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Findings 8 findings
F1
Orange County Probation Department's Policies and Procedures Manual is consistent with professional standards for use of risk assessment tools and determination of classification levels for each AB109 offender.
F2
Orange County Probation Department's Policies and Procedures Manual is not consistent with professional standards for development of supervision plans for AB109 offenders, including frequency and types of contacts.
F3
Orange County Probation Department's Policies and Procedures Manual does not identify the maximum caseload size for Probation Officers supervision of AB109 offenders.
F4
Orange County Probation Department's Policies and Procedures Manual does not provide adequate requirements for drug-testing classifications or frequency guidelines.
F5
Orange County Probation Department's Policies and Procedures Manual does not provide adequate requirements to address the issue of drug-testing avoidance or recommend responses for AB109 probationers who attempt to avoid positive drug tests by failing to appear or by diluting their urine samples.
F6
Orange County Probation Department does not incorporate current technology (refractometer) in its drug testing system. Including such technology may assist in the ability to quickly detect diluted urine samples provided by probationers.
F7
The Orange County Probation Department and Health Care Agency have lost an opportunity to reduce recidivism by not increasing residential drug treatment options for AB109 probationers over outpatient treatment or incarceration. AB109 Offenders: Are Current Probation Strategies Effective?
F8
There exists a need for increased housing availability for AB109 probationers who are homeless. RECOMMENDATIONS In accordance with California Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05, the 2014- 2015 Grand Jury requires (or, as noted, requests) responses from each agency affected by the recommendations presented in this section. The responses are submitted to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court. Based on its investigation titled "AB109 Offenders: Are Current Probation Strategies Effective?" the 2014-2015 Orange County Grand Jury makes the following six recommendations:
Recommendations 6
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R1Standards and guidelines for AB109 offender supervision, such as number of contacts, home visits, drug tests, and collateral contacts based on the risk-needs assessment should be included in the Orange County Probation Department's Policy and Procedures (F.1., F.2.)
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R2The Orange County Probation Department should take steps to lower caseload sizes consistent with American Probation and Parole Association standards of no more than a 40:1 ratio caseload per officer for high-risk offenders. (F.3.)
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R3Standards and guidelines should be included in the Policies and Procedures Manual to address failures to report for drug testing. (F.5.)
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R4The Orange County Probation Department should implement standards and guidelines in its Policy and Procedures Manual to address the frequently used technique of "flushing" to avoid drug detection and a refractometer or other dilution-measuring device should be used to improve the integrity of the drug- testing program. (F.4., F.5., F.6.)
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R5The Health Care Agency and the Probation Department should assess current funding priorities and options to seek additional residential drug treatment beds. (F.7.)
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R6The Social Services Agency should address the needs of the AB109 offenders who are homeless or who experience instability in housing. (F.8.)
Conclusions 1
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CL1Historically, probation departments have two major roles: social work or the rehabilitation role, and the law enforcement role, assuring compliance with the conditions of probation, and holding the probationer accountable—all aimed at the ultimate goal of community protection. While most agencies tend to gravitate toward one end of the social work-law enforcement continuum (rehabilitation v. enforcement), ideally, departments will possess a proper balance, providing both treatment services, while assuring compliance with the conditions of probation. The Grand Jury observed that the OCPD provides considerable drug treatment opportunities to its AB109 offenders. Treatment services can always be improved, and we observed a shortage of residential resources. Specifically, the Health Care Agency in October 2014, implemented a change in policy to reduce availability of residential treatment beds, thereby creating a waiting list. The number of beds for AB109 offenders was limited to 25 per month. Several of the OCPD staff indicated that this restriction prevented the reform of AB109 offenders who would greatly benefit by residential drug treatment. There were also indications of a need for more sober-living beds, and more housing for identified sex offenders. The Grand Jury observed that the intensity of supervision for AB109 offenders fell short of recognized standards. The number of supervision contacts was inconsistent AB109 Offenders: Are Current Probation Strategies Effective? with high-risk classifications, which further extends to a number of home visit and collateral visit (e.g., family, friends, and workplace) shortfalls. The OCPD has been recognized as one of the few probation departments in the state that has made significant efforts to implement the letter as well as the spirit of AB109. The sponsoring of an AB109 Summit at Concordia University is an indicator of the positive efforts made by OCPD to continue improving the overall supervision of this challenging population. The Grand Jury concluded that changes by the OCPD could result in more optimal conditions for the reduction of recidivism and long term gains in community protection.
Commendations 10
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CM1Short-term "flash" incarceration in jail for a period not to exceed 10 days.
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CM2Intensive community supervision.
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CM3Home detention, electronic monitoring, or GPS supervision.
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CM4Community service. Restorative justice programs.
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CM5Aftercare Treatment Residential drug treatment must be followed by continued outpatient treatment and/or 12-step participation. The continuity of treatment is critical if the offender is to sustain a drug-free lifestyle. Funding problems currently limit the number of drug abusing offenders who enter the most intensive form of treatment, the treatment modality that is most suitable for the substance-abusing offender.
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CM6Work, training, or education.
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CM7Work, in lieu of confinement
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CM8Mandatory residential or non-residential substance abuse programs. Random drug testing.
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CM9Community-based residential programs that provide a variety of services. AB109 Offenders: Are Current Probation Strategies Effective? APPENDIX 2: OCPD MISSION STATEMENT We are dedicated to a safer Orange County through positive change. We believe:
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CM10AB109 Offenders: Are Current Probation Strategies Effective? Orange County Probation Department (2011). Risk Assessment Validation Final Report, October 2011. Paige, St. John, and Marisa Gerber). Prop. 47 Jolts Landscape of California Justice System. (November 6, 2014). In Los Angeles Times: Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-ff-pol-proposition47-20141106- storu.html Performance-Based Standards for Adult Probation and Parole Field Services (4th Edition). American Correctional Association (2010). Price, R.H., & D'Aunno, T. (1992). A national study of the outpatient drug-free and methadone treatment system, 1988-1990 results. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research. Speckart, G. & Anglin, D.M. (1986). Narcotics and Crime: A casual modeling approach. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 2. 3-28. Urinalysis, Sample Collection, Storage, Processing Skin Checks: Potentially Infectious Body Fluids. (2011). Procedures Manual Item 2-1-007. AB109 Offenders: Are Current Probation Strategies Effective? APPENDIX 1: PENAL CODE SECTION 3450 (Selected provisions, emphasis added.)
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.