Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Fairfax County BOS: Nov. 25 Safety & Security Committee, Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 31m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/3972
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-28. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:02] Good morning, everyone. I'm going to call the safety and security meeting to order. And I'm delighted that we have a number of folks here today for our presentations. Our first presentation will be an update on the opioid settlement implementation.

[00:00:19] So really excited to hear from the staff and those who are engaged in this discussion. And following that, we will have a presentation That will be provided by the sheriff's office talking about some of their staffing and other issues as it relates to their detention facility, the courts, and civil enforcement.

[00:00:43] So we will also look forward to that presentation before our adjournment. So with our first item, I'd like to welcome Ellen Volo, who I believe will be the lead for this discussion topic.

[00:01:00] And we'll have support from other members of the staff and the Community Services Board and the Sheriff's Office and others. So I will turn it over to Ellen Volo at this point. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you. And we'll just begin with introductions.

[00:01:17] So Ellen Volo, Fairfax County Opioid Response Manager. Daryl Washington, Executive Director of the Fairfax Falls Church Community Services Board. Casey Lingen, Chief Deputy with the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office over the administration. Sarah Gary, Division Director for Jail and Court-Based Services with the CSB.

[00:01:39] Good morning, Dr. Mike Axler, Director of Intervention and Prevention Services for Fairfax County Public Schools. So good morning. I'll begin today with a few updates on some key information and then turn it over to the team to kind of highlight the projects that are being funded with opioid settlement dollars.

[00:01:58] So there we go. So as board members may recall, the county has had these guiding principles in place for using opioid settlement dollars for a couple years now. And I really want to highlight here that the county, in large part, thanks to the board's prioritization, investment in the opioid, in addressing the opioid epidemic, really for several years now, it's really created a very strong foundation that has allowed the county to move forward on acting on these principles fairly quickly, and more quickly than many other jurisdictions.

[00:02:31] So turning now to, you know, the local opioid overdose trends, because all of this work, of course, happens in the context of what's going on in the community, there's a couple key points to make here. First is that the eight projects that the county has funded so far with opioid settlement funds, they were identified back in 2023. And board members may recall that that was a year where we saw very high numbers of opioid overdoses, both in Fairfax and throughout the nation, and in Fairfax, especially among the youth age range, the 0 to 17 age range. And so

[00:03:08] several of the projects funded with opioid settlement funds really target that age group. So fast forward to today, like the nation in the Fairfax Health District, we're seeing opioid overdoses continue to decline. And in Fairfax, the numbers that we're seeing in that zero to 17 age range have sharply declined, which is very encouraging. So turning now to the funds, the opioid settlement funds available, as board members may know, the funds kind of fall into three different buckets. So the direct distribution funds are the opioid settlement funds that come

[00:03:43] directly to the county. And so far through the end of FY25, the county's received about $7 million and has allocated about $2.6. Since that initial allocation of funds, more settlements have reached payment phase. The projected future year payments have also increased. And so that's reduced the need to reserve all of those funds for kind of future year expenses of recurring projects. And so today we'll be talking about a recommendation to allocate an additional $2.2 million to some of the projects that have already been funded, as well as some other opportunities on the horizon.

[00:04:22] Now, there's also funds that flow to the Opioid Abatement Authority that the county is eligible to apply for. There's non-competitive funds. That's the Individual Share and Gold Standard. And so far, about $3 million has been available to Fairfax County and $2.5 million has been awarded.

[00:04:39] The remainder the county will apply for this spring for FY27. And then there's also the Cooperative Partnership Funds. Those are the competitive funds, and that's really what we're targeting using for the Regional Youth Detox Project. And so just a brief recap on how the projects were identified.

[00:04:59] Back in 2023, county agencies and FCPS were asked to submit requests for potential uses of the funds. Seven requests were received, and all were ultimately funded and approved by the board. The additional eighth project, that's the Regional Youth Detox Project, that was identified because that was a glaring gap in the treatment continuum.

[00:05:24] And so earlier this fall, all eight projects were asked if additional funds were needed for them to continue or complete their work. Half of the projects did request additional funding. That totals the $2.2 million. The Opioid Settlement Executive Committee recommends fully funding those requests, and that committee includes the Chief Financial Officer, Deputy Executives Leonard and Arnold, myself, Diversion Initiatives Director Lisa Potter, and FCPS Assistant Superintendent Dr. Edmonds Hurd.

[00:05:55] So this chart kind of summarizes the eight projects. It includes the initial allocation back from FY24, as well as the additional funds requested in FY26. I won't talk through this today in the interest of time, but the team here will talk about the projects and how they've done to date and how additional funds will be used.

[00:06:17] So now I'll turn it over to Mr. Washington. Thank you, Ellen. So good morning. So I'm just going to touch upon some of the CSB treatment options that we are in the process of standing up, as well as what we've been able to do. So our youth medication-assisted treatment, which is an outpatient service, was launched in June of 2024.

[00:06:35] The main sites where those are provided at are the Sharon Boulevard Center in the central part of the county and in the South County Human Services Building. But in addition, at the same time that we launched this, we were able to stand up an expanded youth outpatient service, where youth medication-assisted treatment services can be provided at three community centers, one in North County, one in the central part of the county, and one in the south part of the county, so that both youth outpatient therapy services as well as medication-assisted treatment services are available at those five sites spread throughout the county right now.

[00:07:09] We're looking to try to expand eligibility to include transitional age use with this service, and we've also then at the same time expanded our adult medication-assisted of treatment although that's not paid for through the opioid abatement dollars we had some initial challenges with finding a provider to provide our youth detox and residential treatment services but we're able to award a contract in april of this year and we're going to look at starting it at a 16-bed program that is an existing site where cornerstones used to be located at at the same time that we'll be building the facility right next door to Cornerstone. So the goal is to have

[00:07:49] the services up and going in the spring of 2026. And then once the building is completed, we will be able to transition into a larger facility to be able to serve more youth with an expanded capacity once the newer building with a larger capacity is finished. Thanks. And I'm going to turn it over to Casey. Good morning. Again, Casey Lingen on behalf of the Sheriff's Office. I'd like focus primarily on the nurse practitioner that is funded with these funds. You know, we have an ever-growing population, unfortunately, in the adult detention center that suffer from opioid

[00:08:26] use disorder. We're averaging approximately 124 inmates a month that are receiving medication for opioid use disorder. As a historical note, it takes approximately three individuals to distribute the medication at an average of 12 minutes per individual.

[00:08:45] So we have two sworn staff and a nurse who are handing out medication pretty much around the clock to accomplish this program. What we've been able to do with this nurse practitioner, however, is make sure that we have a dedicated resource to screen people who come in and use the screening process to identify people who are in need of this service and then re-screen them as they make their way through the process as well.

[00:09:13] So there's a consistency piece. On top of that, we have now this dedicated nurse practitioner who can prescribe the necessary medication. And this is specifically helpful when there's an unscheduled release. For instance, somebody given bond and we need to get medication in their hands for a release dose so they can bridge to recovery in the community.

[00:09:32] So this has been a huge asset to our operation on this vital program in the jail. And I'll turn it over to Ms. Gary. Sarah Gary for the CSB. And I'm going to talk about the two expanded behavioral health clinicians that we were able to fund through opioid abatement funding to work with individuals that are started on medications for, on MOUD medications at the ADC.

[00:09:57] With them, we've been able to serve, just those two contractors were able to serve over 780 people between FY24 and 25. With those, we've been able to expand our groups that we provide to individuals that are our MONUD. We've been able to meet with individuals more one-on-one to work on recovery plans and relapse prevention plans so they have something tangible to take with them upon release.

[00:10:19] And we meet with each individual during business hours upon knowing when they're going to be released to provide them with an appointment to the addiction medicine clinic or try to connect them to a service in their community if they're not a Fairfax County resident and provide them with those services so that they can continue treatment.

[00:10:36] As individuals are in the ADC longer, we are able to meet with them one-on-one more to connect them to treatment, be that outpatient or residential, which has been huge through the allotment of the additional funding. And we've requested additional funding to continue these services through FY27 through 29.

