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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06231987 - 2.1 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this Order on June 23 , 1987 , by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Fanden, Torlakson, Schroder NOES: None ABSENT: Supervisors Powers , McPeak ABSTAIN: None ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Services for Runaway Youth At the conclusion of the workshop on services for runaway youth, the Board requested Gerald S. Buck, County Probation Officer, to synopsize the issues raised in the testimony and to recommend actions for the Board to consider in providing services to runaway youth. In a report to the Board dated June 8, 1987 Mr. Buck identified 12 issues that need to be addressed relative to the problem of runaway youth. He presented six recommendations which included placing a higher priority on the provision of services for this segment of the population, legislative reform and allocation of funds for additional shelter facilities. Mr. Buck submitted a concept paper , "Services for Runaway Youth in Contra Costa County," (copies of the referenced documents are attached and included as a part of the record) . IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that the report and Concept Paper of the County Probation Officer are REFERRED to the Budget Committee. cc: Budget Committee County Probation Officer County Administrator 1 hereby certify that this Is a trueand correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervi rs on the date shown. ATTESTED: 01j, /IS'! - - PHIL BA CHELOR, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator F0 By Deputy 21 -001 Probation DDepartment Contra County ction °�, Administrative Offices ('Costa =Datw. IV D A10th moor CU "1 'r Administration Building �/ 651 Pine Street jMartinez, California 945531415) 372-2700 SORSDTo: The Board of Supervisorste: 6/8/87 From: Gerald S. Buck, Subject County Probation Officer Services for Runaway Youth On June 2, 1987 a Public Hearing addressed the issue of Services for Runaway Youth. Twenty-two persons offered testimony before the Board, including six from law enforcement, four from County Departments, three from the Children' s Home Society, four from citizen advisory groups, a parent and others representing various agencies. Issues Raised in Testimony: 1. The act of running away is symptomatic of a wide variety of personal and familial problems. 2. The number of- runaways is unknown due to under reporting and the police take hundreds of missing reports which do not result in referral for service. 3. Law changes in 1976 forbade lockup, but brief secure detention is possible but not available in the County due to a prohibition against commingling runaways with delinquents. This is troublesome to police, especially when a child refuses to go to the non-secure shelter or a runaway is apprehended from out of state. 4. Sometimes "crimes" are fabricated by frustrated parents in order to permit detention at Juvenile Hall. 5. The six beds at Sherman House in Pleasant Hill and the one emergency foster home are not adequate to meet the needs of those willing to receive services. Over 200 runaway referrals have been rejected since December, 1985 due to all beds being taken. 6. Many runaway youth are repeaters and several who are referred for service don' t follow through. Youth who are runaways eventually commit crimes or may be victimized or gravitate to the larger cities. , Board of Supervisors -2- 6/8/87 7 . Existing services of brief shelter and crisis counseling is likened to triage treatment of a MASH unit. There are no resources for outreach, prevention or follow-up services. There are not enough localized shelter or counseling services for areas of the County beyond the central region. Existing services contracted by Probation with the Children' s Home Society have had to be supplemented by the agency and federal grants in order to continue. 8. Runaways who cannot be served by CHS often become referrals to Lion' s Gate or other County services. 9. The Youth Service Bureau in West County provides a valued service through its multi-disciplinary assessment team for early and appropriate intervention services. 10. Any effective system of services for runaway youth must muster all the resources of the community: County, city, agencies, foundations, corporate community. 11. Supervisor McPeak proposed a "Challenge Grant Effort" wherein the County would match contributions from other sectors of the County. 12. Supervisor Schroder pointed out that the Board has had several hearings and discussions of the runaway problem dating back ten years and nothing much has been done to address this serious problem. He advocated giving this youth problem a higher priority, even at the cost of other services. As the time allotted for the hearing had expired, the Board asked that the advisory bodies led by HSAC should convene and present alternative recommendations for action by the Board. The Board also asked the County Probation Officer to provide a follow-up report with definitive recommendations for action by the Board. In addition, the Board is referred to the attached "concept paper" dated February 25, 1987. Recommendations: 1. That the Board of Supervisors make a commitment and place a higher priority to the provision of services for runaway youth. Actions Needed: a. The symptom of running away are the result of a wide variety of problems and thus a systems approach and master planning are needed. Board of Supervisors -3- 6/8/87 b. The Board should direct that a Master Plan be designed for services to runaway youth along the lines of the two Corrections Master Plans previously prepared and adopted. 2. Current shelter and crisis services are not sufficient and should be augmented by additional funding via the CHS contract for additional emergency foster homes and crisis counselors. An outlay of $70,000 is needed to preclude rejection of runaways referred to the Sherman House program. 3 . The Board should adopt, encourage and support broad based blended funding for full spectrum services for runaway youth, which would include: a. Outreach and early intervention through application of multi-disciplinary assessment and service delivery. b. Short-term shelter in foster homes and a second residential facility in East County for a total of 24 beds. C. Extended counseling services for follow-up to minimize repetitive runaway. - 4. The Board should direct the Youth Services Board to direct its resources, including its advisory bodies, to assist in the development of a systems approach to the problem and to oversee the delivery of services, keeping the Board advised on a regular basis. 5. The Board should support legislative reform which would address youth in need of service who become runaways, including the issue of multi-disciplinary assessment and limited secure detention. 