On April 3, 2018 Probation Department staff presented an update to the Board on the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) program for Unaccompanied Children (UC), currently operating out of the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility (YCJDF) on behalf of the federal government. An overview of the program is attached (Att. A). Chief Probation Officer Brent Cardall recommended termination of the contract due to, among other things, the increased rate of staff injuries resulting from assaults by the youth on staff, and the insufficient amount of funding available to effectively staff the facility to respond to incidents.
While Chief Cardall's recommendation was to terminate the program, other possible solutions were also presented for the Board's consideration. The Board directed staff to negotiate with federal ORR staff to explore solutions to the issues identified by the Probation Department and Board.
Since the April 3rd meeting, staff presented ORR the attached term sheet (Att. B) highlighting the requested changes to the County's agreement with ORR. ORR agreed to increase funding for 24 placements per term 2(a) but stated that the agency could not accommodate any of the policy requests. Under such an agreement, Yolo County would continue to provide up to 24 beds for UC who meet ORR Secure Placement criteria. The additional funding will support operational adjustments, specifically the addition of staff, which is anticipated to improve safety and increase the availability of supportive counseling for youth. The increased funding provides for program and budgetary modifications, including the following changes:
1. Increase supervision ratios to one Detention Officer for every four youth.
2. Increase clinical services to one Clinician for every eight youth.
3. Increase case management staffing to one Case Manager for every six youth.
4. Cover costs for on-site medical, psychiatry/mental health, and educational services that were previously subsidized by Yolo County.
Probation staff believe the proposed fiscal augmentation to the agreement is sufficient to address the County’s other outstanding concerns. Should the Board elect to continue the ORR program, Probation staff is requesting the Board permit the department to convert eligible, qualified Detention Officer – Extra Help staff to full-time Detention Officer I staff to expedite the hiring process required to meet the new staffing ratios.
Additionally, staff continues to work with ORR to include a 50-day termination clause in the agreement to address concerns raised by the Public Works Board of the State of California in relation to the use of the Multi-Purpose Center at the JDF by ORR youth potentially implicating IRS regulations barring the “private use” of facilities funded with tax-exempt government bonds. A 50-day termination clause would preclude the implication of such regulations and allow for ORR youth to continue to use the Multi-Purpose Center.
It is also important to appraise the Board of the current uncertainty and opacity precipitated by recent federal immigration directives and Executive Orders. The Trump Administration has vacillated between separating apprehended migrant children from their families to incarcerating entire families under a “zero tolerance” immigration directive. Furthermore, on June 20, 2018, President Trump, signed an executive order (Att. C) which among other direction, orders the Attorney General to:
[P]romptly file a request with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to modify the Settlement Agreement in Flores v. Sessions, CV 85-4544 (“Flores settlement”), in a manner that would permit the Secretary, under present resource constraints, to detain alien families together throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.
The Flores Settlement was reached in 1997 and prescribes certain standards for the detention, treatment, and release of unaccompanied alien minors. Flores is the framework under which the UC program operates. The potential for modifications to Flores creates further uncertainty as the settlement provides the underpinnings of the criteria for which apprehended migrant youth qualify for secured placement. Should the County continue to provide secured placement beds to ORR, given the abrupt and rapid shifts in federal direction, there is the possibility of increased uncertainty around the status, background, and appropriateness of ORR secured placements. |