[00:10:55] Good morning. In the 2024-2025 school year, Fairfax County Public Schools partnered with the Rescue Agency to create the Become Unskippable campaign. This campaign provides practical tips for families to have meaningful conversations with their children about fentanyl.

[00:11:13] The campaign used elements related to skipping content on social media by showing what doesn't get skipped, like the right approach to talking with teens. We highlighted how parents can have fentanyl conversations in a way that makes teens more receptive to listening. We've had over 3,000 unique visitors to our campaign landing page linked at the bottom of this slide.

[00:11:34] We've also reached over 58,000 viewers on Instagram and 7,600 on Facebook. Our Our Minds Matter campaign was a parallel campaign. Our Minds Matter is a student-led club in FCPS high schools and middle schools. It uses peer-to-peer influence to cultivate self-care, healthy habits, social connectedness, and pro-social skills.

[00:11:56] We helped Our Minds Matter expand their materials last year to focus on reducing stigma related to substance use, promoting harm reduction strategies and encouraging help-seeking behavior. Campaign kits were provided to all FCPS middle and high schools to bolster this student-led initiative.

[00:12:12] For the 2025-26 school year, we intend to use additional opioid settlement funds, if approved, to update and enhance our public webpage and social media content for families. And in addition to our continued focus on opioid awareness and prevention, we'll also be adding information and guidance on preventing vaping and cannabis use.

[00:12:31] To conclude this section, I'd like to show our most frequently viewed video from our Become Unskippable campaign. - You need your gun if I-- - Teens are pros at skipping what they don't want to hear. - Listen up, we need to-- - Especially when it comes to hard conversations, like discussing fentanyl.

[00:12:47] - I need to talk to you right now. - You know, I don't want to hear excuses. - But with the right approach, you can become unskippable. - Hey, do you know what to do if a friend overdoses? - And when you're unskippable, you can teach your teen how to spot and respond to a fentanyl overdose so that they can help save a life. Learn more at fcps.edu. Thank you. Thank you. So to wrap it up and summarize the next steps here, that, you know, additional 2.2 million in direct distribution

[00:13:24] opioid settlement funds would be used to expand the FCPS campaign, continue both the nurse practitioner and also the behavioral health contractors through FY29. And then there's a very small portion that would be used to fully fund the FY26 YMAT project. The majority of those funds come from an OAA non-competitive grant. Additionally, we will continue to seek funds from the OAA by applying for the FY27 renewals this spring for the Recovery Court Young Adult Track Program, the YMAT program, and that youth detox project. The county is also looking at exploring

[00:14:03] a second OAA cooperative partnership for FY27, this would be a regional project. It would help us access some of the funds that are available in that competitive bucket of money and bring those, you know, into Northern Virginia. The current concept under consideration is a regional stigma reduction campaign that would be guided by a community advisory group from members throughout the region.

[00:14:28] So more to come there. And then we're also in the early stages of exploring a possible process for nonprofits to access opioid settlement funds, currently consulting with the Opioid Abatement Authority on that and looking at some other pieces of it. And then, of course, all the work will continue in the context of ongoing assessment of program utilization, available funds from the settlements, data trends, and so on.

[00:14:53] And so with that, we'll pause and be happy to answer any questions. Okay. Thank you very much for that presentation. And I'll say it's really good news to see the reductions in terms of the non-fatal and the fatal overdoses. So the work that you're doing is making a difference. So thank you very much for that.

[00:15:14] Really appreciate the numbers for youth. If I could, I'd like to maybe look at the 25 to 34 age group and the 35 to 44 age group. So looking at those two kind of clusters, we're roughly at about half of those on non-fatal and also for fatal.

[00:15:36] So just would be interested in hearing from the initiatives that you've identified here, How are they going to help us address where we kind of have the greatest number of those needing the services?

[00:15:53] How are the programs and activities that we're going to be engaging in? How are they going to help address the numbers in these two categories? Sure, that's a great question. I'd say of the projects discussed today, the jail-based programming would absolutely help folks that are within that age range.

[00:16:16] I would also point out that the initiatives targeting the younger age ranges have, you know, the potential to have effects across all age groups, right? Because if we connect with folks earlier on, get them on the right path, hopefully we'll reduce their kind of overdose at a later point in their life.

[00:16:37] Beyond that, you know, I know you asked specifically about what we discussed today, but I also would like to highlight that the CSB did get a federal grant to expand their addiction medicine care program, and they now have like an urgent care concept to that. So they're open seven days a week, and we think there will be huge benefits to that for that age group as well.

[00:17:00] Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. And then next I'll ask, looking at the regional youth detoxification facility, certainly something that we need in this area. I know this has always been a difficult area for us to provide services in because we've not been able to do that with an in-bed, in-treatment facility in the county.

[00:17:22] so this is necessary and important, so really excited about the opportunity for this to come. Can you talk about kind of the future of the program? Because I know 16 beds, I think that's a good start, but what do you envision in terms of how this might possibly grow over time as well?

[00:17:45] Yeah, so right now we're limited by the building capacity. So 16 is the most that we can serve in the particular building. The search for an architectural firm to design the new building is underway right now. So once the new building does open up, it will essentially double the capacity of the number of individuals that will be able to serve at that particular site.

[00:18:06] Okay. But I guess I'm making the point that 16, it's a significant number. It's helpful, but we know there's greater need. So I guess longer term, we're going to have the need to have more inpatient beds in Fairfax County. So I guess what I'm asking is, what is the future direction that you see for us to address that future need?

[00:18:29] I think when it comes to highly intensive services 24-7, I think taking a look at our regional approach and strategy, because the number of youth that require this level of intensity, although it's significantly needed, it's typically not a huge number of youth.

[00:18:48] I think it's important to have that regional capacity. So, for example, the services that just opened up down at the old Gander Mountain Building in Prince William, they're serving adults right now. Sometime in the next two weeks, they're going to start to open their doors to youth.

[00:19:04] So that will be one litmus test that we'll be able to see, because that will be available to any youth in the Northern Virginia region. In addition, Loudon is in the process of building a similar site up in Leesburg that will be a residential site that will be open to both adults and to youth in the region as well.

[00:19:21] So I think that we have several different steps that are going on, not just here in Fairfax, but in our region, that youth in our region will have access to care and treatment that will help inform us on, okay, once we get these things up and going, is there still going to be more need after that, or does that meet the need of our community?

[00:19:38] Okay. No, I appreciate that. And then on the prevention campaign and the anti-stigma initiative, I know that we intend to have that in English and Spanish, but just thinking about the broader languages here in Fairfax County, what's the thought in terms of future languages that could also be offered?

[00:19:59] Yeah, I think with the appropriate resources, we would welcome the opportunity to translate this into multiple languages. Fortunately, any information on our public webpage will automatically be translated for families, and any social media updates that we make, we would love to be able to kind of expand those to our, at a minimum, the seven or eight primary languages spoken in FCPS.

[00:20:21] Okay. I appreciate that. And then last, just on the nonprofits, I think that's a great idea, the exploration of opportunities to partner with them. Do we have any thoughts on the timeline for, you know, when we'd be able to come back and talk about the implementation of a program for nonprofits sure it is something that we're hoping to move forward with fairly quickly so we're in the exploration phase right now the kind of current goal would be to be able to move forward

[00:20:57] with the concept next year right so I think over the next few months as we do a little more work looking into this making sure we're not running crosswise with the settlement provisions we'll be able to come back and share more with the board that's helpful so I'll now turn over to my colleagues

[00:21:15] starting with Chairman McKeith. Thank you very much. First, this is remarkable. I mean, the numbers, just thanks to all the folks involved in this, I think we probably would be leading the Commonwealth in Virginia in most of these statistics per capita. And that's because we have services and outreach and opportunities to try to head this off. I guess I have two questions. One, just going back to the conversation about the 25 to 34 year old bracket, I think the effects of the FCPS work and the youth work can clearly be seen in the 18 to 24 also, which is

[00:21:52] kind of what you were alluding to, given the timeline of when these activities started and where people are in age. I would just say in the 25 to 34 seems like a group that maybe hasn't gotten the attention for good reason, because we focused on the youth. And I would just say doubling down on whatever initiatives can get to that age bracket, thinking about they have different social media habits than zero to 17-year-olds and, you know, different stigmas attached to that age group, I just want to make sure we explore everything we can to drive down that particular number.

