Report: County Jails Lack in Mental Health Staff

Riverside County jails and juvenile halls such as Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta are not staffed with a sufficient number of mental health professionals to serve the growing inmate populations, and staffers with workplace concerns are staying mum out of fear of retaliation from supervisors, according to a grand jury report.

The 19-member county grand jury conducted an investigation earlier this year that uncovered a number of problems in how the Department of Mental Health operates within the county's five adult detention facilities and five juvenile facilities.

The Board of Supervisors will receive the seven-page assessment during its regular meeting Tuesday.

According to the report, the Department of Mental Health has still not restored staffing at county jails to 2007 levels, despite the grand jury's recommendation after a prior investigation last year.

Twenty-one out of 40 funded clinical positions have not been filled in jails, while three funded positions in juvenile facilities have not been filled, according to the grand jury.

The report points to a "backlog" of patient referrals in detention facilities, made worse by Assembly Bill 109, which the Legislature passed last year as part of Gov. Jerry Brown's "realignment" package to shift more state responsibilities onto counties.

AB 109 mandates that individuals convicted of crimes that fall into the non-violent, non-serious, non-sexually oriented category are to be incarcerated in county jails. So-called "N3s" include everything from DUI offenders to identity thieves. Since the law went into effect last Oct. 1, "the jail system has been busting at the seams," Sheriff Stan Sniff told the board earlier this month.

According to the grand jury, one challenge to filling vacant clinician jobs is a lack of competitive pay at the Department of Mental Health. Interviews with existing employees revealed that annual performance evaluations had not been completed on up to 60 percent of workers.

According to the report, the DMH administration is stretched thin, with three supervisors overseeing more than 100 staffers working in the juvenile detention system.

"The grand jury learned that some detention mental health workers are fearful of communicating with supervisors and managers about urgent work- related issues for fear of retaliation," the report states. "Testimony also revealed that a number of juvenile DMH clinicians have had on-site visits by their supervisors as few as three times a year."

Too often, finding temporary workers to relieve permanent employees is complicated by the need for background checks and security clearances, according to the report.

The grand jury issued the following recommendations to DMH:

-- ensure facilities are adequately staffed with mental health professionals;

-- implement a suggestion program to encourage freer communication that can improve operations;

-- conduct annual employee performance reviews;

-- consolidate administration to improve services within the juvenile detention system; and

-- coordinate with the sheriff's department on improving the patient referral service in jails.

The county Executive Office has 60 days to respond to the report's findings.

—City News Service