Humboldt County Foster Care Program Needs

Recommendations 10

• R1
  DHHS begin background checking, fingerprinting, and training for all IHSS caregivers.
• R2
  DHHS discontinue approval of payment to caregivers who are abusive or unqualified.
• R3
  DHHS permanently disqualify caregivers who have committed fraud.
• R4
  DHHS establish a centralized system for cross-checking caregiver timecards.
• R5
  DHHS implement a written policy for ongoing case monitoring when the physical safety of the client is in question.
• R6
  DHHS establish a multi-disciplinary team to determine case closure when client safety is at issue.
• R7
  DHHS provide mandatory training for proper case documentation.
• R8
  DHHS adjust caseworker caseloads to provide adequate client support.
• R9
  DHHS implement a process of sharing case information with workers in other DHHS units/divisions.
• R10
  The Sheriff’s Department develop a written policy and provide training for deputies to follow in mandated reporting of abuse and conducting welfare checks. Grand Jury Report # 2004-HS-02 HUMBOLDT COUNTY’S FOSTER CARE PROGRAM NEEDS HELP NOW EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This investigation of the Child Welfare Services (CWS) unit of the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was initiated by a physician’s complaint about serious shortcomings in the county’s foster care program. A four-year project to redesign the county’s foster care program is underway. However, certain matters of serious concern affecting the county’s foster care children must be addressed now. Personnel: CWS has a high turnover rate for caseworkers, which creates tension, stress and turmoil for foster children and their families as well as in the department. Caseworkers are not permitted overtime or flex scheduling to help manage their caseloads and, as a result, they resort to shortcuts to meet demands. Due to a shortage of caseworkers, caseloads are nearly double state guidelines. At the same time, in the past two years, there has been an increase in the number of supervisors, who never work directly with or even see the children or families. Supervisors who have no first-hand case knowledge often override caseworkers’ decisions. In addition, communication between caseworkers and those in the supervisory chain of command is discouraged beyond the level one supervisor. Children/Families: The instability in CWS staff adds to the lack of security already felt by foster children. Their caseworkers, foster parents, and counselors are constantly changing, they frequently must change schools and doctors, and too often siblings are separated from one another. Little attention is paid to what is best for the child. Although the foster care program is mandated to encourage family reunification and family maintenance, current programs for improving parenting skills are ineffective. Foster Families: There is a serious shortage of licensed foster homes and recruitment of new foster parents is difficult. Testimony attributed this in large part to department policies and practices, which result in tension between the department and foster parents. Decisions affecting foster families are made at supervisory levels without meeting with the child, the biological parents, or the foster parents. Families are dealt with inconsistently from the time a case is opened through its investigation and court appearances. Services: Children in crisis need reliable, expert support and the best possible services. The support and services CWS provides to foster children fall short of this standard. Caseworker requests for expenditures have to go up the chain of command, and may take months for approval. A rotating contingent of interns at Humboldt County Mental Health provides services and may see a child only one hour per week. CWS sometimes refuses to authorize payment for court-ordered services and does not always follow medical doctors’ opinions and recommendations for treatment, often citing cost as the reason. Dental care is difficult to obtain because few dentists accept MediCal. Court Proceedings: Frequent continuances of court hearings result from lack of preparation and absences by both attorneys and caseworkers. Delays in legal proceedings prevent timely resolution of important issues in the foster children’s lives, frustrate and inconvenience the families involved, add to the caseworkers’ workload, and overload the court’s calendar. DHHS attributes many of the deficiencies in its CWS foster care program to lack of money for hiring more caseworkers, obtaining better medical, dental and counseling services from private practitioners, and providing training for caseworkers, supervisors, parents, and foster parents. The Grand Jury recommends that DHHS reduce caseloads, establish flexible hours, provide ready access to funds for caseworkers to use for clients’ emergency needs, and provide regular, mandatory training for caseworkers and supervisors in conflict resolution and preparation for court appearances. The Grand Jury also recommends that DHHS make no critical supervisory decisions without meeting with the caseworkers, the children, and the parents and/or foster parents, and without reviewing all relevant information. The Grand Jury recommends that CWS staff