S ONOMA C OUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT Robert M. Ochs Chief Probation Officer Community Corrections Partnership Meeting Minutes Sonoma County Sheriff s Office Training Room October 10, 2011, 4 PM 1. Welcome The meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m. The plan is to go to Board in three or four weeks. As such, Chief Ochs would like to have the formal sign off of the final realignment plan document from the CCP Committee two weeks from today, at the very latest. If someone hasn t had a chance to review the draft plan, it s not too late to send comments/suggestions. According to County Counsel, the act of taking comments/suggestions one-on-one with Chief Ochs does not have to be done publicly. What can t be done, is taking the information gathered from one conversation and sharing it with two or more other members of the CCP and get concurrence. 2. Introductions CCP Members In Attendance: Robert Ochs, Chief Probation Officer, Chair Tom Schwedhelm, Chief of Police, Santa Rosa Police Department Karen Fies, Director, Employment and Training, Human Services Department Terri Saunders, CAO Analyst Steven Herrington, Superintendent, Sonoma County Schools Steve Freitas, Sheriff Dana Simonds, Supervising Criminal Judge Mike Kennedy, Director of Mental Health and AODS Michael Spielman, Director, Drug Abuse Alternative Center Jill Ravitch, District Attorney Gloria Eurotas, Victim Witness, District Attorney s office Supervised Adult Crews 300 Fiscal Drive Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707) 565-1175 Fax (707) 565-1185 Adult Probation Services 600 Administration Dr. 104J Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707) 565-2149 FAX (707) 565-2503 Probation Camp 7400 Steve Olson Lane Forestville, CA 95436 (707) 565-8900 FAX (707) 565-8903 Juvenile Probation Services 7425 Rancho Los Guilicos Rd Dept. B Santa Rosa, CA 95409-6595 (707) 565-6229 FAX (707) 565-6329 Administrative Services P O Box 11719 Santa Rosa, CA 95406 (707) 565-2149 FAX (707) 565-2878 Juvenile Hall 7425 Rancho Los Guilicos Rd Dept A Santa Rosa, CA 95409-6595 (707) 565-6300 FAX (707) 565-6393 Sierra Youth Center Juvenile Weekend Crew 538 Eliza Way Santa Rosa, CA 95409 (707) 565-6306 FAX (707) 565-6296
Unable to Attend: John Abrahams, Public Defender Veronica Ferguson, CAO Gary Nadler, Superior Court Presiding Judge Also in Attendance: Sheralynn Freitas, Deputy Chief Probation Officer Rebecca Wachsberg, Probation Analyst Ruth Uland, Probation Executive Secretary Phil Lawrence, Sheriff s Department Mike Toby, Sheriff s Department Rich VanAnda, Architect 3. Public Comment Two letters from members of the public, addressed to Chief Ochs were read into the record. Images of those letters can be seen below.
(Senders addresses were redacted to protect their privacy.) 4. Adjustments to Plan Chief Ochs suggested two adjustments: 1. Probation Department ASO Carl Vanden Heuvel was contacted and told that $2,000 had not been mentioned at the realignment plan development meeting held on September 26, and therefore wouldn t be included in the plan. Chief Ochs seemed to remember that this contact came from the Sheriff s Office. Neither Steve Freitas no Mike Toby were aware of any such contact. It was mentioned that Mental Health added a $2,000 revenue, which they believe they can achieve through a federal match. Chief Ochs suggested tracking this down, and, if needed, he recommended pulling the $2,000 from the contingency fund. Chief Ochs asked for support from the CCP for that. Objections: If the $2,000 was the Mental Health piece, it may not be necessary to take the money from the contingency fund. It was agreed that the $2,000 request would be tracked down. 2. In transferring recommendations from one chart to another, COG programming in the Jail was not identified. Chief Ochs has added COG programming in the draft plan, because he believes it is a critical piece that needs to be there. There are a couple different ways to fund it, but Chief Ochs recommends adding another $20,000 to the In-Custody Additional Jail Programs budget for COG training. This money could come from the contingency fund. Previously it was agreed to devote $42,000 to Additional Jail Programs. If we add $20,000, it would bring the total up to $62,000. At this point the Contingency fund balance is $277,712,
which would be reduced to $257,712 should the CCP agree to fund COG programming in this manner. Judge Dana Simonds and Chief Tom Schwedhelm both agree that this would be a good use of the funds, and supported the recommendation. A motion was made to fund In-Custody COG programming at the jail through the contingency fund. There was no opposition. Judge Simonds requested there be some money somewhere to put multiple DUI offenders on SCRAM or some other like device, as they are at a high risk to reoffend. It was agreed that this would be looked into, to find out if there is language including this in the $925,000. 5. Review of Draft Realignment Plan Chief Ochs asked all in attendance if they noticed anything big missing that was brought up at our last meeting or if there were pieces in the draft realignment plan that anyone has strong objections to, and would like eliminated. No objections were voiced. If anyone has any concerns or thoughts, they can contact Chief Ochs. At this point, Chief Ochs reviewed the entire Draft Realignment Plan, briefly touching on each topic. The floor was then opened for discussion/suggestions/questions. Tom Schwedhelm, Chief of Police, Santa Rosa Police Department Page 21, under Detention Alternatives: Explain more clearly the transition of SEC going to a private vendor. Q. Is the formula for distribution of funds for counties who don t send people to prison going to be reformulated/changed? A. The initial formula was for one year. Veronica Ferguson will be working with other CAOs to define next year s formula. If the formula stays anywhere near where it is now, we are looking at the possibility of twice the amount we received last year. Gloria Eurotas, Victim Witness Director, DA s Office Victim notification was not mentioned. It was agreed that some language regarding the victim notification process should be included in the plan. Chief Ochs asked Ms. Eurotas to draft something so it can be included. Karen Fies, Director, Employment and Training, Human Services Department Page 26, Educational/Vocational Training should be changed to G.E.D. Take the second paragraph out.
Mike Speilman, Director, Drug Abuse Alternative Center Page 26, the Methadone paragraph has something missing. Mr. Speilman will email Chief Ochs suggested language to complete the paragraph. Next Meeting The CCP was asked to keep the following dates from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. open as possible dates to review the revised Realignment Plan for final approval: Monday, 10/17 Friday, October 21 Monday, 10/24 Monday, 10/31 Notification will be sent out when a date has been chosen. The meeting was adjourned at 4:44 p.m. For information please contact the Probation Department at (707) 565-2149. Copies of all agendas, minutes, and other meeting material are available to the public at the Probation Department, located at 600 Administration Dr., Room 104-J, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.