Vocational/Educational Training

The 2015-2016 Yuba County Grand Jury finds that the Yuba County Jail has shown considerable improvement in the mental health care being provided to the inmates. They now have two crisis counselors, one part-time and one full-time; two part-time psychiatrists (one available through Tele-psych); and a full-time forensic mental health therapist. The inmates have approximately 100 hours of non-emergency mental health care available to them per week. A Bureau of Justice 2006 report states that 64% of jail inmates throughout the nation have mental health problems. Assuming that this same statistical information applies to the Yuba County Jail; that would be an excess of 200 inmates. With 100 treatment hours available this allows for less than 30 minutes of non- emergency one-on-one mental health counselling/treatment per inmate per week. The Jail has reinstated group counsel sessions which allows more inmates an opportunity for treatment during the week. In November, 2015, Yuba County was awarded a $20 million grant through SB 863. This grant shall be used to build a new annex next to the existing building which will include additional rooms for counselling and classroom instruction. Correctional Officers receive annual training in suicide and suicide prevention, and mental health issues in a jail facility. The Officers also received “Mental Health First Aid” which is an 8 hour training course. During the UC Davis (UCD) presentation to the Grand Jury, UCD advised of two suicide-by-hanging attempts, both suicide attempts were interrupted by other inmates. Prior to each situation each inmate had told UCD that they had asked for mental therapy; they wanted to see a psychiatrist, yet no treatment was offered. With the Realignment Act, some inmates are now being housed for longer periods of time, up to five years. Inmates with mental health issues could benefit from a complete evaluation and a recovery oriented treatment plan (Interpretive Guidelines). In 2015, the Zur Institute wrote that there is no textbook definition of the standard of care in the mental health field. Based on the statistics cited, the 100 hours per week allotted to treatment of mental health issues appears to be inadequate for the number of inmates potentially requiring care. Page | 31

The 2015-2016 Yuba County Grand Jury finds that the Yuba County Jail has increased the number and quality of its medical personnel by hiring a full-time Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) who will assist the doctor in the care and treatment of inmates. One of the current LVN’s has passed the RN course, has applied for an interim permit and is expected to receive the permit prior to the release of this Grand Jury Report. This interim RN may receive permanent RN status within a few months. The Sheriff has approached the Board of Supervisors and received funding for the Correctional Facility RN pay with the goal of maintaining a valuable employee while increasing the skill, education and experience in the Medical Unit. The doctor stated that he tries to see an inmate within 48 hours of the inmates’ request. The doctor and nurse combined see 60-80 patients a week and it can become difficult for an inmate to get an appointment with the doctor which could cause a delay in treatment. The Grand Jury also interviewed an ex-inmate who states the inmate was miss-diagnosed by several Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN) and the FNP as having soft tissue damage. It wasn’t until they saw the doctor, 28 days after the initial injury, that the inmate was diagnosed with a radial head fracture. However, in further researching the medical

The 2015-2016 Yuba County Grand Jury finds a number of studies have shown the benefit of providing inmates with an opportunity to earn their GED diploma, which makes this a vital issue to be considered by local, state and national legislators. An article by Matthew Clark in 2014 stated that a 2013 RAND report integrated more than 30 years of previous research on education and recidivism rates. The report states that “inmates who participated in correctional education programs had 43% lower odds of returning to prison than inmates who did not.” (Clark, 2014). It goes on to state that “the odds of an offender finding employment after release from prison was 13% higher for those who participated in academic or vocational programs compared to those who did not.” (Clark, 2014). Another study by John Nuttall (2003) broke down two groups, offenders under the age of 21 and over 21. “Offenders under the age of 21 who earned their GED diploma were 14% less likely to return to prison within three years, while prisoners over 21 were 5% less likely to return to prison after earning a GED diploma. Education in prison systems is an effective way to lower recidivism.” (Nuttal, 2003). Yuba County Jail does offer GED courses that cover the five Core Requirements as well as grammar and spelling. They work with inmates to give them an opportunity to obtain their GED certification, however they are unable to provide the GED certification test in- house and it is not always practical to transport an inmate outside the jail and watch over him/her for six hours. The Jail Administration advised the Grand Jury that they are hoping to provide the GED certification exam in-house in the future. Page | 32