Background to ORR Program
In 2008, Yolo County entered into an agreement with the Office of Administration for Children and Families to provide up to 24 beds at the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility (YCJDF) for Unaccompanied Children (UC) who meet ORR secure placement criteria. Yolo County has partnered with ORR for nearly a decade, and when this program was up for renewal, the Probation Department applied for and was re-awarded a new grant award in February 2017. The latest grant awarded Yolo County $2,944,588 for the first year of the three year award, followed by $2,999,999 for the remaining two years.
On April 3, 2018, Probation Department staff presented an update to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on the ORR program for UC; Former Chief Probation Officer Brent Cardall, who retired in December 2018, highlighted several areas of concern, including:
- The profile of the UC in secure placement has changed over time to include more youth who are aggressive, assaultive, mentally ill, and requiring increased services and supervision.
- Staff injuries resulting from managing assaultive youth;
- Insufficient amount of funding available to effectively staff the facility and quickly respond to incidents;
- High levels of stress on both Probation Administration and staff resulting in excessive use of sick leave.
Program Changes Since April 2018
After consideration of community feedback, the Board directed Probation staff to collaborate with federal ORR staff to explore solutions to the issues identified by the Probation Department. Probation staff negotiated with ORR to receive a supplemental grant award to support operational adjustments, specifically to fund additional staff. This funding has allowed Probation to address the previous concerns related to staff injuries, staffing the facility, and excessive use of stress-related sick leave. After ORR program staffing was increased in May 2018, staff injuries resulting from management of assaultive youth behavior that prompted a referral to workers comp for medical assessment, clearance, or treatment went down 43%. Sick leave usage for staff decreased by 18%. There was also a reduction in the average staff-client ratio for direct staff supervision from 8:1 to 4:1 starting in May 2018. Additional data for these measures can be seen in charts below.
| ORR Program Average Daily Population |
| Program Year |
Average Daily Population of ORR Clients |
| February 2016 - January 2017 |
19 |
| February 2017 - January 2018 |
18 |
| February 2018 - January 2019 |
18 |
| Staff Injuries from Management of Assaultive Youth Behavior |
| Date Range |
Injuries that Prompted a Referral to Workers' Comp for Medical Assessment, Clearance, or Treatment |
| April 2017 - March 2018 |
23 |
| April 2018 - January 2019 (After Staffing Increase) |
13 |
| Sick Leave Usage for ORR Program Staff |
| Date Range |
Average Sick Leave Hours Used Per Month |
| February 2017 - March 2018 |
186 |
| April 2018 - January 2019 (After Staffing Increase) |
153 |
The additional staff are also anticipated to improve safety and increase the availability of supportive counseling for youth. Funds from the supplemental award were also budgeted to cover costs for medical, psychiatry/mental health and educational services that were previously subsidized by Yolo County. The Probation Department has begun implementation of programmatic changes since the past update to the Board in April 2018, and has continued to evaluate ways to promote a trauma-informed standard of care. The recommended budget for grant year 2019/2020 includes expanded mental health services, increased de-escalation training for staff, and staff resources to facilitate programming to aid in rehabilitation and youth development. Additionally, since July 2018, the Probation Department has hosted monitoring audits of the juvenile detention facility by the Office of Attorney General, the Office of Inspector General, Disability Rights California (DRC), and the California State Auditor’s Office. The audit results are not finalized as of yet, but will be shared with the Board upon completion.
Despite addressing many of the concerns presented to the Board in April 2018, there are still challenges that this program will face. The first significant challenge is that ORR network bed capacity at lower level placements, such as staff-secure and residential treatment, is limited. This limitation within the ORR network of care providers may hinder our efforts to place youth in lower level facilities once they meet criteria for transfer. ORR administration is aware of this limitation and is actively working on policy changes and expansion of lower level placement options. The second significant challenge is that we will continue to serve a population with complex experiences, trauma-exposure, and aggressive tendencies, which can be be difficult to supervise due to unpredictable behavior. This challenge has been, and will continue to be mitigated through adequate staffing of this program.
