CSAC is honoring 18 counties for their innovative, cost-effective programs in the 2012 CSAC Challenge Awards. These awards are presented in three tiers: The California Counties Innovation Awards, Challenge Awards and Merit Awards.

The annual Challenge Awards program was created by CSAC in the mid-1990s. Since that time, it has grown in popularity. The award-winning programs are just a sampling of the creativity and leadership demonstrated each day by our counties. All 220 Challenge Award entries were evaluated by an independent panel of judges closely affiliated with California counties and the programs and services they deliver.

CSAC congratulates all of the recipients for their work. CSAC staff will be making in-person presentations at Boards of Supervisors meetings in the counties that received Innovation and Challenge Awards. Challenge Award-winning programs will also be the focus of a series of videos that CSAC will produce for next year’s National County Government Month.

California Counties Innovation Award Recipients

The following program was honored for their innovation and creativity. The judging panel selected these programs among Challenge Award recipients as the most innovative.

Glenn County — Community Re-Entry Work Program (CREW)

Faced with the challenges tied to the implementation of realignment, Glenn County developed the Community Re-Entry Work Program (CREW). The County identified the departments and partners that would be impacted by realignment and pulled these local resources together in order to respond to the challenge effectively and efficiently. The goal of CREW is three-fold: help improve the state recidivism rate, help individuals gain employment, and save the county public cash aid costs.

The County brought together Employment Services, Eligibility, Community Action, Behavioral Health and community partners to review available services and to leverage new resources to better serve those being released so they could integrate back into the community.  Potential clients had a choice: apply for General Assistance (with a three-month limit) or enter the CREW program with a goal of becoming self-sufficient.

The CREW program has become accepted within the County – especially the Probation Department — as the central approach to the AB 109 challenge. As realignment continues, it is necessary for counties to find effective, economical ways to assist returning populations in transitioning back into stable, productive lives. CREW is proving one way to do that.

For more information on the CREW program, contact Scott Gruendl, Glenn County Human Resource Agency Director, at (530) 934-6638; email: sgruendl@hr.co.glenn.ca.us.

San Bernardino County — Creating One-Stop Centers for AB 109 Realignment

In response to the challenges created by public-safety realignment, the San Bernardino County Probation Department took the lead and entered into a partnership with other county departments to provide “one-stop” services for offenders at three Day Reporting Centers throughout the County. This allows the Probation Department to connect offenders with multiple services in one place, reducing the number of offenders who get frustrated or lost in the system.

These services run the gamut including medical screening and educational classes, job readiness courses, mental health support, drug and alcohol treatment, and the processing of applications for Medi-Cal, Arrow Care, Cal Fresh and other programs. Individual and group classes are held. Offenders are also referred to other community-based providers for such items as housing, clothing and child-support resolution.

San Bernardino County’s initial figures show significant savings as the percentage of recidivism has decreased significantly. By providing services designed to meet the needs of offenders, the number of re-offenders is decreasing, resulting in a large cost savings. Furthermore, by successfully reintegrating offenders back into the community, the crime rate is reducing, making San Bernardino County communities safer.

For more information on this program, contact Julie Hovis, Division Director II, at (909) 387-6094; email: Julie.hovis@prob.sbcounty.gov.

Challenge Award Recipients

Population Under 50,000

Glenn County — Community Re-Entry Work Program (CREW)

aced with the challenges tied to the implementation of realignment, Glenn County developed the Community Re-Entry Work Program (CREW). The County identified the departments and partners that would be impacted by realignment and pulled these local resources together in order to respond to the challenge effectively and efficiently. The goal of CREW is three-fold: help improve the state recidivism rate, help individuals gain employment, and save the county public cash aid costs.

The County brought together Employment Services, Eligibility, Community Action, Behavioral Health and community partners to review available services and to leverage new resources to better serve those being released so they could integrate back into the community.  Potential clients had a choice: apply for General Assistance (with a three-month limit) or enter the CREW program with a goal of becoming self-sufficient.

