To say that the County of Lake has dropped the ball several times when it comes to providing an effective program to address the homeless shelter situation in Lakeport would not be a hyperbolic statement, but despite all the trials and mishaps associated with the first two contractors tasked to administer the facility at the old juvenile hall, the impending takeover by Redwood Community Services provides another chance for the county to finally get it right.
Soon after District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier pointed out during a public meeting of the BOS that former shelter director Yvonne Cox, who originally had been contracted to work for $4,000 a month through the Sunrise Services Foundation, but actually invoiced for over $34,000 in a month in February-March of this year, newly installed CEO Rayan Aava fired Cox over what he cited as questionable practices including requiring staff to work overtime, without them receiving compensation for the extra hours, among other administrative issues.
Cox will most likely sue the county over the fact she was fired for performance while other employees remained on staff including the person who succeeded her and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse. He was demoted shortly after the incident, but not dismissed.
The previous contractor, Oroville based Elijah House, was the subject of a Civil Grand Jury investigation after it was found out that their nonprofit status was being questioned by the state when they applied to provide services for the population of Lake County and failed to disclose that information. An internal audit of Elijah House during their operations in the county, though reportedly completed, was unavailable to the Grand Jury.
As per California Penal Code 933.05 (a)(b)(c), a response to the Grand Jury’s recommendation that the BOS order an independent forensic financial audit of Elijah House during their time serving the county is required within 90 days of their report, but as of press time, these are not readily available for public consumption or review.
This summer the Lake County Continuum of Care put out a Request for Proposal for all interested parties to apply for management of the shelter. Four bids were received, including a submission from Sunrise. Bids were graded on a rubric and the highest score was achieved by the Redwood Community Services nonprofit.
Aava told the Record-Bee that the Lake County Continuum of Care grant awarded to RCS is for $2.4 million and will cover up to 33 months. That’s a lot of money from the state allocated to helping a vulnerable population and geared towards trying to ameliorate the problem of the unhoused in the County. The County needs to do better than they have with their oversight over their previous two contractors this time around.
—The Editorial Board, Lake County Record-Bee
