Department audited for first time in 16 years
Morgan Hill – The Santa Clara County Probation Department is looking for ways to sharpen its cost efficiency, including raising fees for probation officers’ visits and restructuring how some counseling services are run at Juvenile Hall.
The recommendations come from a 300-plus-page report three years after a federal investigation on Juvenile Hall in 2003 revealed abuse and excessive force in the embattled agency, which has a $106 million budget.
The lengthy performance review was ordered by the county to find ways to streamline adult and juvenile probation departments, which came under the county’s supervision after voters approved Measure A in 2004. The agency was previously managed by the Superior Court.
The audit was finished in August and is rising through county subcommittees on its way to the Board of Supervisors in 2007. The Finance and Government Operations Committee spent hours combing through it in October and November. The next stop for the report is the Public Safety and Justice Committee in January.
Sheila Mitchell, the county’s chief probation officer since 2004, said she welcomes the in-depth review, which was carried out at the same time the U.S. Department of Justice followed up on its investigation and found significant improvements on Juvenile Hall.
“It’s long overdue,” she said, adding the last time the agency was thoroughly graded for performance and productivity was 16 years ago.
Typically, she said, county departments are audited every five to seven years.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Emerson said one recommendation is the audit is to change the fee structure for adult probation services. Another is to charge adults on probation $78 per month, instead of $64, to have probation officers visit them.
Emerson said the change would make the department more “revenue neutral,” with fees going farther to cover services.
Written earlier this year by the Santa Clara County Management Audit Division, the “management audit” contains 18 sections, covering things such as educational funding for Juvenile Hall counseling programs, probation services and youth rehabilitation programs.
The report includes responses by Mitchell, who said the audit has revealed that her department – like many others – is understaffed as the county faces a $106-million deficit for fiscal year 2007.
