Score: +6
(9/11/3)
Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2019-2020
Why Aren’t There More Female Firefighters in Santa Clara County?
⚠️ 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: F4
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F2
Mentoring ............................................................................................................. 27
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Fire departments in the SCC Region should develop, fund, and implement mentoring programs. Mentors should advise and guide potential recruits, new recruits, and current firefighters. Mentoring programs should include visits to local schools and organizations to demonstrate encouragement of female candidates. Individual plans should be developed by June 2021 by Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Departments.
F3
Opportunity for Promotion ................................................................................ 27
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Work Environment ............................................................................................. 29
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
To address the unique challenges of promoting a gender-inclusive work culture for women in the setting of a fire department, each fire department in the SCC Region should develop city- or county- approved plans that focus on the remedies to the challenges of the fire service workplace for women. These plans should be developed by the Mountain View Fire Department, Palo Alto Fire Department, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Department by June 2021.
F6
Gear ...................................................................................................................... 29
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
29 CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................................... REQUIRED RESPONSES ......................................................................................................... GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS EMT Emergency Medical Technician Firefighter Includes firefighters, EMTs and paramedics National Report Card A National Report Card on Women in Firefighting, April 2008, by Denise M. Hulett, et al. SCC Region Select fire departments located in Santa Clara County that were surveyed for this report: Santa Clara County Fire Department San José Fire Department Palo Alto Fire Department Mountain View Fire Department Survey Data from SCC Region in response to the Civil Grand Jury Survey, December 2019 - January 2020.
Additional Recommendations 5
These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.
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R1Palo Alto, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Departments should develop, fund, and implement a plan to increase recruiting efforts to grow their number of female firefighters. Individual plans should be developed by June 2021.
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R4aBecause Mountain View Fire Department has no separate dorms for women in its five fire stations, the City of Mountain View should develop a plan to create separate dorms in all fire stations for women to provide better privacy for all firefighters. This plan should be developed by June 2021.
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R4bThe Palo Alto Fire Department should perform a self-evaluation of its eight fire stations and report on whether separate locker rooms, dorms or restrooms with showers for women are available and, where those accommodations are lacking, the City of Palo Alto should develop a plan to create better privacy for all firefighters. This plan should be developed by June 2021.
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R4cBecause Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District has 13 stations with no separate locker rooms for women, seven stations with no separate dorms for women, and four stations with no separate restrooms with showers for women, the County of Santa Clara should develop a plan to create better privacy for all firefighters. This plan should be developed by June 2021.
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R4dBecause San José Fire Department has four stations with no separate locker rooms for women, 14 stations with no separate dorms for women, and four stations with no separate restrooms with showers for women, the City of San José should develop a plan to create better privacy for all firefighters. This plan should be developed by June 2021.
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 31The current procedures for recruiting and hiring female firefighters in the SCC Region have resulted in maintaining a male-dominated fire service that does not reflect the face of the community it serves. For the SCC Region fire departments to have more female firefighters in the workforce, they must hire more women. This will require a concentrated and continuous effort. Furthermore, female firefighters should expect appropriate behavior from all colleagues, separate living accommodations for privacy, formal mentoring, opportunity for promotion, and properly fitting work gear. The SCC Region can learn lessons from neighboring fire departments that have recruited more female firefighters. While San Francisco Fire Department continues to hire more female firefighters, it was required to do so by a mandatory decree, yet today it has exceeded its goal. The SCC Region can look to the SFFD for ideas on female recruitment and hiring. Firefighting is one of the last professions to encourage women to participate.22 However, the CGJ found that when the Mountain View Fire Department funded its effort to recruit female firefighters, its efforts succeeded, and more women were hired. Retired Deputy Fire Chief Curt Varone has worked more than 40 years as a firefighter and writes a blog on fire law. He stated: How do you change that frat house culture? That’s what we’re wrestling with. We’ve been fiddling around with this for 40 years and we’re continuing to have the same problems. We need to look at what is leading to the lack of women in the fire service. Hearts and minds have not changed on this issue and that’s the only way we’re going to see progress.23 The heart of Silicon Valley lies in diversity and innovation. While the Office of Women’s Policy in Santa Clara County states societal perception and governmental policies require deliberate and measured action, some county fire departments have fallen short.24 If Santa Clara County can cultivate an environment that leads to hiring more women firefighters, it will find its way to equitable female representation in the county. More diverse fire departments in the SCC Region would encourage other Santa Clara County fire departments to change their view, and the balance of genders may inspire additional counties to do so as well. 22 2017-2018 Los Angeles County Grand Jury Final Report, p. 9. 23 Robert McCoppin, et al., “Female Firefighters Still Fight for Equality: ‘We’re Assumed Incompetent’,” accessed June 27. 2020, https://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Female-Firefighter-Still-Fight-for-Equality-Were- assumed-Incompetent.html. 24 County of Santa Clara Office of Women’s Policy, “Status of Women and Girls in Santa Clara County,” August 2018, p. 3, accessed October 16, 2020, https://www.sccgov.org/sites/owp/publications/Documents/StatusofWomenandGirls2018pdf_web.pdf.
Agency Responses 4
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.