STANISLAUS COUNTY
2021-2022 CIVIL GRAND JURY
FINAL REPORT
JUNE 2022
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The Honorable Judge Robert Westbrook,
It is with great pleasure that the Civil Grand Jury submits this report. The Jury brought great passion to its role as a watchdog of local government, hoping to help build confidence in our civic affairs. The matters investigated by this Jury span a wide range of topics, reflecting the diversity of the Jurors and the challenges facing our County. Some of the investigations are mandated by state law. These are observing local criminal justice and public safety facilities, and reviewing County accounts and records.
Two of the reports examine how well local agencies are performing. These cover the Eastside Mosquito Abatement District and the agencies with a role in addressing homelessness. For the third time in recent years the Jury investigated implementation of the transportation sales tax, Measure L. For the second time in recent years the Jury investigated the Riverbank Language Academy. In both cases the focus was on how transparently the agencies are functioning.
Two investigations focused on how local agencies are preparing themselves and their citizens for the future. One looks at how well school districts are providing career and technical education to English language learners and continuation high school students. The other explores how two cities are preparing for a future with either less water or even more drastic swings between wet and dry years. Local governments must deal with both current and future challenges.
Finally, we reviewed the responses from public agencies to the prior Jury’s findings and recommendations. This is an essential part of a Jury’s responsibility, maintaining the effectiveness of the grand jury process.
While the Jury made findings that at times are critical of local government performance, we were impressed with the high caliber of the governmental representatives we interviewed.
Michael C. Herrero, Foreperson
Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury
Post Office Box 3387 Modesto, California 95353 (209) 525-4252 Fax (209) 558-8170 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Civil Grand Juries …………………………………………………………………....5
Homelessness: The Elusive Definition of Success………………………………….....7 Measure L Transparency ……………………………………………………………19
Career and Technical Education Programs for At-Risk Students …………………..29 Riverbank Language Academy: The Brown Act and Other Observations …………45 The Future of Urban Water Supply and Demand …………………………………..57 The Eastside Mosquito Abatement District ……………………………………… 69 Public Safety Facility Tours ………………………………………………………..87
Election Observations ………………………………………………………………95
Summary of Responses to the 2020-2021 Civil Grand Jury’s Final Reports ………97 Report on the Stanislaus County Annual Financial Report ………………………127 The 2021-2022 Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury
Patricia Brown, Modesto Colleen Preston, Modesto
Maria Castillo, Ceres Paul Rigmaiden, Modesto
Catherine Cox, Westley Daa-iyah Salahuddin, Ceres
Marleen Dhallin, Turlock Larry Sanders, Turlock
Michael Herrero, Foreperson, Modesto Paul Troop, Oakdale Lynne Kellner, Recording Secretary, Modesto Tom Vanderveen, Modesto Tim Kerr, Modesto Jan Viss, Foreperson Pro Tem, Modesto Jay McReynolds, Modesto
5 Civil Grand Juries
The California Constitution requires that each county in the state have at least one grand jury annually. These juries can be either criminal or civil in nature. In Stanislaus County criminal grand juries are created on an as needed basis. But every year the Superior Court empanels a group of nineteen citizens to form a civil grand jury, an independent judicial body.
The function of a civil grand jury is to conduct investigations into the functioning of the County, cities, special districts, school districts and other public agencies within Stanislaus County.
Investigations have three sources. Under state law there are several subjects which the Jury is required to undertake each year. The second source is citizen complaints. The Jury has a complaint form, which can also be found at the Superior Court website or obtained from the Jury office, allowing citizens to request that the Jury undertake an investigation. Finally, the Jurors themselves may identify matters to be investigated.
The range of matters investigated by civil grand juries in Stanislaus County over the years is enormous. It includes the finances and operations of cities, the County, and special districts such as fire districts, sanitary districts, mosquito abatement districts, and healthcare districts. It includes school and irrigation districts and their governing boards. The conduct of individual elected and appointed officials has been investigated. Functions such as public transit, elections, landfills, disaster preparedness, animal control, hazardous materials handling, child protection services, public housing, and the operations of public safety departments are among the many subjects that have been investigated.
