REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 27, 2023
FROM
TRACY REECE, Chief Probation Officer, Probation Department
SUBJECT
Title
Agreement with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Agreement, 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, in the amount not to exceed $278,840, for the term of June 27, 2023 through June 30, 2025.
(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 additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The $278,840 cost of the Agreement is funded by the Juvenile Justice Realignment funding from the State through Senate Bill 823. Adequate appropriation has been included in the Probation Department’s (Probation) 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets and will be included in the future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp (Fire Camp) 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 Division of Juvenile Justice requires juvenile justice realignment per Senate Bill (SB) 823. Fire Camp supports this with positive youth development, building the capacity of a continuum of community-based approaches, and reducing crime by youth.
Fire Camp is located in Amador County, maintained by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). It is a low-security conservation camp that allows low-risk youthful offenders to learn about fire safety and firefighting. The CDCR provides housing, supervision training, and wages to male San Bernardino County (County) Youthful Offenders (participants), age 18 or above. Participants housed at Fire Camp primarily function as responders to emergency incidents and perform public works projects.
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 Fire camps perform approximately 180,000 hours of fire suppression services in an average year for California residents. Probation projects about 20 youths to be admitted annually into the Fire Camp, which includes costs for suitable housing, care, and training.
Crews typically work in state and county parks performing stream clearance, wild land fire prevention tasks, and restoration work. During the fire season, youth crews are involved in wildland fire suppression throughout the State of California (State). Fire Camp crews are also assigned to flood control activities. The major emphasis of the camp program is to provide participants with employable skills and to develop within them a strong emphasis of solid work habits. In addition, participants receive leadership training within their crew structure.
The terms in the Agreement are set forth by the CDCR, which differ from the County standard contract terms. The non-standard terms include the following:
1. The Agreement does not require CDCR to meet the County indemnification standard.
• The County standard contract requires contractors to indemnify the County in accordance with County Policy 11-07.
• 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.
2. The Agreement does not require CDCR to meet the County insurance standard.
• The County standard contract require 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 agreeing to self-insurance there will be no outside entity available to pay out on any claims, if any.
3. The signatory page Standard 213 for the Agreement requires the attachment of State of California General Terms and Conditions (GTC 04/2017) as Exhibit C.
• The language in Exhibit C cannot be edited, modified, or removed to reflect clauses allowed by County Policies.
• Potential Impact: Both CDCR and the County have Non-Discrimination Clauses, the Agreement’s Exhibit C, which includes the Discrimination Clause, does not reflect the adopted amended language to California Code Regulations, Title 2, § 11105.
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 22, 2023; Risk Management (Victor Tordesillas, Director, 386-8623) on June 1, 2023; Purchasing (Michelle Churchill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on May 25, 2023; Finance (Kathleen Gonzalez, Administrative Analyst, 387-5412) on June 8, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-4342) on June 9, 2023.