While Marin County Juvenile Hall employees say that budget cuts have not severely impacted Marin’s facility, other counties within California have not been so lucky. These cuts could lead to severe consequences down the road.
“We’ve been asked to do more with less,” said Steven Blair, superintendent of Marin County Juvenile hall. “Here in this facility we haven’t lost any employees, but we have become more careful about making our money go as far as it can go. Juvenile hall is mandated by the state, and they know that we can’t do things like lower the staff to points where its unsafe or kids are getting hurt. We are not totally getting hurt, but the changes are impactful.”
While Blair said the San Rafael facility has felt some pressure to be mindful of spending, the amount of the total spending and the net county cost has increased over the years for juvenile hall services. In 2012-2013 the total expenditures for the establishment reached $3,985,108, compared to the 2004-2005 expenditure of $2,101,224.
The 2012-2013 net county cost is $2,285,010, while the net county cost in 2004-2005 was $588,550.
Samantha Klein, the business manager of the Marin County probation department, said the county’s juvenile hall facility contemplated downsizing on was the kitchen in effort to cut food costs, but the plan was never actually administered.
According to Klein, the department looked into closing the kitchen previously, as meals would be shipped in from jail, but the switch was not pulled for various reasons, and wouldn’t consider doing so unless cuts were much more drastic.
Other counties, such as in Sacramento, have found themselves in very different positions than Marin County. Last year, the capital county faced a $69.4 million budget shortfall, leading to $8 million worth of cuts towards the probation department, which runs the area’s juvenile hall.
These cuts were so significant to the probation department’s $110 million budget that juvenile hall officials contemplated releasing as many as 60 residents from their facility.
In Solano County, 2010 budget cuts impacted the probation department so greatly that administration members debated releasing all mental health staff members at their juvenile hall, which would in turn impact those in need of mental health assistance. However, this issue was later resolved by switching mental health service centers.