Grand jurors must be citizens of the United States, at least eighteen years of age, and residents of Stanislaus County for one year. The term of a civil grand jury is one year, from July 1 to June
30. Citizens interested in becoming civil grand jurors should fill out and return an application which can be found at the Stanislaus County Superior Court website. Applications are due by April 15 each year. Applicants are interviewed by the Superior Court, and ultimately selected at random like a regular jury.
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HOMELESSNESS: THE ELUSIVE
DEFINITION OF SUCCESS
8 Homelessness: The Elusive Definition of “Success”
2021-2022 Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury
Case #22-05GJ
SUMMARY
Homelessness is a growing problem around the country. Stanislaus County is no exception.
Homeless is defined as an individual or family lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.
Unemployment, lack of affordable housing, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, domestic abuse and family conflict are among the contributing causes. The public and private efforts to address homelessness are as diverse as its causes.
The Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury (SCCGJ) identified dozens of public agencies, private organizations, and non-profits working in this arena. It is hard to evaluate coordination, effectiveness, and accountability when efforts are so fragmented.
The SCCGJ found that while efforts to coordinate all these agencies and their activities are being pursued, accountability is lacking. Given the significant dollars spent to address homelessness, this lack of accountability is problematic and can undermine the public’s confidence in our public agencies.
This report aims not to get into all the specific details as to where the money is coming from and where it is going. Rather, the SCCGJ intends to raise awareness of the scope and magnitude of this issue and how we as a community address it. Failings concerning how our community deals with homelessness is not unique to Stanislaus County, but nevertheless Stanislaus County needs to be more successful.
METHODOLOGY
The SCCGJ reviewed numerous reports, publications and plans developed over the last few decades by local, state and federal agencies. It researched local private and non-profit organizations fighting homelessness. It requested and received information and materials from both the public and private entities. It interviewed representatives of both the public agencies and private organizations.
BACKGROUND
Organization For decades there have been organized efforts to combat homelessness. The efforts began with a federally required organization called the “Continuum of Care” to track homeless individuals and families over thirty years ago. 9 In 2001 Stanislaus County and the City of Modesto recognized the Continuum as the planning and coordinating body for homeless programs and services. In 2015 the Homeless Action Council was formed to reduce and prevent homelessness.
In 2017 the Continuum and Homeless Action Council merged to create the Stanislaus County Community System of Care (CSOC).
In 2019 the Stanislaus Homeless Alliance was created to provide one vision, one program strategy, one funding strategy, and one annual report card to communicate performance outcomes.
In 2019 Stanislaus County created a Homeless and Housing Services Division in the Community Services Agency. Several cities have also designated staff to work on homelessness.
Plans Numerous plans have been adopted over the years to address homelessness. The most recent is the Stanislaus 2021 Regional Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness.
Many agencies, organizations and non-profits have programs to address homelessness. These programs include emergency shelters, transitional shelters which provide a bridge between emergency and permanent housing, permanent housing, and rental assistance.
For example, at the County level, the Community Services Agency, the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Agency, the Health Services Agency, the Planning and Community Development Department, and Chief Executive Office are all involved in addressing homelessness.
Appendix A contains a non-exhaustive list of key homeless and housing programs and services in the County as documented in the Stanislaus 2021 Regional Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness.
Funding There are at least seventeen federal and state sources that must or can be used to fund homeless programs (see Appendix B). Funding for homeless efforts increased dramatically during the pandemic. The SCCGJ was able to identify a minimum of $30 million in state and federal funding allocated to these efforts in Stanislaus County over a recent three year period, and the amount is likely to be higher. Significant private funding has also occurred.
Coordination Since 1988 there have been several efforts to coordinate services. The latest attempt was the creation of the Stanislaus Homeless Alliance. The Alliance’s Board is comprised of elected officials from throughout the County. A key mission of the Alliance is “…to coordinate development of a shared performance measurement system to assess effectiveness, quality, efficiency, access, and availability of homeless services throughout Stanislaus County.”
The County’s Community Services Agency operates the Homeless Management Information System, a searchable database of information on homeless individuals. Data is entered into the system by service providers, creating a single source of information on homeless individuals.
This system can provide analysis of how families and households move through the homeless care system over time, as well as reports on overall system performance. 10 The question could be asked, “Do we judge programs based on their good intent, or on the actual outcomes?” The SCCGJ acknowledges that the programs and funds currently used to address homelessness help many individuals and families. The concern of the SCCGJ is whether the funds come attached with a way to assess if there has been progress toward reducing or ending homelessness.
