By Ken Carlson
The Modesto Bee
STANISLAUS COUNTY — In the brave new world of public safety realignment, county probation officers are out in the field so often, checking on former prison inmates, that officials want them to be talking with their own dispatchers.
Stanislaus County supervisors could approve funding today for three emergency dispatchers for the regional 911 center as part of the county plan for the third phase of realignment. Dispatchers know the location of probation officers in case they need assistance, but the plan would give them their own radio frequency to use for officer safety.
“We probably have a dozen probation officers in the field every day,” said Jill Silva, the county’s chief probation officer. They conduct searches at homes, check to see if subjects are using drugs or determine if they are keeping up with terms of their programs.
The Phase III plan also will address the impact on the courts by funding five positions for the district attorney, including two attorneys, two legal clerks and an interviewer to work as a victim advocate.
County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services is requesting a software developer to evaluate the success of mental health and substance abuse programs. Staffing requests include a deputy public defender and clerical position for the public defender’s office because of an increase in felony cases.
The plan would allocate $45,000 to the Nirvana Drug and Alcohol Treatment Institute for treatment services and $150,000 to the nonprofit group El Concilio for case management and referring offenders to job training and housing assistance.
Officials want to set aside $3 million to help offset the operating costs of a 456-bed jail expansion slated to be completed in three or four years. The Sheriff’s Department will need to add 72 custodial deputies for the expansion, costing the county $10 million annually.
Starting in October 2011, counties were given the responsibility for watching lower-level inmates released from state prisons and rehabilitating adults convicted of nonviolent crimes.
According to a county report, Stanislaus County will receive $14.5 million in realignment funding from the state this year to pay for staffing and programs.
The county expects to carry over $4.4 million in realignment funds from the previous year.
Last year, 415 adults were sentenced to county jail under the Penal Code section pertaining to realignment, and 714 former inmates who violated terms of their release from prison accounted for 1,417 jail bookings.
In addition, 544 offenders and almost 260 parole violators were assigned to alternative programs rather than serving time in jail.
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. today in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St. in downtown Modesto.