Budget Cuts Lead to Less Supervision of Criminals

By SHELBY GRAD

June 1, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA ANA —

Budget cuts have left the county’s Probation Department with fewer officers to keep tabs on an ever growing number of adults and juveniles sentenced to probation and have forced them to prematurely halt supervision of hundreds of criminals living in the county.

Some judges and others are concerned about the rising probation caseloads, fearing that officers will have less time to work with first-time offenders and juveniles, who benefit most from close supervision.

“If you can intervene with a 15-year-old when he commits the first [felony] crime, you have a good chance of preventing an incredible number of more serious crimes,” said Superior Court Judge David O. Carter, whose court docket last week averaged 15 probation cases a day. “You don’t want someone with a low-level narcotics charge to go up the chain into violent crimes.”

The department, which is responsible for monitoring 19,000 adult and juvenile probationers, saw its budget slashed while the county was in bankruptcy, and has focused its diminished resources on supervising “high risk” offenders who pose the greatest threat to the public.

The strategy was devised to maximize public protection, but officials admit the belt-tightening has created problems:

* By focusing on “high risk” cases, the department has stopped regularly monitoring several hundred probationers it deems to be lower risks of committing additional crimes. In other cases, the department has asked judges to prematurely terminate the probation of offenders who are holding jobs, complying with the terms of their probation and getting on with their lives.

* Even though the number of probation cases rose 15% over the last three years, Orange County actually has nine fewer probation officers now than it did in 1994. As a result, each officer’s caseload has increased by about 15%.

* In cutting back on the supervision of probationers thought to pose the least risk, probation officers are left with a heavy load of complicated and often time-consuming cases, such as working with homeless felons and teenage gang members. About 85% of today’s adult probationers are convicted felons, compared with 65% a decade ago.

“When you add it up, you realize that the cutbacks have taken a significant toll,” said Rod Speer, a Probation Department analyst. “You realize that a lot of offenders are not being supervised by this department in the way they were before. . . . It’s become hard to keep up with the flow of cases.”

Judge Carter said he recognized the need to place a heavy emphasis on high-risk offenders, but he said officers need reasonable caseloads so they can work closely with other probationers as well.

“The Probation Department is doing the best it can with the resources it has,” he added. “But unless they are given the resources needed to do the job, it is going to end up costing us in the long run.”

Probation is but one of several critical law enforcement programs suffering from a lack of money or other resources. Shortages of bunks in the county’s jails and Juvenile Hall force the early release of thousands of inmates every year. Juvenile Hall is so overcrowded that probation officials no longer admit youths accused of misdemeanors.

The Probation Department saw its budget slashed by 11% in the months after the county’s December 1994 bankruptcy filing, forcing about 60 layoffs.

In addition to losing 10 of its 91 probation officers, the department did away with a work-furlough program that allowed offenders to hold down jobs and support their families, as well as pay restitution to their victims, as part of their sentences.

Caseloads for the remaining officers have risen steadily since 1994. Juvenile probation officers, for example, now handle an average of 89 cases, up from 73 in 1994. Officials estimate that the department needs 30 additional probation officers to bring the caseloads down to acceptable levels.

Clyde Gaines, an eight-year veteran of the Probation Department, had nearly 30 probationers visit his office last Monday for progress reports. Other days, he makes 25 to 30 unannounced home visits around Santa Ana and Tustin.

“You have to budget your time wisely,” Gaines said. “With the increased caseloads, there is less of you to go around.”

Gaines and other probation officers are now handling a greater number of serious cases, requiring them to provide a high level of monitoring. One of Gaines’ cases involves a man convicted of domestic violence. Not only does he keep tabs on the probationer, Gaines also checks in with the man’s wife to make sure there’s been no further abuse.

He is also supervising a convicted drug dealer. “It takes work to determine what’s going on,” Gaines said. “It’s not like they are going to have drugs sitting around in their house. They are more sophisticated.”

Faced with more “high risk” cases, officers look to reduce or end supervision of some lower-risk offenders who are meeting the terms of their probation.

“If a case isn’t ready to go, we will keep it. We use our best judgment,” Gaines said. “But what we’ve lost is that extra cushion--having the luxury to say that a guy is doing well, but perhaps we should keep an eye on him a little longer.”

Chief Deputy Probation Officer Don Halstrom said this “prioritization” is necessary to keep a firm handle on the growing number of cases, and to make sure all probationers are receiving adequate supervision.

The department conducts extensive “risk assessments” in determining how aggressively to supervise probationers and, ultimately, whether to seek an early end to an offender’s term of probation.

“It’s rewarding good behavior,” Halstrom said. “We will only do it if we feel they have proven their case has stabilized. . . . We need to feel we don’t need to keep tabs on you anymore.”

In many cases, the department will end formal supervision but still require monthly reports by mail and compliance with all the terms of an offender’s probation, he said.

Officials hope to add several more officers to the field staff in the coming months, but the new hires are not expected to bring caseloads to pre-bankruptcy levels. The department is also using volunteers to help probation officers verify employment records, handle some paperwork and perform other tasks, Halstrom said.

Judge Carter said he sees the benefits of strong probation supervision in his courtroom. For juveniles, supervision is a far stronger deterrent against recidivism, he said.

“It saves taxpayers money in the long run,” Carter said. “It’s cost-effective.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Probation Squeeze

If projections hold, new juvenile and adult probation cases in Orange County will have increased 89% and 15%, respectively, by the year 2000. The trends:

New Juvenile Cases, New Adult Cases

Note: Data for 1997-2000 are projections

More Cases

While the number of probation officers has dipped about 11% since 1994, caseloads have increased. Average number of cases handled by an officer in selected months:

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Juvenile Adult July 1993 73 93 Nov. 1994 73 96 July 1995 79 94 Jan. 1996 86 97 March 1997 89 108

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Who’s on Probation?

Active probationers in Orange County are mostly men and primarily white and Latino:

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Sex Juvenile Adult Male 86% 85% Female 14 15

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Ethnicity Juvenile Adult White 31% 47% Latino 50 42 Asian 10 4 Black 5 4 Other 4 3

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Age

Juvenile: