REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 18, 2025
FROM
TRACY REECE, Chief Probation Officer, Probation Department
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Agreement with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 23-536, including non-standard terms, with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to provide suitable housing, care, and training of youthful offenders at Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp, adding 2025 General Terms and Conditions, Contractor Certification Clauses and Generative Artificial Intelligence Disclosure attachments, and extending the Agreement by three years, for a total Agreement period of June 27, 2023 through June 30, 2028, with no change to the not to exceed amount of $278,840.
2. Authorize the Chief Probation Officer to execute Amendment No. 1, which includes the Contractor Certification Clauses and Generative Artificial Intelligence Disclosure attachments, via DocuSign.
3. Direct the Chief Probation Officer to transmit the executed amendment, which includes the 2025 General Terms and Conditions, Contractor Certification Clauses and Generative Artificial Intelligence Disclosure attachments, to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: Tracy Reece, Chief Probation Officer, 387-5692)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The $278,840 cost of the Agreement is funded with the Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant (SB 823). Adequate appropriation is included in the Probation Department’s (Probation) 2025-26 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp (Fire Camp), maintained by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), is California’s longest continuously operating fire camp that trains justice-involved youth in wildland firefighting skills, and functions as a training resource for youth in California to create pipelines from Pine Grove to gainful employment. The Fire Camp is located in Amador County. It is a low-security conservation camp that allows low-risk youthful offenders to learn about fire safety and firefighting.
Participants must meet certain criteria to be accepted and placed by the court to the Fire Camp as the step-down phase of their sentence. Once accepted, training is provided by CAL Fire and participants are certified to engage in wildland firefighting operations. Fire crews from the Fire Camp perform approximately 180,000 hours of fire suppression services in an average year for California residents.
The Fire Camp provides housing, supervision training, and wages to male San Bernardino County (County) Youthful Offenders (Participants), age 18 or above. Participants housed at the Fire Camp primarily function as responders to emergency incidents and perform public works projects. Probation projects about 18 youths will be admitted annually into the Fire Camp, which includes costs for suitable housing at $10 per day, care, and training at $81 per day. As of May 2025, the release value for these services was $13,386; therefore, Probation is not requesting an increase to the original amount of $287,840.
On June 27, 2023 (Item No. 77), as the result of a non-competitive procurement, the Board of Supervisors approved Agreement No. 23-536, including non-standard terms, with the CDCR to provide suitable housing, care, and training of youthful offenders at Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp, in the amount not to exceed $278,840 for the term of June 27, 2023 through June 30, 2025.
The terms in the Agreement are set forth by the CDCR, which differ from the County standard contract terms. The non-standard terms, which do not change with recommended Amendment No. 1, include the following:
1. CDCR’s indemnification is limited to any and all claims, losses and liabilities attributable to lost or damaged personal property consistent with CDCR regulations while in CDCR placement.
• The County standard contract requires contractors to indemnify the County in accordance with County Policy 11-07.
• Potential Impact: The State is not required to defend, indemnify or hold the County harmless from all claims. If the County is sued for a claim that falls outside of CDCR’s indemnification, the County may be solely liable for the costs of defense and damages, which could exceed the total Agreement amount.
2. The Agreement requires the County to indemnify, defend and save harmless the State from any and all claims and losses accruing or resulting to any of the Contractor’s employees arising out of the exposure to any blood pathogen, aerosol transmissible disease or communicable disease and from any and all of CDCR workers’ compensation claims and losses by the County related to the performance of this agreement.
• The County standard contract does not include any indemnification or defense by the County of a contractor.
• Potential Impact: By agreeing to indemnify the State, the County would be responsible to defend and reimburse the State for costs, expenses and damages. County Counsel and Risk Management approved non-standard language for mutual indemnification by the County and the State of California
3. The Agreement does not require CDCR to meet the County insurance standard.
• The County standard contract requires contractors to carry appropriate insurance limits and under conditions determined by the County’s Risk Management Department.
• Potential Impact: Both CDCR and the County are authorized self-insured public entities for purposes of Professional Liability, General Liability, Automobile Liability, and Worker’s Compensation. CDCR and the County warrant that through their respective program self-insurance, they have adequate coverage or resources to protect against liabilities arising out of the performance of the terms, conditions or obligations of this Agreement. By accepting self-insurance, there will be no outside entity available to pay out on claims, if any.
The Department recommends approval of the Agreement, including the non-standard terms, to provide suitable housing, care, and training of the County’s participants at the Fire Camp.
PROCUREMENT
Not Applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Jolena Grider, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 21, 2025; Risk Management (Gregory Ustaszewski, Staff Analyst, 386-9008) on May 21,2025; Purchasing (Ariel Gill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on May 22, 2025; Finance (Iliana Rodriguez, Administrative Analyst, 387-4205) on May 30, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423 on May 30, 2025.