San Bernardino County: San Francisco Fails To Provide Needed Data, Probation Officials Say
By ZEKE MINAYA
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — San Francisco was criticized again Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors for failing to provide a 12-month tally of the juvenile offenders placed in the county’s group homes.
County authorities said they still hope San Francisco will cooperate but have decided to petition the state attorney general for assistance.
“We deserve more respect than that,” county Supervisor Josie Gonzales said during the board’s weekly meeting.
County officials said they have requested information for the 12-month period beginning July 2007. A message left with the office of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom seeking comment was not returned.
The county made the demand after learning that five youths who were convicted drug dealers had escaped from a Yucaipa group home in late June.
The five originally were from Honduras and are believed to be undocumented immigrants.
They were sent to the Yucaipa home without notification to San Bernardino County’s Probation Department, as required by state law.
County authorities believe other youth offenders have arrived in the area without proper notification, said Assistant Chief Probation Officer Michelle Scray.
Ultimately, county officials want to calculate the cost in local resources to care for the youths and possibly recover the expense.
Without cooperation from San Francisco, “our hands are tied,” Scray said.
She said San Francisco officials last communicated with the county July 22, when they reported that three female juvenile offenders had placements in the county.
County officials said they would seek more information on possible legislative or legal solutions.
The board directed county lawyers to write a letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown.
Scray said four of the five fugitives no longer have open warrants, an indication that they likely have been detained.
She said reports that another three youths from San Francisco also had escaped from a Yucaipa group home were false.
Copyright 2008 The Press Enterprise, Inc.