REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  January  23, 2018
CATEGORY:  Consent - Law and Justice-10.

SUBJECT:

Agreement between the County of Shasta through its Sheriff’s Office and Relias Learning LLC to provide online training for jail staff that will meet California Board of State and Community Corrections Standards and Training (STC) requirements.  The initial term of this agreement is for 60 months with the option to renew each year after.

Supervisorial District No. :  All

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Lieutenant Dale Malar, 530-245-6120

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Tom Bosenko, Sheriff-Coroner

RECOMMENDATION

Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign an evergreen agreement effective February 1, 2018, for no maximum compensation with Relias Learning, LLC in a minimum amount of $10,118.25 annually (paid in advance semi-annually at half the total annual fee), with a one-time advance payment set-up fee of $2,500 to provide a subscription service for online jail staff training that will meet state of California requirements.

SUMMARY

The Shasta County Sheriff Custody Division requires sworn and some unsworn staff to take Standards and Training for Corrections (STC) courses each year. Relias Learning LLC is a subscription based provider that offers online courses that are STC approved. This form of training will replace much of the scheduling and sending staff to courses that have often required travel and overtime. Due to staffing requirements of the jail, online content courses may still require some overtime commitment by staff.

DISCUSSION

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office Custody Division sends staff to STC approved courses each year. Each qualified employee is required to have 24 hours of STC approved training each year. Courses are usually assigned to full shifts of employees on the days they do not work, though some staff do attend training on their normally scheduled work day which necessitates staff backfill. The Shasta County Sheriff’s Training Coordinator keeps record of the hours of STC courses completed by staff and reports that information to the Board of State Community corrections (BSCC).

In 2017, Shasta County Sheriff’s Administration attended numerous presentations for Relias Learning LLC. They offer an online training platform, with a library of STC approved courses, that efficiently and effectively delivers, manages, and tracks regulatory compliance requirements to free up time for leaders to focus on driving performance and improving outcomes. Relias offers many courses including; Civil Liability and the Disciplinary Process in Corrections, Cultural Awareness in Corrections, Managing Inmates with Mental Health Needs, Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), Professional Ethics in Corrections and many more. Relias will provide a roadmap for each jail staff member to fulfill their required STC training by the end of June. These courses will, whenever possible, be assigned to the employee to complete on their regular scheduled work days resulting in a reduction of overtime for training. This will also assist the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office with scheduling issues related to sending staff to training outside of the jail facility.

Annually, the BSCC provides quarterly funding to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office for STC training based on a formula rate. The Sheriff's Office must have spent at least the amount of formula funding provided by BSCC for STC approved training or the next year allocation will be reduced. In 2016, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office received $49,970 in BSCC STC formula funding. Should training costs be reduced through use of this online training, BSCC STC formula funding may also be reduced.

ALTERNATIVES

The Board of Supervisors may choose to request changes to the terms and conditions of the agreement, may choose to delay approval for the agreement until a later date, or may choose not to approve the agreement.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

The County Administrative Office has reviewed the recommendation.  County Counsel has approved this agreement as to form.  Risk Management and the Information Technology Department have reviewed and approved this agreement.

FINANCING

If approved, the Sheriff's Office will compensate Relias Learning LLC a minimum of $10,118.25 per year, through semi-annual subscription payments, with an additional one-time $2,500.00 set up fee to provide Shasta County with this subscription service for STC approved training for jail staff. The compensation may increase if  the number of "Subscription Metrics" (i.e. the maximum number of users or staff subscribed, or services subscribed to) needs to increase and such increases will be based on Relias' then-current fees.

Sufficient appropriations for STC training in the FY 17/18 Sheriff’s Office Jail budget exist to cover the initial set up fee and first semi-annual subscription fee. Future year amounts will be included in requested appropriations for each respective fiscal year budget. Potential reductions in training costs through use of this online training may also result in a reduction in BSCC STC funding in the current or in future fiscal years.