[Napa County] Grand jury says Napa juvenile hall is overstaffed

Here’s an efficiency-improving recommendation for Napa County from the county grand jury – reduce juvenile hall staffing to match a dramatic reduction in incarceration levels over the past decade.

Can the county create a leaner, but not meaner, juvenile hall? The 2019-20 grand jury’s new report entitled “Napa County Juvenile Hall: Exceptional Costs” is designed to spark the conversation.

“The jury found the facility to be safe, secure and clean,” the report said. “However, it appears to be significantly overstaffed for the relatively small number of juvenile detainees in the facility on any given day.”

Napa County’s $13 million juvenile hall opened in 2005 with a capacity of 60 youths. The building is located at 212 Walnut St. in Napa, next to the former Health and Human Service Agency campus along Old Sonoma Road. The facility is operated by the county Probation Department.

Juvenile hall in 2005 had 37 staff members for 44 to 50 detainees. Today, staffing is about the same and average daily population of detainees is only 16, the grand jury said.

What’s more, the annual juvenile hall budget during that time period increased from $3.2 million to $6.8 million. It costs about $1,160 per day to house one detainee, compared to $205 in 2005, the grand jury said.

The grand jury didn’t consider itself qualified to determine the specific juvenile hall staffing requirements, given state laws. But if 37 staff members is sufficient for 50 detainees, some number less would be sufficient for 16 detainees, the report said.

Besides reducing staff, the county should find more uses for underutilized juvenile hall space, the grand jury said.

Napa County isn’t the only county with empty juvenile hall beds. A California State Association of Counties (CSAC) task force chaired by Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza in 2019 issued a report looking at the statewide situation.

A focus on rehabilitation by county probation departments in California over the last decade has drastically lowered the youthful offender population. As of August 2018, the state had more than 5,000 vacant juvenile hall beds, the CSAC report said.

“As a result, many counties are grappling with how to balance the fiscal inefficiencies of vacant beds with the complicated needs of their local juvenile justice system,” the CSAC report found.

The Napa County Board of Supervisors and Probation Department must in coming weeks submit official answers to the grand jury report. On Monday, Pedroza and Chief Probation Officer Julie Baptista gave some initial reactions.

Pedroza described a few factors to consider when looking at the local juvenile justice system staffing issue.

Today, the county has a greater emphasis on rehabilitation than in 2005. Also, while the overall juvenile hall population has dropped, some detainees there have more severe crime background profiles, he said.

“The objective is to address these issues while they are youths,” Pedroza said, adding that this investment can prevent a criminal lifestyle in adulthood.

One potential question in light of the grand jury report is whether the juvenile hall workers have too much time on their hands if the facility is overstaffed.

“They are busy,” Baptista said. “The youth have a lot of needs. They (staff) provide a lot of programming and services. The youth get a lot of attention and good services and their families, as well.”

The county’s website says detainees are served by counselors and participate in such programs as mental health, cognitive behavior, one-on-one counseling, pet therapy, art appreciation, spiritual services and recreation.

Examples of how other counties are dealing with empty juvenile hall beds can be found in the CSAC report.

Nevada County has explored using extra juvenile hall space for such youth programs as 4H. Siskiyou County turned its juvenile hall into a juvenile day report center and transfers youths who need detention to Tehama County. Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties are teaming up for a tri-county juvenile hall.

“Part of the interest we had when we created this tool kit was to recognize that every county is a different situation,” Pedroza said.

Napa County needs to make sure it’s being efficient with taxpayers’ dollars. But the county doesn’t want to dismantle something it might need in the future, he said.

Baptista said it’s unfortunate California counties built massive juvenile halls before changing the way they work with youths. On the positive side, Napa County has a nice, safe and modern facility with well-trained staff.

The grand jury recommends that Napa County use the CSAC research to find out what might work best for the local juvenile hall.

The CSAC report found a bright side to all of this. It called the need to deal with juvenile halls not being used to capacity “a remarkable success story.”

Napa Valley Register
Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.
June 2, 2020