Inmate Services recommendations

The Inmate Services category includes 63 recommendations. 53 recommendations (84 percent) have been audited and completed, 2 recommendations (3 percent) are covered by consent decrees and monitored by experts under federal court oversight, and 8 recommendations (13 percent) are not covered by the consent decrees and subject to audit by OCLEM.

	Not covered by Consent Decree/subject to audit by OCLEM.
	Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts.
	Completed, audited, and presented to the Board.

Recommendation	Master List Number	Status (Updates are in progress)
Outside of the formal grievances process, create a venue for current detainees to present concerns related to the jails, conditions of confinement, or problems associated with incarceration within our county. Provide an opportunity for these concerns to be heard by a body that can mediate and respond, such as the an Ombudsman program and/or ongoing anonymous surveys. Seek best practice information for this need and examples of providing input for improvement from detainees used in other areas.	62
Beyond the grievance process, provide additional anonymous methods of surveying detainees regarding jail conditions and use that information to intervene where indicated. Consider adopting successful practices from other counties which were developed with best practices in mind (attached are examples from Ada county). Consider having this a function of an outside agency such as the JOP.	63
Create an Inmate Council which represents inmates in various buildings.	64
Allow inmates to form Committees and designate inmate leaders/ representatives by Housing Units etc. The leader is voted in by peers and all leaders would come together for regular meetings by jail location to make REAL decisions and changes in all aspects of the jails. Guidance should be given by staff for logistics and direction until they are fully established. The reports from these bodies should go to the newly established Santa Clara County Jail Diversion and Behavioral Health Subcommittee (JDBHS).	65
Contract with an outside agency to rewrite the entire Inmate Rule Book so that it contains accurate information, larger font, is reader- friendly, and available in languages other than English. Do not finance this rewrite with Inmate Welfare Funds.	66
Inmate rule book should be revised with respect to structure, language, simplification, and should be aimed at a common reading level around 4th or 5th grade.	67
Ensure the "Inmate Orientation and Rulebook" grievance procedure forms and other important documents are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages. Also ensure the videos shown at inmate intake are available in multiple languages.	68
Revise and simplify the "Inmate Orientation and Rulebook."	69
Rule Book: Should be written in threshold languages. Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, etc., and there should be someone who can orient new inmates by explaining the main issues of the rule book. The Rule Book should be part of an in person orientation (to the facility) of new inmates.	70
Rewrite and reorganize the inmate rulebook. 2) Have the availability of a larger print (accommodation) and 3) be available in other forms of delivery such as audio and/or video.	71
Storage: Larger or more bins to store belongings such as books, legal papers, hygiene products, etc.	72
Commissary Prices - Prices for all commissary items should be reduced by 10 percent to 20 percent.	73
Prices of goods sold to inmates should be monitored and updated.	74
Indigent fund:  Indigent fund should have a budget figure. Currently there is a 0 budget proposed.	75
Fees charged to deposit funds should be reassessed to see if they can be reduced or removed.	76
The Board of Supervisors should re-constitute the membership of the IWFC to include two members from the Office of the Sheriff, one member from the Office of the Public Defender, and six community members (one with an accounting background, two behavioral health professionals, two with mental health experience (nonprofits, family members), and one former inmate; members are to be free from conflict of interest.	77
The Board of Supervisors should assign a staff person who will oversee a formal application process to re-constitute the IWFC and who will ensure that information about the application process is widely disseminated to the public.	78
The Board of Supervisors should set terms for service on the IWFC.	79
Notices of IWFC meetings should be distributed throughout the County to maximize attendance by the public; and meetings should be held on days and at times that maximize public attendance.	80
Require IWFC members to tour all jail facilities annually.	81
Require the IWFC to convene two public forums each year to present information about the programs and services provided to inmates, to present information about the vendors who provide those services and programs, and to receive community input about new and/or alternative programs and services for possible implementation. The forums should be held at dates and times to maximize public attendance.	82
The IWFC should assess and verify all purchases, usage, and access provided by the fund.	83
The IWFC should review all commissary vendor contracts and recommend whether or not these contracts should be renewed.	84
The IWFC should review and monitor pricing of commissary items and recommend adjustments to those prices.	85
The IWFC should ensure that all mark- ups are reasonable and that markups are not disproportionately higher for female products than for male products.	86
The Board of Supervisors should evaluate the cost of having the commissary run in-house.	87
Inmates should be permitted to inspect purchased items from the commissary before signing off for those items.	88
The IWFC should review contents of the kits and ensure that all kits (hygiene, stationery) have adequate supplies, and recommend changes to the kits.	89
Replace incentive/beverage meal program with $5 credit cards and use any remaining funds for programs and activities.	90
The IWFC should be provided a full accounting of the incentive meal/beverage program (2010- 2016), how it has been administered at all jail facilities, including the profits (from mark-ups) to vendors.	91
Review and evaluate whether the following positions should be mandated: classification staff, assignment officer, information services support, and warehouse operations staff.	92
Diversify IWF revenue beyond commissions collected from phones and the commissary to increase revenue to the recommended level of 8.3 percent.	95
Create a grant program to pursue funding.	96
