San Joaquin County Grand Jury
2003-2004
From the annual report
The consolidated year-end volume. The individual investigations it contains are listed separately below.
📑 Year-End Report
The full consolidated volume; individual reports are listed below.
Individual reports (7)
Findings & Recommendations
16 findings
F1:
There continues to be a lack of effective senior management support at the ATS.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
There continues to be a lack of effective senior management support at the ATS.
F2:
There is no effective system or procedure in place to track or monitor hours worked or sick leave usage.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
There is no effective system or procedure in place to track or monitor hours worked or sick leave usage.
F3:
Attendance guidelines are missing or not adequately communicated to all employees. There is no evidence that guidelines are adhered to or that employees are held accountable for their performance in this area.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3:
Attendance guidelines are missing or not adequately communicated to all employees. There is no evidence that guidelines are adhered to or that employees are held accountable for their performance in this area.
F4:
Performance is not formally monitored for all employees; expectations are not clearly defined and no formal plans for improvement are in place for employees who do not meet the department standard.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4:
Performance is not formally monitored for all employees; expectations are not clearly defined and no formal plans for improvement are in place for employees who do not meet the department standard.
F5:
ATS continues to have a problem with Employee Performance Evaluations that are not current, timely and do not reflect actual performance.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5:
ATS continues to have a problem with Employee Performance Evaluations that are not current, timely and do not reflect actual performance.
F6:
OSA has added training modules for their supervisors, but training is not specific to the challenges faced by inexperienced supervisors and managers or those who lack basic skills.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6:
OSA has added training modules for their supervisors, but training is not specific to the challenges faced by inexperienced supervisors and managers or those who lack basic skills.
F7:
ATS has not adequately prepared and empowered supervisors and directors with effective leadership, problem solving and conflict management tools. The mentoring that was provided was minimal and lacked structure.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7:
ATS has not adequately prepared and empowered supervisors and directors with effective leadership, problem solving and conflict management tools. The mentoring that was provided was minimal and lacked structure.
F8:
Lower level supervisors, managers and directors have insufficient knowledge about the county budgetary process including preparation, accountability, tracking costs and requesting funds for necessary expenditures.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
Lower level supervisors, managers and directors have insufficient knowledge about the county budgetary process including preparation, accountability, tracking costs and requesting funds for necessary expenditures.
F9:
Clients continue to complain that group sessions are not meeting their needs and counselors are compromising the success of the program. As a result, employee and client morale has been negatively impacted.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9:
Clients continue to complain that group sessions are not meeting their needs and counselors are compromising the success of the program. As a result, employee and client morale has been negatively impacted.
F10:
Employees functioning as Substance Abuse Counselors are dealing with personal addiction problems while continuing to interact with clients and conduct group sessions.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10:
Employees functioning as Substance Abuse Counselors are dealing with personal addiction problems while continuing to interact with clients and conduct group sessions.
F11:
Civil Service Rule 18, regarding conduct unbecoming a county employee, Intoxication while on duty, dishonesty and neglect of duty is being violated and in some cases ignored by management. (See Attachment 1)
Related Recommendations (1)
R11:
Civil Service Rule 18, regarding conduct unbecoming a county employee, Intoxication while on duty, dishonesty and neglect of duty is being violated and in some cases ignored by management. (See Attachment 1)
F12:
Environmental conditions, specifically mold, existed at the Family Ties Program at 322 N. California Street, and were ignored by OSA upper management for over one year until exposed in The Record.
Related Recommendations (1)
R12:
Environmental conditions, specifically mold, existed at the Family Ties Program at 322 N. California Street, and were ignored by OSA upper management for over one year until exposed in The Record.
F13:
Uncollected accounts receivables were found in the basement of the 622 Aurora Street Clinic in excess of $6,000.00.
Related Recommendations (1)
R13:
Uncollected accounts receivables were found in the basement of the 622 Aurora Street Clinic in excess of $6,000.00.
F14:
Management at the ATS did not consistently follow the existing San Joaquin County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Policy or utilize available resources to assist troubled employees.
Related Recommendations (1)
R14:
Management at the ATS did not consistently follow the existing San Joaquin County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Policy or utilize available resources to assist troubled employees.
F15:
Recommendations from the 2000 Maximus Report were partially implemented even though the county spent a significant amount of money in an effort to overhaul OSA.
Related Recommendations (1)
R15:
Recommendations from the 2000 Maximus Report were partially implemented even though the county spent a significant amount of money in an effort to overhaul OSA.
F16:
The OSA consolidated several programs, privatized the DDP and under the direction of County Administrator, Manuel Lopez, is actively considering reorganization of the agency.
Related Recommendations (1)
R16:
The OSA consolidated several programs, privatized the DDP and under the direction of County Administrator, Manuel Lopez, is actively considering reorganization of the agency. RECOMMENDATIONS:
Findings & Recommendations
18 findings
F1:
Mr. Denmon posed no immediate threat to himself or others while restrained by both ankles and one wrist and locked in an observation room in a secured unit at the County Jail.
F2:
Jail staff used excessive force to re-secure Mr. Denmon when he expired at the County Jail.
