The discussion took place during the supervisors' meeting last Tuesday.
On the board's consent agenda was included a second amendment to a contract between the county of Lake and Robinson Rancheria Citizens Business Council for prevention and early intervention services, in the amount of $43,378. The item also called for authorizing Social Services Director Carol Huchingson to sign the agreement with the council.
Huchingson's report to the board explained, “Under this contract, we are using Child Welfare Services funding to support Robinson in providing outreach, needs assessments, service plan development, and case management services to meet the individual needs of tribal children and their families residing in Lake County.”
The contract's language notes that the initial version was made and entered into on Jan. 8, 2008, with the first amendment entered into on July 22, 2008.
Robinson tribal member EJ Crandell, who was voted in as tribal chair last year in an election that later was decertified, went before the board to ask them to pull the item from the consent agenda and discuss it in light of the issues currently taking place at the rancheria, including the disenrollment of 67 tribal members last December, as Lake County News has reported.
Supervisor Rob Brown asked to pull the item from the consent agenda, saying he wanted to discuss the contract. The board voted to accept the rest of the consent items separately.
Brown said the board hasn't gotten actively involved in the disenrollment issue, and added that he didn't believe it was the board's business to do so.
However, “I personally have some problems providing funding to a program that would take some part in disenrollment, which I personally have some issue with,” he added.
Crandell, who previously had served as a member at-large on the Robinson Rancheria Citizens Business Council, pointed out that the Bureau of Indian Affairs currently is considering the dispute between the council and the dozens of disenrollees who found themselves removed from tribal rolls last year.
He said that the council, as it now stands, isn't considered the actual leadership by many tribal members.
“A lot of our membership possibly would not be served by this funding,” Crandell said.
It would be up to the tribal council to decide who to hire to offer the services, as well as who would ultimately receive the help.
He said the tribe already is supposed to offer similar services under the California Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, “and they have failed to do so,” and are downsizing, he said.
Crandell suggested the funds could be seen as a bailout, adding that the tribe currently is scrambling due to a demand by the US Housing and Urban Development Department that the tribe repay hundreds of thousands of dollars in housing grant funds.
He said he wanted to see the council account for how they're spending the county's funds.
Board Chair Denise Rushing asked Crandell about the time line for the resolution of the disenrollment issues.
He said there will be a meeting with BIA on Oct. 5.
“A lot of the issues rest on that specific problem, the disenrollment,” as well as disputed elections last year and earlier this year in which between 50 and 60 tribal members weren't allowed to vote, Crandell said.
“I would hate to see a group get funded to not really serve their people,” he said.
Brown asked the board if they could hold off on making a decision until he had a chance to speak with Huchingson.
Fellow board members agreed, and the item was brought back in the afternoon, after Brown spoke with both Huchingson and Crandell.
Brown reported that Huchingon said the contract does require accountability by the tribal council.
However, in order to clarify the contract before approving it, Brown said he wanted the contract amended with language that requires the services be offered to all tribal members, regardless of their enrollment status.
Board members noted a concern about fiscal accountability. Brown said Huchingson reported there is an audit process in place.
Crandell told the board that he appreciated the change being made in the language. He said transparency is all that the tribe's membership has been asking for from the tribal council, but he had to go to the Board of Supervisors to get it.
He said he hoped the tribal council would do the right things with the funds it's receiving from the county.
“With federal dollars and state dollars it hasn't been done, so let's hope it's done here,” Crandell said. “We need to hear a positive response back from the tribe that it's working, too.”
The contract with the amended language was approved in a 5-0 vote.
Huchingson explains genesis of contract
Huchingson said the contract came about after Social Services issued a request for proposals to provide for differential response services, which allows agencies to offer different intervention responses to reports of child abuse and neglect.
Social Services received three bids, including one from Robinson Rancheria. Huchingson said Social Services didn't have enough funding to support them all, so Robinson's contract is supported out of differential response funding.
“We decided to go ahead and fund theirs in another way because we thought it had merit,” and they wanted to focus on the American Indian community, Huchingson said.
The contract includes audit requirements. “We haven't gone out and conducted an audit,” said Huchingson, adding that Social Services receives billings from the tribal council and reviews them for accuracy.
She said the tribal council is reporting that they are fulfilling the contract's provisions.
While the board put in the additional language, Huchingson said the contract already states that the services must be offered to all Lake County tribal members.
“We're in the process of presenting that to the contractor,” she said of the amended contract.
Marsha Lee, who oversees the program at Robinson Rancheria, told Lake County News that they don't foresee any problem with the new language, and they're awaiting the addition of the changes so she can sign the contract.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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