Conduct a comprehensive review of the sources and uses of the inmate welfare fund, to be conducted by an independent auditor as requested by the IWFC at least every other year.	97
Report on the status of the Harvey M. Rose audit recommendations and set a date for completion of recommendations not yet implemented.	98
The IWFC is to conduct a feasibility study as to whether or not inmates could have one free phone call per week to family and friends.	99
A formal jail liaison should be designated by Behavioral Health and programs  and local to improve communication and coordination between the jail and agencies involved in the discharge planning and pre and post adjudication services for offenders with mental illness.	110
Assure that Court orders that require the inmate to make a phone call for treatment assessments are immediately complied with and do not require a written request or grievance by the inmate. Provide this access for all inmates regardless of classification during regular work hours.	163
Install more inmate phones in housing areas.	164
Outside of the formal grievances process, create a venue for families, friends of detainees, and advocacy groups to present concerns related to the jails, conditions of confinement, or problems associated with incarceration within our county. Provide an opportunity for these concerns to be heard by a body that can mediate and respond, such as the Board of Supervisors, or Human Relations Commission. Seek examples of mediation and community building groups from other counties.	165
Increase the amount of visitation available for families and friends to visit with detainees while they are in custody. Include some evening visitation opportunities at those facilities where they currently don't have them. Expand the hours the visitation desk is open for the public to make appointments and register to visit.	166
Visitor Lobby - Visitors who are preregistered and sign up on-line should check in 15 to 30 minutes prior to their scheduled visit (current requirement is 45 minutes to one hour). Visit cancellations should be immediately updated for the public via the Internet and the visiting phone line voicemail.	167
Visitor Lobby:  Visitors should be allowed to visit their inmate even though they arrive after the 60- minute rule that they must be present at least 60 minutes before the appointment.  Many families travel great distances. Perhaps within the 60 to 30 minute limit should be allowed.	168
Re-evaluate the visiting rules and requirements with the goal of “assisting” families and loved ones to visit the incarcerated.	169
Ensure that men and women receive an equal opportunity to participate in direct-service programs funded by the IWF, including educational and vocational opportunities.	171
The County should review its current model of providing commissary to inmates with a view toward providing a variety of products at prices that are reasonable and fair to family and friends who pay into the commissary system, and ensuring that any profit made is funneled back into the IWF, rather than to a third-party vendor. This review should re-examine the outsourcing of the commissary system to third party for-profit vendors and identify a variety of models of “in house,” jail- administered commissary systems that can be administered efficiently while providing reasonable prices to inmates and families.	174
Create a separate system for 18 - 24 year olds that includes a focus on rehabilitation, wrap-around services, segregation from the adult inmate population and a young adult court.	175
Consider using data from inmate surveys as a tool to assess operations and understand inmate perceptions.	191
Create incentives for prosocial inmate behavior.	197
Ensure that visitation accommodations for inmates, legal counsel, and family and friends are established, including: Sufficient space for the volume of visits, based on the inmate population; Accommodations that are supportive of all parties’ interest in establishing and maintaining the human dignity of inmates and families; and an easily accessible visitation appointment and cancellation system.	334
Ensure that prices of phone calls by inmates to their families, legal counsel, chaplains, advocates, and friends facilitate effective communication and expeditious processing of cases, and are based on legitimate costs that prevent vendor profiteering.	335
Ensure that inmates receive clear, easily accessible, and language appropriate information about the inmate classification system and inmates’ rights and responsibilities.	336
Circulate an RFP for a tablet device capable of allowing inmates to electronically file grievances, request forms, and request medical, psychiatric and dental services.	406
Develop multi‐lingual written educational materials to inform inmates of their rights while in custody, the grievance process and how to file a grievance. These materials would be distributed to those in custody during the intake process.	407
Create an easy to understand, multi‐lingual, Grievance Intake Form with simple directions on how to fill out the form.	408
Create a multi‐lingual inmate training video describing the grievance process. It will be presented to inmates upon intake into custody facilities.	409
Create multi‐lingual written materials that detail in‐custody rules, expected inmate behavior and consequences of rule violations (infractions). These materials would be distributed and explained to each inmate upon intake into custody facilities.	410
Create multi‐lingual videos to be shown to each inmate upon intake into custody facilities that detail in‐custody rules, expected inmate behavior and consequences of rule violations (infractions).	411
Assign custody staff to reinforce, re‐educate, and remind inmates of their expected behavior while in custody. Continuous education is intended to reduce the number of infractions issued and create a more cohesive custody environment.	412
Revise Inmate Handbook and Orientation process to ensure inmates clearly understand how to access timely healthcare and to file healthcare grievances.	413
The Jail should revise and update the orientation video, rule book, and many of the posting to ensure accuracy and completeness. The rule book should address information in a number of areas that is currently omitted.	492
The Jail should establish an inmate committee to provide ongoing input regarding the grievance and complaint process and other issues.	523
Custody Health Services should develop a process to ensure discharge planning begins upon incarceration and leads to a "warm handoff" to community support services at time of release.	535