[00:22:29] And it sounds like that's happening, but I wouldn't think that what we're doing for zero to 17-year-olds would be the same type of stuff we would do if we were targeting that other age bracket. So it just asks us to consider that. The other question I have is the money that has not been allocated but that we have received.

[00:22:47] I know this $2.2 million tranche, which I completely support, that there's still money that's sitting there. And I'm just wondering, one, where does that money live? Two, do we have to use it by a certain date? Is there an expiration date on it?

[00:23:04] And then three, are we still living under when we first got funds, I believe a piece of the settlement was you could only use this for new things that the jurisdiction wasn't already doing. And are we thinking about, you know, what those could be to make sure we're using the funding efficiently and help me understand where it's sitting now and how that's protected for future initiatives?

[00:23:29] because the ongoing cost of some of these, I think it's just important for us to be thinking beyond year to year, that we're with this for a while, some of the jail-based stuff, giving the sheriff's office and the CSB predictability on these programs being here for several years as opposed to having to come in more frequently to justify them.

[00:23:52] Help me understand that flow of the money piece, and is there a deadline on it? Sure. I'll start with an answer and I hope the chief financial officer will jump in if I misrepresent anything. So yes, it's my understanding that for the direct distribution funds, they do all need to be used to do enhanced, expanded work.

[00:24:19] As I understand it, I don't believe there's a timeline to using those direct distribution funds. And in terms of where they sit, there's a special reserve that's been set up by DMV for those funds. Then once they get allocated to projects, they move into a separate kind of grant for that specific project.

[00:24:40] And in terms of kind of plans for using the funds, Certainly, some of those would go towards potentially this potential nonprofit process. And then there's also a degree of ongoing sort of looking at what's come in and what's expected to come in, right?

[00:24:58] So we talked today about the two contractor positions for the jail-based program extending through FY29. As we get more settlements coming in, as we get closer to the end date of that, we'll reassess. Do we need to continue that work with opioid settlement funds, or is it a good time for the county to move that to the baseline budget?

[00:25:18] Okay. I think that's really important because some of these, you know, the eight programs here obviously were expanded from where we were sitting before the settlement money came in, and now we're, you know, funding them. And I just want to make sure that what is clear here in the data is they're working and that we have a sustainable way to fund them and to be able to predict future funding coming in and protect that for these types of programs that continue to drive these numbers down and so I think the last bullet the ongoing assessment of program utilization available funds and data trends is probably the most important one here uh just to make sure we're tracking right but uh

[00:25:55] really well done thank you thank you mr chairman i will now move to supervisor bierman followed by supervisor jimenez uh so i share that i share the chairman's comments that these results are really quite remarkable. I have a quick question for, do you prefer Lieutenant Colonel Lingen or Chief Deputy Sheriff Lingen? Casey's just fine. Okay, okay. For Lieutenant Colonel Lingen, just for informational purposes, you said that when doing medication for opioid use disorder,

[00:26:32] It takes three individuals and an average of 12 minutes to administer the medication. Can you break down what's involved? Yes, absolutely. So one of the things that needs, you know, when you're doing MOUD or medication for opioid use disorder and distributing medication in the jail, you need to worry about is diversion.

[00:26:55] And what I mean by diversion is that, you know, jail has a certain currency, and so anything, any narcotic, any prescribed drug that someone shouldn't have becomes desirable, right? And so, and quite frankly, I think part of the behavior that you need to address in any addiction is the seeking of, and the transactional nature of it too, right?

[00:27:25] You're seeking drugs, you're getting drugs, you're selling drugs, those types of things. So some of those habits can be hard to break throughout, you know, the recovery process. So we have a post deputy who is on the MOUD post, meaning running the unit.

[00:27:41] A nurse comes on scene, has a number of medications, so those need to be strictly guarded. So your security issues go up, right? And then we have a supervisor who is there to monitor the distribution and to make sure that you have to actually wash them for, I think it's up to three minutes, so that they take the pill, take the water, and then inspect inside the mouth.

[00:28:05] Because we actually have people who divert by using the saliva to become into, like, it sounds gross, but it's true. They spit it into their uniform, and then they string it out later and sell it. So it's not even the actual pill, but people will get all kinds of means of diversion where it has a street value within the jail, and that becomes problematic for us as well.

[00:28:29] So to prevent that, we have to allocate sworn staff to that 12-minute process of distribution, first verifying it's the right person, distribution, monitoring to make sure it's not diverted, and then continue to monitor to make sure that that extra level of diversion doesn't happen.

[00:28:47] We are constantly trying to evolve. One thing we are researching is injectable medicine. That's more desirable for us. It comes at a higher price point, much higher price point. But it does last for 30 days, and they have found ways to divert it, but they're more difficult.

[00:29:08] But it also creates some barriers to people who may be adverse to needles as well. So we are looking at that as well and seeing if we can work the funding out and see what a transition would look like, and that may provide some relief to the length of time it takes to administer.

[00:29:25] I hope that answers the question. That's a very, very comprehensive answer. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very much, Supervisor Bierman. Supervisor, I'm in. Thank you very much. Jimmy's fine. Supervisor Bierman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[00:29:42] My question is around the anti-stigma campaign. Obviously, awareness is needed, and it's fantastic. But my question is, how do you measure success with a campaign like this? Thank you. I think that's a great question.

[00:29:57] You know, I think we would look at this through both implementation metrics and outcome metrics. And so I think the ultimate outcome metrics is we want to see reductions in opioid overdoses. We want to see reductions in opioid use, any substance use. And then working our way backwards, implementation metrics would be are people actually watching the videos so that they can get the content in.

[00:30:19] So what we reported here were implementation metrics, 58,000 people seeing it on Instagram, 3,600 on Facebook, 3,000 unique visitors to the Fairfax County webpage. But ultimately, what we want to see is, does that translate to reductions in substance use and reductions in overdoses?

[00:30:34] Fortunately, we're seeing multiple data points to indicate that that may be the case. And while we can't necessarily say that there was a causal relationship from this campaign specifically, that campaign in conjunction with many of our other county initiatives seem to have moved the mark, and not just in our opioid results, but our Fairfax County Youth Survey results from 2024, which do indicate a decrease, a continuing trend, but still a decrease in substance use to some of our lowest levels in the past 10 years.

[00:31:01] And so I think that our measurements from implementation through various stages of outcome measures help us to get an overall global picture of the effectiveness of the campaign. Thank you. And I definitely think that the more you can expand this into different languages, the more folks you'll be able to reach so thank you thank you supervisor Jimenez supervisor Herity yes mr. chairman two things like great news on the the numbers they match what we're seeing statewide as well so that's really good stuff my question and I don't know if it was covered I apologize for being a

[00:31:38] little late but the jail program is absolutely fantastic we had problems before with the jail-to-treatment post-jail handoff, can somebody just address whether that has kind of been addressed and how we're addressing when they leave the jail, the tendency is to go back to their old friends, and if you don't get them right away once they get out of jail, because you've got them in a good place, they go back to their old friends, they end up in a bad place.

[00:32:12] So how are we handling that? So that is something we are still working on. It's a great question. especially as not individuals are there for a long period of time at the jail so we might have sometimes on average three to five days to work with an individual which isn't a long time to change people places and things we have started working with the chris atwood foundation so they have peers that come in and do in reach and they're now doing post reach as well so that really works they they already kind of they've seen that person they know that person and now that person's calling them and saying hey how are you doing because not everyone's path towards recovery is going to our addiction medication clinic or staying on medications for opioid use disorder,

[00:32:52] but it could be a path of going through a peer and learning about different programs that are available. They're going to be there through them through other things. So that's one path we're doing to try to increase connection in the community. And then we're really working with if they're eligible for recovery court, trying to talk to them about what that might mean for them and working on getting them bed-to-bed treatments as well as that works with their attorney, with their charges to really work on wrapping around those services.