make it a priority to place children with relatives of involvement in order to avoid the court taking jurisdiction. When court orders are made, CWS should seek modification rather than ignore them or assert cost as a justification for failing to comply. In addition, the Grand Jury recommends that DHHS improve relations with foster parents and work with child development specialists to design and implement new approaches to parent-child visits and parental training. Finally, the Grand Jury recommends that DHHS reallocate funds to better provide for foster children’s physical and emotional needs. Grand Jury Reports # 2004-JL-01 through #2004-JL-10 HUMBOLDT COUNTY’S JAILS AND HOLDING FACILITIES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Pursuant to California Penal Code Section 919(b), the Grand Jury inspected each prison facility, jail, and holding facility within the County. Ten such facilities are addressed in the reports referenced above. Two additional facilities operated by law enforcement agencies in the County were also inspected and are mentioned in these reports. The following facilities were found clean and well maintained and warranted no Findings or Recommendations: Arcata Police Department, Eureka Police Department, Fortuna Police Department, Sheriff’s Agricultural Farm, Eel River Conservation Camp, and High Rock Conservation Camp. These facilities are described in Reports # 2004-JL-01 through # 2004-JL-05. Inspection of five additional facilities resulted in Findings and Recommendations that require responses from the operating agencies. These facilities are described in Reports #2004-JL-06 through #2004-JL-10. The Grand Jury’s Recommendations are essentially as follows: Sheriff’s Substation – Hoopa 1) Steel security screens should be retrofitted to eliminate a potential hazard in the event of fire. 2) Two deteriorating concrete toilet units should be replaced. Sheriff’s Substation – Garberville 1) The building should be made compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. 2) The building should be remodeled and enlarged to accommodate increased law enforcement activities occurring on holidays and special events. 3) Items held in the evidence/storage locker for a long time should be disposed of or stored in the Sheriff’s central evidence locker in Eureka. Juvenile Hall The building should be made compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Regional Facility Damaged acoustical ceiling tiles in two day rooms should be replaced. Humboldt County Correctional Facility – Computer System 1) A new state-of-the-art computer system should be purchased as soon as possible. 2) The terms of purchase for any future computer system should incorporate the authority and ability by the County to upgrade, enhance, and expand the system. Grand Jury Report # 2004-LJ-01 PUBLIC DEFENDER, COUNTY CONFLICT COUNSEL, AND ALTERNATE CONFLICT COUNSEL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Grand Jury made an independent review of the offices of the Public Defender, the County Conflict Counsel, and the Alternate Conflict Counsel. The three offices employ 17 attorneys, four investigators, and eight legal/clerical staff; they handled over 5,000 cases in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003. In that fiscal year the three offices spent $2,423,245, of which $1,654,257 was provided by the County’s General Fund. Grand Jury Report # 2004-LJ-02 HUMBOLDT COUNTY SHERIFF’S STORAGE YARD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On December 16, 2003, members of the Grand Jury inspected the Sheriff’s Storage Yard and found that many items have been retained there in disarray for as long as ten years. Evidence and lost-and-found property is stored there for safekeeping; evidence is marked by an assigned case number. The Grand Jury recommends that the Sheriff install and use a computerized inventory system, identify items still needed in the legal system, and store those items in a neat and logical manner. The Grand Jury further recommends that the Sheriff dispose of property which is lost-and-found but cannot be returned, is obsolete, or no longer needed in the legal system. GRAND JURY REPORT # 2004-PW-01 CITIZEN COMPLAINTS ABOUT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (CDS) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A Grand Jury investigation in response to citizen complaints discovered that no adequate system of filing, storing, tracking or analyzing customer complaints has been developed at CDS. This is despite past promises to the contrary, and an acknowledgment that such a system is desirable. In addition, the Board of Supervisors spends considerable time responding to constituents’ inquiries regarding complaints and 14 status of projects. Many complaints concern delaying factors that were unknown to the applicant at the beginning of the process. Therefore, the Grand Jury recommends that CDS develop a customer complaint system that facilitates analysis of the complaints, that the complaint policy be clearly communicated to consumers, and that the existing informational brochures be revised to show both complaint procedures and delaying factors. Grand Jury Report # 2004-PW-02 THE LEGALITY OF COUNTY BUILDING INSPECTION DIVISION “RAPID CHECK” AND “RAPID