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Regular-General Government # 40.
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| Board of Supervisors |
County Administrator |
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| Subject |
Introduce by title only, waive first reading and receive public comment regarding proposed ordinances to separate the Public Guardian-Public Administrator office and consolidate the Public Guardian office with the Health and Human Services Agency and the Public Administrator office with the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office; appoint interim Public Guardian and Public Administrator for the period January 1-11, 2017. (No general fund impact) (Blacklock/West)
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| Recommended Action |
- Introduce by title only, waive first reading and receive public comment regarding proposed ordinance to separate the office of the Public Guardian from the office of the Public Administrator, terminate the designation of the Public Administrator as ex officio Public Guardian and appoint the Director of the Health and Human Services Agency as the Public Guardian;
- Introduce by title only, waive first reading and receive public comment regarding proposed ordinance to consolidate the offices of the Yolo County Sheriff-Coroner and Public Administrator and adopt additions to the County code of ordinances necessary and resulting from the consolidation of these offices;
- Continue the ordinances to the next regularly scheduled Board of Supervisor’s meeting to be considered for adoption; and
- Contingent upon approval of the ordinances at the next regularly scheduled meeting, appoint Health & Human Services Agency Director Karen Larsen and Sheriff Ed Prieto as the interim Public Guardian and Public Administrator, respectively, for the period January 1 through January 11, 2017.
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| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
Operational Excellence
Thriving Residents
Safe Communities
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| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
Ordinances
On October 25, 2016 the Board of Supervisors approved the separation of the Public Guardian-Public Administrator office and consolidation of those offices in accordance with the staff proposed organizational model, which places the Public Guardian with the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and the Public Administrator with the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office. Staff recommended this organizational model out of the anticipation that it will provide increased benefits. Essentially, it is anticipated that separation and consolidation of the office under larger departments will provide a greater alignment of services, increased resources, support staff and internal controls.
As a result, the Board also directed staff to develop and return to the Board with the ordinances necessary to reorganize and consolidate the positions.
The first proposed ordinance, provided as Attachment A, separates the office of the Public Guardian from the office of the Public Administrator, terminates the designation of the Public Administrator as Ex Officio Public Guardian, and appoints the Director of the Health and Human Services Agency as the Public Guardian. The amendments to the County Code provided by this ordinance are highlighted in Attachment C.
The second proposed ordinance, provided as Attachment B, consolidates the offices of the Yolo County Sheriff-Coroner and Public Administrator. The ordinance also includes additional County Code provisions necessary for the consolidation.
Following their adoption, the two proposed ordinances are anticipated to take effect on January 12, 2017. Since the current Public Guardian-Administrator is set to retire at the end of December, the duties of her position will pass pursuant to the Government Code as follows: The Board of Supervisors can appoint Karen Larsen as Public Guardian and Sheriff Ed Prieto as Public Administrator until the ordinances take effect. The transition would follow the timeline as shown in Attachment D.
Once the integration has occurred, the Board will receive monthly updates for the first few months with decreasing frequency thereafter, unless otherwise requested by the Board of Supervisors.
Dispute Protocol
At the October 25, 2016 Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board also directed staff to research and return with remedies to address any potential conflicts of interest and/or disputes arising from the Public Guardian consolidation with HHSA,; including a revised protocol. Through additional research, the Office of the County Counsel identified the remedies for three areas of potential conflicts or disputes:
- Conservatee: Currently, each Conservatee is represented by an attorney who advocates on his/her behalf, pursuant to Probate and Welfare and Institutions Codes. The Public Defender’s office represents most conservatees in accordance with these statutes. This will not change with the consolidation.
- Family of Conservatee: Pursuant to the Welfare and Institutions Code, the Conservatee’s treatment team can encourage the participation of the Conservatee’s family members, when appropriate, in the development, implementation, revision and review of the Conservatee’s treatment plan. The Conservatee may request the Public Guardian refrain from doing so.
- Dispute among Mental Health and Public Guardian Staff within HHSA: The organizational structure approved by the Board is designed to alleviate any potential conflict of interest between Public Guardian staff making decisions on conservatorships and mental health staff under HHSA directing payment. Importantly, Public Guardian line staff are supervised and managed by the Assistant Public Guardian. This assures that staff are overseen and supervised in a manner that is entirely separate from the fiscal role of mental health staff, and it represents an important structural safeguard against inappropriate fiscal (or other) bias.
If a dispute were nonetheless to occur, two protocols have been developed in accordance with the California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5371. One protocol (Attachment E) separates and lists the duties of Public Guardian staff and mental health staff. The second protocol (Attachment F) has been revised from its previous presentation to the Board and creates a procedure that delineates how a dispute would be resolved. Under that procedure any dispute would be reviewed by the Assistant Public Guardian and the supervisor of the mental health clinician/case manager involved. In the event further appeal is needed, parties will forward all documentation to a psychologist/psychiatrist for review and decision. This psychologist/psychiatrist will be an independent contractor, retained specifically by contract with Health and Human Services Agency/Public Guardian for the purpose of dispute resolution in a neutral, objective manner. The psychologist/psychiatrist’s decision will be final.
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| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
Public Guardian-Administrator Integration Planning Work Group was made up of staff from the Public Guardian-Administrator, Sheriff-Coroner, HHSA, County Counsel, CAO and Human Resources
The Local Mental Health Board provided feedback regarding the proposed model and was consulted regarding the developed protocols.
County Counsel approved the ordinances as to form.
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