[San Bernardino County] Parks, schools and child services all targeted by San Bernardino County Grand Jury

The citizen panel issues annual report, seeking improvements in several areas.

The San Bernardino County Grand Jury wants to improve parks, school safety and county child services, according to the citizen panel’s annual report.

After looking at the county’s regional parks, the grand jury report, released Friday, June 28, found the system “deserving of better care and attention that it’s received.”

“Unfortunately, the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system has been subjected to a substantial amount of neglect over the past several years.

“It has only been within the past year that the San Bernardino County Regional parks implemented a meaningful attempt to correct these issues,” the report found.

The grand jury’s investigation was launched after the pool at Guasti Regional Park in Ontario was closed, and after a dredging and dam project at Lake Gregory drew criticism from area residents. After inspecting each of the county’s nine regional parks, the grand jury found room for improvement in both management and park maintenance.

The grand jury has made several recommendations, including a suggestion that the county rewrite and update every section of its park policy manual by the end of the year.

The current manual has not been updated since July 1989. And, other than Calico Ghost Town, none of the parks has a specific operational procedure manual, nor specific job descriptions for park employees.

Along with a need to update park policies and procedures, the grand jury recommended that the county conduct safety and structure inspections at the parks, and initiate an intensive maintenance and repair program. The report suggested repairs and upgrades at Calico Ghost Town, Glen Helen, Guasti, Lake Gregory, Camp Moabi, Mojave Narrows, Mojave River Forks, Prado and Yucaipa.

The county realizes the regional parks need a lot of attention, and that the issues there have developed over many years, said David Wert, county spokesman.

“The county recently hired a new Regional Parks director, Beahta Davis, who has a great deal of experience operating parks – something that was lacking in previous management,” Wert said.

“Under her direction, the conditions at the parks are improving and the management of the department is improving as well.”

School safety

The grand jury also made recommendations to improve school safety across the county.

In response to a shooting at North Park Elementary School April 10, 2017, and numerous other school shootings across the country, the grand jury recommended that schools look to a policies and procedures manual of “Detect, Delay, and Deter.” The grand jury also urged updates to school safety plans, and physical upgrades, like surveillance systems and door alarms, and perimeter fencing creating a single point of entry, for schools.

The grand jury said the county superintendent of schools and board of supervisors should start a school-centered mental health program to provide all principals at least one mental health professional, including a psychiatric social worker, for each school. It also said the board of supervisors should allocate funding for a countywide school centered mental health program to help troubled students, on campus and in surrounding communities.

Children and Family Services

After being made aware of problems in management, staffing, training and accountability in Children and Family Services, the grand jury visited five of the nine offices in the county, as well as the coroner’s office, to get more information on children who died because of abuse.

Grand jurors recommended the county take several steps to address social worker attrition, office morale, and training. They also recommend a complete reorganization of the agency, as outlined in a 2011 report from The Deloitte Company.

Over the past two years, Children and Family Services has hired 321 social workers and is on track to hire an additional 70 in the next two months to achieve its caseload goals, Wert said. The department has hired 39 supervisors, he added.

“Children and Family Services has made solid improvements in a number of areas over the past several years. And the county agrees that there is still a lot of work to do,” he said.

The 19-member grand jury received 60 complaints from San Bernardino County residents in 2018-19. A written report of the jury committee’s findings are published at the end of the fiscal year.

June 28, 2019

San Bernardino Sun

By Sandra Emerson