[00:33:22] I don't know if, Casey, you had anything you wanted to add. The only thing I would add is, you know, the biggest challenge is when there's an unscheduled release. So what that means is someone who wasn't, we didn't anticipate leaving the jail, leaving, not because they're escaping, but, you know, through proper court process.

[00:33:41] So it's a quick turnaround, you know, And our medical staff then, where that presents a problem is finding a space where they can continue their recovery if it's bed to bed. That's certainly a big challenge, continuing their medication, getting them a prescription that is either filled so they can leave with it or fill it on the outside.

[00:34:02] We do, you know, provide Ubers still to treatment facilities. We help find scholarships for treatment facilities. So we're doing a lot to connect those dots. But it is unfortunate sometimes we're still trying to shore up those gaps.

[00:34:19] I mean, it's a reality of the situation that we're dealing with, and we'll continue to do so. The injectable medicine could go a long way to addressing that as well because someone doesn't have to make the choice every day, well, one, to fill the prescription and then take the pill every day, so they could leave with it in their system, and that would curb some of the cravings and help them get to that long-term cognitive treatment.

[00:34:40] Thank you. It sounds like the communication's in place, which is the big thing. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Herity. Supervisor Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank Supervisor Herity's first question, as well as I want to kind of extend it a little bit further.

[00:34:56] First off, I want to thank Sheriff Kincaid for establishing the program, I think almost a decade or so ago, that has made a difference, a huge difference, recognition not only of the opioid and addiction issues, but also the mental health issues, which are a core part of why so many people are incarcerated.

[00:35:15] And I know they all, in many ways, they overlap. You know, self-medication is one of the most common things that I know that I'm aware of with respect to mental health issues. My question and concern is not only from the handoff when they leave sheriff's custody of jail, but also the support or monitoring systems that occur after that.

[00:35:38] I know we have an excellent drug court, but we also have a probationary system that usually has specific charges that are supposed to be monitored with respect to those individuals coming out. And my at least knowledge experience is that those kinds of follow-up don't happen at least consistently.

[00:36:02] Is there some system of working with probation officers and or drug courts and or sheriff's office? So that handoff that Supervisor already asked and the core issues, theoretically, the person has gotten to a better place when they're in jail.

[00:36:19] Now, how do we help them take those steps up? Because they're difficult steps. But I don't know that some of it is that, you know, having a sense of if I don't do right, I'm going to be back in jail. But if there's not the testing or if it's not the supervision, not the oversight, some of those things quickly go away and people revert to their old habits.

[00:36:41] I don't know if either one of you can address it, but I'm going to throw it out there as a question because I know it's a real issue. And maybe you all aren't the best people, and I'm happy to, if you can direct me to the right place, I'm happy to ask those individuals those questions. Sure, I can do my best, and if it doesn't answer your question, please let me know.

[00:37:00] You know, I think the court system is a place where a lot of motivation can occur to get better from this disease. It is unfortunate that really that motivation, you know, the motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic, right?

[00:37:18] So the motivation can be forced by the court, and that's what we see in the criminal side. The lost, I think, opportunity right now is on the civil side. And what I mean by that is if a lot of people who are suffering from this disease face consequences that aren't criminal, they face loss of jobs, loss of houses, loss of their children.

[00:37:41] And when they come to the court, that's their rock bottom. It would be nice to see something in the courthouse that addresses that and a place they can go when they're immediately struck with the inspiration to get better. That's one of the notes I put in here to talk to Ellen about later, but I'll put it out there now.

[00:37:57] So when you're talking about motivation at a certain point, it becomes necessary for people to make decisions and continue to make those decisions as well. But with what you're suggesting specifically, you know, someone in a former life, I operate in the courts a lot, and I had a big hand and something near and dear to my heart is the treatment dockets.

[00:38:19] You know, that is specifically for individuals really who are there because of a use crime, right? and they are monitored and they're given. It's just a totally different beast. It's not just a sentence and then you go on your way. It's motivation to do right, and you come in every two weeks.

[00:38:37] Our staff is involved. We have a person assigned to that docket as well. And if you screw up, so to speak, you get immediately a sanction. So we get someone to serve the process, get you into court right away and sanction. The reality is a lot of people who are suffering from this disease are on probation for other crimes, like property crimes, and that's where the typical probation system comes into play.

[00:38:59] The problem with that and best practices is that they don't often align, meaning for a specialty docket, the sanction is immediate, and the best practices show and the research shows that an immediate sanction is what gets somebody's attention and keeps them on the straight and narrow.

[00:39:16] The typical probation process for someone who's not in a specialty docket, and those dockets are limited in the numbers they can have, it takes months if not multiple months. and then lawyers get involved and make it even longer. So by the time the sanction comes around, there's just no association with the use, right?

[00:39:32] And so I think it's just a natural piece of the system that needs to be addressed. But, again, I think there are some places we can put resources that would significantly impact the recovery process and the inspiration that they would have to get better. I don't know if that answered the question.

[00:39:48] I think with Selfline, I think you identified the gap that is apparent to me at least, And I was curious about what and everything we're doing to address some of that gap. And just following up on that, not funded with opioid settlement funds, I had mentioned that Addiction Medicine Clinic Urgent Care concept that's funded with federal grants.

[00:40:08] Part of that concept is, if you think of the urgent care kind of like a hub, attaching like referral pathways to all different elements of the criminal justice system. So one of the pieces of that is a referral pathway from probation and other kind of teams.

[00:40:24] So that work is also underway. It seems like we would benefit from data related to that, and I'm saying that more broadly because I'm not aware of – I know we do things on relapse rates, et cetera, and I don't know if there's enough data that tells us the reason for the relapse, and sometimes I know it's hidden because there can be family dynamics and everything else, but it seems like there would be some opportunity there, and we recognize – and I know generally it's recognized.

[00:40:55] I don't know what the specific numbers are here, but the level of recidivism, if you will, is one of the most frequent parts of the folks that you see. And even changing that by 10 or 20% would have a dramatic impact for those individuals to have dramatic impact on the system, et cetera, overall.

[00:41:17] So I'm urging us to maybe take a closer look at that, and maybe there's something more that we can do. I know the new drugs that can be injected, that can make a huge difference. But if you don't have the follow-on with the individual, because it's not just reducing the need for the drug, it's having the other opportunities to kind of get their life back together and get on a path where the intrinsic part of that becomes stronger than the extrinsic issues that they're dealing with.

[00:41:45] And I would just add maybe on the legislative side, the legislative committee, there is a small piece of the code that allows for outpatient mandated treatment. I believe it still does, but it's very narrow in its application and very difficult.

[00:42:01] So that's almost like a hands-on, like civil probation that's specifically looking at complying with treatment. But again, it's very nuanced and not easily applied. So just maybe something for the legislative committee to look into as well.

[00:42:20] Yeah. My personal observation is that our probation system, the folks have too many people to monitor, and if we did a stronger, better job there, we would have a large impact on the number of people that end up back in the county jail or back in the system.

[00:42:36] I support whatever we can do along those lines. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Stork. Are there any other questions from my colleagues on this? Okay. Seeing no more questions, we will close out this first part of our program and say thank you very much for the work that you're doing and you're making a difference.

[00:42:59] And thank you for adding some positive light to a very dark, dark subject. Our next presentation, which we will transition to, is with Sheriff Kincaid. She will provide us an update and also share some of the challenges that she's experiencing with overtime for costs associated with the detention center and civil enforcement.

[00:43:34] So with that, I will welcome Sheriff Kincaid. Good morning, everyone.

[00:43:50] I'm Sheriff Stacy Kincaid, and on behalf of myself and the men and women of the Sheriff's Office, we appreciate this opportunity to come before you and discuss, obviously, the increased cost that we are incurring with our agency.

[00:44:08] So I'm going to go ahead and let each staff member introduce themselves, and then we will move forward. Thank you. Good morning, members of the board. Chairman McKay, Committee Chair Luss, County Executives, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Nick Andres.

