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‘A moral failure': Calif. not tracking jail inmates, staff infected with COVID-19

The state board that regulates California’s county jails maintain local sheriffs should work with public health departments to test for and contain COVID-19

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An inmate peaks through the bars at the restrictive housing unit, formerly known as solitary confinement, at the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles.

Photo/Wally Skalij of Los Angeles Times via TNS

By Jason Pohl
The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than three months into the coronavirus pandemic, California officials say they still have no plans to collect and publish basic data about COVID-19 testing and outbreaks in local jails, frustrating advocates, families and even some members of the state’s own jail oversight board.

The state board that regulates California’s county jails and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office both maintain local sheriffs should work with public health departments to test for and contain the disease.

It’s on them, the state says, to publish county-specific information about testing and infections inside local lockups.

But sheriffs across the state for months have put up barriers blocking access to information about COVID-19 testing behind bars and details about how widespread some outbreaks have become.

Where some counties like Santa Clara and Los Angeles publish online dashboards, other county sheriffs still don’t post information about jail infections online at all.

While the state provides detailed data about COVID-19 in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and prisons, there has yet to be a comprehensive accounting of its spread in local jails.

“The need for this information is just so obvious,” said Michele Deitch, a jails and prisons expert who teaches at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Law and Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. “Finding out the numbers of people that are infected and how widespread the virus is, how many people are dying, just seems like the most basic information they should be gathering.”

Deitch and others said that’s exactly what a regulatory body is supposed to do.

Meanwhile, at least 1,200 Fresno County Jail inmates were put in quarantine over the weekend after 13 who were being transferred to a state prison tested positive. It’s unclear how widespread the virus might be in the county’s jails.

Spokesman Tony Botti on Monday said they were in a “holding pattern” and it would “take time to monitor and see how things play out.”

Five Sacramento County jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, with about 1,215 tests administered, Sgt. Rod Grassmann, said Friday.

The sheriff’s office took 10 days to answer a question from The Sacramento Bee about infections in the jail.

And in Placer County, officials have been slow to release information about efforts to contain an outbreak at the jail in Auburn. At least 17 inmates and a correctional officer have tested positive in recent weeks, Lt. Shayne Wright said Monday. Thirteen inmates and the employee have recovered.

None of those three counties regularly posts information about COVID-19 in jails. Placer County in the past has told reporters to file formal Public Records Act requests to get basic details.

Linda Penner, who chairs the Board of State and Community Corrections overseeing local jails, said in April and again this month that she was having conversations with others at the state about data tracking. The board’s hands were largely tied, she said, and it was on local health and jail officials to decide how much information to share.

Penner also said concerns among other state officials about counties submitting inaccurate data to a centralized state system contributed to the decision at this point to not aggregate and publish the information.

“They have not wanted to have false reporting done, and if it’s done based on self-reporting COVID cases to us jail by jail, I think there’s a concern that there would be issues with accuracy,” she said at this month’s meeting, held via Zoom.

The jail oversight group for months has collected voluntary jail population data and published it online, showing a precipitous drop as jails made space to accommodate physical distancing and fewer people were arrested.

And for years it has published voluntary data about inmates charged with felonies and misdemeanors, inmate medical visits and even the number of “dental encounters.”

In those cases, research employees review the responses and work through discrepancies. But when it comes to COVID-19, the board is deferring to the counties altogether.

“We’re just honoring what the health directors are choosing to do in this instance,” Penner said

Nationally, jails and prisons are home to five of the largest outbreaks, The New York Times reported. At least 70,000 people have been infected and at least 627 inmates and workers have died in U.S. jails and prisons.

Family members with loved ones in county facilities called on California’s jail oversight group to become a hub for the information and said they were struggling to find basic details about COVID-19’s spread — even in facilities where a relative was housed.

The lack of information has also fed rumors about outbreaks and left the public in the dark about where clusters are worsening and where it might spread more deeply into the public as correctional officers come and go and inmates are released.

“This decision is a moral failure that threatens the lives of all Californians,” Brian Goldstein, director of policy and development with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, said in an interview Monday. “Once again, the governor and BSCC failed to heed the calls of advocates, community-based organizations and family members who have loved ones incarcerated in these facilities.”

Experts say jails have a greater risk of disease outbreaks because of the constant churn of new inmates and people being released from custody.

Many people being booked have existing health conditions that could leave them especially susceptible to illness. And others who are being arrested might not show symptoms but could still transmit the new coronavirus to others.

Isolating someone who might be showing signs of illness or quarantining those who may have been exposed can be all-but-impossible, especially in older, dilapidated facilities.

Federal and state prisons, including the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, have a more centralized structure and many publish dashboards about COVID-19 infections and testing.

Norma Cumpian, a formerly incarcerated woman whom Newsom appointed to the state’s corrections board in February, said she was frustrated by its lack of data on COVID-19.

“These are our community members. These are people who are suffering,” Cumpian said. “We don’t even know if they’re getting tested, if they’re keeping their distance, if they have masks.”

Newsom earlier this year called for stronger jail inspections after a Sacramento Bee and ProPublica series showed his jail oversight board was ineffectual and lacked enforcement powers. Before the pandemic, the board drew up new jail inspection protocols. The improved inspection process is still in the works, but changes have largely been tabled because of the pandemic.

Jail inspectors haven’t stepped foot in a facility in months since the statewide stay-at-home order took effect.

While they have reviewed departmental policies remotely, only 57% of California’s county jails have received in-person inspections during the two-year review term, which ends next week. Officials say all facilities will have policy reviews done by the deadline.

Sacramento County hasn’t had an on-site BSCC inspection since the 2016-2018 review cycle, said Tracie Cone, a board spokeswoman. When walk-through inspections resume as soon as next month, Sacramento County will be among the first subjected to the enhanced process.

County jail populations in California for years have hovered around 70,000. Those averages plummeted in March, and facilities now hold about 51,000 people, according to survey data compiled by the BSCC. Several facilities, including those in Sacramento County, have seen their in-custody populations drop by a third.

Scott Budnick, a BSCC board member who also founded the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, criticized the board’s inaction on COVID-19 testing data. He connected it to longstanding issues with the board that have existed since it took on new responsibilities and began awarding billions of dollars to counties after 2011’s public safety realignment.

“At some point, we need to stop not having oversight. We need to stop not holding people accountable for bad behavior,” Budnick said. “And we need to pay attention to the bad actors and we need to make sure that everything that’s happening is transparent.

“There’s no reason why this board should not force every county just to be transparent with data. There’s no excuse for it.”

Vicky Waters, a Newsom spokeswoman, agreed that the information was important to understand how to respond to the crisis and mitigate future outbreaks. But she reiterated Penner’s comments that it was a local issue.

“For the health and wellness of people in our state, we urge local public health authorities to work with their county jails in the collection of data related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Waters said.

Deitch said advocates were right to criticize the governor’s office. After all, the chair of the board reports to Newsom and the governor appoints members to the board.

“At some level,” Deitch said, “the buck has to stop there.”

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©2020 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)

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