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County To Evaluate Disaster Response After Deadly Metrolink Crash

In the wake of last week’s Metrolink train disaster in Chatsworth, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe called for a comprehensive report evaluating the overall disaster response to the accident. The report is expected to be submitted to the Board of Supervisors in 90 days.

The Board of Supervisors approved Knabe’s motion that directed the County’s Chief Executive Office, in close cooperation with Los Angeles City and with the support of the County Coroner, Mental Health, and other participating County departments, to evaluate the initial disaster response. The final report should provide findings, conclusions and recommendations regarding the following subjects: timeliness; speed and effectiveness with which incident command and control was established and maintained; suitability and sufficiency of resources to safely extract and rescue victims; adequacy and effectiveness of communications, including means to respond to concerned family members, press and public. The final report will be reviewed by the Emergency Preparedness Commission for the County and City of Los Angeles.

In addition, the County’s Emergency Medical Services Agency will provide findings, conclusions and strengthening recommendations on all aspects of the pre-hospital and hospital care response, including on-scene responders, supplies, equipment and communications, the triage and hospital assignment process, suitability and availability of patient transport, and of hospital emergency stations, operating rooms, beds, medical specialists and other patient care personnel.

Last Friday’s head-on collision of two trains should never have happened. The victims and families affected deserve and must be given an accurate and complete explanation of what went wrong, said Supervisor Knabe. Furthermore, it must be made evident to all of us in Southern California that the lessons learned translate into an improved, fail-safe rail traffic management system which can be counted on to avoid future train-to-train collisions, without exception.

Fire Department Announces New Initiative And Presents “Living In The Fire Zone” Fire Expo

The Los Angeles County Fire Department is proud to unveil its new Wildland Fire Protection Initiative Program. This program, which consists of both internal departmental improvements to take place over the next several years and external community outreach elements for the public is, in part, a byproduct of Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman’s series of meetings which took place with the Corral Canyon Working Group, a representative group of homeowners from the Corral Canyon area who were devastatingly affected by the Corral Fire in November 2007.

After meeting with these homeowners consistently over a period of three months, they were able to gain a greater understanding and respect for the decisions made and actions taken by firefighters, said Freeman. At the same time, through their experiences, we were also able to learn about areas in which we can improve, both in terms of response and public education.

One such public education element is the development of the Living in the Fire Zone Fire Expo, several of which are scheduled to take place throughout Los Angeles County before the end of the year. The inaugural expo will take place on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at the Malibu Performing Arts Center in the City of Malibu, located at 23825 Stuart Ranch Road. The expo will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and will feature an array of static displays and presentations on Building Standards and Vegetation Management.

In a somewhat unprecedented move, the Department will also offer a presentation featuring guidance and education directed to homeowners who become trapped and cannot evacuate or simply make their own decision to stay. Vendors will also be on hand to provide information, products, and/or demonstrations. These vendors will feature products ranging from basic emergency supplies to personal protective equipment to portable fire suppression systems to emergency response

It is important to understand that the Department does not advocate a property owner’s decision to stay, said Freeman. We believe it is in everyone’s best interest if everyone would evacuate early and quickly; however, the sad truth is that, despite orders to evacuate, some property owners just won’t.

It is those property owners especially, according to Freeman, the department is trying to reach. For those who make a decision to stay, it must be an informed decision. They need to understand the conditions to which they can be subjected, they need to be properly prepared and equipped and, most important, they need to fully understand the risk at which they are placing not only themselves, but also the firefighters.

While this expo will address the issue of staying, it will also continue to focus on educating homeowners on how to properly prepare themselves and their property prior to evacuation. Attendees can also visit with law enforcement officials, representatives from Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control, and the American Red Cross to learn more about how each of these agencies responds during an emergency. Finally, residents will also receive information on forming Fire Safe Councils within their own neighborhoods.

Over the next two months, additional Fire Expos are being planned throughout Los Angeles County, including Whittier Hills, Santa Clarita, Claremont, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Industry, and the Antelope Valley. As part of the Wildland Fire Protection Initiative Program, these expos are planned to take place annually.

Mental Health Crisis Counseling Services Available To Chatsworth Metrolink Accident Survivors, Victims & Family Members

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has made mental health crisis counseling services available to the Chatsworth Metrolink accident survivors, victims, and their family members at two San Fernando Valley locations.