DISCUSSION
Efforts to address homelessness fall into two categories. The first category is getting people off the streets and into shelter. Many of the programs in Stanislaus County fall into this category.
The SCCGJ refers to these as the service programs.
The second category is combating the underlying causes of homelessness. The SCCGJ refers to these as the prevention programs.
Point-in-Time Counts Agencies receiving federal funds for homelessness are required to annually conduct a count of the homeless during a single twenty-four-hour period. This is done the same night throughout the United States. While the methods for these counts have changed over time, and recently were complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, they provide a ballpark estimate of the number of homeless. The following table shows the Point-in-Time counts for Stanislaus County since 2005, showing the total numbers, total in emergency shelters, total in transitional shelters, total unsheltered, and percentage unsheltered.
Stanislaus County Point-In-Time Counts
Year Total
In
Emergency In Transitional Unsheltered
%
Unsheltered
Shelters Housing
2005 1,613 484 194 935 58%
2010 1,800 496 305 999 56%
2015 1,408 558 167 693 49%
2016 1,434 566 138 730 51%
2017 1,661 683 157 821 49%
2018 1,356 578 172 606 45%
2019 1,923 662 173 1,088 57%
2020 2,107 803 217 1,087 52%
2021 2,900*
*2021 number is initial estimate
There are homeless individuals throughout the County, with over 80% living in the greater Modesto-Riverbank-Empire area.
Homeless by Community 2020
11 Modesto 1,592
Turlock 232
Patterson 78
Empire 77
Oakdale 36
Ceres 29
Riverbank 26
Newman 21
Denair 7
Waterford 6
Salida 2
Hughson 1
Among the homeless identified in the 2020 Point-in-Time count:
18% had mental health issues
19% suffered from substance abuse
7% were victims of domestic violence
Over 5% were unaccompanied youth
Over 60% had been in jail, prison, or juvenile detention 25% spent time in a treatment center
12% had been in foster care
In 2020 over half of those receiving homeless services were doing so for the first time. There is not a large influx of homeless from other regions into the county. The vast majority of those receiving homeless services in Stanislaus County are from our County.
Several service providers interviewed noted that on any given night there is a surplus of emergency shelter beds. The challenge is getting them filled.
The most recent homeless plan, the Stanislaus 2021 Regional Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness, recommended the following eight goals:
Increase availability of permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness Increase access to and availability of mental health, substance abuse treatment, and other supportive services to increase housing stability and well-being Achieve equity in governance, outreach, provision of services, program participation, and outcomes while improving outreach, care and culturally attuned services to vulnerable and historically underserved populations Increase coordination of services, access, and information to build capacity across the homeless system of care
Increase pathways to essential community services that support self-sufficiency Increase participation of people with lived experience of homelessness in decision-making and feedback processes across the homeless system of care Strategically support homelessness prevention, diversions, and rapid resolution 12 Improve coordination of homeless programs to further public health and safety in support of community standards and increased access to services for people experiencing homelessness
COMMENDATION
The SCCGJ salutes all the public agencies and private organizations working to alleviate homelessness. The recommendations which follow are meant to help these agencies and organizations as they address this complicated and challenging task.
FINDINGS
F1. The number of homeless in Stanislaus County fluctuates from year to year but is increasing over time. This trend was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
F2. The most significant causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, substance abuse, and mental health.
F3. Efforts to better coordinate the system of care are underway. These include the Stanislaus Homeless Alliance at the policy level, and the Homeless Management Information System at the operational level.
F4. Since over half of the homeless each year are in the care system for the first time, efforts to prevent homelessness have not been successful enough. Without greater prevention success, homelessness cannot be reduced.
F5. Despite enormous funding for homeless programs, and despite the fact that there are many individual successes, overall the system to date has not reduced homelessness.
F6. There is insufficient accountability for the effective use of homeless funds. While many agencies are accountable to their funding sources, primary responsibility for measuring accountability and effectiveness rests with the Community Services Agency, the Community System of Care, and the Stanislaus Homeless Alliance.
RECOMMENDATIONS
R1. More accountability needs to be introduced into the system. The Community System of Care, the Stanislaus Homeless Alliance, and the Community Services Agency should take the lead, demand verifiable performance, and focus funding and other resources on those agencies and organizations with demonstrable success. This should be done by jointly adopting a performance evaluation system prior to allocation of the next round of 13 federal homeless funding. Progress on achieving the eight goals set forth in the Stanislaus 2021 Regional Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness should be included in performance evaluations.
