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| Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 54 Dore Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466 |
Humboldt County is one of five counties in the State of California chosen to receive a $950,000 Healthy Returns Initiative Grant from The California Endowment.
County Chief Probation Officer Bill Burke made that announcement when he appeared before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Notified of the grant by the foundation last November, Burke said that Humboldt County is the only Northern California county to have been selected, along with Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Ventura counties.
The California Endowment is a private, statewide health foundation created in 1996 as a result of Blue Cross of California's creation of WellPoint Health Networks, a for-profit corporation that lists its mission as wanting to "expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians."
According to the Probation Department, the main goal of the Healthy Returns Initiative is to improve the health, mental health and overall well-being of youth in the juvenile justice system.
Beginning on March 1 and after a mandatory six-month planning period, the grant will provide the money over a four-year period, and bears no financial impact on the county general fund.
The six-month planning period will involve the grantees completing a community assessment to determine where the strengths and weaknesses lie in the health and mental health network, and to refine and implement a budget and a general plan for use of the funding.
Burke also requested that the supervisors approve a hiring freeze exception for the two new positions of Probation Services Division director and deputy probation officer that will be needed relating to the HRI.
Excited about the potential the grant has for Humboldt County, Supervisor Jimmy Smith congratulated Burke and Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Doug Rasines, saying, "You folks deserve a lot of credit. … Time after time you have stepped up to the plate."
In a typical month, the Probation Department lists approximately 26 juveniles who are detained in Juvenile Hall, with another 25-30 in placement, and approximately 240-250 being supervised in the field.
Of those juveniles, approximately half of the youth on field supervision and those being detained in Juvenile Hall, as well as between 80-100 percent of those in placement have "enough of a mental-health issue to require mental health related treatment or services."
According to the Probation Department, the HRI will focus on providing Humboldt County youth with "strength-based, family centered services," with an emphasis on rehabilitation, and will be tailored to match the "multicultural and multilingual diversity" of the community.
The Probation Department will also use the funding to expand its partnerships with both nonprofit and profit community-based organizations such as health care, social service and education providers and tribes and Native American servicing agencies.
Of the funding the Probation Department will receive, Health and Human Services Director Phillip Crandall said, "We're real excited and happy that probation received the grant."
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