[00:44:26] Nick is fine, like Casey. I'm the Chief Deputy of Operations. That entails the Adult Detention Center. And good morning again, Casey Lingen, Chief Deputy of Administration. Good morning, everybody.

[00:44:41] Major Jason Travis, the Sheriff's Office. I oversee our Administrative Services Division. Okay, I'm going to turn this over to Casey, as he is affectionately known. And Casey, we can begin.

[00:44:59] That's the safe name that I get called Good morning again. I just appreciate the board's direction on this To investigate these root causes these vacancies and to return with recommendations on improving staff levels as well as to explain operational changes we've made and We do it's not lost on us the Budgetary times we find ourselves in and we greatly appreciate the support that we receive in this task and your willingness to listen to our difficult answers that we came up with and to

[00:45:35] help us out so the We go to the first slide the mandatory overtime by contextual or historical Perspective, you know the the staffing issues date back to about 2021 There's a lot that with kovat and other issues that went on that put a lot of public safety agencies behind the eight ball when it comes to staffing That's why you have a lot of these bonuses that popped up across agencies regionally and why a number of places have been able to dig themselves out of those issues.

[00:46:11] We continue to face those issues. We did a number of reorganizations to operations to address which we thought were going to be temporary and kind of Band-Aids to the situation until we got out of the heavy loss. So we enclosed our alternative incarceration branch, which we term AIB.

[00:46:28] Out of the alternative incarceration branch, we ran the CLF, or Community Labor Force, which would do a lot of work around the county and actually save the county over a million dollars, I think, a year, was what I was told, and our work release. And of significance, I will tell you, this week I had an attorney reach out to me and ask if we had brought back work release or brought back weekender jail service, and we haven't because that was all run out of our alternative incarceration branch.

[00:46:56] That also includes the ability for electronic monitoring, which was ran out there as well. So there's a lot of sentencing alternatives that were lost with this. It's kind of an unintended consequence, but it's directly related to our staffing. We reduced through the budget process a lot of positions, for example, in HR, and we made them civilianized.

[00:47:18] So it comes at a cost savings to the county. Control booth operators we civilianized as well. We're looking into civilianizing some other positions in our records department to provide a cost savings as well, and also to reallocate our sworn staff. The problem with both of those is that it does dissipate some of the career diversity that is allowed for our staff to get into, and we kind of start to become a one-trick pony when it comes to offering staff opportunities, right?

[00:47:47] We also closed a whole North Building and Adult Detention Center and resulting in more direct supervision. Direct supervision is one individual on a pod dealing directly with up to 40 people. This includes max security people who are in that situation with our deputies.

[00:48:06] And then mandatory overtime, just the reason for this historical perspective is to understand that this was not anything we started out with. This was a last-ditch effort. It is mandated. Unfortunately, the hours have more than doubled from 33,839 hours in 2021 to now 79,000 projected hours in 2025.

[00:48:26] And as you can see, it's, I mean, I'll leave it to Colonel Andreas to talk about the human impact that he's seen on the floors as well. Thank you, Casey. So as we look, we are clearly doing more with less and paying a lot more to staff fewer deputies.

[00:48:47] and the trajectory is unsustainable when we rolled out mandatory overtime in january of 2023 we projected a frequency of one every four weeks having a shift currently our staff our day shift day shift are working one to two times per pay period and night shift two to three times per pay period sometimes twice on a weekend so to put that into perspective our confinement staff work 44 hours per week 87 and a half hours of pay period it's a 12 and a half hour shift

[00:49:23] currently across the board they're averaging 102 hours in a pay period for our night shift folks that's 112 hours 30 percent of their days off lost to staffing the jail that level of forced overtime is clearly placing a burden on our staff and as we highlight through the presentation our retention. And again, as Casey pointed out, that I would like to highlight the human element to this. I am the least removed from being boots on the ground with the sheriff's office. When we implemented this in 2023, I was a night shift commander, and I saw it firsthand, the toll that

[00:50:02] it takes on our staff. I lived it, I worked it with them, and it is a clear challenge that we have to overcome because this is not sustainable. With that, the burnout, the fatigue, it's not just setting in, it is real. And it is here. And the conversations alongside the data that we're here to present, it's that our staff are making tough choices with their career paths. Do they want to stay or are they jeopardizing their work-life balance? Because right now that is all in jeopardy.

[00:50:33] And there are people having these tough conversations and working the adult detention center, working the post with the deputies. These are conversations that we're all having. As we transition into our vacancy rates, you'll see that our official vacancy rate is 18%.

[00:50:50] From last fiscal year, that's a 10-point drop from 28%, but I want to highlight that because it does not indicate that things are getting better. That is a reflection of positions that have remained vacant because we are unable to fill them and we've had to turn them in or lose them to the budget reductions.

[00:51:09] So clearly, as Casey indicated with the closures of many of the programs and alternative sentencing, programs that we once had were not the same sheriff's office we were four or five years ago. But that doesn't mean that we don't want to get back to doing those things. So we still look at that vacancy rate. And although the denominator has changed, the vacant positions remain.

[00:51:35] So I want to take a moment to highlight the strict vacancy rate that we are faced in the adult detention center and confinement. We operate four squads, two-day squads, two night squads, each of which should be staffed with 50 deputies. But in reality, each squad is currently staffed with approximately 32 deputies. To fully staff the ADC over a 24-hour period, we need 100 deputies. With only 32 deputies per squad, we're effectively staffed for 64 deputies across the day, leaving us with a 24-hour deficit of 36 deputies in a single day.

[00:52:12] To staff the ADC, we are relying exclusively on overtime. Our planning numbers are 40 to operate every security post in the ADC, and as you see, our staff numbers are well below that at the onset, not including leave, mandatory training, and other things that come up with deputies' lives.

[00:52:35] So when we don't have enough staff, it forces increased lockdowns, reduced access to programs, services, cancellations of recreation, and ultimately pushes us out of compliance with the Department of Corrections and our accreditation. And as was highlighted in the last presentation, the inmate population has drastically changed, and I can speak specifically to my time with the Sheriff's Office. The percent of inmates prescribed at least one medication is over 80%.

[00:53:09] Those receiving psychiatric medications is over 30%, and those receiving MOUD is roughly 20% of our inmate population that require increased care and service on a daily basis. So, as we face fatigue, burnout amongst our staff, and the stressors of increased lockdowns, we're creating a pressure cooker environment. Our staff experience that burnout fatigue while the inmate population becomes increasingly frustrated. And that's an extremely dangerous mix for the safety and security of the facility. And we can speak firsthand to what lockdowns do

[00:53:48] to our inmate populations having going through COVID when we had to quarantine blocks and keep them locked down. With that, I'll turn it over to Casey for civil enforcement and court security. So just to be clear, there's an 8% vacancy in civil enforcement. That's about maxed out on what we can handle. We have 15 line staff, 23 total, including supervisors that serve civil process and were mandated to deal with telling people when court is coming up, telling people if they're wanted and actually not over through a scam on the telephone but

[00:54:23] actually go into their house and serving process and even you know evictions or tax levies as well on back taxes that's 15 line staff to travel the 400 square miles of Fairfax County and the 1.6 million people right so that's also daunting because we have three to four at last count that are in background to leave for the PD right now, which we're not going to be able to backfill because of our short-staffing ADC. The court security section is the lowest vacancy rate, and that's because

[00:54:59] we're buoyed by what we deem lateral retirees. 53% of that workforce are people who retired from other law enforcement agencies and are coming over specifically because they want to work in the courts but nowhere else. So they're doing a retirement gig, and that's True band-aid that's on top though of the increasing security risk, which were present in the courts We're about three months of over three months away from someone trying to bring a gun into the courthouse we have had increased over and Implied threats to the judiciary We our staff has to constantly monitor social media to to do threat assessments for the judges on a routine basis

[00:55:39] To prevent what we all hope never happens in Fairfax County I will say the biggest takeaway from this data is that, one, separations are at an all-time high over the last five years from our agency.

[00:55:56] The bigger concern is that the red bar piece, those are resignations compared to retirement. So we are not keeping people for a full career. The people are resigning and they're going to other opportunities that may pay well or offer more variety of opportunities.

