for employee absence information. The need for control totals during updating is emphasized by the fact that once information is placed on the master file the pay calculation is directly affected. Batch control totals would facilitate location of potential errors. 13) Magnetic tapes in use should not be available to computer room personnel. While it may not be economically feasible to have a library area and librarian for the Admin- istrative Data Center alone (the volume of tapes is not that great), it would seem reasonable to bring the files for the Property, Justice and Administrative Data Center utilize the library and librarian of one of the two adjoining centers. Closing Comments It is apparent from our findings that many of the problems in processing the County's huge payroll are due to the handling of paperwork at the individual departmental level by both a personnel section and a payroll section. When the proposed computerized PPBR (Personnel, Payroll, Budget and Retirement) system is installed, perhaps a year and a half from now, it is to be hoped that many of the functions of the departmental personnel and payroll sections can be eliminated and that these sections will be consol- idated so that duplicate handling (and cost) of data before transmission to the Auditor-Controller's Special Claims section can be avoided. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND COLLECTIONS: Corrections Indicated A) The BRC receivable records should be computerized to aid in controlling accounts and to provide more timely and analytical information on the accounts receivable. B) BRC should upgrade the security of its records. C) Outstanding field receipt forms should be audited by either the Auditor-Controller or BRC on a frequent and surprise basis. WELFARE EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES: Corrective Actions Needed 1) To guard against the entry of false data into the system that produces automatic pay- ment warrants, we recommend that a daily listing be prepared by the Data Center of all new cases entered into data processing by teletype from each District Office. These listings should be sent to and reviewed by district supervisors, and the information should be verified to case files on a test basis. 2) Cash payments made at district offices should be eliminated. A pilot program of writing checks in lieu of cash payments is currently being tested at two District Offices. We recommend that check writing be initiated at all District Offices, eliminating the need for cash payments and providing the basis for State and Federal sharing of these payments. 3) We recommend that controls be established so that automatic payments are stopped pending periodic redeterminations of eligibility. 4) Although conclusions should not be drawn from the very limited number of payment warrants and case files we examined, the results were not encouraging and do lead to a suspicion that welfare disbursements may not be well controlled. The Auditor- Controller's Audit Division staff may want to pick up our testing of warrants and case files to determine if controls are in fact as poor as they at first appear to be. 5) We again suggest that a checklist be established in DPSS to control the receipt of billings from other County departments, to insure that all expenses are included in reimbursement claims and on a timely basis. 6) Welfare Data Center: We believe that our suggestions for the Data Center are self-evident within the fore- going comments under "Findings". 7) Develop and implement the necessary controls to prevent fraudulent conspiracies so that there cannot be a reoccurrence of the kinds of situations which led to the recent Grand Jury indictments. As this report goes to press, formal replies are being received or will shortly be received by the Commit- tee from the Chief Administrative Officer, the Auditor-Controller, and the various County department heads to whom we distributed the Contract Auditor's report.* These replies will be evaluated by the Contract Auditor and the Audit Committee and will be included or summarized in the Contract Auditor's final composite report, to be issued under date of November 10, 1970. In addition to the audit of the County's financial statements discussed in the preceding paragraphs, we requested the Contract Auditor to follow and report back to us on significant prior years' Grand Jury examination recommendations and unsettled points in a number of County departments. In general, the Contract Auditor's reports to us on the current status or on action completed or action taken on the various items which we asked him to follow indicated to us that County departments, after a period of time and internal investigation and reverification, usually adopt the majority of Grand Jury examination-oriented recommendations. We also directed the Contract Auditor to make a brief review of recent annual financial statements of self-governing special-purpose districts within the County. No unusual or significant problems appeared from that review. For detailed information on specific findings refer to our Contract Auditor's Final Report for 1970 on file with the Grand Jury. Douglas A. White Chairman Audit Committee *Honorable Joseph A. Wapner : Citizens Economy and Efficiency Committee Presiding Judge, Superior Court Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Honorable George M. Dell Town Hall Judge, Superior Court Property Owners Tax Association of California Each Member of the Board of Supervisors California Taxpayers' Association Clerk, Board of Supervisors Chief Administrative Officer Auditor-Controller Approved by the Grand Jury November 12, 1970 CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE REPORT Standing: Don Seare Harmon Bennett Ray Dodds Turner Alexander Seated: Lucille Deasy Olive Jackson, Secretary Gerald Calhoun, Chairman Grace Wiener Christine Mather The 1970 Criminal Complaints Committee consisted of nine members who met each Tuesday morning in advance of the general meeting to hear requests for hearings by the complete jury. It was felt that nine was the optimum number. A larger number might have proved unwieldy. A majority vote was necessary to have the request placed on the calendar. The presentation of known facts by either a Deputy Attorney General or Deputy District Attorney was followed by discussion and vote. The calendar dates and a brief summary were given to the full jury when they convened. The eleven months covered in this report resulted in 54 requests for hearings, all of which were presented to the Grand Jury. Of these hearings, 51 resulted in indictments. In 6 cases there was no indictment returned against a total of 9 persons. The time involved in these hearings ranged from one hour to seven days. A total of 102 days was spent on criminal hearings up to December 1. These 102 days were from a total of 173 working sessions of the full jury, or 60% of Grand Jury time. A total of 412 counts were charged in the indictments against 172 persons. Two cases were presented by a Deputy Attorney General, the other 52 by members of the District Attorney's staff. Of the 102 days spent on criminal hearings, five days were given to a special investigation by the District Attorney's office. In this instance, no indictments have been returned, and the investigation is continu- ing into December. In addition to those listed above, there were five hearings scheduled for November and December. These hearings are tentatively scheduled for a total of ten days. A similar caseload is anticipated in the remaining weeks of the year. The indictments returned may be summarized under the following headings: Crime Number of Indictments Filed 6 Murder Robbery 1 Assault (by police) 1 Assault and Battery 2 Bribery and Conspiracy to Bribe 3 Fraud (Real Estate) 1 Fraud (Welfare) 2 Fraud (Corporation) 1 Extortion 2 Kidnapping and Burglary 2 Abortion and Conspiracy to Violate Abortion Laws 1 Narcotics 6 Numbers Conspiracy 1 Shoplifting Conspiracy 1 Grand Theft, Conspiracy and Forgery 15 Arson 1 Grand Theft (Real Estate) 1 Grand Theft (Trade Secrets) 1 Illegal Possession Weapons, Explosives and Conspiracy to Commit Murder 2 Burglary, Forgery, and Receiving Stolen Property 1 Letters from citizens and civic organizations to the Criminal Complaints Committee have totaled 176 to date. A letter-reading sub-committee was used to read and evaluate the content and to assist in answering. If this sub-committee or committee members felt that the content merited further investigation, such investigation was conducted by the jury's investigator. Findings were then returned to the committee Chairman and reported to other members. By vote of the committee, the answering policy was expedited in the following manner: 1. Those letters which can be answered easily and with little delay should be completed ed immediately.
No recommendations for this finding
Additional Recommendations 9
These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.
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R7The problem of duplicate employee numbers is due to the use of five-digit maximum employee number (99,999 is the highest available) for approximately 85,000 different employees paid during each year. The high level of turnover requires frequent reuse of old employee numbers. By adjusting the programs to accept a six-digit number, 999,999 numbers would be available, the reuse of numbers eliminated for many years. If this suggestion presents a major problem in redesigning the computer system, an alternative is to use an alphabetical character as the first digit of the employee number. This would expand the available numbers to approximately 260,000. As a minimum procedure, an edit step should be added to the computer program to check its file for duplicate numbers every time the payroll is processed. If the County desires to continue issuing their former numbers to rehired employees, the computer would catch duplicates as soon as they enter the system and corrective action can be taken.
