[Sutter County] Grand jury report slams working conditions at Child Protective Services, problems in other county departments

Inadequate staffing, management and wages spread across several Sutter County areas were among the findings of the grand jury report released Friday.

The release of the full report now joins a series of reports released earlier this month to complete the 2015-16 grand jury's investigations into a variety of government services in the county.

The grand jury investigated a series of complaints about the Child Protective Services department and found that multiple employees have quit or retired due to low morale and grievances not addressed by management.

Since 2011, the turnover rate in the department increased 50 percent. In interviews, the grand jury found that the high turnover correlated to the hiring of new management.

"The grand jury determined that the consensus of employees left because of significantly deteriorated working conditions," the report stated. "Many workers obtained employment in surrounding counties for lower pay and a longer commute due to the work environment being unbearable."

The report also stated that current drug testing procedures put employees at risk of communicable diseases and violates personal privacy rights.

In addition, the grand jury outlined a lack of security that once resulted in a Molotov cocktail being thrown at a modular building in an attempt to set it on fire.

The report touched on several other areas in Sutter County, including:

Sutter County Jail

•   The grand jury found that the only method of cooling in the jail is evaporative, or swamp, coolers. These coolers stop working when temperatures reach the upper 80s, causing adverse reaction among prisoners whose medications conflict with high temperatures.

•   The jail saved $107,000 in labor costs by conducting court arraignments via video in the jail.

Tri-County Juvenile Hall

•   The grand jury found that the juvenile hall is suffering from a shortage of employees and is having difficulties retaining personnel due to uncompetitive wages.

Oswald-Tudor Fire Station

•   Due to inadequate staffing level, there are at times only one firefighter on duty to respond to calls with an engine. Sending a unit out with one member can increase the likelihood of injury, according to the report.

•   The staff is usually augmented with volunteers, but there is a current lack of volunteers, the grand jury found.

•   The building also lacks ventilation systems that expose employees to exhaust fumes and particulates. The fire chief told the grand jury that the number two cause of firefighter death is diesel exhaust exposure, according to the report.

•   The grand jury found that the Live Oak Fire Station had similar ventilation issues.

Four reports released earlier this month investigated the county's $10.5 million renewable energy project, a public pension benefit policy blamed for Sutter County's $100 million retirement debt, the need for more transparency in contract negotiations for public employees and a late response from the Board of Supervisors to the 2014-15 grand jury report.

June 24, 2016

Appeal-Democrat

By Andrew Creasey