Supes respond to civil grand jury reports

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury found a variety of issues with the county’s finances, the maintenance of county facilities, and the way Child Welfare Services works with tribes. While the county is implementing many of the changes recommended by the jury, implementing other changes is going to require finding the money to do so first, according to the county’s responses.

Today, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is set to respond to the grand jury reports “Distrust, Disagreements, Dysfunction,” “Custody, Corrections and Other County Facilities” and “Collaborative Community Quest” earlier this year. The county agreed with many of the findings in the reports, except one. The county disagreed with the finding that the county’s acute care psychiatric hospital, Sempervirens, does not provide enough space to reduce the strain on the Humboldt County jail.

“Additional space and psychiatric services are needed in Humboldt County,” the response states. “However, without Sempervirens, the correctional facility and other facilities would be more heavily impacted than their current situations.”

Despite agreeing with most of the findings, many of the grand jury’s recommendations will not be implemented “unless additional funding is identified.”

Other recommendations like creating an independent Office of Tribal Affairs, the response states, are “outside the scope” of the grand jury report.

“Such a recommendation would need to be evaluated at a broader level and include discussion with all department heads, the Board and local Tribal representatives,” the response states. “In addition, ongoing funding must first be identified prior to authorizing creation of an Office