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Meeting Information



Finance_Committee

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 

MINUTES of November 14, 2006 FINANCE COMMITTEE Of the JUVENILE PROBATION COMMISSION

held at Youth Guidance Center Conference Room  on 3rd fl.  375 Woodside Ave   San Francisco, CA   94127

 

The Minutes of this meeting set forth all actions taken by the Committee on the matters 

                                     stated, but not necessarily the chronological sequence in which the matters were taken up

1.

(ACTION)  Roll Call

Comm Beijen called the meeting to order at 5:05pm Comm Queen was present at the gavel. Comm Lingad Ricci was excused. The Chief, Allison McGee represented the Dept.

 

2.

(ACTION) Review and approval of Minutes of October 17, 2006 meeting.

The minutes were approved as written.

(public comment)

There were none.

 

3.

(Public Comment on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Finance Committee of the Juvenile Probation Commission)

There were none.

 

4.

(DISCUSSION/ACTION) Recommending to the full Commission, priorities for the Dept audit by the Controller’s office.

Comm Queen reviewed what had been brought up in the previous meeting, focusing on performance evaluations on the Dept and how they are doing toward reaching their goals, beyond the contracting process.  Two divisions were mentioned for this: Log Cabin Ranch and Probation Services.

Magee mentioned the plan to contract a consultant to do an evaluation of and plan for LCRS (would this be duplicative).

Comm Beijen read the suggestions received from M. Lui (see last meeting’s minutes). He then read a note from Comm Fetico regarding items for the audit (attached to these minutes).

The Chief commented that there are a number of positions in the Dept where the incumbent is performing duties beyond the scope of the job class. With all the cuts over the years, people have had to double up their activities, particularly in the ‘exempt’ areas. In regards to the Dir of Administration, he said that since he’s been here he’s seen the need to have someone to coordinate the fiscal with the programming. It’s not a duplication of services.  There’s the added need for training and human resources. This position oversees that.

Another example of short handedness: the Dept HR division is not able to process all potential candidates. There is no HR Director. The Sr. Personnel Analyst assumes those duties.  The Chief also mentioned the lack of staff in the Community Programs Division.  In the question of utilization of CBO detention alternatives, there is no “command” person who makes sure this is consistently and maximally used.

He said that in the Mayor’s supplemental budget request, the Bd. of Supervisors’ budget analyst supported the 6 PO positions for the Dept, but not the counselor positions.

Recommendations:

·         audit the contracting process and CBO compliance.

·         Job/classification study (allocation and distribution of staff, is it the most efficacious/appropriate?)

·         The Management Information System (MIS-JJIS), adequate or not

·         Assess the community programs division’s management structure

·         Assess the efficacy of the relationship between Probation Services Division and community based programs

·         Assess the management’s coordination of usage of detention alternatives and other community programs.

·         Assess Dept’s case management practices

There was a short discussion regarding using the audit to evaluate the progress or barriers to JDAI. The results of such an audit may validate the fiscal needs of the Dept.

(public comment)

there were none.

 

5.

(DISCUSSION/ACTION) Consider asking the Dept to explore charging other counties for housing their warrant arrestees in juvenile hall, for more than a set period of time (to be determined, eg. 72 hrs).

The issues involved here are: would charges be to the parents or the county where the kid is from. Are they mostly from economically disadvantaged homes? Do we have kids in other counties (which is more)? What do other counties do about this problem?

Because of the case processing, kids detained on Thursday generally will not be released until Tuesday. 

Since there were many questions, this will be tabled until the Chief has met with the Bay Area Chiefs, and the State association of Chiefs, and has something to report back.

(public comment)

there were none.

 

6.

(DISCUSSION/ACTION) Review of the Dept’s fiscal operations, with recap of expenditures, budget including status of contracts, trends in expenses, audits of all financial processes.

The financials were not received before this meeting, so the Committee decided to table this discussion until the next meeting.

(public comment)

there were none.

 

7.

(DISCUSSION/ACTION) Discussion of the upcoming budget process and setting up timelines for preparation.

A. Magee briefly reviewed that the Mayor’s budget instructions will come out early Dec. The Dept is having internal meetings in preparation for that.  They will work with division heads to come up with a draft, in line with the instructions, for the Commission’s January meeting. 

Comm Queen reviewed that optimally the Dept’s budget process should begin in Sept with people in the Dept, and outside of the Dept, like Controller’s office, to begin envisioning what the needs might be.

Magee said that if the Dept were to submit an “ideal” budget, unresponsive to the instructions, then the Dept would lose the authority to decide on their cuts, and the Mayor’s budget office would assume that power. Magee felt they needed to start with the Dept’s staff first, and then bring it to others for expansion. The Chief mentioned that the different divisions were not looking at how their individual operations impacted the entire Dept’s budget (eg. OT in one area).

The Chief commented that he thought the Mayor’s office would be more interested in seeing how the Dept pursued additional revenues.

(public comment)

There were none.

 

8.

(ACTION) Request for future agenda items,  Adjournment

The Committee decided to keep open the possibility of having a Dec. meeting, and having an earlier Jan. meeting if actions were needed on the budget before the full commission meeting on the second Wed.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:30pm.

 

Statement from Comm. Fetico:

President Stiglich

 

I have some questions I want the Finance Committee to raise, since I‘m not on the committee.

 

Regarding the audit, the Controller has already said its  looking at how depts are using their personnel (classifications, compensation), citywide, to see if things are being done in the most cost effective and efficient way.

 

I think we have the same issue in our Dept, because we need to prepare for new staffing when the juvenile hall opens up and we need more line staff.

 

In fact, we need more line staff  now to deal with the  direct services to the kids, whether it is related  to court processing, or probation supervision.   I want to know if we are using our human resources in the most cost effective way possible.

 

For instance, what is the justification and rationale for hiring a dir of administration when we already have a dir. of finance and administration     How does this new position affect the duties and responsibilities of the old position?  Does it take over part of that job?  if so, what should happen to the old position (dir. Of finance AND administration).  If it is reduced, then there should be a similar reduction in class and compensation to reflect that.  Otherwise, we are using more funds to do the same thing.

 

This question applies to all positions and roles and their classifications and compensation.  Is the Dept using THE most effective classes for the jobs at hand.

 

This should be included in the audit being proposed now.6

 

Comm. Hully Fetico