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R8For better control of unclaimed warrants, consideration sould be given to the use of a te suspense control account with a periodic detailed listing of the warrants. Release of an unclaimed warrant should be only upon the written approval of a responsible Special Claims employee, and the unclaimed warrants on hand should be compared at surprise intervals with the detail listing.
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R9We recommend a change in the method of computing deductions from pay for un- excused absences to a system which is based upon annualized working days rather than calendar days in the month of occurrence.
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R10To minimize the possibility of human error and to eliminate the cost and time re- quired for the manual computation of monthly salary rates, we suggest the incorpora- tion of the required factors into the computer program so that the monthly salary g rate for each employee can be computed automatically and placed in the computer master file. Special pay rates for certain employees could also be built into the system.
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R11Meaningful controls should be built into the computer program. Hours worked and gross and net pay would seem to be the logical control totals. For example, routines could be built into existing programs to compare the number of overtime or total hours input to some reasonable limit. Any item exceeding this amount would give rise to an exception listing which would be forwarded to the control group for resolution prior to the distribution of payroll checks. The same approach could be taken with regard to both gross and net pay. In this manner, any unreasonable salary (and hours) would be flagged for closer scrutiny.
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R12We think meaningful control totals (such as document counts or total number of hours and/or days absent) could be used to minimize the chances of data loss or conversion error during the master file updating process for employee absence information. The need for control totals during updating is emphasized by the fact that once information is placed on the master file the pay calculation is directly
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R13Magnetic tapes in use should not be available to computer room personnel. While it may not be economically feasible to have a library area and librarian for the Admin- istrative Data Center alone (the volume of tapes is not that great), it would seem reasonable to bring the files for the Property, Justice and Administrative Data Center utilize the library and librarian of one of the two adjoining centers. Closing Comments It is apparent from our findings that many of the problems in processing the County's huge payroll are due to the handling of paperwork at the individual departmental level by both a personnel section and a payroll section. When the proposed computerized PPBR (Personnel, Payroll, Budget and Retirement) system is installed, perhaps a year and a half from now, it is to be hoped that many of the functions of the departmental personnel and payroll sections can be eliminated and that these sections will be consol- idated so that duplicate handling (and cost) of data before transmission to the Auditor-Controller's Special Claims section can be avoided. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND COLLECTIONS: Corrections Indicated A) The BRC receivable records should be computerized to aid in controlling accounts and to provide more timely and analytical information on the accounts receivable. B) BRC should upgrade the security of its records. C) Outstanding field receipt forms should be audited by either the Auditor-Controller or BRC on a frequent and surprise basis. WELFARE EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES: Corrective Actions Needed
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R382) The development of public transportation systems that will reduce air pollution should
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R18-36months. STATE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE Since most of the fifty or more social welfare programs administered by the county are created by state legislation based on federal law (only General Relief is under county control and 100% county financed - about 15% of the county expenditure) Robert Martin, State Director of Social Welfare, was invited to speak to the Jury. He stated that his department fulfills the federal requirement for one state agency to receive all federal monies and prepare one basic plan for all the counties based on the Social Security Act, HEW regulations, etc. It also supervises local administration through county welfare departments of all categorical aid programs (AFDC, AB, OAS, ATD), Food Stamps and others. He briefly outlined parts of the President's proposed welfare reforms - FAP - still slowly moving through Congress and which could result in substantial changes in welfare administration and procedures. The effects FAP would have in California must await an analysis of the measure in its finally passed form. He called the following points to the Jury's attention: 1) A welfare recipient often can do better financially than someone working, particularly when additional benefits such as Medi-Cal are taken into consideration. 2) The changes in social conscience and structure because of which the state is replacing former family ties and responsibilities. State of Calif.-Human Relations Agency, Dept. of Social Welfare, Annual Statistical Report, Public Welfare in Calif. 1968-69 Increased activity of community action groups (funded by OEO, often) legal 3) assistance groups, welfare rights organization which have emphasized that "welfare is a right, not privilege" and not stressed responsibility. Class court suits of which 65% have been won by the plaintiff and in each case result 4) in liberalized regulations which the county must implement at an inordinate price tag, i.e., welfare payments to needy children can no longer take into account the income of a step-father. Services should be separated from income maintenance; there has been an "over-sell" 5) of services and too little practical help. THE MANAGEMENT COUNCIL Lawrence T. Cooper, President, the Management Council, told the committee of his organization's work and the efforts of some of the private sector in providing jobs. The Council was started in 1965 follow- ing the Watts Riots. It is a catalyst whose major function is to encourage employers to reach into dis- advantaged areas to discover, recruit and hire qualified persons to fill open jobs without lowering their standards. The goal is to provide an escape route for the needy to permanently remove themselves from the disadvantaged category. He reported: According to a 1966 USC survey, fifteen months after the program began 203 1) companies had hired 17,903 persons; two-thirds of these were still with the same company; of the one-third who left their original job, one-half were working for higher pay (average for men and women, $2.75 per hour). Most of the persons had obtained raises, about one-third had moved into better homes, all the companies were satisfied, and none of the terminations indicated discrimination. There has been real progress towards cooperation and proper job opportunity fore- 2) casting between business, industry and educational, training institutions. Appreciable improvements have been noticed in communication, overcoming of 3) resentments, frustration, bitterness and distrust. However, these areas remain as a continuing need and challenge. The Council works with CAMPS, National Alliance of Businessmen, and refers 4) persons to proper Manpower Development Training Programs. He noted that, in his experience, MDTA funds were well spent in this county. In 1970 the problems are greater and somewhat different. 90% of the unemployed 5) lack basic education and skills - 0-3 grade reading level, whereas 4th or 5th grade level is considered minimum. About 150,000 new arrivals settle in the county's disadvantaged areas each year (about 1,000 black, 800 Mexican-American per month). Were it not for this influx of new residents, he felt the problems could be solved in six or seven years. Some advances, but too slowly, are being made in placing people as apprentices with 6) the union trades. Lack of basic business know-how dooms most small independent business ventures 7) to failure. About 11% are considered sound enough to be given help. On the committee's recommendation, the 1970 Grand Jury adopted a letter - "commending the Management Council for its outstanding success in bringing together qualified job applicants from disadvantaged areas and employers in need of workers . . ." Copies of this letter were sent to the Governor and other concerned Federal, State and local public officials. COOPERATIVE AREA MANPOWER PLANNING SYSTEM In further pursuit of evaluating training programs and job opportunities, the committee investigated CAMPS. Donald Fishel, Executive Secretary, Los Angeles Committee, Cooperative Area Manpower Planning System, spoke to the committee. CAMPS is a network of national, regional, state and local committees created in 1967 to provide a coordinated framework for the identification of manpower needs and solutions of manpower problems in the disadvantaged areas. It is to develop operating and financial linkages among agencies and programs to reduce duplication and to make the best uses of all available resources. Each local committee must prepare a yearly Area Plan which is to be an inventory of resources, identify needs and serve as a guide for all subsequent actions. The goal of CAMPS is to provide aid to needy clients by providing education and training for employment, placement in jobs while providing related services to overcome individual obstacles. CAMPS is badly needed and a most commendable concept which may yet develop into an effective means for coordination. There are, however, at present a number of deficiencies: 1) It lacks authority and control, particularly over the funding of projects and programs. 