On February 13, 2018, the Board of Supervisors referred to the Public Protection Committee (PPC) a review of the production of the County's Multi-Agency Juvenile Justice Plan. The plan is due to the state on May 1 of each year, as a condition of Contra Costa’s annual funding through the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) and Youthful Offender Block Grant (YOBG).
At the April 2018 meeting of the Public Protection Committee, staff was directed to return at a future meeting date with information regarding the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) and the Delinquency Prevention Commission (DPC).
At the September 10, 2018 meeting, staff presented the following summary of the JJC, the DPC and the JJCC:
Juvenile Justice Commission:
The Juvenile Justice Commission is a state body created by statute and is in effect part of the Superior Court. (Welf. & Inst., § 229.). The charge of JJCs is, among other things, to inspect detention facilities or group homes in counties where a minor has been held in custody. In addition, a JJC may hold hearings from time-to-time and compel the attendance of individuals to testify at such hearings.
The JJC is not subject to the Brown Act, but rather the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Gov. Code, § 11120 et. seq.) and falls within an exemption to that Act specifically for courts. (Gov. Code, § 11121.1 (a).) The exemption allows for the Court to choose not to post agendas or otherwise meet publicly.
The JJC does not direct any County financial resources allocated for juvenile justice.
Delinquency Prevention Commission:
The board of supervisors in each county has statutory authority to create and appoint members to a Delinquency Prevention Commission. The charge of a DPC is to coordinate on a countywide basis activities of governmental and non-governmental entities related to juvenile delinquency prevention. In lieu of appointing all members, a county board may designate the JJC (the State body described above) to also serve as the DPC. In Contra Costa County, the Board has chosen to designate members of the Court's JJC as the County's DPC by ordinance. This means that the membership of the County DPC is appointed by the Court and not the County.
The DPC is a local body implemented in this County by an ordinance. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 233. Ord. Code, Ch. 26-6, “Delinquency Prevention Commission.”) Thus, it is a legislative body for purposes of the Brown Act. (Gov. Code, § 54952 (a), (b).) DPC meetings must be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act.
The DPC does not direct any County financial resources allocated for juvenile justice.
Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council:
The JJCC is created pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 749.22 and is charged with creating and maintaining a multi-agency juvenile justice plan composed of several critical parts, including, but not limited to:
(a) An assessment of existing law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, health, social services, drug and alcohol and youth services resources which specifically target at-risk juveniles, juvenile offenders, and their families.
(b) An identification and prioritization of the neighborhoods, schools, and other areas in the community that face a significant public safety risk from juvenile crime, such as gang activity, daylight burglary, late-night robbery, vandalism, truancy, controlled substance sales, firearm-related violence, and juvenile alcohol use within the council’s jurisdiction.
(c) A local action plan (LAP) for improving and marshaling the resources set forth in subdivision (a) to reduce the incidence of juvenile crime and delinquency in the areas targeted pursuant to subdivision (b) above and the greater community.
(d) Develop information and intelligence-sharing systems to ensure that county actions are fully coordinated, and to provide data for measuring the success of the grantee in achieving its goals.
(e) Identify outcome measures.
The JJCC does make recommendations for the allocation of County financial resources juvenile justice. Specifically, the multi-agency juvenile justice plan is required to received a state allocation of Youthful Offender Block Grant (YOBG) and Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) each year. For fiscal year 2018/19, the County estimates receipt of $8.96 million ($4.7 million from JJCPA and $4.2 million from YOBG). For fiscal year 2017/18, the County received a combined amount of $8.2 million from both sources.
At the September 2018 meeting of the Public Protection Committee, CAO staff was directed to return at the October 2018 meeting to consider the steps needed to consolidate the delinquency prevention functions of the DPC and JJCC. Staff was also directed to return with information on the membership of the JJCC to allow the Committee to better assess the need for additional seats.
Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council Membership
Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section 749.22 establishes the minimum membership of the JJCC. Per WIC §749.22, the JJCC "shall, at a minimum, include the chief probation officer, as chair, and one representative each from the district attorney's office, the public defender's office, the sheriff's department, the board of supervisors, the department of social services, the department of mental health, a community-based drug and alcohol program, a city police department, the county office of education or a school district, and an at-large community representative. In order to carry out its duties pursuant to this section, a coordinating council shall also include representatives from nonprofit community-based organizations providing services to minors."
At its October 1, 2018 meeting, the Public Protection Committee directed staff to prepare for the Board of Supervisors' action a Board Order to combine the functions of the DPC and the JJCC and update the seats of the JJCC to include:
- Chief Probation Officer,
- District Attorney's Office representative,
- Public Defender's Office representative,
- Sheriff's Office representative,
- Board of Supervisors representative,
- Employment and Human Services Department representative,
- Behavior Health representative,
- County Alcohol and Drugs representative,
- City Police Department Representative,
- County Office of Education or a school district representative,
- County Public Health representative, and
- Eight community-based seats, including a minimum of two representing youth-serving community-based organizations and two youth-aged community representatives (14-21 years old).
