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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07251995 - C61 C- bi To: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 5 L Contra FROM: SHERIFF-CORONER o'er r= Costa 9,'•, 1, ��° County DATE: rr\ July 14 , 1995 a i`oilvr SUBJECT: 90 Day Contract Extension/COUNCIL OF CHURCHES OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION($)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION 1 . RECOMMENDED AC_T_I.Obi Approve and authorize the Sheriff-Coroner, or designee, to execute, on behalf of the COUNTY, a contract extension of four (4) months with Council of Churches of Contra Costa County; July 1, 1995 through October 31, 1995 . II . FINARCIAL IMPACT The cost of this extension will be $51, 533 . 00 . , and is funded with the Inmate Welfare Fund. There is no General Fund cost . III . REASONS—F_OR_RECOMMENDAT_I-ONIBACKGRO NND A four month extension of the existing contract for the provision of counseling and chaplaincy services to County inmates at the detention facilities is requested to continue services through October 31, 1995 . This four month extensi is o allow staff the time to explore what other opt ' ons the e may b available to provide this service . CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD MMI APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON , f A '�S APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER i Requested the Sheriff to report on the chaplaincy services provided to insure that no religion is favored over any other. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. C� 1 C15 CC: 1 County Administrator ATTESTED La.,-'54 PHIL BATPHELOIOCLERK OF THE BOARD OF Council of Churches of Contra Costa County S PERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR County Auditor-Controller Sheriff-Coroner (� M382 (10/88) BY l� DEPUTY BEFORE THE CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS JULY 25, 1995 The top ten reasons why Contra Costa County should cancel all contracts with the Council of Churches for religious chaplaincy programs in County jails, juvenile hall, and .hospitals: 1. The contracts are conspicuous and flagrant examples of direct government subsidy of religion. They violate the United States Constitution, Am6Adment I and the California Constitution, Article XVI, Section 5. 2. The contracts amount to a substantial amount of taxpayer money ($216,000 a year or $18,000 a month) which could be better spent elsewhere. The County is also providing numerous vaguely defined additional benefits including office space, clerical support, supplies, services, materials, equipment, facilities and assistance worth many more thousands of taxpayer dollars. 3. Inmates in need of religious counseling should either request a visit from their own clergyman or from one of the more than 300 churches listed in the local telephone directory. Jail visits would be no more complicated than visits from friends and family. Most ministers would gladly respond without expecting generous tax-supported compensation. 4. Of the $216,000 a year paid to the Council of Churches for religious chaplains, there is no record of how much the individual chaplains are actually getting paid. How much of this $189000 a month is the Council retaining for "admin- istrative expenses" and other hidden costs? 5. How many chaplains are there? The contracts specify a total of six, but according to newspaper articles and other sources there are actually four. Is the County paying for two nonexistent positions? If there are only four chaplains, each is earning $54,000 a year. 6. The contracts with the Council of Churches do not in any way define the minimum experience arxi educational qualifications of the chaplains. Probably no other County job is so poorly defined--or rather, undefined. 7. The County is hiring religious ministers as counselors to juvenile and adult inmates with severe emotional problems. While the chaplains may be well- intentioned, there is no guarantee that theological training is an adequate substitute for competent professional psychological or psychiatric counseling. 8. The chaplains are all Christian and all Protestant. While they may occasionally seek out clergymen of other faiths in response to inmates' requests, the current programs are discriminatory in favor of one specific religion. 9. It seems reasonable to assume that Christian chaplains most likely perceive that an inmate' s problems stem directly from a lack of religion in their lives (specifically, Christianity). Thus the opportunity exists for proselytizing of a (quite literally! ) captive audience. 10. The County payments to the Council of Churches are THREE AND A HALF TIRES what they were nine years ago. It is high time to investigate these highly ques- tionable expenditures and put an end to them. I strongly urge you to do so. _�`� *du, ls�l9/ Burt Bog P. 0. Box 293 Danville, CA 94526 (510) 820-2347 July 25 , 1995 Contra County Supervisors ' Meeting May 17 : of this year the County Auditor informed the COMMUNITY POLITICAL WATCH that the county writes 3 separate checks each month to the Council of Churches for chaplaincy services totaling $ 17 ,993 .25 . The monthly check for the Adult Detention Facilities is $ 12 ,883 .25 . This contract is for 4 full time chaplains---I found only 2 . It has been claimed that the Inmate Welfare Fund pays for this contract even though the County writes and signs this monthly check. A letter dated June 9th of this year (last month) from Sheriff Warren Rupt to a COMMUNITY POLITICAL WATCH member confirms that there are only 2 chaplains and the inmates have no input into how this fund is spent . I quote from this letter-quote: "The Committe which administers the fund makes recommendation to the Sheriff regarding welfare fund expenditures and consists of five voting members including the commander of the Detension -Divis- ion and four , at large public members each appointed by the Sheriff. Two full times chaplains have developed and supervise a program consisting of more than 300 volunteers that involve clergy and seminary students . " Unquote. Sheriff_ Warren Rupt an elected official paid by the county. acting as the creator and administrator of this fund establishes a conflict of interest . The Community Political Watch will ask the Grand Jury to look into this matter. This contract pays $12 ,883 .25 each month to the Council of Churches for 2 chaplains . That is $6 ,441 . 62 for each chaplain--plus multipliers paid by the county. This is for services that other ministers perform free. Everyone of these contracts subsidizing the Council of Churches should be cancelled immediately. phone 827-2512 Allene Harper DATE: 1 /� REQUEST TO SPEAK FORM (THREE (3) MINUTE LIMIT / Complete this form and place it in the box near the speakers' rostrum before addressing the Board. NAME: c�r�`��g�r�vs PHONE: ADDRESS: �� �X ��3 CrIY: Pww7 ,%// I am speaking formyself OR organization: (NAME O ORGANIZ7 kTIO.%) Check one: I wish to speak on Agenda Item # My comments will be: general for against I wish to speak on the subject of I do not wish to speak but leave these comments for the Board to consider. 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