The CREW program has become accepted within the County – especially the Probation Department — as the central approach to the AB 109 challenge. As realignment continues, it is necessary for counties to find effective, economical ways to assist returning populations in transitioning back into stable, productive lives. CREW is proving one way to do that.

For more information on the CREW program, contact Scott Gruendl, Glenn County Human Resource Agency Director, at (530) 934-6638; email: sgruendl@hr.co.glenn.ca.us.

50,000 to 200,000

Napa County — Workforce Housing Assistance Program

More than 29,000 Napa County residents work outside the county. The challenge facing the county is how to provide housing opportunities so individuals can work closer to home. The answer: the Napa County Proximity Workforce Housing Assistance Program that administers a worker proximity down-payment homeownership loan program.

County staff and elected officials worked closely with the local lending community, real estate and housing sectors to design a program that would easy to administer and work in conjunction with the private lending sector.  The program’s main goal is to assist low- and moderate-income households to purchase a home close to their place of work; at the same time, CO2 emissions would be significantly reduced. The program provides a silent second mortgage in the amount of 10 percent of the purchase price of the home. The loan is repaid upon sale of the property. The county benefits in whatever appreciation should occur on the property through a percentage in the value.

The program’s funding source is the Napa County Affording Housing Fund, which is tasked with using revenue collected through development mitigation fees to create additional affordable housing stock. This fund allows the county to lend to households that earn up to 120 percent of the area median income in Napa County.

For more information on the program, contact Larry Florin, Director of Housing and Governmental Affairs at (707) 253-4621.

San Benito County — Booked in a Different Way

On average, there are more than 1,200 individuals on probation in San Benito County at any one time. Many of these clients have a deficiency in education and that is passed along to their children. This issue greatly affects the recidivism rate among probationers. The “Booked in a Different Way” literacy program is designed to lower the recidivism rate among probationers as well as fostering a love of reading and learning among their children.

The program is a collaborative effort between the courts, probation department and county library. Its goal is to promote the rehabilitation of first-time drug offenders with the goal of intervening in multi-generational cycles of crime and drug abuse by supporting the literacy and educational success of at-risk children.

Program participants are referred to the library by the probation department and taught family literacy skills through weekly activities. They meet an hour each week for an eight-week period, reading and learning about library services and checking out books. Parents do whole-class activities, read to their children and are given books that offer tips on how to foster a love of learning at home.

The program has been a success. “Graduated” probationers must periodically report to the court and the vast majority of those who have gone through the program have been extremely positive.

For more information on the program, contact Brent Cardall, Chief Probation Officer, at (831) 636-4070.

200,001 to 700,000

San Joaquin County — Measure & Mix: A Mental Health Recipe

San Joaquin County undertook new strategies to reduce or redirect costs while simultaneously continuing to expand recovery-oriented mental health services. In January 2010, the county’s Behavioral Health Services Department began a two-year data-driven planning and implementation initiative to redesign its adult service system to become more effective and efficient. The initiative leveraged existing Mental Health Services Act planning and funding opportunities while incorporating broad stakeholder input.

As a result of this initiative, the following new programs were put into operation and were generating revenue:

• Residential learning communities
• Crisis stabilization unit
• Medi-Cal certified psychiatric health facility

Since these programs were put into place, there has been a 50 percent net reduction in capital outlay with an increase in Medi-Cal revenue. Patient care and results have also been enhanced. The crisis stabilization unit has successfully treated, stabilized and diverted most individuals experiencing modest to a severe crisis from an inpatient admission; the residential learning community has dramatically lowered use of crisis and acute care services; and the psychiatric health facility has seen a significant decrease in average-stay rates.

The redesign project demonstrates that by focusing on earlier interventions for high-risk individuals, it is possible to reduce expensive inpatient care, increase revenue, and improve consumer outcomes, and remain faithful to the MHSA transformational vision.

For more information on the program, contact Vic Singh, Behavioral Health Services Director, at (209) 468-8750.