F3:
Though Mr. Denmon verbally threatened to fight staff, was uncooperative, and was a large and strong man, he never attempted to strike anyone at the jail.
F4:
Sergeant Doran ordered Line Duty staff to stand by to wait for an assessment from a Psych Tech. The Line Duty staff ignored the direct order to stand by.
F5:
Line Duty staff entered the observation room without direction to re-secure Mr. Denmon.
F6:
An excessive number of officers entered the observation room to re-secure Mr. Denmon. Credible testimony was given stating no more than four people are needed to re-secure any person, including a man as large and strong as Mr. Denmon.
F7:
Line Duty staff failed to follow repeated orders from medical personnel, a Psych Tech, and the Duty Sergeant to turn Mr. Denmon on his back.
F8:
Jail, medical, and psychiatric staff at the County Jail have testified it is highly unusual for detainees to break the waist belt of the five point restraint system.
F9:
The San Joaquin County Mental Health Department uses the same five-point restraint system. Experienced members of San Joaquin County Mental Health staff stated detainees break the waist belt of the five point restraint system regularly.
F10:
The leather straps of the five point restraint system used to secure Mr. Denmon were old and pliable compared to new straps which are very rigid.
F11:
No written procedures regarding maintenance and replacement of leather restrains were made available to the Civil Grand Jury.
F12:
Though not yet implemented, the County Jail is creating Critical Emergency Response Teams (CERT). The teams will be deployed for riots, cell extractions and other emergencies.
F13:
Disconnect between arresting officers and Pre Booking Officers allows arrestees who are intoxicated and/or have medical conditions to be processed without the appropriate screening.
F14:
Pre Booking Officers, at times, rush through the screening process. Pre Booking Officers do not consistently enter responses from detainees during the screening process. Pre Booking Officers do not always note their observations.
F15:
Merle Scott's current and previous charges were not considered when he was screened in the Booking Unit. Proper screening could have placed Mr. Scott in the medical unit to assist with the detoxifying process.
F16:
Because Mr. Merle Scott had MRSA and a visible open wound, he should have been placed in medical isolation.
F17:
The jail's security staff (deputy sheriffs, transportation officers and other correctional officers) are expected to observe inmates for physical and mental conditions with minimal training.
F18:
There is insufficient training for newly appointed duty sergeants.
Findings & Recommendations
5 findings
F1:
The Grand Jury found that the County Hospital entered into contracts with multiple home health infusion companies, including OCS and OCC.
F2:
The Grand Jury found that OCS allowed their contract with County Hospital to expire even though they claim to have rights to the San Joaquin County territory.
F3:
The Grand Jury found evidence that Option Care Ceres has received substantially more business from County Hospital than Option Care Sacramento and other infusion companies.
F4:
The Grand Jury found no written County Hospital policy that prohibited the award of business to Option Care Ceres or any other infusion company with which County Hospital had entered into a contract for services.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
1. The Grand Jury recommends that the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors direct the County Hospital establish a procurement policy for home health services to reflect the award of services to home health providers in an objective manner consistent with fairness and prudent cost to the county. RESPONSE REQUIRED: Pursuant to Section '933.05 of the Penal Code: The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and San Joaquin General Hospital shall report to the Presiding Judge of the San Joaquin Superior Court, in writing and within 90 days of publication of this report, with a response as follows: As to each finding in the report a response indicating one of the following: a. The respondent agrees with the finding. b. The respondent disagrees with the finding, with an explanation of the reasons therefore. As to each recommendation, a response indicating one of the following: a. The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary of the action taken. b. The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be with a time frame for implementation. c. The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of the analysis and a time frame not to exceed (6) six months. d. The recommendation will not be implemented, with an explanation therefore.
F5:
The Grand Jury found no evidence that a member of the County Board of Supervisors may have used his position to influence Option Care Ceres's selection as a home health care provider through the County Hospital.
Findings & Recommendations
5 findings
F1:
Found that THS was not in violation of their policies and procedures regarding suspensions.
F2:
Found that the school does not have a current policy that requires an official to report the incident to a neutral third party, for purposes of investigation. The incident was investigated by the Tracy High School Vice-Principal three days later.
F3:
The suspension notice given to the parents which referenced Education Code, Sections 48900 and 48915, were not quoted in its entirety.
F4:
TUSD Board Policy #5144, under the heading of "Suspensions and Expulsions/Due process" subheading �Zero Tolerance' states "The Board supports a zero tolerance approach to serious offenses. This approach makes the removal of potentially dangerous students from the classroom a top priority. It ensures fair and equal treatment of all students and requires that all offenders be punished to the fullest extent allowed by law." The term offenders tends to be one sided.
F5:
Two Tracy High School security personnel did not question our appearance on campus when we passed them.
Findings and recommendations not yet extracted.
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Findings & Recommendations
8 findings
F1:
Held 17 vehicles belonging to conservatees in an unsecured lot, exposing them to the elements, which resulted in deterioration and loss of value to the conservatees’ estates.
