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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
⚠️ 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.
Findings 16 findings
F1
As promised in their responses to the 2016-17 Grand Jury report, the COE and CSO collaborated with local law enforcement agencies to produce a thorough and well-written Countywide Threat Assessment Plan.
F2
The Plan’s detailed flow chart, assessment protocol, and related documents will be valuable resources for school districts to use in threat situations.
F3
The Santa Cruz County Professional Development Plan for School Safety demonstrates the COE and CSO’s commitment to adequately preparing school staff and local law enforcement to respond to future threats in our schools.
F4
Neither the Countywide Threat Assessment Plan nor the Professional Development Plan for School Safety explicitly call for rehearsing the threat assessment protocol in a non-threat situation, which may compromise the responders’ readiness in a threat situation.
F5
Current dispatch procedures do not distinguish between threatening and non-threatening EDP calls. Making this distinction would create an opportunity for MERT to respond to the 70 percent of 9-1-1 EDP calls that do not involve a threat.
F6
Having a private, for-profit contractor operate the County BHU reduces transparency between the Behavioral Health Department and the people they serve. Published May 17, 2018 2017-2018 Consolidated Final Report 31
F7
The Soquel Union Elementary School District did not provide documentation confirming that it had analyzed the Grand Jury’s recommendation within six months; however, in 2018 it took steps to address the complaint form issue identified in the recommendation.
F8
The Board of Supervisors followed through on its commitments to analyze Grand Jury recommendations related to Domestic Violence Commission meeting times and reporting practices.
F9
A District Attorney designee met with the presiding judge of the Superior Court to explore the re-establishment of a Domestic Violence Court, thus fulfilling the Board of Supervisors’ commitment to do so.
F10
The Sheriff-Coroner’s Office analyzed the Grand Jury’s Facility Risk Report
F11
The Sheriff-Coroner‘s Office fulfilled its commitment to build a fence to enclose the entire Main Jail.
F12
The Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office honored their commitments to make changes to the September 2016 provider contract for medical services for County detention facilities.
F13
The Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office fulfilled their commitment to do a Title 15 inspection of the Main Jail in 2016. Published June 27, 2018 1 22 Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
F14
The Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office confirmed that the Main Jail was in compliance with Title 15 Detoxification Treatment requirements in 2016.
F15
The Felton Fire Protection District’s submission to the current Grand Jury of written policy and procedures regarding the acquisition and sale of real property contradicts the facts established in the 2016 Grand Jury report that the District lacked such documents, and is inconsistent with the District’s 2016 commitment to the public to adopt such policies and procedures in the future.
F16
The Felton Fire Protection District has not yet fulfilled its commitment to post policies and procedures on its website.
Recommendations 8
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R9Assessing the Threat, . http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/GrandJury/GJ2017_final/SchoolTh reatAssessment.pdf#page=3
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R10Assessing the Threat, . http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/GrandJury/GJ2017_final/SchoolTh reatAssessment.pdf#page=8
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R11Assessing the Threat, . http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/GrandJury/GJ2017_final/SchoolTh reatAssessment.pdf#page=8
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R12Agenda for the Planning Meeting for the Countywide Threat Assessment Plan, July 25, 2017 (unpublished).
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R13Agendas for the Planning Meeting for the Countywide Threat Assessment Plan, September 22, 2017, November 17, 2017, and December 8, 2017 (unpublished)
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R14Dewey G. Cornell, PhD. July 16, 2010. “The Virginia Model for Student Threat Assessment.” Accessed April 5, 2018. https://curry.virginia.edu/uploads/resourceLibrary/Virginia_Model_for_Student_Thre at_Assessment_overview_paper_7-16-10.pdf and https://curry.virginia.edu/virginia-model-student-threat-assessment
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R15Assessing the Threat, . http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/GrandJury/GJ2017_final/SchoolTh reatAssessment.pdf#page=5
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R16Santa Cruz Countywide Threat Assessment Plan, Revised December 2017. Accessed April 5, 2018. http://www.santacruzcoe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/threat_assessment_sum mary.pdf
Conclusions 6
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CL1Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors (10 recommendations)
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CL2Mental Health Advisory Board (3 recommendations)
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CL3Soquel Union Elementary School District (1 recommendation)
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CL4Sheriff-Coroner (5 recommendations)
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CL5Felton Fire Protection District Board of Directors (1 recommendation) Published June 27, 2018 Page 10 of 19 2 017-2018 Consolidated Final Report 119 As previously discussed, respondents to Grand Jury investigative reports do not have a statutory duty to provide verification that analyses or changes have been completed; therefore, the current Grand jury opened a new investigation to determine how government officials followed through on their 2016 commitments. We summarize graphically our findings in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 shows the number of recommendations that each government entity committed to consider within 6 months and whether it followed through on those stated commitments. Figure 2 shows the number of recommendations that each government entity committed to implement at a specified time in the future and whether it it followed through on those stated commitments. Figure 1 shows that four of the five submissions provided the current Grand Jury with documentation describing the actions taken to analyze a recommendation; the fifth submission showed that the organization addressed the issues identified in the 2015-16 Grand Jury’s recommendations at some point in time. Figure 1: Actions Taken to Analyze Recommendations Within 6 Months Published June 27, 2018 Page 11 of 19 1 20 Santa Cruz County Grand Jury Figure 2 shows that 12 of 15 submissions confirmed to the current Grand Jury that a
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CL6In September 2017 an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel quoted a staff member in the County’s Human Services Department: We should be housing every youth we see. We should not be walking and stepping over the youth that are lying down or standing around who are homeless. We should be interacting with them, we should be engaging them and thinking about, ‘How can I personally, in Santa Cruz County, contribute to this cause?’ ‘How can I end youth homelessness on an individual basis?’[40] More than one in four of Santa Cruz County’s homeless is a young adult or an unaccompanied minor child. They are, for the most part, invisible members of our community. Recognizing the urgency to solve youth homelessness, there have been many well-intentioned efforts at the local, State and federal levels, some of which have been very effective but limited in their scope. Implementation of the HUD Continuum of Care model is a significant step toward resolving the problems identified in this investigation, as well as the other difficulties facing the children and young adults who are homeless in Santa Cruz County; however, while the grants and other funding have addressed some systemic deficiencies, additional resources will be required to achieve the County’s goal of ending youth homelessness by 2020. Published June 19, 2018 Page 12 of 18 2 017-2018 Consolidated Final Report 85
Commendations 3
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CM1C1. The COE and CSO responded quickly and comprehensively to the recommendations of the 2016-17 Grand Jury report and drafted a plan that creates a firm foundation to address the safety of our students in the context of targeted school violence. C2. The COE and CSO have demonstrated clear commitment to providing ongoing training so that school staff and law enforcement can function collaboratively and respond effectively to threats of violence in our schools. Published April 12, 2018 Page 4 of 9 2017-2018 Consolidated Final Report 9
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CM2C1. The Grand Jury commends our County’s law enforcement agencies for incorporating the new methodologies set forth in the CIT course and adapting their procedures to those methodologies.
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CM3C1. The Board of Supervisors and the County Administrative Officer initiated, for the first time in Santa Cruz County history, a strategic planning process and performance improvement effort. Published June 7, 2018 Page 8 of 14 2017-2018 Consolidated Final Report 67