San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center

10605 Balboa Boulevard, Suite #100

Granada Hills, CA 91344

(818) 832-2400

West Valley Mental Health Center

7621 Canoga Avenue

Canoga Park, CA 91304

(818) 598-6900

(Hours of Operations: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)

For more information, contact the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s ACCESS Center at (800) 854-7771. The ACCESS Center is open 24 hours, seven days a week, including all holidays.

LAC + USC Medical Center Opening Strengthens Community Healthcare Network

Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center (LAC+USC) opened the doors to its new Clinic Tower. The Clinic Tower move is the first of two moves; General Hospital and Women’s and Children’s Hospitals moves to the Inpatient Tower are targeted to take place from October 17 to October 18. The new facility serves as an additional resource in L.A. County’s community healthcare network, and represents a positive advancement in meeting urban healthcare challenges. This move represents a milestone for L.A. County’s healthcare safety net system.

We’ve planned these moves like a chess game, said LAC+USC CEO Pete Delgado. No medical services will be disrupted during the phased moves. Our plan is to have all hospital services, including the operating rooms and the emergency department, ready for service in their new locations October 17th.

The moves are the closing steps of a process that began in 2003, in recognition of the need for cutting-edge health care in the East L.A. community.

To ensure that all county residents with and without healthcare coverage receive the care they need, LAC+USC works closely in partnership with The Camino de Salud Network, an integrated public-private healthcare delivery network, managed by COPE Health Solutions and consisting of the LAC+USC Healthcare Network and nonprofit community clinics. The Network coordinates hospital services and community-based ambulatory care to ensure that patients receive access to the right care, at the right place, at the right time. Click on the following link: http://www.lacusc.org/CaminoDeSalud
for more information.

The hospital is completely dedicated to providing all levels of medical care, said Delgado. The Camino de Salud Network is where people should go for primary care services, so we can use the new hospital the right way. Patients who often face long waits in the emergency room, hich is sometimes their only means of receiving care, can now work with a care manager in their community clinic to coordinate their needs. They can get the diagnostics, the treatments, and the support they need in their local community.

Among the largest teaching hospitals in the country, LAC+USC has been a partner with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1885. Staffed by more than 500 full-time faculty of the Keck School of Medicine and approximately 900 medical residents, LAC+USC currently admits more than 40,000 inpatients and handles nearly 200,000 emergency department visits and 1 million ambulatory care visits each year. The medical center provides major regional and community emergency trauma and critical care services among other clinical care activities.

We are enormously proud of the clinical contributions of our USC faculty, residents, and medical students in the outstanding care of the people of Los Angeles County, said Carmen A. Puliafito, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. While the facilities are new, the tradition of exceptional patient care will continue.

Knabe Announces His 2009 Arts Education Partnership Program

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe is pleased to announce his 2009 Arts Education Partnership Program. This grant program targets non-profit organizations, community organizations, government agencies and schools across the Fourth Supervisorial District, and provides matching funds to support the various arts education programs.

The objective of the Arts Education Partnership Program is to increase and sustain well-rounded education in dance, music, theatre and the visual arts for K-12 students throughout the Supervisor’s District. All of the grant applications that are received will be judged by experts from the various arts disciplines.

Please be sure to read the Guidelines and Instructions first before starting the Application.

As stated in the Guidelines and Instructions, all applications and supplemental materials must be postmarked no later than October 31, 2008.

To find out more about the program and to submit an application, please download the Application and the Guidelines and Instructions below:

Arts Grant Application
AEPP Guidelines and Instruction

Valencia Hospital Receives Safely Surrendered Newborn

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe is pleased to announce that a baby boy was safely surrendered at a hospital in the community of Valencia yesterday. The mother reportedly told hospital workers she learned about Safe Surrender from reading a brochure about the program.

The newborn Hispanic male was reported to be in good health. As is standard practice, the baby boy is in protective custody and will eventually be placed with a family approved for adoption by the Department of Children and Family Services.

I want to thank this newborn’s mother for doing the right thing, said Supervisor Knabe. We have a law on the books to protect babies from abandonment and give the mother a safe, secure and anonymous way to get her child into safe hands. It is still our goal that 2008 will be the first year with no abandoned newborns.

This is the seventh Safe Surrender in Los Angeles County in 2008 and the 69th Safe Surrender since the program began seven years ago. The program was initiated by Supervisor Knabe and approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in 2001. It allows someone to surrender an infant that is no more than three days old, as long as the infant shows no signs of abuse.