F2:
Had no current policies and procedures to identify, store and dispose of personal property of conservatees or to conduct ”Inventory and Appraisals”
F3:
Underutilized CompuTrust modules resulting in missing or incorrect information on 50-75% of client accounts
F4:
Failed to preserve the estates of some conservatees as evidenced by unsecured vehicles and the inability to sell vehicles due to missing “Inventory and Appraisals”
F5:
Failed to complete client account audits on 40-50% of their existing client base.
F6:
Requests were made to purchase a ladder, a memory chip for a digital camera, a hand truck and a furniture dolly for the conservatee warehouse, but the requests were denied by management from Behavioral Health. The PG/CO must get approval from Behavioral Health management to use a county vehicle, to conduct routine business including visits to clients and managing the clients’ properties. CONCLUSION: The Grand Jury investigation focused on two primary allegations: 1) auditors were scheduled to be laid off without completing account audits and 2) the PG/CO failed to protect the estates of conserved individuals. Based on the current investigation, the Grand Jury concludes that the allegations in the original complaint are true. Audits were completed on caseloads of specific workers who were under criminal investigation by the District Attorney’s Office. Random audits were done on the remaining cases, but the Grand Jury found no evidence that an audit was completed on all cases in the Conservator’s Office. Due to the high turnover in the Conservator’s Office and the fact that most of the Deputy Public Guardians have less than one year of service in the office, it is the opinion of the Grand Jury that a full account audit would not be advantageous. Owing to a lack of systems for performing basic clerical and accounting duties, and the low staffing levels, estates for some conservatees were not monitored resulting in failure to collect fees for several years. At the time of our investigation the Public Guardian/Conservator had a part time data entry person assigned to review all client accounts starting with the conservatorships. The data entry person was responsible for pulling case files, reviewing court documents, verifying information and updating client data in CompuTrust. The Grand Jury concludes that the data entry position would go a long way towards reconciling conservatorship accounts and determining what authority the PG/CO had. It is the opinion of the Grand Jury that shifting Representative Payees from Deputy Public Guardians to Account Managers does not solve the problem of heavy case-loads. Currently each account manager is assigned to support a Deputy Public Guardian making the caseloads the same. With the proposed reorganization, accounts would not be co-mingled. Account Managers would do the bill paying for payee cases and Deputy Public Guardians would handle all LPS and Probate Conservatorship cases. We heard credible testimony that current staffing levels at the PG/CO would be enough to provide adequate supervision of client accounts if the office was not responsible for Representative Payee accounts. The Grand Jury concluded that inexperience, low staffing levels, poor accounting and a lack of systems and management direction contributed to the poor performance of the agency. The new Public Guardian has taken positive steps to address issues at the Conservator’s Office and Ms. Hughes has started an aggressive plan to reorganize the (PG/CO), improve staffing levels and raise the level of experience in the areas of accounting and property management but she still has a way to go.
F7:
Dispose of all stored vehicles and eliminate the need for long-term storage
F8:
Train all users to maximize their competency in operating CompuTrust computer database modules RESPONSE REQUIRED: Pursuant to Section 933.05 of the Penal Code: The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors shall report to the Presiding Judge of the San Joaquin Superior Court, in writing and within 90 days of publication of this report, with a response as follows: As to each finding in the report a response indicating one of the following: a. The respondent agrees with the finding. b. The respondent disagrees with the finding, with an explanation of the reasons therefore. As to each recommendation, a response indicating one of the following: a. The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary of the action taken. b. The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be with a time frame for implementation. c. The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of the analysis and a time frame not to exceed (6) six months. d. The recommendation will not be implemented, with an explanation therefore.
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Findings & Recommendations
12 findings
F1:
The City of Stockton has taken specific steps to address crime, including adopting pan handling, shopping cart, and pay telephone ordinances and creating Police and Corrections Team (PACT), whose goal is to reduce recidivism.
F2:
The City of Stockton has aggressively identified parolees and sex offenders in concentrated downtown areas and arranged for arrests of violators.
F3:
Calls for City of Stockton Police services have been reduced by 11% in core residential districts from 2000 to 2003.
F4:
Calls for City of Stockton Police services have been reduced by 61% in downtown hotels from 2000 to 2003.
F5:
The number of sexual offenders and parolees has been reduced by 73% and 84% respectively from July 2001 to March 2004 in core residential downtown districts.
F6:
Stockton Police statistics show residential districts 104 and 105 have seen a 60% decrease in crime from 1993 to 2003 compared to a 10% increase city wide.
F7:
The City of Stockton has entered into multiple partnerships utilizing City, Federal and private monies to revitalize the downtown Stockton area.
F8:
There is a high concentration of parolees and sex offenders in downtown residential districts. (See Attachment 1)
F9:
Rental inspections are not being conducted on board and care homes, halfway houses or treatment houses with less than six units.
F10:
The Grand Jury found the Gipson Center at Holt House is doing a commendable job with their programs. The center is a day program that is designed to socialize clients back into society.
F11:
The City of Stockton is working diligently to address issues of blight, abandoned vehicles, police service calls and code enforcement for downtown hotels and motels.
F12:
The Grand Jury found County inspections are generally driven on a complaint basis.