[00:56:12] So one of the charges we had from, you know, and what we're asked to specifically look at from the county exec and deputy county exec were just our hiring practice. How can we attack hiring?

[00:56:28] And that was well taken. And we have had the best year of hiring since pre-COVID. We've had a more higher rate of engagement by our staff at these events. And again, if you understand what they're giving up just to do the job, that's how much they love the agency. They're trying to put in the effort to bring people into the agency as well.

[00:56:46] But, again, that's not sustainable, right? What we're seeing is that the hiring just can't keep up with the retention issues. It's not going to be able to counter that. And, quite frankly, if I hire someone today, it's going to be over a year before they can offer any relief.

[00:57:03] They have to go to the academy and they have to finish field training as well. And within that period of time, we'll lose another 30 to 50 people from our staff. We have seen significant leveling out of hiring with separations when the pay versus our competitors is on par, and that's obviously through no chance.

[00:57:29] So at the outset, I'll apologize for this graph. I caught a mistake today, and it's because I tried to get too fancy, and graphs and numbers throw me off. But the top you look at the numbers on the top. It's access to 13 hired over the last seven years retained 110 Separated 107 the math obviously doesn't work out. It's the chart below is the actual accurate numbers. I apologize for that PowerPoints just aren't my thing so But that chart is the actual numbers and what is showing is over 50% of the people we hired in the last seven years are gone and resigned

[00:58:06] The bigger concern is that 16 number that's the number of months post Academy that they are staying with us We pay into the coffers over five hundred thousand dollars for 15 spots in the Academy That's no cheap change to train these individuals and they come out highly trained Finish their FTI and now they're fully trained for another agency is what the data is showing us That's 16 month is very concerning To us, so here's where we get into the benchmarks and I think what has kind of held us back a bit

[00:58:41] And it's through no fault of anybody in the county or really I think it's just highlighting the you know Supporting the data is why there needs to be a change We have consistently over time been compared to other sheriff's departments But upon our exit interviews and this wouldn't be anything that I think the greater HR would know because this is just exit interviews That people are willing to share why they're leaving and where they're going right and they don't have to do that But the vast majority of people are leaving for other police departments.

[00:59:08] And they're not leaving for what you see as our benchmark studies currently on the left. That's who we're compared to right now that drives our compensation. And that's just not where we're losing people for retention purposes.

[00:59:25] So we dug even deeper to see where they're actually going. And through no surprise, they're going to the Fairfax County Police Department. And I truly appreciate the police department come up my service into the county with a number of friends who are in the police department.

[00:59:41] But right now they are a competitor. Now, to be clear, this goes back to 1997 when we started compiling this data. So the point of that is historically they have been our competitor for retention. When you shrink it down to the last five years, that number goes up to 47%.

[00:59:57] So what has changed in the last five years is the disparity that was presented in large part because of collective bargaining to the Pay scale we understand that and that's again through no fault of anyone sitting around this table What is what we find ourselves in?

[01:00:14] You know, it's also concerning to that when you look at that people leaving within 16 months, they're fully trained They're going it's almost like we're training half our people for the police department at this point, right and So that's the greater issue we have as well.

[01:00:33] And I'll turn it over to Nick for this slide. Thank you. Of the 32 surrounding jurisdictions and their respective law enforcement agencies, 18 of them have a higher starting salary than the sheriff's office here in Fairfax.

[01:00:48] But whether you're looking to start a career or you're in career in law enforcement, you look internally at Fairfax County, you have two choices, the sheriff's office or the police department. And the starting salary for the Fairfax County Police Department is 12% higher than the starting pay for the sheriff's office.

[01:01:07] So that clearly impacts our competitive edge when we're trying to recruit new talent, but it's impacting our retention. We recently just lost a 10-year master deputy sheriff who left for an entry-level position at the police department, and he's making more than he currently did with our agency of 10 years of service.

[01:01:29] That pay gap, it widens even further at the frontline supervisory ranks of sergeant to over 24% between a Fairfax County police sergeant and a Fairfax sheriff sergeant. That gap, clearly significant, makes it increasingly difficult to develop and retain the next generation of supervisors. And if you look at our promotional participation data, we are down participation 60%. And yes, we have a high vacancy rate, but I would not attribute it to that. Of our last

[01:02:09] completed sergeant's process, we had over 200 eligible applicants to participate, and only 15% chose to do so. I think bottom line, our staff can leave for another agency, namely the police department, start at the bottom, and still earn considerably more. And I'll just follow up on that too. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, and I forgot to, in the hiring slide. One of the things we have found is that the majority of people who apply to our agency apply to multiple agencies.

[01:02:44] They choose our agency because we're one of the quickest to get back to them and get them through the process. We have converted four sworn positions to civilian background investigators so that there's consistency and that there is that quick response.

[01:03:00] The problem is, as we said before, we're becoming a leapfrog agency because they get in, they get the signing bonus, and that's people leaving 16 months in even to give up part of their signing bonus, right, because that's a three-year prorated deal that they have to give back if they leave in a certain period of time.

[01:03:16] So, you know, we understand there's nuance to this. We really do why we're here, and we understand we are a hybrid agency that involves the state as well. That's why the sheriff has lobbied the last two years, I think, for an increased allotment of budget to Fairfax County specifically for this agency.

[01:03:39] I'll give you one guess as to how that goes over in Richmond, But it's not for lack of trying, and we know that these are our partners here at the table. And we understand the nuance. At a certain point, it's hard for staff to understand the nuance, right?

[01:03:57] And it does become a bit of trying to encourage and continue the high pride in the valuation of what we do. Our agency keeps the core system going, quite frankly. Without it, it falls apart.

[01:04:12] We want to keep running these programs in the jail. We want to keep the jail running which is not mandated by the code And it's just becoming just an increased challenge with the competitor and the right next door Who's taking the staff? that said we have always felt valued but there are differences in what we do and Different doesn't mean worse different doesn't mean less obviously But there are differences that do attract some people to law enforcement who want the sheriff lifestyle, who want the sheriff job and actually want to work in confinement, for instance.

[01:04:48] The problem is they don't want that at a 12 percent discount, right? The desire to do that job doesn't – the money is too – for someone starting out is too much to turn around, turn away. So what we are really coming to ask for, you know, obviously it's throughout there is address pay competitiveness.

[01:05:10] And please understand, we've looked at everything. We've talked to people and we've explored everything. And we don't expect the magic wand to be waived, especially in this budgetary time that you're facing today. But we need the support to talk to those in the county that have the decision-making powers or that would be working towards this so that we can get the numbers down and get this corrected.

[01:05:38] Support to change the peer comparators, that's big because I think that that leaves any solution that's sustainable at that point because we're actually keeping in step with our true competitors and we're having a true understanding of, you know, our true level of retention with that.

[01:05:55] And then within that to support any our reorganization for retention purposes again pay is part of the equation Opportunity is another we're constantly having to take away opportunities with the loss of staff And with people that places we civilian eyes, but we have identified different areas that could be Reorganized once we get staffing up to speed That would go a long way in addressing retention as well So I think you know in a nutshell, that's what we're asking for

[01:06:28] I don't know if the colonel has anything to add now with that if there are any questions We'd be glad to take them now, okay I'll start by saying a more somber presentation than the one we heard earlier and certainly recognize the challenges as you've laid them out and appreciate Sheriff Kincaid for coming and you as well the deputies to be a part of this conversation for us to understand

[01:07:04] and the extent of the complexities and difficulties that you're encountering. I'm just thinking, if I look at slide three, where you're talking about the confinement squads and the sworn deputies, can you help me understand how you determined the predicted vacancy rates for both the confinement squads and the sworn deputies in future years?

[01:07:33] And I'm looking at the end of 2028, and it looks like you have predicted less than 75 officers that will be available for the confinement squad. Is that based on the rates from the previous few years, or are there any other elements, such as upcoming retirements, that you're using in that base calculation?

