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Noting the county is holding more than $500,000 in money and property unclaimed by former youth detainees, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday directed the Probation Department and the Probation Oversight Commission to develop an outreach plan and a system to return it.
The motion introduced by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn followed a report by the county Department of Auditor and Controller which found there was no process for returning unclaimed funds. Solis said she was “surprised” to learn that half a million dollars was “sitting unclaimed.”
According to the motion, the auditor’s report found that when juveniles are released from detention, they are provided with a claim form they must submit to retrieve funds they surrendered when they were detained. But there is no process in place to return funds if detainees do not submit the form upon release.
Solis also noted there is no process for adequately returning money that was originally surrendered as cash, since some of the released youth and their families may not have a bank account and are unable to cash checks.
The motion calls on the department to develop a policy in which funds and property taken from youth upon intake are immediately provided to them upon release, while also calling for the money to be returned in either the original form or in an electronic form that best suits the receiver’s financial status.
“The department needs to ensure that we are not holding the monies that belong to the pocket of the community and create a process in which those funds can be transferred properly,” Solis said.
She suggested exploring options for returning the money such as petty cash, electronic funds payment or checks.
The motion calls for an outreach and implementation plan to be developed in 180 days in collaboration with formerly incarcerated youth. The plan will also include measures on how the unclaimed money or property can be used if numerous reasonable attempts to contact the youth are unsuccessful.
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