2) Frequently local plans are funded unilaterally by Washington without local CAMPS consultation; evaluation by and recommendations from CAMPS should be mandatory. 3) A mass of independent legislation added since the Manpower Development Training Act was enacted in 1962 has produced duplication and confusion aggravated by the great number of governmental agencies involved (Labor, HEW, OEO, Commerce, Housing and Urban Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Civil Service . . .) 4) Lack of committment to CAMPS on the part of some agencies and representatives. However, to date, CAMPS has led to inter-agency dialogue, sharing of information and some areas of agreement. Mr. Fishel expressed the hope that the President's MTA of 1969 (particularly SB 2838) would be enacted this year. These measures would de-categorize and consolidate many programs and give more local authority. FOOD STAMPS The Food Stamp Program was of continuing concern to the committee. While this was essentially conceived as a program to increase the consumption of domestic foods, it does have a prime human goal - the better feeding of hungry people. Mrs. Eileen Jensen, Chief, Food Stamp Program, State of California and Steve Larson, County Coor- dinator, spoke to the committee on separate occasions. USDA has full approval over a county's participation in the program. The State Department of Social Welfare administers it but delegates the certification of applicants, storage and protection of stamps and issuance of stamps to the counties. Basically, all assistance families and certain non-assistance, low-income families are eligible to participate in the program. The two speakers were in substantial agreement about the problems in the program as it now operates: 1) Only about 25% of the potentially eligible low-income families use the stamps in California; only about 21% of assistance families (33% of AFDC, 15% of ATD, OAS, etc.) 2) Differences and inconsistencies between HEW and USDA regulations and determina- tion of gross-net income adds unnecessarily to administrative and audit costs of the program. The lack of convenient, efficient economical delivery system discourages potential 3) participants in the program. In the county there are, at latest count, only 106 sales outlets. Delays caused by re-certification and monthly distribution of ATP's (authorization 4) to purchase). There is some philosophical resistance to the program, as voiced by Welfare Rights 5) Organization representatives, and particularly an objection to the restrictions on purchases. The expense (100% county) of each sale handled by the contract banker or other 6) outlet. (Almost $1.00 per transaction at present.) The committee adds these observations: The use and definition of "household" in the program enables, for instance, several 1) persons in a commune to qualify for food stamps. Present eligibility procedures make it possible for persons for whom the program is 2) not intended to take advantage of it. For example, college students - married or in a "household" - who do not choose to work and participate illegally in the program. Registering for and accepting employment should be an enforced, mandatory condi- tion for participation in the program. Stricter security measures to protect against theft of food stamps and the use of such 3) stolen stamps are urgently needed. A pilot program, currently in two county offices, would seem to overcome some of the above problems. This allows a recipient to authorize the purchase price of his stamp allocation to be deducted from his monthly grant check. The stamps and net amount of the grant are then mailed to him. This procedure eliminates the distasteful, inconvenient standing in line to buy stamps. It is recommended that a careful evaluation of this pilot be undertaken next year. WATTS SKILL CENTER The committee and other jurors visited the Watts Skill Center serving South Central Los Angeles. It is, since 1966, housed in an old mattress factory and has "Name of the Game is Jobs!" as its motto. The Center is funded by Manpower Development Training Act monies; the State Human Resources Department has the responsibility of selecting participants and referring them to the Center and the Los Angeles City School District operates the school. Once a trainee is enrolled, attendance in assigned classes is mandatory since acceptance of responsibil- ity and a regular schedule are essential components of the program. A single trainee receives $53 per week and is "docked" for tardiness and unexcused absences. Training programs are open-ended - average length of a class is 40 weeks - and a trainee must leave the program when he has reached his employability level. Vocational counselors and others at the Center work on job development for and placement of the job-ready trainee. The varied vocational training programs include one operated by Pacific Telephone Company which guarantees employment with the company upon satisfactory completion. These were the main facts to which the committee wishes to call attention: 80% of the enrollees are on probation or parole and this seriously affects their 1) employability. 2) Many enrollees have legal, personal and health (alcohol) problems and these are more prevalent among men. 3) Extensive counseling to change attitudes, convince participants to accept education, training and responsibility is required in almost all cases. 4) The Center serves 800-900 persons per year and reports that, to date, 75-80% of the graduates have remained employed. 5) The use of nearby Los Angeles City School facilities is an efficient use of public resources and one that should be continued and expanded if possible. 6) Practical illiteracy is a serious problem; the goal is to enroll trainees in basic education and bring them to 5th grade level before they enter a vocational program. DEPENDENT CHILDREN Visits were made to Mac Laren Hall and the Olive View Cottages. These facilities are operated by the county for dependent, neglected or abused children who are in protective custody for a few hours to several months. (A few "non-placeables" may remain for years.) By law these children must be kept separate from delinquent juveniles; there are about 12,000 of these youngsters in the county at any one time. Depending on the child's needs and problems as well as his home situation he is returned to his home (about 50% in one - two weeks), placed in a foster home, private child care institution, state mental hygiene facility, or with relatives. The institution's program includes physical care, continued partic- ipation in education, individual guidance, and professional observation of each child to plan for his future. The committee arrived at the following conclusions: 1) It must be decided which department has final authority over and responsibility for MacLaren Hall and its charges since Probation Social Services, Education and others are involved. 2) Regrettably, there are far too many repeaters among the neglected, abused children in protective custody - a parent must be proven unfit or guilty of abuse. 3) More and better foster homes are needed especially for teenagers; these offer a more home-like, natural environment at about half the cost of institutional custody. 4) When financially able, legal parents or guardians should be made to pay all or at least part of the cost of caring for their children. The committee recommended and the Grand Jury adopted: 1) That MacLaren Hall be replaced, as already authorized, with the greatest possible speed. The CAO replied that funds for architectural plans are in the 1970-71 budget and that a timetable is being developed. 2) That the two dependent children's cottages at Olive View be immediately phased out because of their excessive costs and staff problems. The CAO replied that the pilot cottage program is being phased out in 1970. LOS ANGELES TRADE TECHNICAL COLLEGE In response to publicity charging that Los Angeles Trade Technical College has free, unfilled classes and two or three job offers for every graduate, the committee questioned Ellis P. Murphy, Director of the Department of Public Social Services. These are the obstacles cited which prevent greater utilization of the college by welfare recipients and other unskilled, unemployed persons: In addition to the cost of books, tools, transportation, etc., there are some charges: 1) $6.50 per semester for a minimum of 12 units for day students and $2.50 plus $3.00 per unit per semester for night students. Some WIN enrollees have been placed in the college and it is expected that further 2) placements will be made when Educational and Training Services Program funds become available. The college, a public school, is limited in the extent to which it may promote or 3) advertise its services. A schedule of classes is available free at the school and all public libraries but none is mailed except on request. There is too much emphasis, to a certain extent, on a liberal arts college program 4) and a resultant rejection of education and training for skilled, blue-collar work. CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS Earl Osadchey, Head Deputy District Attorney, Child Support Division, and Captain Bert Dreebin, Office of the District Attorney Bureau of Investigation, explained the laws and efforts pertaining to collecting child-support payments from fathers. In civil welfare cases the superior court must order payments made to the Court Trustee who forwards them to DPSS. The Court Trustee must notify the district attorney if payments are not made as ordered. In criminal, e.g., "willful failure to provide necessities" cases, the mother must sign a complaint against the father. The committee learned the following: About ¾ of the criminal cases received are from welfare families. 1) Only about 75% of the welfare mothers give even partial cooperation and while 2) this could cause their removal from welfare in accordance with this Code, due to court decisions and DPSS policies, this, in fact, never happens. Over one-half of these cases involve illegitimate children and proving paternity is 3) very difficult. The numbers of cases are vast; in August, 1970, 22,021 criminal non-support cases 4) were opened and another 978 were reopened. There are ten regional offices employ- ing 88 people of whom only 27 are D.A. investigators to handle all these cases. Better enforcement of the laws governing non-support by fathers is indeed needed. 