REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  June  6, 2017
CATEGORY:  Consent - Law and Justice-7.

SUBJECT:

Mutual Aid Agreement with Butte County for the Mutual Provision of Temporary Secure Detention Non-Exclusive Space for Detained Youth during an Emergency Evacuation

Supervisorial District No. :  ALL

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Tracie Neal, Chief Probation Officer, (530) 245-6200

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Tracie Neal, Chief Probation Officer

RECOMMENDATION

Approve and authorize: (1) The Chairman to sign a retroactive agreement with Butte County in an amount not to exceed $50,000 per year (for a maximum of $150,000 by either Butte or Shasta for the entire term of the agreement) to provide temporary secure detention non-exclusive space for detained youth during an emergency evacuation for the period February 12, 2017 through February 11, 2020; and (2) the County Executive Officer, or his/her designee, to sign future emergency evacuation agreements provided that they are in substantially similar form to this agreement with a maximum agreement compensation not to exceed $150,000 for either party.

SUMMARY

Entering into a mutual aid agreement for the purpose of providing temporary secure detention non-exclusive space for detained youth during an emergency evacuation provides an emergency plan for participating counties.

DISCUSSION

The Juvenile Rehabilitation Facility is a 24-hour secure detention facility capable of housing up to 90 juveniles. The juveniles housed at the JRF are housed in this secure facility for various criminal charges, some for serious crimes. In the event of an emergency requiring evacuation of the facility, the need for the juveniles to be housed in a secure detention facility would be present. With this in mind, the Probation Department began developing a mutual aid template agreement for the Juvenile Rehabilitation Facility which would provide non-exclusive secure detention space for detained youth in the event of an emergency evacuation for both Shasta County and another participating county.

This agreement is retroactive because, prior to finalization of the agreement, Butte County experienced an emergency evacuation of their Juvenile Detention Facility as a result of the Oroville Spillway Crisis in February 2017. Butte’s Probation Department contacted Shasta’s Probation Department to request assistance with housing the juveniles that could not be released from custody. Shasta’s Probation Department quickly agreed with the understanding that a mutual aid agreement would be signed retroactively. Within hours the juveniles arrived at Shasta’s facility. This transition, thanks to the hard work of the staff from both counties, went very smoothly. Although the evacuation orders were lifted within just a couple of days, the juveniles stayed at the JRF for a week to ensure new storms didn’t cause further damage requiring a subsequent evacuation. Under this retroactive agreement there is no compensation for either county for the first seven calendar days. After seven days, the rate is $80 per day per youth and after 21 days the rate is $115 per day per youth. For the February 2017 storm event, there was no charge, as the youth did not stay in the JRF longer than seven days.

Allowing the County Executive Officer to sign future emergency evacuation agreements provided that they are in substantially similar form to this agreement will provide flexibility during emergency scenarios.

ALTERNATIVES

The Board could decide not to approve the agreement or could request changes to the terms and conditions of the agreement.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

The County Administrative Office has reviewed the recommendation. County Counsel has approved the agreement as to form. Risk Management has reviewed and approved the agreement. The California Department of Finance and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have reviewed the agreement. The State’s preference is to sign the agreement last.

FINANCING

This agreement would only be utilized in the event of an emergency. Should the Shasta County Juvenile Rehabilitation Facility be required to evacuate and incur expenditures that could exceed budget authority, an appropriate budget amendment would be brought to the Board. There is no additional General Fund impact associated with this recommendation.