Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury Electronic Transmission via Email to: [email protected]

R4

By April 1, 2024, all law enforcement agencies who are members of the Child Abuse Services Team designate at least a primary and secondary officer to respond to allegations of child abuse and provide those officers with advanced training in handling such cases. Police Chief Response: This recommendation will not be implemented because it is not reasonable. Arcata PD is a small rural Police Department that does not have the resource capacity to meet this recommendation. However, during a Department restructuring in which an Investigations Division was established, four positions were imbedded within one division that specializes in conducting complex and sophisticated investigations to include allegations of child abuse. Those positions are a Detective Sergeant, two Detectives and one Evidence Technician, all of whom work together alongside APD Patrol Officers to investigate complex child abuse cases. Investigations staff have attended specialized investigative training including Homicide Investigations, Sexual Assault Investigations, Criminal Investigations and Interview and Interrogation, all of which are applicable in different degrees to child abuse investigations depending on the criminal allegations and scope of the investigation. In addition, APD’s Detective Sergeant has been a member of CAST for many years and is currently the chair of this regional collaborative. It should also be noted that APD deploys two Juvenile Diversion Counselors who strategize on how best to guide juvenile offenders away from the criminal justice system when appropriate. Many of the youth the JDC’s work with have been exposed to many of the same traumas associated with incidents of child abuse. This program has been funded through Measure Z up until FY 2023/2024 when not enough support was garnered through the county to continue funding these two positions. The City of Arcata and the Arcata Police Department chose to continue to fund these critical counselors who work tirelessly to advocate for children and their families. APD has, and will continue to be, heavily invested in establishing best practices for child abuse investigations and in working with our regional partners to advocate for victims and witnesses and to hold offenders accountable.

R5

By April 1, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services/Child Welfare Services assign additional Social Workers trained in responding to incidents of child sexual abuse to accompany local law enforcement personnel on the initial contact with a child whenever possible. Police Chief Response: This recommendation has not yet been implemented. The Department of Health and Human Services/Child Welfare Services will determine if this recommendation can be implemented in the future with the goal of meeting the April 1, 2024 timeline.

R6

The District Attorney lead in the creation of a detailed Memorandum of Understanding between all agencies involved in the Child Abuse Services Team, to be completed no later than January 1, 2024 and to be made available via the public websites of all involved agencies. Police Chief Response: This recommendation has not yet been implemented. The Office of the District Attorney will determine if this recommendation can be implemented in the future with the goal of meeting the January 1, 2024 timeline. a) For purposes of subdivision (b) of Section 933 , as to each grand jury finding, the responding person or entity shall indicate one of the following: (1) The respondent agrees with the finding. (2) The respondent disagrees wholly or partially with the finding, in which case the response shall specify the portion of the finding that is disputed and shall include an explanation of the reasons therefor. (b) For purposes of subdivision (b) of Section 933 , as to each grand jury recommendation, the responding person or entity shall report one of the following actions: (1) The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary regarding the implemented action. (2) The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future, with a timeframe for implementation. (3) The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation and the scope and parameters of an analysis or study, and a timeframe for the matter to be prepared for discussion by the officer or head of the agency or department being investigated or reviewed, including the governing body of the public agency when applicable. This timeframe shall not exceed six months from the date of publication of the grand jury report. (4) The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable, with an explanation therefor. (c) However, if a finding or recommendation of the grand jury addresses budgetary or personnel matters of a county agency or department headed by an elected officer, both the agency or department head and the board of supervisors shall respond if requested by the grand jury, but the response of the board of supervisors shall address only those budgetary or personnel matters over which it has some decisionmaking authority. The response of the elected agency or department head shall address all aspects of the findings or recommendations affecting his or her agency or department.