2012 County Innovation Videos & Blogs

Overview

Celebrating County Government Month

July 24, 2012

During County Government Month in April, CSAC produced a series of short videos and accompanying blog postings highlighting 13 award-winning programs from nine counties that demonstrate effective, original and cost-conscious ways counties are serving their residents. The following programs are recipients of the 2011 CSAC Challenge Awards and show that “County Government Works!”

Article

Riverside County’s Landfill Tarp Program Displays True Innovation

August 16, 2012

Within the Challenge Awards is the Innovation Award, a designation for a program that simply is the cream of the crop among the top entries. In this case, the cream is really trash. There are a handful of county services that touch each and every resident and trash is a big one. Managing landfill space while keeping costs in line and meeting the myriad of regulations surrounding garbage disposal is a constant balancing act. Riverside County’s waste management experts have developed a unique tarp system that daily covers the trash, as required by law, then is removed, which allows for the next day’s trash to be deposited on the previous day’s load. In most landfills, up to six inches of dirt or green-waste is used to cover the daily loads of trash.

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San Diego County Reforms Its IHSS Program

August 16, 2012

Reform is an oft-used word, but in many cases, does not meet the potential it promises. Not so with San Diego County’s IHSS program. IHSS allows elderly and disabled individuals to be cared for in their homes as opposed to more expensive nursing facilities. By allowing individuals to stay in their home, it has proven to be more beneficial for the clients and less costly for the county. However, the system in San Diego and across the state was seeing skyrocketing cost increases. The county convened stakeholders, including a tax payer association, to analyze the program and make recommendations.

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For Solano County’s Foster Youth, “Money Matters”

August 16, 2012

In talking with the students in Solano County’s “Money Matters” program for foster youth, there is a common theme among them: they are getting it. For the first time, they are learning about personal finance and the integral role it will play in their future success. This program is truly a community partnership among public and private organizations, including Solano County Health and Human Services, Travis Credit Union, United Way North Bay and Solano County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).Representatives of these groups see the program as an investment into the future of Solano County and its residents, providing much-needed instruction and advice to a group that too often falls through the cracks.

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Santa Cruz County’s WRAP Takes Different Approach Toward Parole Violators

August 16, 2012

Ask Santa Cruz County Chief Probation Officer Scott MacDonald about the value of thinking outside the box and his eyes light up. If you want someone to promote the effectiveness of the current corrections system, then you better find someone else to talk to. MacDonald is quick to repeat the quote that “the corrections system needs to do more correcting and less collecting.” For the past seven years, Santa Cruz County has been thinking outside the box on how it treats technical parole violators. Their program is called the Warrant Reduction Advocacy Project (WRAP) — and it’s working. Since the program’s inception, Santa Cruz County has been able to reduce warrants by more than 60 percent.

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Riverside County’s Kiosk Reporting Program

August 16, 2012

Riverside is large in both population and square miles; thus, Riverside County Probation Officers have a lot of territory to cover when monitoring probationers. Technology is a key asset for the job these officers have in ensuring individuals are adhering to their conditions of probation. An advance Kiosk system is one of the helpful tools. It allows low-level offenders to check in with the department, answer a few simple questions and verify their identity at one of a dozen kiosks across the county.

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Helping Residents Facing Foreclosure in San Diego County

August 16, 2012

San Diego County was one of the first areas that began to feel the economy’s seismic shifts. As the foreclosure crisis bloomed, the San Diego County Library partnered with a local non-profit to offer free foreclosure prevention clinics to help homeowners stave off financial disaster. At the clinics, attendees meet one-on-one with volunteer attorneys and credit and/or mortgage counselors. There are also sessions on credit management, loans, bankruptcy and consumer protection.

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Can You Hear Me Now? Calaveras County Can

August 16, 2012

There’s a well-known quote that reads, “It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.” In the case of Calaveras County’s behavioral health cell phone program, this simply holds true. To address the isolation and disconnectedness of Calaveras County residents with serious mental illness, behavioral health officials created an innovative way to use mobile phones to support recovery and reduce psychiatric hospitalizations.

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In Sacramento County, Justice is Served Efficiently with VOP In Lieu Night Court

August 16, 2012

What if… It’s the phrase that started off a sea change in Sacramento County Superior Court. What if we could lessen the time it takes to get a court hearing without infringing on defendants’ rights? What if we could reduce jail overcrowding safely? What if we could spend more time on the most complex cases? What if we could save the county money and relieve strain on the justice system in Sacramento? The answer to the “what if” came in the creation of Violation of Probation In Lieu Night Court: a collaborative project of the Sacramento Superior Court, District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation and Sheriff Departments that has saved the county $12.6 million over the past two years.

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Camp Connect San Diego Brings Siblings Together

August 16, 2012

Counties too often become the surrogate parents of children whose parents are unable to care for them. And although the foster system is a necessary option to ensure the safety of some children, it can prove difficult to find a placement for all siblings in one home. Camp Connect was created to offer foster youth who are separated from their brothers or sisters a chance to spend a week together, just being kids. Sibling bonds are strong, especially when either parent is absent. Being with a brother or sister helps the youth maintain some sense of an identity and survive the emotional upheavals of a being removed from the family home.

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Monterey County’s KickStart Program Helps Ex-Offenders on Many Levels

August 16, 2012

Monterey County’s KickStart Ex-Offender Re-Entry Employment Program is about providing ex-offenders with the tools to find a job. Through a series of workshops, ex-offenders learn everything from writing a resume and how to dress for an interview, to how to show contrition for their offenses. But the value of this program runs much deeper — it’s changing the outlook ex-offenders have of themselves and their lives.

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Los Angeles County’s IHSS Anti-Fraud Efforts Deter Crime and Improve Program

August 16, 2012

In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) has a noble and practical purpose: help the most vulnerable Californians with significant health issues stay as long as possible in their homes by providing some level of caregiving assistance. These individuals are eligible for Medi-Cal, which means their income is typically less than $1,000 a month. IHSS is unique to California, is administered by counties and is funded with a mix of county, state, and federal funds.

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In Nevada County, “My Neighborhood” is Just a Click Away

August 16, 2012

At a recent CSAC Institute course, the topic was county information technology services. A key message delivered during the course was how counties need to work toward better use of information technology to efficiently deliver services to residents. And that’s exactly what Nevada County is doing through its My Neighborhood GIS Application. This isn’t a program for which you need an IT degree to figure it out. It’s very user-friendly.

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Desert Strength Academy Aids Riverside County’s At-Risk Youth

August 16, 2012

Respect is one of those intangible qualities that is difficult to teach. Most of us grasp its importance and exhibit respect from personal experience, but not everyone has positive examples from which to draw and use. At-risk youth are most vulnerable to this void in their lives, both in showing respect and earning it. Enter the Desert Strength Academy, Riverside County’s Probation Department program to give 80 youth a weeklong day-camp experience that teaches them teamwork, communication skills, positive interaction with adults and law enforcement and the importance of respect. There is also a parent component to foster greater parenting skills and strengthen families.