Jail could host family services program under proposal

How the Carson City Sheriff’s Office will use a $460,000 grant sub-awarded through the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services will kick off the regular agenda at the Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday.

The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Center, 851 E. William St.

Supervisors will be asked to accept the grant that is effective from Dec. 1, 2023 through Sept. 30, 2025. They’ll consider using the grant to fund a family services pilot program within the Carson City Jail. Equipment, training and a grant-funded family case worker position are proposed for the plan, according to a staff report.

“The purpose of this grant is to establish a pilot program to support inmates with children and at-risk children,” reads the report. “This grant would both (a) supply funding for one-time equipment purchases for the pilot program set up and (b) provide funding for training, equipment and a grant-funded family service case worker position for the CCSO. If approved, this grant will cover the ongoing cost of the program and the salaries and benefits for a program coordinator until Sept. 30, 2025.”

There would be no local match requirement for the grant. A Nov. 4 letter from DCFS to CCSO says the new program would give incarcerated parents the chance to engage in parent education and “soft skills” classes.

“Once released, parents will work with the family coordinator on addressing their needs, reducing recidivism and connecting them with community providers,” DCFS Social Services Chief III Kelsey McCann-Navarro wrote. “Child abuse prevention will be accomplished by taking a holistic and wraparound approach to meeting the needs of recently released parents and preventing their children from becoming involved in the foster care system.”

A description of the pilot program included with Thursday’s agenda states, “The intersection of child welfare and parental incarceration is a growing concern for child welfare caseworkers and related professionals, including those in the law enforcement, corrections, mental health, education and legal and judicial fields.”

“When children and youth are separated from their parents due to incarceration, they often experience a variety of negative outcomes due to being placed with relatives or within the foster care system,” reads the project description.

The family services unit would work with other CCSO programs, including the Forensic Assessment Services Triage Team (FASST), which helps bridge a gap in mental health services, and the Mobile Outreach Safety Team (MOST), which assists people in crisis.

In other action:

• Supervisors will consider adoption of the 2023 Community Source Water Protection Plan.

“With assistance from Resource Concepts, Inc. (RCI) and the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP), staff have updated the CSWP Plan, which was initially adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2015,” reads a staff report.

In 2012, the city started participating in NDEP’s Integrated Source Water Protection Program, a voluntary program that “seeks to maintain a public, private and community partnership dedicated to protecting public health and the environment by keeping drinking water sources free of contamination,” according to the report.

“The initial CSWP Plan was developed with RCI’s assistance through grant money and direction provided by NDEP’s Bureau of Water Pollution Control. Through that process, Carson City’s Wellhead Protection Plan was updated and incorporated into the initial CSWP Plan, which the board adopted by resolution in 2015,” reads the report. “This 2023 update to the CSWP Plan meets the current guidelines from NDEP’s Bureau of Water Pollution Control and reflects the present condition of drinking water resources in the Carson City area.”

Adopting the plan will ensure the city continues to be eligible for grant funding, according to Carson City Public Works.

The plan can be viewed online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2265186/2023-11-02_Final_CSWPP_2023_update_BEFG.pdf

According to city staff, appendices A, C and D in the plan are “restricted documents that are only available for review at Carson City Public Works (3505 Butti Way) pursuant to NRS 239C.220.”

According to NRS 239C.090, restricted documents include “any blueprint or plan of a school, place of worship, airport other than an international airport, gaming establishment, governmental building or any other building or facility which is likely to be targeted for a terrorist attack.”

• As part of the consent agenda, supervisors will consider authorizing the purchase of 27 vehicles for several city departments for a not-to-exceed amount of about $3.2 million.

“Multiple city departments are seeking to replace vehicles that, due to their age or condition, are at the end of their useful lives and are no longer cost-effective to maintain,” reads a staff report. “Of the 27 vehicles proposed for purchase, 25 will replace an existing vehicle at the end of its useful life. The two remaining vehicles proposed for purchase, for the Stormwater Division of the Carson City Public Works Department, would be new additions to the city’s fleet. These requested purchases were planned for and are funded as part of the approved fiscal year 2024 Capital Improvement Vehicle Replacement Program.”