Probation Celebrates a Century of Excellence in Serving San Diego
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PUBLISHED FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO April 2007 Probation Celebrates a Century of Excellence in Serving San Diego In 1907 the population of San Diego CEO of the Urban League, former Chief County was 50,000. Only six percent of Probation Officer Cecil Steppe says that Americans had a high school diploma. the County’s Probation department is na- And on October 23, the Probation de- tionally respected as one of the most in- partment was created by the Board of Su- novative and best run in the country. pervisors to oversee the development of Steppe, who was only the second black a new community safety program that chief probation officer in the history of was sweeping the country. California when he was appointed by the In celebration of its 100th anniver- Board of Supervisors in 1980, later became sary, the department held an all staff the County’s head of Social Services. training and recognition event on The department is working to make the March 5. Child Welfare League of next 100 years as successful as the first 100. America Executive Director Shay Bilchik The adult system is implementing inno- was the keynote speaker. Bilchik helped vative reforms modeled after the juvenile Supervisor Ron Roberts, the Probation system. The Youthful Offender Program department, the court system and oth- implements graduated sanctions on pro- ers to develop what is now considered a bationers aged 18-24 who commit a dis- national model for juvenile justice re- proportionate number of crimes in our form. The 1998 San Diego County Com- community. The most serious sex offend- In the Beginning: The San Diego prehensive Strategy for Youth, Family ers are now wearing GPS devices that track Detention Home (later Anthony Home), and Community included the creation their every move. DUI offenders will soon started out as a seven bedroom of a continuum of services from preven- be wearing ankle bracelets that detect al- tion to detention, which relied heavily cohol consumption 24 hours a day. farmhouse in Mission Valley. After on the teamwork of community-based As part of its celebration, Probation cre- several expansions, it had 52 detainee organizations, law enforcement, the ated a video chronicling the history of its rooms, a dormitory, three school rooms, County’s Health and Human Services past 100 years. The short clip is available Agency, and schools. on the department’s Web site at a manual training shop, 17 staff Still active in the community as the www.sdcounty.ca.gov/probation. bedrooms, and operational offices. County Marches on Toward MOD Goal The County is involved in helping the target based on its number of employees. she says. “Walking 3.1 miles in Balboa community every day, but once a year As of the end of March, this year’s hosting Park: doable. Walking those miles as part employees come together in a special group, Land Use and Development of the County Team and fundraising for way to aid a very special cause. (LUEG), led fundraising with one-third of the March of Dimes: priceless!” A proud supporter of the March of its goal achieved. Finance and General Employees are encouraged to register Dimes WalkAmerica since 1996, the Government led in number of paid walk- for the walk at www.walkamerica.org. County’s fundraising and participation ers, with 72 percent. Each registrant is assigned their own Web goals are higher than ever as it joins the There are two opportunities to partici- page to personalize, making online effort to improve the health of babies by pate in this year’s WalkAmerica. On April fundraising easy. Donations can also be preventing birth defects, premature birth 21, a walk will be held in Carlsbad’s Can- collected via check in person. Every and infant mortality. non Park, while a walk on April 28 will be walker who raises at least $40 will get a This year the County has set an ambi- held downtown in Balboa Park. free County T-shirt. tious goal of raising $87,500, which LUEG Deputy Chief Administrative Of- To sign up or for more information, translates to 350 walkers bringing in ficer Chandra Wallar is looking forward contact Megan Jones or go to $250 each. To achieve this, each of the showing her support. www.walkamerica.org. County’s five groups has been given a “Waking up early on a Saturday: doable,” News Briefs News Briefs InIn ’s’s WordsWords Board of Retirement Election Coming Ballots will be sent by County mail in the Save Our Earth, It’s Our Policy first week of May for a Board of Retirement election to select a new member for its third In the upcoming weeks, we will celebrate Earth Day as well as Arbor seat, which expires June 30, 2007. All active Day. As we head into April, this is an important time to think about our General members are eligible to run for the environment and its everyday importance in our lives. Particularly here seat, which represents permanent employees in San Diego County, we are fortunate to enjoy some of the most perfect classified by SDCERA as General members weather in the world. But, as we all know, this is a gift and certainly not (non-Safety). a guarantee. Candidates can pick up a petition at the sec- In order to preserve our wonderful climate, we must actively do our ond floor reception area of SDCERA, 2275 Rio part at home and at the office. Bonito Way, Suite 200 in Mission Valley. Peti- You might be surprised to find out that here at the County, we are tions must be returned to the office no later actually required to reduce waste and consumption. Board of Supervi- than noon, April 16. The elected candidate sors Policy B-67 obliges us to minimize waste and preserve the environ- serves a three-year term, beginning July 1. ment to the greatest extent practicable by using duplex printing and The Board of Retirement governs the ben- copying. Most people aren’t aware of this policy, but it is a great step efits and investments of the retirement fund. forward in making the County more efficient and environmentally To learn more about a Board member’s respon- friendly. By setting our photocopiers and printers to print double-sided, sibilities and fundamental obligations, go to we can reduce paper consumption by nearly fifty percent. the Board of Retirement page on Annually, the County purchases more than184 million sheets of pa- www.sdcera.org. per. That’s a lot of trees! But that can be reduced with a simple service request. Your office’s printer can be set to print double-sided, and you CWW Tip of the Week can begin to save trees, paper and financial resources with hardly any The County’s new “CWW Tip of the Week” effort at all. section on its Intranet site is just one tip a week, Saving the environment is not an easy task. For those of us who don’t but over the course of the year, that’s a lot of intend to make a career out of it, recycling and reducing waste can seem new information to discover. The Chief Ad- like a major endeavor that we just don’t have time for. But clearly, we can ministrative Office started this new feature to make a huge difference each and every day in the office, just by doing draw employees’ attention to a multitude of what we are already supposed to do. “gems” on both the County’s internal and ex- ternal Web sites. These tips point out helpful information for employees to stay up-to-date, obtain needed work tools and resources, and do their jobs more efficiently. And, of course, Walt Ekard this is a natural extension of the County’s com- Chief Administrative Officer mitment to use its IT tools to improve commu- nication and streamline business processes. The “CWW Tip of the Week” is always posted Blood Drives Infuses Community with Gift of Life at the end of the Employee Messages box, which The Health and Human Services Agency kicks off of its annual County is located at the top, left side of the CWW Home Blood Drive on April 4, at the Ruffin Road County Operations Center An- page. nex. The blood drive, held in conjunction with the San Diego Blood Bank, Employees who would like to see a particu- heads downtown to the County Administration Center the next day, and lar item highlighted as a “CWW Tip of the will visit eighteen additional County worksites through April 25. Week” should contact Janice Graham, CAO This year’s goal is to collect 700 pints of blood—100 pints more than Chief of Staff. were donated last year. With less than a one-day supply of blood on hand at the San Diego Blood Bank, this drive plays a crucial role in helping the Parks Previews New Offices community. Employees can take paid time off from work to donate with Parks and Recreation is hosting an Open permission from their supervisor. House from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, April To meet blood supply needs, the blood bank must collect 400 pints every 20, to show off their new administrative of- day. Although 80 percent of the population will receive a blood transfusion fices at 9150 Chesapeake Drive, Suite 200 in over their lifetime, only 5 percent donate blood. Kearny Mesa. Food and beverages will be pro- A complete list of County locations is available on the HHSA’s Intranet vided.