Sonoma County — Comprehensive Energy Project

Sonoma County pays nearly $5 million in utility bills to meet the needs of its 35 facilities. Not only is this a strain on the General Fund, but also creates a substantial environmental impact. As a result, the County developed a Comprehensive Energy Project that set to out to meet three objectives: reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money and replace worn out equipment.  A comprehensive audit resulted in 38 energy-efficiency measures being incorporated at 24 buildings that presented the greatest energy savings and financial return.

While energy efficiency retrofits helped achieve cost savings, the project worked financially due to the use of a $10 million hydrogen fuel cell that uses natural gas as a fuel source to produce electricity at 1/5 the cost while providing heat to the county campus through a waste heat recovery system. Adhering to board directives to make the project cost neutral, financing is repaid with utility savings.  The debt will be fully paid by Year 17.

As a result of the project, utility bills have been reduced significantly, and the County is projected to save $38 million over the 25-year life of the equipment. Sonoma County has been able to modernize equipment while reducing energy use by 33% and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Planning and implementing the energy project has also created substantial collaboration among multiple county departments, which has led to additional sustainability projects.

For more information on the program, contact Sam Ruark, Energy & Sustainability Coordinator, at (707) 565-2125.

Stanislaus County – Latino Emergency Council

The Latino Emergency Council (LEC) is a partnership to improve emergency preparedness capacity in the Latino community and facilitate emergency communication in crisis situations. Stanislaus County has a 42 percent Latino population, of which 42 speak English less than very well and about 20 percent are only Spanish speaking. It was important to be able to effectively communicate with the Latino community during an incident. The concept was to build a formal bridge between the County Office of Emergency Services (OES) and leaders of the local Latino community.

The nonprofit organizations El Concilio and the Hispanic Leadership Council agreed to partner with the County to create a formal mechanism for communicating with the Latino community. The organization has grown to include more than 25 public and private partner agencies. There is no budget for this program, which is community-based, utilizing volunteer work extensively.

The LEC has been instrumental in communications between the County OES and the Latino community in crises such as heath and cold weather incidents, floods, West Nile virus, bird flu, whooping cough and many more. The Council has also distributed tens of thousands of pieces of emergency preparedness in Spanish, as well as assisting community members participate in a Spanish-language version of the Community Emergency Response Team training.

For more information on the program, contact David Jones, Director of Communications & Legislative Affairs, at (209) 652-1177.

700,0001 and Above

Orange County — Doing More With Less

Riverside County — RCWMD Use of Inmate Labor

Riverside County — Low Impact Development Testing and Demonstration Facility

Sacramento County — Human Assistance Medi-Cal/CalFresh Service Center

San Diego County — Justice Electronic Library System (JELS)

San Diego County — Parks and Recreation Volunteer Program

Merit Award Recipients

Under 50,000

No Award Given

50,00 to 200,000

Nevada County — Child Support Case Transfer Project

Nevada County — New Citizens Website – Transparency and Navigation

200,001 to 700,000

Butte County — Hospital Alternative Program for Youth

Santa Barbara County — Promoting Responsible Pet Ownership: Chihuahuas de Mayo

Tulare County — Step Up: Gang Prevention Task Force

700,001 and Above

Los Angeles County — Child Welfare Fraud

Los Angeles County — Innovative Pharmaceutical Cost Savings Initiative

Los Angeles County — My Waterworks Account Manager

Los Angeles County – Sharps

Orange County – Leadership Development Program

Orange County– Performance Auditing

Riverside County — Physician Assistant Mental Health Fellowship Program

Riverside County — Community Beautification Program

Riverside County — Mental Health Court Program

Sacramento County — Partners Against Chronic Truancy

Sacramento County — $martPay Child Support Arrears Estimator

San Bernardino County — CalFresh

San Bernardino County — Nicholson Park Family and Community Resource Center

San Diego County — Lean Six Sigma Capacity Building Iniative

San Diego County — Public Administrator / Public Guardian E-Referral System

San Mateo County — Children Youth and Family Budget Report to the County

San Mateo County — San Mateo and Service Connect

Ventura County — APS Tool for Risk, Interventions & Outcomes