5) This requires greater cooperation by DPSS with this Division and added manpower to cope with the large, difficult caseload problem. VENICE CIVIC UNION Mr. Barry L. Goodman, president of the Venice Civic Union, spoke to the committee and other jurors and expressed these concerns: 1) The need to teach about crime prevention, respect for law and authority, and the dangers of drug abuse from elementary school on. 2) The importance of evaluating if government funds used to sponsor various community action programs were really used for the betterment of the community's citizens. 3) The violence, intimidation and disruption occurring in many of the area's schools. 4) The need for a Directory of Services so that one call to a Coordinator or Help Line will provide the individual with the name of the proper agency or service which he requires. Such a Directory would save time, reduce frustrations, provide inter-agency communications, and aid officials and agencies to pinpoint the community's most urgent needs and problems. On the positive side he cited these community youth programs: 1) The Marina del Rey "Junior Crime Prevention Club" and the Grandview "I'm a Helper" Club. 2) The KIWI Teen Post where there are many constructive activities. Specifically, athletic programs sponsored by members of the Los Angeles Police Department; also community service projects done in conjunction with staff members of the Venice State Service Center. COUNTY'S ROLE IN WELFARE Chief Assistant County Counsel, John Larson spoke to the committee about the county's authority in determining welfare programs and expenditures. He made these points: 1) Over the years the federal government has created numerous welfare programs which the states could or could not adopt. The federal money available upon implementation led California to implement most available programs. 2) The State of California chose to let counties administer all categorical aid (AFDC, OAS, AB, ATD) but the counties have no control over eligibility requirements, size of grants, etc. 3) When federal or state funds are reduced or cease, the county has the difficult emo- tional and political choice of reducing or eliminating the program or assuming 100\% of the cost 4) Recent federal relaxation of rigid compliance requirements to "adequate and workable" has been of some help in reducing administrative costs. 5) The state requires the county to provide some aid to all who are needy but not eligible for categorical aid. This General Relief is 100% county expense and amounted to $23.5 million in 1969-70. 6) Many Office of Economic Opportunity funded programs create further problems for the county because the joint power contracts establishing them are dictated uniformly in Washington and frequently do not meet the local needs of specific counties. There has been much publicity given to the concept of the state or federal government assuming the entire cost of welfare. Therefore, the committee asked how much of the county's welfare budget is met by the local taxpayer. The reply is that $182,082,173 ($35,341,878 administrative costs and $146,740,295 aid payments) is paid by local taxes. This out of the current $907,500,000 welfare budget in a county budget of $2.2 billion. In reply to a further question, the committee was informed that there are no citizenship requirements for categorical aid or general relief; several federal court decisions declared that welfare aid cannot be restricted to U.S. citizens, and, in fact inquiry may not be made as to whether an applicant for assistance is lawfully in the United States. WELFARE ABUSE Criminal cases involving county welfare workers and recipients revealed the following: The Department of Public Social Services and particularly DPSS District Offices are 1) apparently unconcerned and lax about applying federal, state and county provisions regarding eligibility requirements and the current status of recipients. Efforts to ascertain that only the proper payments are made are given "low priority." The required re-affirmations of eligibility are frequently completed by eligibility 2) workers without reviewing the substantiating documents as required by law. Forms used to request and obtain assistance are readily available and in no way is 3) their use controlled by, for instance, serial numbers. Discontinued cases are fed into the computer only once a month. This allows the 4) computer to process warrants for discontinued clients. Such cases should be voided immediately. Paid warrants are not checked in a manner which would reveal obviously irregular, 5) unusual, or suspicious payments. Discontinued case files are not kept in a locked location where their numbers could 6) not be used for obtaining warrants. Access to these files should require at least an eligibility worker and a supervisor's signature. Not enough emphasis is placed on determining the actual existance and custody of 7) children in the county's 103,000 AFDC families (450,000 recipients). It is surprisingly easy to use a number of county warrants for the down payment on 8) an expensive automobile or to deposit these in a savings account. Supplementary grants are readily made and without verification of need nor a review 9) of the number of reasons for such prior grants. For further data and recommendations, refer to the 1970 contract-auditor's findings report - . WEST DISTRICT HEALTH CENTER The committee visited the New West District Health Center which opened in March 1970 and serves 600,000 residents of the area. Historically the function of the Health Department is prevention of disease and protection of the community. However, there is a growing trend towards a more curative approach as evidenced by the pilot family health care clinic. Also, there are greater efforts to develop programs to meet local needs as the community sees them within legal limits. These goals and programs were outlined by District Health Officer George Prichard, M.D., and County Health Officer Gerald Heidbreder, M.D. Clinic services provided include birth control and family planning, venereal disease detection and treatment, pre-natal care, immunizations, etc. A Youth Clinic is held at the Venice Sub-center Monday-Friday evenings from 4 to 10 p.m. Veneral disease, serum pepatitis, malnutrition, and drug abuse present the most serious problems at this location. The Hospital Department has staff for medical aid and referral to physicians and hospitals in this Center. The Mental Health Department will begin offering services from this location in the future. The further development of coordinated health services from this Center is called to the attention of the 1971 Grand Jury. Of note is the proposed merger, adopted in principle by the Board of Supervisors, of the three departments involved into one Department of Health Services. Of special concern is needed growth in these areas: 1) The drug-abuse clinic in the Venice Sub-center with enough competent, qualified personnel and the availability of hospital beds for those suffering from barbiturate withdrawal - this is an urgent, immediate need. 2) Acceptance by the Venice community of the Center's location and services which requires, among others, the overcoming of worries regarding child care, transportation and emergency services. 3) Cooperation between the county, local volunteer groups and public and private agencies to provide the community with necessary health-care services. RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations from this committee, adopted by the Grand Jury, are called to the attention of the 1971 Grand Jury: 1) Consolidation of Adult Aid Programs (OAS, AB, ATD) under Social Security so as to simplify procedures, avoid duplication and save administrative costs. The Board of Supervisors and Mr. Murphy approve and recommend this action. However, legislative changes at the state level are required and they advised their legislative advocate of the matter. 2) Opposition to a proposed $6.4 million remodeling of Old Olive View Hospital as submitted by the Hospitals Department. Also, that serious consideration be given to the sale of an apparently unused 380 acres of land at Olive View. The Board of Supervisors referred this matter to the CAO and Director of Hospitals on October 13, 1970. 3) The approval of a contract between Olive View Hospital and UCLA Medical Center with utmost speed so that there may be the varied, quality staff needed by a complete community hospital. The Board of Supervisors referred this matter to the CAO for report on May 12, 1970. 4) Concurrence in an Alameda County Grand Jury resolution that the state legislature amend the Welfare and Institutions Code to provide identical penalties for theft of welfare funds by welfare recipients as theft of funds from any other source by any other person. Action by Congress to change the 1967 amendments to the Social Security Act to 5) close a loophole and set a definite ceiling on the gross income an AFDC family may have and still be eligible for welfare payments. Allowing deductions of "exemptions and allowable expenses" from a gross income of $1,048 per month (mother with three children) to arrive at a "net" income entitling the recipient to $152 welfare grant is violating the intent of welfare. The Board of Supervisors approved and so advised its legislative advocate. Requested a reaction to the comments that the raising of county intern and resident 6) salaries to such a large extent has had an adverse effect upon recruitment of staff on UCLA Medical Center and other state and private institutions within the county. The matter was referred to the CAO for report on July 10, 1970. The need for a Directory of Services for the Venice area so that one call to a Coor- 7) dinator or Help Line will provide the individual with the name of the proper agency or service which he requires. Such a directory would save time, reduce frustrations, provide inter-agency communication, and aid officials and agencies to pinpoint the community's most urgent needs and problems. The matter was referred to the CAO and other affected departments to prepare a recommendation on October 27, 1970.