R2. More focus should be given to preventing homelessness. To the extent there are funds not earmarked for other purposes, in the budgeting process of each jurisdiction, priority should be given to allocating these funds for affordable housing, substance abuse treatment, and mental health services.
R3. All cities in the County should continually be encouraging the construction of significantly more affordable housing. They should evaluate their plans, procedures, and requirements with the goal of balancing community goals, standards, and aspirations with the need for affordable housing.
R4. All cities should report annually to the Community System of Care and Stanislaus Homeless Alliance on the steps they have taken to help produce more affordable housing.
R5. Subsequent civil grand juries are encouraged to monitor progress on these recommendations and consider a more in-depth investigation into efforts to produce affordable housing.
REQUIRED RESPONSES
The following responses are required within sixty days after receipt of this report per Penal Code §933 and §933.05.
Director of the Stanislaus County Community Services Agency: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4,
Chairperson, Community System of Care: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F5, R-1, R2, R3, R4
Chair, Stanislaus Homeless Alliance: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 The following responses are required within ninety days after receipt of this report per Penal Code §933 and §933.05.
Modesto City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 Turlock City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 Ceres City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R32, R3, R4 Riverbank City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 Oakdale City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 Patterson City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 Newman City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 Hughson City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 14 Waterford City Council: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, R1, R2, R3, R4 These responses shall be submitted to:
Honorable Robert B. Westbrook
Presiding Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus P.O. Box 3488
Modesto, CA 95353
DISCLAIMER
This case, #22-05GJ, is issued by the 2021-2022 Stanislaus Couty Civil Grand Jury with the following exception: a member of the jury voluntarily recused due to a potential conflict of interest. This juror was excluded from all phases of the investigation, including interviews, deliberations, voting, writing, and approval of this report. None of the information included in this report was obtained from the recused juror to prevent any potential bias in the report.
Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Penal Code §929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury. 15 Appendix A: Homeless Agencies, Non-Profits, Programs, and Services Sources: Stanislaus 2021 Regional Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness and Civil Grand Jury Research
Emergency Shelter:
Community Housing and Shelter Services
Family Promise of Greater Modesto
Modesto Gospel Mission
Salvation Army
Turlock Gospel Mission
Haven’s Women’s Center
We Care (Turlock)
Turning Point
Helping Others Sleep Tonight
Children’s Crisis Center
Stanislaus County Affordable Housing Corporation
Oakdale Rescue Mission
HOST House (Patterson)
Naomi’s Place (Patterson)
Seasonal Shelter:
Stanislaus County Housing Authority
Stanislaus County Affordable Housing Corporation
Transitional Housing:
Center for Human Services
Cambridge Academy through HOST House and Naomi’s Place Community Impact Central Valley
Rapid Re-Housing
Center for Human Services
Family Promise
We Care
WestCare
Catholic Charities of the Dioceses of Stockton
Community Shelter and Housing Services
Permanent Supportive Housing
16 Community Housing and Shelter Services
Stanislaus County Affordable Housing Corporation
We Care
Community Impact Central Valley
Stanislaus County Housing Authority
Turning Point
Day Center
Modesto Gospel Mission
Turlock Gospel Mission
Turning Point
Shower and Laundry Services
What Would Jesus Do Ministry
Public Agencies with programs or roles in addressing homelessness:
Stanislaus County Community Services Agency
Stanislaus County Health Services Agency
Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Stanislaus County Planning and Community Development Department Stanislaus County Chief Executive Office
City of Modesto
City of Patterson
City of Riverbank
City of Turlock
17 Appendix B: Funding Sources for Homeless Programs and Services Sources: Stanislaus 2021 Regional Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness and Civil Grand Jury Research
Following are some of the large number of funding sources that are either targeted at or can be used for homeless services.
Federal:
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG)
CARES, multiple rounds of pandemic relief funds
Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program Administration for Children and Families
State of California
CalWORKs Housing Support Program (HSP)
California Emergency Solutions and Housing Funds (CESH) Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC)
Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP)
Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP) Homeless Youth Emergency Services and Housing Program Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Program
Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP)
HomeKey Program
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
No Place Like Home (NPLH)