PROCESS” SURCHARGES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Grand Jury investigated a citizen complaint regarding certain fees charged by the Building Inspection Division (BID) of Humboldt County Community Development Services (CDS) for checking plans that are submitted in order to obtain building permits. Ordinarily, the plan checks are performed by the Plan Checker or the Chief Building Official on a first-come, first-served basis. The time it will take for a particular set of plans to come to the top of the pile will vary throughout the year, depending on the number and complexity of the plans submitted before it. Fees are charged for plan checks according to a Fee Schedule that is approved by the Board of Supervisors and enacted by ordinance. In fiscal year 1999-2000, BID instituted “rapid check” and “rapid process” for checking plans on an expedited basis for applicants who pay a surcharge to avoid having to wait their ordinary turn. Under “rapid check,’ plans are checked and returned within a day or two after they are submitted, for a 50% surcharge over the basic plan check fee. “Rapid process’ includes the expedited plan check plus follow- up assistance in completing other steps necessary to obtain a permit, for a 100% surcharge over the basic fee. The service is not publicized by BID or CDS because it is available solely at the discretion of the Plan Checker and the Chief Building Official, who perform the expedited service only on overtime. While the surcharges are intended to cover the overtime cost of the expedited service, BID and CDS do not keep adequate accounting records to confirm this. The “rapid check” and “rapid process” surcharges are not listed in the BID Fee Schedule, nor was CDS able to provide documentation that these surcharges were approved by the Board of Supervisors before they were instituted. Based on the information the Grand Jury obtained during its investigation, including advice from the County Counsel, the Grand Jury concluded that the “rapid check” and “rapid process” surcharges are invalid under the applicable Government Code sections because (1) they were not created through the required legal procedures, and (2) they are arbitrary figures that cannot be related to the actual cost of providing the service with the current record-keeping system. The Grand Jury, therefore, recommends that “rapid check” and “rapid process” be discontinued until they are properly adopted by the Board of Supervisors, following which CDS should develop a method of keeping accurate records to account for the amounts spent and received performing the service. The Grand Jury also recommends that, if the surcharges are properly adopted, the general public be informed of their existence through brochures and the CDS website. Finally, the Grand Jury also noted that Humboldt County has only one full-time Plan Checker, and that hiring a replacement through normal county hiring procedures may take as long as six months. The Grand Jury recommends that CDS develop a plan for dealing with an unanticipated long-term or permanent absence of the Plan Checker, to avoid the serious adverse effect this would have on residential and commercial construction in the county’s jurisdiction. Grand Jury Report # 2004-CC-01 FOLLOW-UP ON RESPONSES TO THE GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT OF 2001-2002 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The 2003-2004 Grand Jury is obligated to review responses to the 2001-2002 Grand Jury Final Report, to see if actions agreed upon by departments had been taken. That report contained 205 findings, 58 conclusions, and 45 recommendations. Of the recommendations, 24 were implemented, nine were to be implemented, and 12 were not to be implemented because of reasons given. The 2003-2004 Grand Jury verified responses to the 24 “implemented” recommendations. Nine “will be implemented” responses to recommendations were investigated. Of the nine, six County Parks’ items were checked and found to be largely compliant. Three Sheriff’s items were found to be still lacking after more than one Grand Jury recommended an agreed-upon action: Americans with Disabilities Act inaccessibility at the Garberville substation, stainless steel toilets not yet installed at the Hoopa substation, and inadequate computer tracking at the evidence room. Grand Jury Report # 2004-CC-02 FOLLOW-UP ON RESPONSES TO THE GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT OF 2002-2003 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The 2003-2004 Grand Jury reviewed written responses to the 2002-2003 Grand Jury Report, which contained 89 findings and 64 recommendations. Recommendations which officials agreed to implement, and those which were to be studied for possible implementation, were verified through document inspection and official testimony, to see if actions or studies agreed upon had been made. Americans with Disabilities Act compliance continues to be a problem in the county, both in Parks and at the Garberville Sheriff’s Substation. Both the Regional Facility and the Sheriff’s Department received commendations for fulfilling recommendations. The Redwood National Park Building in Orick does not provide visitor services as required by local zoning regulations. 16