Conclusions 10
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CL1early adequate education for prevention
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CL2early, sustained corrective treatment for the offender
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CL3stiff enforcement of laws to get the seller for profit out of circulation and off the streets
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CL4regulation and control of production, distribution, importation of dangerous drugs and narcotics
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CL5the taxpaying citizen? No, not as currently constructed and operated; no one is satisfied. There exists today a massive patchwork of programs; changes have been piled upon changes; extensions have added to liberalizations. Administration is complex and expensive; there is considerable duplication, lack of coordination and communication. There is too great a possibility for abuse. Are training and rehabilitation programs working as they should and could? 2. No, not yet. While there are some excellent ideas and sincere attempts, the overall structure is so riddled with regulations, duplication and confusion that much of the money and effort expended are unproductive. The recipients and potential beneficiaries of these programs become even more discontented and disillusioned because of promises not kept, hopes raised and not fulfilled. Is there duplication of and confusion about programs and services?
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CL6No, not yet. While there are some excellent ideas and sincere attempts, the overall structure is so riddled with regulations, duplication and confusion that much of the money and effort expended are unproductive. The recipients and potential beneficiaries of these programs become even more discontented and disillusioned because of promises not kept, hopes raised and not fulfilled. Is there duplication of and confusion about programs and services? 3) Yes, it is abundantly clear that a complete overhaul is needed. At what governmental level should financing, determination and control of public 4) assistance be? The committee does not pretend to have an answer to this complex question but offers these observations: a. The 1970-71 welfare budget in this county is $907,500,000 and mandatory changes will no doubt increase this amount before the end of the year. Of the current budget, $182,082,173 (about 20%) is met by local taxes. b. This is a vast, varied, state and country. Welfare programs must, somehow, allow the local governmental entity - the county - to devise and control programs to meet the specific needs of its citizens. c. There must be some equalization to provide relief for the property taxpayer in Los Angeles County with its high welfare cost burden. It is unfortunate that major 1970 welfare reform legislation was defeated in the State Senate. There were provisions that would have adjusted welfare rates to meet federal standards for AFDC, provided mandatory work requirements for unemployed fathers, expanded job training opportunities, and placed Welfare costs are doubling in California every six years - there must be change. Anna Priolo, Chairman Social Services Committee Approved by Grand Jury October 26, 1970 AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS FOLLOW-UP REVIEW OF COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS When this subject was reviewed by the Contract Auditor in 1967, there were 88 committees, commissions and boards with a total of 902 members and an estimated annual cost to the county in excess of $1,500,000. At that time it was recommended "that the various groups be merged where possible; that the num- ber of new special committees be limited by using existing committees to do new tasks; that special committees be self-liquidating when they complete their tasks, and that the size and compensation of committees be held to a minimum." Furthermore, it was recommended that "to help implement these suggestions the various committees should be reviewed annually by the Chief Administrative Office to: "1) Determine the merits of continuing the operations. 2) See if the group is doing what its charter specifies. 3) Consider whether it needs any new faces. 4) Determine whether it is duplicating the activities of other groups. 5) Identify groups whose tasks are really carried out, or should be, by county or other governmental units. 6) Re-evaluate the need-effectiveness-cost of the groups." On November 15, 1967, "the CAO was instructed to periodically review the Board-appointed committees and commissions and report the results . . . to the members of the Board for their consideration." The CAO advised the 1968 \bar{G}rand Jury Audit Committee that" . . . we have made initial contact with 18 committees, . . ." and that "we plan to complete our review by September 30, 1969." In September 1970, the CAO wrote to the 1970 Contract Auditor that "...a limited amount of activity with regard to county commissions and committees has taken place since our last correspondence to you on November 18, 1968." The Contract Auditor advised this Audit Committee of the "limited progress in the making of periodic reviews and evaluations of these groups." From the lists supplied by the CAO, the Contract Auditor reports that: "1) Two commissions have been combined into one. 2) Eleven commissions and committees have been abolished. 3) Ten new committees, commissions or boards have been established." While this Audit Committee is fully aware that many of these groups perform important administrative and advisory functions and provide for broad, sincere citizen participation in government, nevertheless, it reiterates the recommendation of 1967 for an annual review of these groups. Furthermore, we urge the adoption of a firm policy which clearly governs the establishment and use of such bodies and sets definite criteria and rules for their operation which include: 1) The specific functions, responsibilities, and authority. 2) The qualifications of members. Definite organizational and procedural regulations. 3) A budget – exact money and staff allotments. 4) A time limit or expiration date for special purpose groups. 5) In the words of the 1970 Contract Auditor: "It is obvious that pursuit of this project has low priority. Perhaps if the annual costs of each of these groups were subjected to the same budget-justification proc- esses as are the costs of a county operating department, and if the costs of these groups were clearly set out in budgets submitted to the Board for consideration, the pace of review action might be stimulated." Anna Priolo for Audit Committee Approved by Grand Jury October 2, 1970 LOYALTY OATH To restore fully the effectiveness and total purpose of the Oath of Office, Constitution of the State of California, Article XX, Section 3, is the purpose of the following proposal. It is recommended that Congress and/or the State Legislature enact the proper, required legislation so that the intent of paragraphs 2 and 3 – currently invalid and unused by Supreme Court decisions – is reinstated and again enforceable and required to be taken and subscribed to by the persons named in Article XX, Section 3. It is further requested that the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County fully support the necessary actions to implement the above recommendation. ADDISON B. QUARLES, Chairman Accepted by the Grand Jury: November 17, 1970 METHADONE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM Continuing an investigative study begun by the 1969 Grand Jury, this ad hoc committee carefully collected data and made extensive inquiries into Methadone use, its assets and liabilities, and recommended to the Grand Jury the following motion which was accepted: "The proposed, expanded use of methadone maintenance programs in rigidly structured, controlled clinic situations in conjunction with formal, total rehabilitation programs for the treatment of selected hard-core addicts is commendable. These methadone maintenance programs to be operated in certain approved county community health centers and/or community mental health clinics under the direction of the State Research Advisory Panel in cooperation with the Director of the Department of Corrections and local law- enforcement agencies. Furthermore, carefully collected data should be submitted to the proper agencies (State Division of Narcotic Enforcement, HRA Office of Narcotics and Drug Abuse) for evaluation so that valid conclusions may be drawn as to the role of methadone in overall addict rehabilitation." Following these actions SB 1271 and AB 232 passed each House and were signed into law by the Governor. Now permissive legislation allows counties to implement provision of these laws. On August 10, County Board of Supervisors endorsed the use of Methadone and on November 4, it authorized the County Health Department to start using the drug in a control program for rehabilitating hard-core heroin addicts on November 16. It is recommended that the 1971 Grand Jury: 1) Study the progress made in the county's methadone program. 