Supervisors Fund Knabe Plan To Slow Jail Early Release Program

Nearly $3 million is being spent on electronic monitoring devices so more nonviolent offenders can serve home detention and help ease crowding in Los Angeles County jails. The plan was born out of a proposal made by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe that ultimately led to a change in State law last year.

The idea for increased use of electronic monitoring was presented by Supervisor Knabe to the Board of Supervisors in July 2006. After the Board approved making Knabe’s plan a legislative priority, an author for the bill was successfully sought in State Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles). Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill in September 2007.

Under the old state law, many convicted criminals were allowed to choose between a jail sentence and electronic monitoring. Many criminals chose jail time instead of the electronic monitoring option because they knew that under the current statistics of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Early Release Program, if they enter the County jail system, they will likely only serve 10-percent of the time they were actually sentenced with, as opposed to serving 100-percent of their sentence on electronic monitoring.

Supervisor Knabe’s proposal asked the Governor and legislators to revise the State law to ensure that the decision between electronic monitoring and a jail term is left to the law enforcement community and not in the hands of lawbreakers. Under the new law, electronic monitoring will become mandatory for certain non-violent offenders, and as a result, it will free up much-needed beds in County jails for the very worst offenders, who need to remain behind bars for more than just a fraction of their sentences.

If a criminal receives a 30-day sentence, then why would they agree to be electronically monitored that entire time if they know the loopholes of early release mean a 30-day sentence translates into only a few days behind bars, said Supervisor Knabe. The choice between the two should not be an option in the hands of convicted criminals. Criminals should not get to choose their punishment simply because one takes less time to complete. Length of punishment belongs in the hands of our judges and when a judge imposes a sentence, that sentence needs to stick.

Ultimately, we need additional jail beds to ensure that every criminal serves every day he is sentenced to, but until that day comes, this new funding will ensure that the very worst offenders will remain behind bars and that the electronic monitoring option will be used only for non violent criminals.

Up to 2,000 inmates in the Los Angeles County jail system will be placed into electronic monitoring through the use of ankle bracelets. Currently only 300-400 offenders serve their time on electronic monitoring.

County Launches Green Award Program

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has started a new Green Leadership Award to recognize sound environmental strategies. The program will help promote "Green" practices in our community and enhance the County’s role as a leader in these efforts by recognizing outstanding environmental sustainability efforts by individuals and organizations.

The competition is open to all County residents, businesses, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, professional and trade’-associations, communities, State, and local government entities. Those who have previously applied will be allowed to apply again.

There will be five categories of awards, four of which will recognize nonprofit agencies, public agencies, businesses and individuals. A fifth award, given by the chair of the Board of Supervisors, will recognize an individual whose leadership and dedication made a significant impact in environmental education.”

Winners will be selected by the county’s Energy and Environmental Policy Team. The Award program will be formally launched in April 2009 to coincide with Earth Day.

Supervisor Knabe Responds To The Passing Of John Todd

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe issued the following statement today regarding the recent passing of the John Sanford Todd, Lakewood City Attorney and originator of the Contract City plan.

We have lost a local government pioneer. John was a visionary, and a mentor to so many of us. He was calm, cool, tough and had a great sense of humor. The Contract City plan, which John was instrumental in developing, became a civic model to dozens of future cities across Los Angeles County and the State of California. Even today the Contract Cities remain Los Angeles County’s largest customer of municipal services.

New Senior Services Website Launched

The County and City of Los Angeles have partnered to create a user-friendly website, Los Angeles Network of Care, at: http://losangeles.networkofcare.org/aging

This website helps seniors, disabled, and their caregivers quickly locate services they need.

Los Angeles County has a population larger than most states and a senior population, aged 60 and older, of 1.4 million, placing a huge demand on the Area Agencies on Aging to provide comprehensive and accessible services.

The website has features that allow consumers or their caregivers to create their own personal information record on-line that can also be used by their care coordinators. The website has educational information on matters such as diseases, medications and treatments, care management issues, prevention, early intervention, planning, consumer advocacy and protection.

The website is a collaborative effort that will help seniors as a whole and is a step toward providing seamless senior services in our county, says Cynthia Banks, Director, Community and Senior Services and the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging.

Enhancements to the website will include an increase of the County’s Information and Assistance staff to better meet the service demands. Website data is continuously updated to provide the most up-to-date information on the site.

There are programs and services available through our Area Agencies on Aging and other providers that many Angelinos do not know about, says Laura Trejo, General Manager, City of Los Angeles Department of Aging. We are hopeful that by getting the word out about the new website, more of our services will be utilized, she added.