Scheduling changes, training adjustments and other modifications have been, or will be, implemented at the Riverside County Office of the Public Guardian after deficiencies were identified, according to a report the Board of Supervisors will review Tuesday.
The Executive Office’s response to the 19-member civil Grand Jury’s report, “How Well Do They Protect Riverside County’s Most Vulnerable?” will be among items under board scrutiny during its agenda Tuesday.
In June, the jurors released an 18-page narrative that identified multiple areas where the Office of the Public Guardian, or OPG, needs improvement.
The office has two branches, the Probate Section and the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act Section. The latter focuses exclusively on overseeing the affairs of “gravely disabled” individuals, most of whom have mental disorders and who don’t have relatives to take care of them. The Probate Section manages conservatorships for seniors who are cognitively impaired and who also don’t have relatives on whom they can depend.
Jurors spoke with about a dozen OPG deputies to ascertain what needs to be addressed to optimize efficiencies.
Despite management’s descriptions of improvements that had taken place since a former federal judge had reviewed operations and recommended changes in 2022, the employees pointed to ongoing problems, including excessively high case loads, according to the grand jury.
In the Probate Section, reports indicated that a single deputy at times was handling the fiduciary and habitation needs of 38 to 51 clients, while LPS deputies were each averaging 88 to 118 clients. The judge said the maximum ratio should be 1 to 30.
Jurors said one problem was a mandate that all OPG employees remain office-bound for supplemental training, meetings, data entries and related housekeeping on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because deputies are on 9/80 work schedules, meaning they’re off every other Friday, the two-day-a-week requirement to be at their desks hindered their ability to go out and check on clients.
Under state law, they’re required to make at least one conservatee visit every 90 days.
Jurors strongly recommended that the county do away with the in-house mandate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“The county recognizes the Grand Jury’s concern that deputy schedules must provide sufficient flexibility to complete required in-person conservatee visits,” the Executive Office stated. “Field time is essential for effective conservatorship work … Deputy Public Guardians are now required to remain in the office one day per week, rather than two days per week, to complete mandatory office work.”
Jurors also recommended that the OPG improve how “in-person” client visits are logged, to ensure deputies are visiting within a three-month span. The Executive Office agreed, saying “centralized monitoring and supervisory follow-up” should be improved. Officials noted the Panoramic Software Corp. platform had led to efficiencies in the OPG’s functions.
Jurors further emphasized the advantage of digitizing training materials so that deputies could access programs via laptop computers or similar devices to get updates and refreshers more freely, without putting pressure on supervisors to set aside specific times.
“The county agrees that appropriate portions of deputy training can be digitized to improve consistency, access and efficiency,” the Executive Office responded.