[01:08:03] Sure. Thank you, Supervisor Luss. Appreciate the question. Yes, it is based off of what we are seeing as the trend for what we lose on an annual basis, about 55 staff members with increased retirements upcoming and forecasted, as well as specific data.

[01:08:21] I can, Major Travis can speak to that. It is countering it with the, on average, hiring, in fact, hiring 35 people a year. So the hiring is trending towards $35 a year.

[01:08:37] The loss is $55 a year. So that's where the projection comes. Now, obviously, no crystal ball can predict what we're going to see, and that's just based on the trending we're seeing. It certainly puts you in a very difficult position, particularly with confinement.

[01:08:56] So that's certainly not sustainable. So we do have to figure out some correction as it relates to that projected numbers. And that's correct, and we appreciate the question. I think that's the retention piece that we were hoping to lessen that 55 number. Okay.

[01:09:13] And then I was going to ask on the statistics for exit interviews, are you getting any specific reasons why people are leaving the sheriff's department?

[01:09:31] And I understand pay is the driver, at least, as one reason. But are there other reasons that people are giving as competitive disadvantages? And I'll let the colonel address this because I know he's had conversations with individuals specifically.

[01:09:48] And I think I hate anecdotal information, but just with the caveat that a lot of it will be anecdotal, just to understand. Supervisor Lusk, there's always two pillars to the question for retention and retaining talent.

[01:10:07] Pay, obviously, what we've just addressed here, but the other is opportunity. In addressing our staffing needs and the crisis that we're faced with, we've eliminated all opportunity. Our footprint is nil compared to what it was four or five years ago. There's nothing left right now except to be hired into the adult detention center, limited space when you go to civil enforcement, and then court security, which we've addressed the Band-Aid. Because of the staffing crisis, we've targeted retired laterals solely to come over and be bailiffs and provide court security. We're also faced with the discussions when those

[01:10:47] that are not the retired lateral groups, facing the transfer back to the ADC, they have begun electing to leave, knowing what they're going to be faced with, the frequency of work and their home work-life balance. Those are the driving factors, opportunity and what you're seeing at home and the amount of time that you're losing with your family. So just so I'm clear, currently are you having the civil enforcement and court security staff also providing confinement over time?

[01:11:27] Currently, the only two divisions that are mandated to work over time is confinement and support services that's the operation side of the house administration as well as court services are free to volunteer but given their nature and their workload okay any takeaway from their duties just gets displaced so namely they're only available on a Saturday or Sunday and again one of the driving factors with that is where we see a lot of retention issues as well as the pain points with overtime is night shift.

[01:12:00] The pool of available people is slim. So that thereby increases the frequency. With that and your Monday through Friday folks, you can't put them work in 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM to come back and then work.

[01:12:16] So that's the challenge there with the other half of the agency and the participation. We are relying on volunteerism with that. OK, that makes sense. OK. And then last, I looked at the website, And I think I've got a maximum capacity of 1,260 inmates and that your average daily population in FY 2024 was 666 inmates.

[01:12:40] Has that average daily population changed? And when you said that 200 sworn officers were needed to operate the ADC, is that at full capacity or for the approximate average daily population?

[01:12:57] And then there'll be a follow-up. Thank you for that question and the opportunity to explain that. The number, based off of what we're addressing today, is based off of our current operations with the average daily population, as well as the closure of our north building, the maximum security side of the facility, as well as an entire floor of our west building being shut down due to the security upgrades and infrastructure being built out there.

[01:13:24] If I could just add to that. Sure. It's not, it's, we talk about the numbers and we talk about staff to inmate ratios, but what needs to be factored in for a better understanding, one size doesn't always fit all.

[01:13:39] And we also have individuals, as you've heard, the percentages of those that are incarcerated who are mentally ill, who have substance use disorders, who have different diseases. We've got folks with chronic diseases. We get individuals who are in hospice.

[01:13:55] So it does not necessarily match up with, you know, the one-to-one ratio because there's some areas that require more supervision, and especially in our areas where we've got in our maximum security areas. So I want you all to keep in mind that that certainly plays a part in and impacts our vacancy rate.

[01:14:17] And I'll just make this point. I appreciate that point you just made, Sheriff Kincaid, and I'll say that the follow-up question i was going to ask you is what is that staff to inmate ratio do we have a number there as well i don't have that specific number for you but i can certainly report back but i can provide an overview of a daily direct supervision block is one deputy to 48 inmates if you go over 48 inmates in a given housing location you're forced to open up another housing location which will not just require one deputy for the shift, but four across the board.

[01:14:54] To put this in perspective, in the North Building, prior to accreditation changes, when we were able to double bunk and have two to a cell, we could house 400 inmates to four deputies.

[01:15:12] That's in your modular supervision. Based off of the square footage changes and the physical plant of the ADC, we're no longer able to do that to maintain accreditation. So with that, 400 inmates, four deputies becomes nine because you're dispersed amongst 48, not 50.

[01:15:35] And then when you talk about nine, you're talking about 18 in a 24-hour period, 36 if you were to open up that amount of housing locations. So current operations is based off the average daily population that we see today.

[01:15:50] All right. That's helpful. Any other clarifications on that? I would just add, too, that when someone comes into the adult detention center, there's a whole classification process. So it's not just reach up to 48, start a new pod.

[01:16:08] There are people who can't be housed with other individuals. You start talking about gang affiliations and those things as well. So, you know, it's not just the number, but like they said, the complexity of the classification process as well. Okay. No, thank you. Can I just add one thing to that? And that's also not accounting for the transportation, whether we get individuals that have to go out.

[01:16:27] I mean, hospital duty, it's not unusual for us to have three deputies at the hospital. And you take that number from, you know, the number that's required for us to staff the squads, transporting ECOs, TDOs. So that also plays into our vacancy issues.

[01:16:47] Okay. Well, thank you. I'll start with my colleagues. Chairman McKay, please. Thank you very much. First, I appreciate my colleagues' support of the budget guidance language that led to this presentation today, because we know about these issues, certainly the pay parity issue the sheriff has advocated for repeatedly year after year.

[01:17:11] But I wanted to make sure our colleagues could understand all the complexities involved here. This is not just a simple mathematical equation. There's a lot of moving pieces, including, I think, just what was highlighted a moment ago, which is the changing demographics of inmates and the needs that that presents.

[01:17:29] And so I guess I have a couple questions. I'll make them quick because we're short on time. Do we have what the overall cost is over the last couple of years of overtime by dollar amount? And we don't need to provide that today. But I think it's helpful for our board to see that, to see what the overtime is costing us, because we got good testimony on what it's doing to the workforce in terms of mental health, you know, stamina, some of the things related to hiring.

[01:18:01] But, you know, looking at that dollar amount, I think, is going to be important as we're working towards future budgets. And the other piece related to that is you mentioned rightly the advocacy that you all have put in place at the state level. I would love to see a trend line in state support maybe over the last five to ten years on what the state support is getting you and what that means for us.

[01:18:26] Because as you rightly mentioned, this is an unusual hybrid situation where your funding partners are the county and the Commonwealth. And I think it would be useful for us to see who is holding up their end of that bargain and who is not and what do those trend lines look like.

[01:18:42] And I bring that up because I would encourage my colleagues, if you haven't done this, go visit the adult detention center, visit the court operations, experience what they're going through. But frankly, I would wish every member of our General Assembly delegation would do the same thing so they could see what's happening on a daily basis and the complexities and the difficulty of moving people around to be able to maintain the staffing that you need for accreditation and other things.

[01:19:11] So I think a takeaway that would be helpful for us, especially as we approach our legislative session, is help us understand the state piece and their commitment to your agency and what those trend lines have looked like over the past couple of years.

[01:19:25] And then my last question is, and I'm not advocating for this solution, but I know in the past when we've had a significant intersection of retention challenges within certain classifications of county employees, and I know schools have done this with school employees, when you look at that 16-month period, I mean, obviously signing bonus is partly a driver in that.

[01:19:51] But what are the other drivers and are there ways to mechanically go into the pay scales at that intersection and try to stop the bleeding at least at that point where we have big loss, trying to kind of triage within your organization where the major intersections you've effectively pointed out, the 16-month one, are there two or three of those where you can go in and do something?

