LAKEPORT >> The Lake County probation department plans to propose a new destination for its juvenile rehabilitation program at the Board of Supervisors meeting today.
The department currently contracts with Bar-O Boys Ranch in Del Norte County to provide court-ordered academic, drug rehabilitation, and vocational programs for at-risk youth. That distance makes it difficult for parental visitation and leads to increased transportation-related expenses, according to Chief Probation Officer Rob Howe.
For an opportunity to improve these costs, Howe seeks county permission to look into a similar program in Sonoma County.
“Because Bar-O is approximately 270 miles from Lake County, it lacks the practical ability to provide our youth with necessary and proven programming for successful completion of probation,” Howe noted in a report to the board. “Sonoma’s camp would allow us to improve in the aforementioned programming areas and improve our ward’s chances of rehabilitation.”
It could also save the county thousands of dollars.
The present contract, Howe explained, requires the county to pay $109 a day for a bed or $3,300 per month — even if the county doesn’t have a juvenile housed at the location. Added up, this totals about $39,600 a year for a service that oftentimes isn’t used for “several consecutive months.”
“We’re expecting to save a little more with Sonoma,” he said, noting that its costs would be $125 a day but it would be charged day to day as needed.
In fact, the experiment has already begun with the department already placing a juvenile with the space. However, no conclusions have been drawn on that location’s effectiveness versus the Del Norte County facility.
“One of the reasons we want to do this is to see what the impacts are,” Howe said.
But even if the BOS approves the proposal, the contract may not terminate right away.
“We’re not planning on ending anything right now,” he noted. “We want to find the best program for us.”
The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse. Howe estimated that the probation department handles about 200 juveniles a year.
