Board approves $11.2 million state grant to start community diversion program for felony defendants found incompetent to stand trial

Ventura County supervisors on April 8 unanimously approved a $11,217,000 grant agreement to start a community-based permanent diversion program for felony defendants found incompetent to stand trial.

County Behavioral Health Director Dr. Loretta Denning introduced the item and handed the presentation to Dr. John Shipper, the county’s chief of forensics, justice and reentry services, who described the funding and program design.

The program responds to changes at the California Department of State Hospitals that set a baseline “growth cap” on county referrals to state hospitals for defendants found incompetent to stand trial. Dr. Shipper said Ventura’s baseline was set at 80 admissions; after a pilot year the county was under that number but later exceeded it, producing a financial penalty. He told supervisors the penalty for exceeding the cap was “somewhere in the range of a hundred to a hundred and $50,000,” depending on a narrow count dispute the state was still resolving.

Dr. Shipper said the new grant will fund a permanent diversion option intended to serve defendants who otherwise would be referred to the state hospital but who have lower risk profiles and who, after screening, could receive community-based services. “The most serious offenses are actually excluded from consideration for diversion,” Dr. Shipper said. He estimated the program would serve “probably 10 to 12 defendants” — a small share of the roughly 80–90 county cases that inform the cap.

Supervisors asked about the fairness of the state-imposed cap and whether the county should push back at the state level. Supervisor Garel said the cap “seems to me that that’s a state responsibility generally” and called it an “unfunded state mandate” that counties do not control. Dr. Denning and Dr. Shipper described county steps to reduce state hospital admissions, including local competency evaluation efforts and an interagency review of defendants at risk of referral.

Supervisor Long noted the grant’s fiscal impact and thanked staff for bringing the item off the consent calendar so the board could discuss it. Dr. Denning said the county expected to realize some contract savings in the first year that could be applied to ameliorate prior penalties and that the state had indicated some flexibility for using savings to address last year’s penalty.

Public commenters including victims’ advocates and residents addressed related system issues during the meeting’s public comment period; no public speaker disputed the grant’s goals.

The board moved and passed the item without recorded dissents. The motion to approve was moved by Supervisor Long and seconded by Chair Tara Parvin; the clerk recorded the vote as unanimous.

The approved agreement covers grant funding effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2029. Implementation details — including contractor selection, participant screening criteria and the role of courts, the district attorney and public defender in admission decisions — will be set out in subsequent contract documents and court hearings.

Officials said the court will have the final authority to determine which defendants are admitted to the community diversion program after screening and input from the district attorney and public defender.