County Supervisors launch prevention-focused initiative

Members of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors are winding
down a whirlwind tour to introduce the new policy initiative,
Upstream Investments, which made its way through Guerneville last
week and will wind up in Healdsburg on May 4.
Upstream Investments is the County’s attempt to address the
burgeoning costs of the criminal justice system by redirecting
money into programs that are proven to be effective means for
keeping children out of jail and stabilizing home environments.
“We essentially have a vision. … Instead of focusing our
resources on the results, we’re giving our communities a chance to
succeed,” said 5th District Supervisor and Board Chair Efren
Carrillo at the April 22 forum at the Guerneville Veterans Memorial
Hall. “It’s a game changer, to build increased quality of life by
focusing on programs and initiatives that work.”
Carrillo said the initiative has the “full support” of the Board
and will pay dividends not only in eventual cost reductions, but
also by increased tax revenues from a workforce that is better
prepared for the job market.
“This is a hand up, not a handout,” he said.
The forum included Director of the Sonoma County Human Services
Department Jo Weber, who has been in human services more than 35
years, who sees the initiative not only as a way to save money in
the long term, but also improve the lives of everyone in the
county.
“We’re waiting too long to help people,” she said. “It’s not
about people never having pain or struggling. Our goal and mission
is to change lives and eliminate poverty. … But it has to be a
community effort.”
Weber said that poverty and family dysfunction in low-income
homes increased the chances of children being abused and the
likelihood of girls becoming teen parents and poor boys going to
jail, noting that boys raised in poverty are “three times more
likely to die young.”
“Three million more children this year will fall into poverty,”
she said. “It takes them five years to get out (of poverty). It’s
an economic issue, not just cost of services.”
The Board of Supervisors launched the Upstream Initiative in
2010, which was part of its 2007 strategic plan, in an attempt to
better provide critical services and save scarce resources, as the
costs of the criminal justice system began to spiral.
According to an overview produced by the County’s Human Services
Department, the initiative “emphasizes prevention-focused
intervention and policies that increase equality and reduce
monetary and societal costs for all residents of Sonoma
County.”
The initiative has four goals and 22 “indicators of
success.”
The goals include bringing the “whole community” together to
support the healthy development of kids; ensuring that all members
of the community have access to education and training to be
“adequately prepared for the challenges of the future”; ensuring
all community members are “well sheltered, safe and socially
supported,” so that “Sonoma County has a thriving and diverse
economy that produces economic security for all,” according to a
publication titled “Upstream Investments: Indicators of
Success.”
The indicators of success include reduced child malnutrition;
reduced youth binge drinking, drug and tobacco use; reduced youth
depression, teen pregnancy and obesity, as well as improved
pre-school attendance, 3rd grade reading and math scores, high
school completion and higher education.
In order to achieve the goals of the initiative, the County will
partner with programs that address social and economic factors,
such as poverty and racial/ethnic disparities, community conditions
and public policy, as well as family and individual factors such as
family dysfunction, negative peer influences and early anti-social
behavior.
Further, there will be a tiered system that allows “community
partners” to participate.
Tier one includes evidence-based practices and programs that
have been proven to be effective and are published in peer-reviewed
journals. Tier two consists of “promising practices” that are
“theoretically sound,” and tier three, “emerging practices.”
Interested organizations can submit an “Upstream Resolution of
Alignment” with the county in order to qualify as a Tier one
program, which so far includes AVANCE (First 5 of Sonoma County);
Big Brothers Big Sisters; Nurse Family Partnership (First 5 of
Sonoma County); Project SUCCESS and Triple P (California Parenting
Institute).
According to Marla Stuart director of planning, research and
evaluation for Human Services, the County will seek new funding for
Upstream programs and use existing funding whenever possible.
Stuart added that returns will be measured “both immediately and
in the long-term.”
“With this initiative, individual programs will track short-term
results for individuals, and as a community we will track long term
trends for the 22 indicators of success, which are the result of
many individual activities, initiatives, and programs,” she wrote
in an e-mail.
Additionally, she sees an eventual shift of resources from
“downstream” programs, to those that have proven their worth.
“With this Upstream Investments initiative, the County is
committed to, and invites partners to fund Upstream Investments
whenever possible,” she wrote. “We do not expect drastic funding
shifts overnight. We hope to see gradual funding shifts over time
and when opportunities allow — and we will work to identify new
funding for Upstream Investments.”
Human Services found that the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department
spends $3,836 per adult felony arrest, $431 to book that adult in
jail, and $147 per day spent in jail. Non-felony arrests carry the
same jail costs, with the cost of arrest and investigation at
$459.
The same study found that the average cost per arrest —
including victim costs — in Sonoma County in 2008-2009 for adults
was $13,812 for a felony and $3,338 non-felony. The cost for
juvenile arrest was $16,843 and $8,293 respectively.
Implementation of the plan could reap as much as $55 in savings
for every dollar spent in a program such as Project Toward No Drug
(or Tobacco) Use, through savings on education, crime, substance
abuse, child abuse and neglect, teen pregnancy and public
assistance, according to Human Services analysis.
It is expected that over 10 years the initiative will pay for
its initial investment.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” Stuart said.
The Guerneville forum was the fourth of six planned public
presentations. There will also be a forum at the Healdsburg
Regional Library, 139 Piper St., Healdsburg, on May 4, from 3:30 to
5 p.m. hosted by 4th District Supervisor McGuire.
For more information on the Upstream Investments Initiative,
call 565-5800 or go to www.SonomaUpstream.org.
Staff Writer David Abbott can be reached at [email protected].