At its December 4, 2018 meeting, the Board of Supervisors, by Ordinance 2018-30 dissolved the Delinquency Prevention Commission, and by Resolution 2018/597 added seats and duties to the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council to increase its size to 19 members by adding one (1) representative from the County Public Health Department; three (3) additional at-large community representatives; and two (2) at-large youth representatives.
The JJCC membership as of February 2019 is Attachment A. |
Subsequent to the Board of Supervisors' action on December 4 and December 18, 2018 to dissolve the DPC and to reconstitute the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) so that it assumes the obligations and duties of the DPC and includes additional members, the Public Protection Committee at its March 11, 2019 meeting accepted a report on the County's JJCPA-YOBG Consolidated Annual Plan and directed staff on a recruitment process for the vacant at-large seats of the JJCC. These vacant seats include three (3) At-Large Community Representatives and two (2) At-Large Youth Representatives.
An 8-week process was directed by the PPC to include:
1. April 1: Issue Press Release advertising vacancies
2. May 24: Application Deadline
3. June 3: PPC Meeting Interviews
4. June 18: Board of Supervisors consideration of PPC nominees
The Office of Reentry and Justice issued the attached Press Release (Attachment B) and distributed it both through the Office of Communications and Media and its email networks. As of close of business on May 24, 2019, a total of twenty-three (23) applications were received.
Two additional applications were received on May 28, 2019, after the deadline, from Alphonso Guerrero and Journey Horacek-Lee . Two more applications were received on May 30, 2019, from Imara Escarmant and Tracy Youngston. Of the 27 total applications received, five applicants indicated they were either still in high school or in college, thus eligible for the Youth Representative seat.
The applicants, in alphabetic order, include:
|
|
First |
Last |
Date rec'd |
District |
|
1 |
Phillip |
Arnold |
May 14, 2019 |
3 |
|
2 |
Jonathan |
Bean |
April 18, 2019 |
3 |
|
3 |
Claire |
Bromberry |
May 24, 2019 |
4 |
|
4 |
Mariah |
Castro |
May 24, 2019 |
5 |
|
5 |
Joanne |
Cherep |
May 24, 2019 |
4 |
|
6 |
D'Ana |
Clark |
May 24, 2019 |
1 |
|
7 |
Cheryl |
Clutter |
May 2, 2019 |
2 |
|
8 |
Ella |
Clutter |
May 23, 2019 |
2 |
|
9 |
Nicole |
Cuellar |
April 26, 2019 |
3 (work) |
|
10 |
Victoria |
Cyrus |
May 24, 2019 |
3 |
|
11 |
Imara |
Escarmant |
May 30, 2019 |
1 |
|
12 |
Carlos |
Fernendez |
April 29, 2019 |
1 |
|
13 |
LeDamien |
Flowers |
April 12, 2019 |
1 |
|
14 |
Desiree |
Foley |
May 24, 2019 |
4 |
|
15 |
Alphonso |
Guerrero |
May 28, 2019 |
3 |
|
16 |
Journey |
Horacek-Lee |
May 28, 2019 |
3 |
|
17 |
Kristin |
Lobos |
May 3, 2019 |
1 |
|
18 |
Dani (Danielle) |
Longo |
May 6, 2019 |
4 |
|
19 |
Stephanie |
Medley |
May 24, 2019 |
1 |
|
20 |
Sefanit |
Mekuria |
April 18, 2019 |
5 or countywide (work) |
|
21 |
Cora |
Mitchell |
May 24, 2019 |
4 |
|
22 |
Mister |
Phillips |
April 6, 2019 |
1 |
|
23 |
Gaybriel |
Rockett |
May 1, 2019 |
1 |
|
24 |
Jason |
Schwarz |
April 19, 2019 |
2 |
|
25 |
Tamisha |
Torres-Walker |
April 17, 2019 |
3 (live), 1 (work) |
|
26 |
Melvin |
Willis |
May 2, 2019 |
1 |
|
27 |
Tracy |
Youngston |
May 30, 2019 |
1 |
The applications are included in Attachment C, with all address, email and signatures of applicants redacted. All applicants have been notified about the interview process and a conference line has been made available for those who are not able to attend in person. Those who submitted late applications were notified that their applications may not be considered at this time. One of the youth applicants has graduation rehearsal and has requested a rescheduled interview.
A summary of the applicants is included in Attachment D |