2) Investigate the new drug, cyclazocine, as it might be used in heroin rehabilitation programs. Christine Mather, Chairman Approved by Grand Jury August 4, 1970 Revised November 5, 1970 PACKAGE TRAVEL-TOUR BUSINESS Following a lengthy hearing involving the travel-tour flight business, this ad hoc committee studied pending legislation and reviewed reports on other companies who incurred financial difficulties, stranded thousands of people and caused the loss of thousands of dollars by unsuspecting victims. The committee determined that there is a need for strong laws to protect people who, in good faith and in response to advertising, pay in advance for such tours. Assembly Bill 1898, as passed, fails to adequately protect the public from "fly-by-night" travel promoters who are under-capitalized and over-extended. This measure concerns itself only with arrangements for air and sea transportation and does not give consideration to or protection for the many other items included in all-expense tours, such as hotels, meals, land trans- portation, etc. The committee makes the following recommendations which were adopted by the Grand Jury: 1) All sums received by the promoter for all items in an all-expense tour should be held in trust or covered by a sufficient bond, until all carriers, hotels, etc. have been paid in full. 2) A written contract containing all the terms and conditions of the package tour should be required. Furthermore, the face of the contract should show, in bold type, the name and address of the bonding company and the maximum time within which a claim must be filed or show the location and number of the trust account. (It is not proper to place the burden for obtaining this information upon the customer.) 3) It should be required that all tickets for all transportation and written confirmation that all accomodations, etc. have been paid for be delivered to the passenger or purchaser prior to the initial departure. 4) When, in case of violation or noncompliance, a financial loss is sustained by the public, such a loss should be treated as a felony under the statutes covering grand theft and embezzlement. 5) That the California Legislature amend the code dealing with the travel-tour promo- tions to include the above recommendations and that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors actively support such legislative changes. Approved by Grand Jury, August 12, 1970 Don C. Seare, Chairman TASK FORCES CIVIL SERVICE A Task Force to study and make recommendations on the County Civil Service System was created mid- year. It submitted the following conclusions which were accepted by the Grand Jury: The studies indicate that the Civil Service System of Los Angeles County is a good one. Most of the heads of departments are under Civil Service; however, they should be under the Chief Administrative Officer and appointed under a merit system. The Chief Administrative Officer has little power over division heads at present, and it is felt he should have more authority, as recommended in the Economy and Efficiency Committee's Charter change. Voris Marker, Chairman Douglas White Harmon Bennett Accepted by the Grand Jury September 28, 1970 COUNTY EFFICIENCY AND MANAGEMENT A three-member taks force concerned that a financial crisis is facing the county — costs have doubled in the past five years, the '70-'71 budget is 37% greater than '69-'70, the property taxpayer who supplied about 50% of county funds is at the point of rebellion - makes the following recommendations adopted by the 1970 Grand Jury: 1) That the County Charter be amended so that all capital improvements must be financed by a vote of the people on bond issues for the specific improvement. (At present, after the defeat of a bond issue, new construction may be financed by using the pension fund, lease back or non-profit procedure to make such capital expenditures. This method is not only considerably more costly but takes the control over expenditures away from the taxpayer.) 2) That the county's pension plan be re-evaluated and placed on a basis similar to that of the average private enterprise pension plan. Also, that definite minimum and maximum pensions be established. (The county cost for the pension fund has increased 114% in the last five years.)
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CL7That there be an annual management audit of the county which would reveal inefficiencies, waste and duplications not brought to light by the bookkeeping audit currently provided for by Statute. (See 1970 Grand Jury Contract Auditors Report.) 4) That when civil service salaries are set to be on a par with private, corporate salaries, such comparisons allow fully for the additional work security and other benefits accompanying civil service employment. Turner Alexander Catherine Corbin Curtis L. Mick Accepted by Grand Jury November 18, 1970 GRAND JURY FEES The three-member Task Force on Grand Jury fees investigated the present per diem ($10.00) in relation to present-day inflation, federal grand jury fees, and its historical purpose. The Task Force recommended and the Grand Jury accepted the following motion: "The 1970 Grand Jury recommends to the Board of Supervisors an amendment to the appropriate statute increasing the fee for grand jurors from $10.00 to $20.00 for each day's attendance." Lloyd Dickey, Chairman Daniel Donohue Don C. Seare Accepted by the Grand Jury September 28, 1970 GRAND JURY - GENERAL CONCERN This three-member Task Force researched, studied, and investigated the statutory and administrative provisions for the selecting, nominating, and installing the Los Angeles County Grand Jury. Further, it acted upon pending and anticipated legislation relative to holdover jurors (AB 197). The Grand Jury accepted the following report and motions on recommendations of this Task Force: 1) That the State Legislature and Governor be advised of this Grand Jury's opposition to AB 197 - three holdover grand jurors to be chosen by the presiding judge of the Superior Court for service on next year's jury. (The Governor vetoed this bill) 2) That the two drawings for grand jurors each year be advanced by one month (time of assuming duties not to be changed). Thus the final twenty-three jurors would be drawn the first Tuesday in December giving each juror time to study the necessary materials and re-arrange his schedule. 3) That the "Charge to the Grand Jury" be revised annually so as to contain the latest statutory provisions, and that all statutory references be clearly designated. Further, where possible, the language of the charge should be simplified. 4) That each judge of the Superior Court be reminded and urged to exercise his annual right and responsibility to submit two well-qualified nominees for Grand Jury service. Also, that each judge personally interview his potential nominees to ascertain his or her competency (Penal Code No. 893,897) as well as the willingness and availability to assume the time-consuming task of being a grand juror after fully informing him or her of what grand jury duty involves. 5) That, since it is important for each judge to go beyond his personal acquaintances in selecting nominees in order to obtain the most diverse group of jurors, each nominee be requested to furnish the nominating judge with a complete written resume. A much amended bill allowing a second Grand Jury for Los Angeles County passed the 1970 Legislature (Section 904.5 Penal Code). It provides that if the existing Grand Jury is unable to inquire into matters which are subject to Grand Jury inquiry, except public offenses, the district attorney or attorney general applies to the presiding judge of the superior court who may order one additional Grand Jury impaneled. How this provision will be utilized and its practical value remains to be seen. A second jury which can't hear criminal cases will be of little help after about one month; by then the original jury would be well into its civil work and could not efficiently pass this work on to the new Grand Jury. The issue of two Grand Juries is still subject to debate and should be given further study to determine if legislative changes should be recommended. It is concluded that, especially with the recommendations implemented, the county has the service of a qualified, representative body of citizens which each year takes a fresh look at the county's operations. A well-informed, determined body of dedicated jurors has the power to protect the people's interests and rights and comply with its statutory obligations. With the help of the staff assigned to it - which must be responsible, devoted to, and under the direction of the Grand Jury - the Grand Jury is then able to make full, independent investigations based on reasonable grounds and control such inquiries intelligently and impartially within the legal limits of its authority. Olive Jackson Anna L. Priolo Don C. Seare Approved by the Grand Jury October 8, 1970 GRAND JURY - INTERNAL PROCEDURES The 1969 Grand Jury prepared an "Orientation for a Prospective Grand Juror" which was sent to the thirty-four semi-final 1970 Grand Jury nominees. The 1970 Grand Jurors found it helpful and there- fore decided to continue the practice. The "Charge to the Grand Jury including Grand Procedure and Statutory Provisions" and Section 916 of the Penal Code state "Each Grand Jury . . . shall determine its rules of proceeding. . ." However, this Task Force believed it would be beneficial to new grand jurors if successful procedures and suggestions developed by a Grand Jury were passed on to its successors. This brief guide was therefore designed to be an aid to jurors to assist with their orientation before assuming duties. It was sent to the thirty-four prospective jurors selected in the first drawing. Lucille Deasy, Chairman Ruth Cooper Barbara Sanchez Approved by the Grand Jury September 28, 1970 GRAND JURY - NEW QUARTERS A Task Force was constituted to study the new quarters for the Grand Jury in the Criminal Court Building presently under construction. With Judge Wapner's approval and in concert with the Capital Projects staff, many of the recommenda- tions were incorporated in the new quarters. It is recommended that the 1971 and succeeding Grand Juries be initially involved in the planning stages for changes in physical facilities affecting the Grand Jury. Approved by the Grand Jury Ray Dodds, Chairman September 28, 1970 Ruth Cooper, Lloyd Dickey, Violet Dovey POLYGRAPH AND ELECTRONIC LISTENING DEVICES Following expert testimony from polygraph examiners from the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office, this two-member Task Force recommended and the Grand Jury accepted the following recommendations: 1) That the Board of Supervisors include in its 1971 Legislative Program sponsorship of legislation to provide for state licensing of polygraph operators. 