[01:20:14] I understand that causes compression. I understand it causes other problems downstream with all those caveats. Is there anything that can be done more short term based on the financial position that we're in to try to address those big bleeding points along one's career trajectory?

[01:20:32] And I would just ask you to, you know, maybe look at is there a creative opportunity there to do something? The answer may be no, but I would like us to at least investigate that to see if that's something that can be done. But I think the takeaway here is for us to get the better understanding that I think everyone has of some of the challenges that you all are facing and to be open to some creative short-term solutions because I do think the trajectory is not sustainable.

[01:21:04] And so there's multiple ways to fix that, as you've pointed out on the last slide. I'm looking at, you know, what are some short-term things that we might be able to do that get us the best bang for the buck in the fiscal environment we're in, and how can we double down on some of our efforts at the state level.

[01:21:22] I'm not optimistic, like you all are not that optimistic about that point, but, you know, I do read the state's sitting on over a $1 billion surplus, and they're going to be deciding how to use that. And I think this is a time for us to make sure we're on the same page with you legislatively as we head to Richmond as well.

[01:21:40] So just some things to come back with. I don't want to put you on the spot to need to answer any of those right now unless you would like to. But I think that information would help us help you with this challenge. Okay. I don't know if there's any more questions. There are a couple more.

[01:21:56] Okay. Did you want to state something? No, I'm going to wait until all the questions and just real quick. Yes, ma'am. No problem. Thank you, Chairman McKay. Supervisor Herity. Three questions and a couple of comments, and you don't have to answer the first one, but do you get a thank you note from Chief Davis every time they hire?

[01:22:15] Don't answer that. Just stay on bonuses. I didn't hear a lot of discussion about bonuses, and it sounds like you've got a pretty big applicant pool. What is the bonus level now, and what's the burn-off period for that?

[01:22:34] As I understand, it's $15,000, same as the police department. Same as police. Okay, I got that. And the burn rate would be the same. So they have to be on board 16 to get that? Three years. Three years, three years. If they get it up front, what they have to pay back is prorated over if they leave early.

[01:22:52] Okay. So the second, the third question. The one thing I don't know, I'm sorry, is whether they have, if they go to the police department, if they have to pay it back or not. That's the part I don't know. Huh. That would be an interesting question to know the answer to. We'll look into it.

[01:23:08] Okay. That would be good to know. It doesn't solve the long-term problem but might help a little bit on the front end. The second one, really, if you could describe what you see as the impact on the judge's ability to assign alternatives to incarceration.

[01:23:33] I didn't realize we had kind of backed out of a lot of that, but doesn't that shrink the judge's ability? It's either release or in court versus all these middle-of-the-road things that might be a better approach.

[01:23:48] But go ahead. It definitely lessens the options for any kind of consideration to either do work release or because we're closed down. I would say that our alternative incarceration branch, I was going to say this at the end, but since you brought it up, that's a 200-bed facility.

[01:24:07] And my vision, not that you all want to know it right now, but I'm going to tell you about it. is that that can be utilized for the work that we are doing with reentry. And while we already have a facility established, we just need some few improvements to the facility in order to move forward with that.

[01:24:26] So that could potentially be helpful for the entire county and for us too, but also for our partners, CSB, human resources, family services, whatever we want to direct it at.

[01:24:43] But that's something that may be helpful and may bring resources, more resources to us. But yes, as far as the judges having the option to do an alternative sentencing, that's gone.

[01:24:59] And even with our STAR program, Striving to Achieve Recovery program, judges have asked if they can utilize that as a sentencing option, and I've said no. And primarily because you have to want to be in that program. This is not a check-the-box program where you sign up and then you call it a day.

[01:25:17] So we're at a disadvantage with not having additional opportunities for sentencing. And I will add, I get a lot of questions from judges, calls, texts, and attorneys as well that are just asking when it's coming back.

[01:25:32] And the trajectory is it's not because we don't have the staff, right? And so, yes, we went from a robust system of things we were providing that are not allowed, you know, that Stafford doesn't have, you know, other places don't have. We had next level options and those are going away. Even serving your time on weekends used to be a thing. We just don't have the staff to do the in and out processing. And really, we talk about trajectories, you know, all the things when they're in the jail that we're providing, we're trying to prevent that now from coming to the only option being warehousing individuals, right? We want to keep that treatment. But as you saw in the previous

[01:26:11] presentation, MOUD takes two staff members to do appropriately. So it's kind of being held together by a string right now. So that to me is the most disappointing thing I learned today. And I apologize if you told me before and I didn't hear it before, but I consider that pretty unacceptable. And we talk about criminal justice reform all the time. That's what it is. It's Helping people work off their time and and get back on the right path and we're not providing that ability You were clearly a couple of years late in addressing this

[01:26:48] I know I had an 8% of my alternative budget last year, but this is to go back to the question We need to address pay competitiveness We need to change the peer comparators if you want my opinion and we need we need to get back to what we what we did well and i i think public safety is a priority of our residents and it needs to be a priority in the budget mr county executive can i can i add uh looking for your vote sir yeah all right we did find out you do have to pay the bonus back if you go to the police department oh okay that's good okay i think that's helpful thank you very much supervisor herity

[01:27:25] we have just one minute left so i will give this last question to supervisor bearman you know leave Leave it to the lawyer to say we might need to get a lot more creative with our contracts.

[01:27:41] Maybe it's not a three-year cycle to pay back the bonus. Maybe it's if you stick around for five years, you get a five-year bonus, something that doesn't involve so many people going straight from the sheriff's department to the police department. Maybe it involves getting Sheriff Kincaid and Chief Davis in a room together and trying to work it out or something like that.

[01:28:03] And I know I might be kicking up a hornet's nest saying that, but it needs to be said. But I actually do have a question, which is on page 10, you say support reorganization for retention. Structural changes are essential to stabilize staffing and retain talent.

[01:28:20] Obviously, one of those structural changes seems to be that if we go back to a model where we're doing more things, you will retain more talent by having people have more opportunities to do more things. But beyond simply going back to that model, can you talk about what those structural changes and what the reorganization looks like?

[01:28:41] So I think part of, again, it presumes staffing, correct? So, you know, obviously there are things that, like the alternative incarceration branch and those types of things that would provide those opportunities as well.

[01:28:57] But we are also looking at, you know, getting rid of, and then the police department did some restructuring as well, but our second lieutenant rank restructuring that so that it's both in duty and pay a different scale and different supervisory options as well.

[01:29:16] We have looked into a special operations division as well and creating, in large part, streamlining supervision of things that we're already doing, you know, our sheriff's emergency response team, an investigative unit to deal with a number of these frauds that are coming through as well.

[01:29:36] But a lot – the reason that's up there is that, quite frankly, the response we get sometimes is, well, you can't fill the current position, so we can't restructure some of these positions. So it's the tail wagging the dog at a lot of points, and so it's more letting everyone know this is why we're asking it.

[01:29:56] It's not just because we want a cool new toy. It's because we actually believe we can solve a problem facing the community. We can handle it, and we can get the staffing there, and then it can help us in turn retain people for those opportunities as well. So it's really a lot of this is having the discussion with you that we have had at other points even before it gets to the executive level that I think in all fairness to the people who are given the response, they're given the right response with what they know, but it's just having a restructure of the mindset that we can go forward on the same page that we're not looking to waste positions.

[01:30:32] We're looking to create positions and create structures that will keep people from going to the police department or, you know, five years down the road, 10 years down the road. They're like, I think I can do that and would want to do that. That's why we, you know, MCRC is a big advantage for us, too. But, you know, they're under confinement right now, too.

[01:30:50] But we're trying not to lose those opportunities, and we're trying to create and build upon those in a structured format so that people, it's not just like an unassigned thing. actually structured into our agency that this is a position dedicated to this and you could actually attain that if you stay on. I don't know if that makes sense but it's the best I can explain it. Yes, thank you. Okay, thank you Supervisor Beerman and with that I will adjourn our meeting. Thank you so very much.

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