6. The Board should use its resources to bring a greater awareness of the runaway problem to the attention of the entire County community. GSB:ds Attachment cc: Phil Batchelor, CAO Natalie Russell, Chair, JJ-DPC Charles Eddy, Youth Crisis Services . SZRVIC$S FOR RUNAWAY YOUTH IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY A Concept Paper BACKGROUND Prior to 1976 minors who ran away or were beyond the control of their parents were frequently arrested and detained in Juvenile Hall along with delinquent youth. The Probation Department pro- vided counseling to 1 ,000 families a year. Law changes have pro- hibited placing these youth in Juvenile Hall. In 1978 emergency shelter and services for non-delinquent youth were shifted to the Children's Home Society through a contract with the Probation Department. In the period 1977 through 1983, law enforcement intervention in these matters waned, but since then the number of youth coming to the attention of the police for runaway and being beyond control has dramatically increased. It is estimated that there are at least 2,000 youth per year who are in need of emergency housing, crisis counseling or both due to family conflicts. Referrals to Youth Crisis Services (Sherman House) have increased 62% since 1982-83. Since 1985 there have been several times when Sherman House has been full, and referrals from law enforcement agencies have been rejected in over 150 incidents to date. The Sheriff and Police Chiefs of the County concur that the absence of appropriate shelter and crisis counseling frequently results in acceleration of the child' s problem, and often leads to delinquent acts or exploitation. Research studies indicate that children who runaway have often been abused in their home, suffer from serious family dysfunction and many become homeless "street kids" absent services and early intervention. CURRENT SERVICES Through a contract with the Children's Home Society, the Probation Department provides the only emergency residential center and related crisis intervention services for runaway children. Services consist of a six bed facility, Sherman House, in Pleasant Hill, one emergency foster home in West County, and brief crisis counseling. The contract is insufficient to provide current services and CHS has secured a small Federal grant to supplement the County's cost. - 2 - THE PROBLEM As the County population grows and as families become less able to resolve their internal conflicts without assistance, there has been an increasing number of youth who come to the attention of the police. Some are observed on the streets while others come to the police seeking aid and assistance. Existing emergency housing is limited to seven youth at any given time at present. These resources are not sufficient to meet the needs of 2,000 youth a year among the County's 717,000 residents. Due to restricted resources, the current intake policy restricts referrals to those from justice agencies. Direct family referrals seeking aid would increase workload beyond the present level of about 550 per year. This paucity of resources has, with increasing frequency, resulted in the need to reject referrals of youth in need of assistance. In such incidents the police may "relabel" the child as a depen- dent or delinquent in order to provide housing, but in some incidents there are no housing or counseling alternatives. Those youth not aided may eventually be arrested for a crime, may be exploited by adult criminals or may gravitate to San Francisco. None of these alternatives is acceptable or worthy of Contra Costa County. THE NEEDS 1. There is a need for a community commitment to provide the barest essential services for these youth who have been victimized by their environment and social standing. 2. There is a need for a mandate that a County agency be responsible for the provision of a coordinated service system which will: a. Provide adequate short-term emergency housing. b. Provide short-term crisis and family counseling. c. Maximize use of all available community resources. d. Provide coordination and cooperation among the several disciplines interacting with runaway youth (Police, Probation, Social Services, Mental Health, Drug Abuse, etc. ) . 3 3. There is a need for resource expansion through a blended effort of Federal and local government funding, coupled with the business and corporate co=aunity and individual contributions. 4. There is a need for youth and families to be aware of and have direct access to services which can help them resolve their problems. A PLAN OF ACTION A. Immediate Actions Needed: 1. Develop a Master Plan for the provision of services to non-delinquent youth in need. 2. The Board of Supervisors should designate the -County Probation Officer as the agent of the County responsible for the provision and coordination of services for run- away and beyond control youth in Contra Costa County. 3. In the spirit of public-private partnership, resources to meet the needs of these youth should be provided through a community development effort. 4. Current services should be augmented to a level which would preclude rejection of referrals. This could be accomplished by adding three additional emergency foster homes, two additional family counselors and two addi- tional child care staff. 5. Additional counseling space should be provided at Sherman House to meet the current and projected needs for staff work space and to encourage the expanded utilization of volunteers, student interns and others to augment professional staff. B. Long Range Actions Needed: 1. A second emergency receiving six bed home for runaways is needed in either East County or West County areas. Such a facility would .best serve the need if it were designed and constructed specifically for its function. It should be homelike, but also provide counseling and recreational areas. Such a facility should be County owned or leased and could, perhaps, be built on County property. The facility should be operated via contract. - 4 - 2. A network of more emergency foster homes should be acquired to guarantee no rejection of referrals and to provide for extended residential care when appropriate and needed. A total of 12 foster hones are projected to be needed. This would provide a total of at least 24 beds. 3. Sufficient family counselors and child care staff should be available to ( 1) meet the needs of youth in residence at shelter facilities and foster homes, (2) provide outreach services to intervene in the total community, (3) provide follow-up counseling, and (4) provide preventative services. 4. Interagency - interdiscipline assessment panels should be operative in each region of the County as is now provided by the West Contra Costa County Youth Services Bureau. 5. A County Runaway Hotline should be established, marketed and publicized by the principle provider of Youth Crisis Services. 6. To encourage a broader base of interest, funding and support, Youth Crisis Services should establish an advisory committee with representatives from the building trades, service clubs, private agencies, volunteers, youth and others. 7. To develop a system for recruiting, training and utiliz- ing additional student interns and volunteers. AN OPPORTUNITY Contra Costa has an opportunity to plan and develop a model of enriched programs for youth desperately in need of early inter- vention services. The concepts outlined here feature a whole community effort directed to a real population, identified youth at risk. No prevention effort could be more rewarding in humane values, preservation of the family unit, and also be cost effective considering the vast expenditures of justice services after the fact. Something real must be done to offset the burgeoning cost of police, jails, courts and probation services. These concepts offer an alternative. GSB:ds 2/25/87