2) That the 1971 Grand Jury make use whenever possible of the polygraph when it will help in its investigations and not contaminate its functions in criminal cases. 3) That (as requested by the Sheriff's Office) the Board of Supervisors include in its Legislative Program legislation badly needed in California to assist in suppression of the large-scale operation of organized crime in the sale of narcotics, gambling, and other vices. Such legislation would permit law-enforcement agencies, under Court authority, to use electronic listening devices in conformity with the Federal "Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968." This recommendation confirms studies by the Task Force which disclosed that, seriously concerned with the rising crime rate, law-enforcement agencies must have better tools than they now have to fight crime. Harmon Bennett Turner Alexander Approved by the Grand Jury October 15, 1970 PUBLIC DEFENDER This three-member Task Force investigated the Public Defender's procedures relative to the identifica- tion of indigency and the processes of formulas used to prevent misuse of services. The Grand Jury accepted the following recommendations: 1) That the Public Defender shall have the presently used "Los Angeles County Public Defender - Defendant's Financial Statement" signed under penalty of perjury. 2) That those "financial statements" be subject to audit and investigation to the extent necessary to determine whether or not applying defendants are in fact indigent and thus entitled to representation by the Public Defender. 3) That any cases of misrepresentation of true financial position which may be found be immediately forwarded to the District Attorney for appropriate action for the collection of monies lost and due the county, judgments and liens obtained for future collection, etc. 4) That the laws be amended (or new ones written) so that a person may be required to contribute to his own defense if found financially able to do so. Patricia Krogstad, Chairman Christine Mather Addison B. Quarles Accepted by Grand Jury September 2, 1970 REVOLVING DOOR RECIDIVISM, PAROLE, PROBATION, REHABILITATION The members of this Task Force share a concern regarding the phenomena characterized by Los Angeles City Police Chief, Edward Davis, as the "revolving door." That is the rapidity of the entrance, exit, and re-entrance of habitual offenders throuth the criminal justice system. The Grand Jury accepted the following report and recommendations: On every side are heard statements that crime is increasing at an alarming rate. That corrective and penal institutions are not controlling the problem is evidenced by statistics claiming 85% of those sentenced are recidivists. This would seem to indicate that parole and probation are failing to a great extent in their efforts to rehabilitate. Since the increase of crime among affluent segments of the population tends to discount economic factors as a prime cause, the question seems valid: Has the concept of sociological guilt led to non-responsibility by the individual for his own acts? It was the aim and hope of the Task Force to present to the Grand Jury those programs it identified as successful in rehabilitation with the intent to recommend they be broadened and their application extended. To achieve their aims and purposes, the Task Force met and talked with: 1) A. Abkin, District Administrator - NACP, State of California Department of Corrections. 2) Dr. LaMar T. Empey, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California. 3) Jack Cocks, Division Chief, Eastern, and members of his staff - Los Angeles County Department of Probation. 4) W. J. Anthony, Chief, Corrections Division, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office. The Task Force is indebted to these gentlemen for their interest and assistance. In addition, members of the Task Force did extensive reading in areas of their special interests. RECIDIVISM Among the twenty-two principal aims set forth in 1870 by the American Correctional Association is this statement: "Reformation, not vindictive suffering should be the purpose of the penal treatment The recidivist, the offender who keeps the revolving door of arrest, conviction, release and arrest awhirl, accounts for 85% of sentenced prisoners and is indicative of how far from the ideal we are. The term recidivist lacks a clear-cut definition, although prior commitment to penal institutions is the most Evidence from studies which have followed prisoners from the time of their release up to five years later indicate that about 1/3 of those released from prison return, usually within a few months. Studies have been made to find prediction factors to help in deciding who is not a good parole risk. Very little data exists to show the effectiveness of correctional programs, although some of the most important factors related to recidivism have to do with the person's experience in prison. Participation in in-prison pro- grams are helpful, as is the definite sentence. Ninety percent of prison inmates have no employable skills, therefore finding and keeping employment is a severe problem for the ex-offender. In addition, the ex-prisoner must face the adjustment to a family and a wife, or if they have left him, no family at all. This kind of pressure often drives a man back to his old associates, old habits and new crimes. The fundamental weakness in prisons is that life there is isolated from society. On-going, well-admin- istered programs designed to reduce the recidivist rate would help considerably and pay for themselves in returning productive men to society. PAROLE The California Department of Corrections operates a program of supervision and assistance to parolees that is the most extensive in the nation. Approximately 90% of those released from state prisons are placed under the supervision of parole officers. Since the beginning of this program recidivism, both for new crimes and technical violations, has been reduced from a twenty-year average of 45% to 38.3% in 1965. Parole programs included: 1) State and Federal employment and career training programs for the disadvantaged. 2) Expansion of privately operated half-way houses. Innovative programs involving research and statistic units include: 1) Family Visiting – instituted in 1968 at California Correctional Institute, Tehachapi, provides pre-release, two-day family unit visits. 2) "Contracts" - a Tehachapi program to release inmates who accomplish specific program goals in a given period of time. 3) Community Leaves – are granted up to 72 hours for employment interviews, family visits, housing arrangements, driving license tests, college entrance exams, etc. Short-Term Releases — are designed to help the parolee who is heading for trouble. 4) STR men average four and one-half months in the program against fifteen months for parole revocation. 5) The Work-Furlough Program — allows inmates to hold jobs by leaving prison during working hours and returning to prison at night. PROBATION It is the responsibility of the Probation Department, under authority of State and local law, to carry out probation services to adults and children through study, treatment and supervision. Probation seeks to rehabilitate persons during a period of supervision outside jails and prisons by provid- ing corrective assistance to the individual in conflict with the law while protecting the community. This pre-supposes that the offender is not so confirmed in his criminal behavior that he creates a serious menace to society. The department has developed several specialized services and programs. In addition to supervision and control, examples are: 1) Community Oriented Youthful Offenders Program (COYOP), COYOP was created in response to a heavy increase in the number of 16-23 year olds committed to the California Youth Authority from the criminal courts. COYOP officers carry no more than fifty cases at one time, allowing the officer to better meet the probationer's needs as they arise. (2) Volunteers In Service to Offenders - VISTO is a unique Probation Department program geared to rehabilitate offenders through use of all available community resources and utilization of volunteer aid. 3) Work Furlough Program - Work Furlough is a rehabilitative program for selected inmates for release during specified hours for regular employment, vocational training or school attendance. Results show that 80% of those completing the program are released without being returned to a regular jail program. REHABILITATION PROGRAMS IN COUNTY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS The greatest volume of rehabilitative programs in the Department of the Sheriff, County of Los Angeles, are Vocational Training Programs under the direction of the Corrections Division. The only exceptions are programs conducted at Sybil Brand Institute for Women which is a part of the Jails Division. The Corrections Division has a progressive, innovative approach to the problems of rehabilitation and con- tinually evaluates and tries to improve its programs so that they will meet the practical needs of the inmate upon release. At Sybil Brand Institute women can acquire basic knowledge for 1) seamstress, 2) laundress, 3) waitress and 4) cook. A program for PBX training and training for typist-clerk is being explored and funds Correctional Division vocational skills available to male inmates willing to take advantage of them include: 1) sewing on heavy-duty machines, 2) shoe