ORR Program Budget and Staffing
At this time, Probation is requesting Board approval to continue administering the program with the recommended budget for grant cycle 2019/2020. Additionally, we are requesting the Board permit the Probation Department to add nine new positions funded by the ORR grant and the re-purposing of an existing position to carry out the Prison Rape Elimination Act duties, required by federal law.
The Probation Department has prepared a budget proposal for the next ORR grant year of $6,747,216 in federal funds. This plan includes funds to adequately staff the Juvenile Detention Facility in both the security and clinical areas and also includes increased funding for administrative and indirect costs. This plan addresses Yolo County's concern of subsidizing the ORR program, includes funding for contracted services offered to ORR youth (which the county has previously covered), and also frees up county funds that have been previously used to cover costs for Detention Officers that were only supervising ORR youth.
Over the last year, the Probation Department has been working on identifying and negotiating the correct amount of funding for the ORR program to meet federal and state regulations and standards, as well as to ensure that the county does not subsidize any portion of this federal program. The proposal we bring before the Board of Supervisors today includes a thorough review of the staffing and services needed to accomplish these goals, and includes the resources necessary to do so. The Probation Department held discussions with ORR staff with this goal in mind and were successful in increasing our funding for the 2018 and 2019 program years. The following are the ORR funding amounts over the last two program years and the proposed amount we have discussed with ORR staff for 2019.
| ORR Program Budget |
| Program Year |
ORR Funding |
| February 2017 - January 2018 |
$2,944,588 |
| February 2018 - January 2019 (Original Funding Level) |
$2,999,999 |
| May 2018 - January 2019 (Mid-Year Funding Level Adjustment) |
$5,730,320 |
| February 2019 - January 2020 (Proposed) |
$6,747,216 |
This plan includes funding for the following eight additional positions that will support the operations of the facility and improve therapeutic outcomes for the youth:
New Positions (9):
(1) Probation Division Manager (33% ORR)
(1) Detention Officer I/II (50% ORR) for Transportation
(1) Detention Officer I/II (85% ORR)
(2) Clinician I/II (100% ORR)
(2) Social Worker (100% ORR)
(1) Social Worker (50% ORR)
(1) Supervising Clinician (100% ORR)
Position Conversion:
Convert one (1) Senior Social Worker to Senior Detention Officer, to handle the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) duties.
Some of the above-mentioned positions are not funded at 100% by ORR because this proposal includes a change in the cost sharing of Detention Officer positions from 50% to 100% ORR for positions that are fully assigned to ORR. The Yolo County cost is being absorbed within Probation's budget. We have also increased the cost sharing for the existing ORR Division Manager to reflect the actual amount of time spent to support ORR activities. The savings from these funding changes will allow the department to fund the local cost of the new positions, which will also benefit the Yolo County youth in the Detention Facility.
| ORR Program Staffing |
| Program Year |
Staff Employed with ORR Funds |
| February 2017 - January 2018 |
18.5 FTE |
| February 2018 - January 2019 (Original Funding Level) |
18.5 FTE |
| May 2018 - January 2019 (Mid-Year Funding Level Adjustment) |
27.5 FTE |
| February 2019 - January 2020 (Proposed) |
38.62 FTE |
The ORR program runs on a February to January program year; since the county budget already includes seven of the twelve budget months, a large portion of this amount has already been estimated into the current year's departmental budget. The Probation department is requesting additional appropriation authority in the amount of $365,151 to accept the additional funds that would result if this Board accepts the proposed budget for the continuation of this program for the final year of our three year cooperative agreement with ORR. The Board also maintains the ability to terminate the program. The currently established process for termination is to provide notice to ORR and then form a closeout plan that ceases new placements and transports currently placed youth elsewhere. |