repair, 3) commercial bakery, 4) basic cooking, meat cutting and table-waiting skills, 5) commercial dairy jobs, 6) hog farm operation is taught, but has little outside value, 7) a nursery teaches rudimentary plant and tree propagation and 8) building In addition remedial and general education classes are taught and the Stone Foundation study course is SUMMARY Of the 40,477 felony defendants convicted and sentenced in California Superior Courts in 1968, 24,106 received felony sentences. Of the 17,101 male persons experiencing parole in 1968, 15.7% were returned to prison with only 176 or 1.1% returned with new violent criminal convictions, mostly robbery.2 In Los Angeles County in 1967, 32,659 men and women were under probation supervision. Less than one-half of the pre-sentenced, convicted felons investigated are recommended for probation. The Pro- bation Department claims 80% effectiveness in control of probationers during the period of time they are under department supervision. (Probation Department Information Series.) Sentenced inmate count in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office Correction Division facilities in October, 1970, was 4,000. The average length of time spent in county jails is 25 to 28 days. 1,755 prisoners were participating in the Division's vocational and rehabilitation programs. ^{3} While the records of parole and probation in control is impressive and encouraging, the basic statistic remains: 80% of sentenced felons are recidivists. Obviously, a great many people are not getting with the program. And there are programs! The State of California offers 45 in its penal institutions. Parole has four major projects in addition to supervision and control. Los Angeles County Probation Department offers two on the adult level. Both Parole and Probation, in addition to their well-established work-furlough and week-end program, are 1 1968 Crime and Delinquency in Calif., Bureau of Criminal Statistics, Table V-6. 2 Progress Report Pamphlet, 1967-68, California Department of Corrections. 3 LASO, Corrections Division. developing in-community services such as half-way houses. Los Angeles County Correction facilities, the step-child of the system, offers seven on-going vocational training programs, a number of skills and crafts opportunities and both general and remedial education classes. Outside of the supervisory and control techniques of Probation and Parole and the work-furlough program, there seems to be no statistical evidence to indicate the success or effectiveness of the many and varied programs offered. Therefore, the often-voiced plea for careful comprehensive, nation-wide compilization of data to be made available to all segments of the justice system seems more than valid. It is a necessity. Much is already being done in this field. With computers and data processing to receive and process the steadily increasing scope and accuracy of criminal statistics and the follow-up of released inmates, a body of information is being accumulated that will be of tremendous help in identifying and classifying offenders. The development of a predictability scale would go a long way in separating the inmate with good parole potential from the inmate which neither the program nor punishment is goint to reform. In Indiana State Prison's data processing school the inmates do research projects and manage the statis- tical matters for prisons throughout the state. A very practical approach. However, the Los Angeles County Probation Department - in seeking job opportunities - employed probationers to work in their record department. The project had to be reevaluated when one of the probationers was caught remov- ing his records from the files. This points up a second crucial need in the system: the proper classification of inmates in order to match them with the program best suited to their need. There is little doubt that to help an offender become rehabilitated from recidivism the best approach is through individual evaluation and personalized assist- ance. Many rehabilitation problems stem from internal aspects. The type of sentence given has a big bearing on how successful other agencies will be in the administration of justice. There is a critical need for an exchange of information between judges, correctional administrators, probation, parole, social workers and welfare. Lack of information many times causes the re-cycling of an inmate through the system. Here information in the hands of the judge could be the key to matching the right inmate with the right program. Since there is general agreement that the first offenders and those with minor criminal records have the best chance of rehabilitation, it would seem to follow that a good place to start is at the county level before criminal behavior has become a set way of life. Cooperation and coordination of information and resources would go far in achieving maximum benefits from programs and facilities. For example: a twenty-three year old man whose basic need is remedial education and an employable skill would not receive a sentence of 30 days dead time in the county jail with three years probation when the remedial education program, to be of any benefit to him, would require at least a ninety-day sentence, after which probation might be greatly reduced or completely unnecessary. The 30-day dead time might better serve the young offender from the affluent segment of society who has too much in funds and leisure time and too little supervision who would benefit from imposed discipline and time to consider his individual responsibility for his own acts. To assist the courts in matching convicted felons with the best program to meet his needs, the Probation Department makes its pre-sentence investigation. The Probation Department, in making its recommenda- tion, should have available and take into consideration information and statistics from law-enforcement agencies and correctional institutions. Proper identification of the convicted felon is of first importance since it is at this time that a prisoner's prior record is considered in evaluating him for sentence. A posi- tive identification must be made to meet this need. It would be helpful if the law-enforcement agency making the initial arrest would obtain the original Criminal Identification and Information number and keep the number adjacent to the suspect's name so that the CII number will follow the suspect through the system. A statement from the officer investigating the arrest should be included in the Probation Department
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CL8assistance be? The committee does not pretend to have an answer to this complex question but offers these observations: a. The 1970-71 welfare budget in this county is $907,500,000 and mandatory changes will no doubt increase this amount before the end of the year. Of the current budget, $182,082,173 (about 20%) is met by local taxes. b. This is a vast, varied, state and country. Welfare programs must, somehow, allow the local governmental entity - the county - to devise and control programs to meet the specific needs of its citizens. c. There must be some equalization to provide relief for the property taxpayer in Los Angeles County with its high welfare cost burden. It is unfortunate that major 1970 welfare reform legislation was defeated in the State Senate. There were provisions that would have adjusted welfare rates to meet federal standards for AFDC, provided mandatory work requirements for unemployed fathers, expanded job training opportunities, and placed Welfare costs are doubling in California every six years - there must be change. Anna Priolo, Chairman Social Services Committee Approved by Grand Jury October 26, 1970 AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS FOLLOW-UP REVIEW OF COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS When this subject was reviewed by the Contract Auditor in 1967, there were 88 committees, commissions and boards with a total of 902 members and an estimated annual cost to the county in excess of $1,500,000. At that time it was recommended "that the various groups be merged where possible; that the num- ber of new special committees be limited by using existing committees to do new tasks; that special committees be self-liquidating when they complete their tasks, and that the size and compensation of committees be held to a minimum." Furthermore, it was recommended that "to help implement these suggestions the various committees should be reviewed annually by the Chief Administrative Office to: "1) Determine the merits of continuing the operations.
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CL9Identify groups whose tasks are really carried out, or should be, by county or other governmental units.
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CL10Re-evaluate the need-effectiveness-cost of the groups." On November 15, 1967, "the CAO was instructed to periodically review the Board-appointed committees and commissions and report the results . . . to the members of the Board for their consideration." The CAO advised the 1968 \bar{G}rand Jury Audit Committee that" . . . we have made initial contact with 18 committees, . . ." and that "we plan to complete our review by September 30, 1969." In September 1970, the CAO wrote to the 1970 Contract Auditor that "...a limited amount of activity with regard to county commissions and committees has taken place since our last correspondence to you on November 18, 1968." The Contract Auditor advised this Audit Committee of the "limited progress in the making of periodic reviews and evaluations of these groups." From the lists supplied by the CAO, the Contract Auditor reports that: "1) Two commissions have been combined into one.
* 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.