10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 9-15, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com news Learning is often cited as the key to unlocking one’s potential. In the case of the County of Monterey and the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers, learning is also the key to unlocking millions in state grant money. Specifically, uncovering what people in the community think are the most effective programs to assist those experiencing homelessness and help them find permanent homes. Under a budget trailer bill approved by the state Legislature in June, local agencies are required to hold public input sessions and conduct a survey seeking the community’s input on homeless services in order to collect up to $2.5 million from the state’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program in the 2023-2024 budget year. Both the County and the Coalition— which also covers San Benito County—could apply for separate grants. The first input session was held during the 2023 Lead Me Home Summit on Homelessness in Salinas on Oct. 19, a second was held in Monterey on Nov. 8 and the third and final in-person session takes place from 6-7:30pm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Soledad Community Center. “We’re encouraging people to come out, make your voices heard and give us your suggestions,” Kierston Young, grants manager for the Coalition, said in a County of Monterey news briefing on Nov. 1. An online survey is also available through Dec. 31 at bit.ly/homelessinput. The survey asks participants to gauge the effectiveness of programs like rapid rehousing, street outreach teams and shelters, among others, and asks them to prioritize which programs should be pursued. The answers will be used in grant applications due by March. Heading Home Agencies tackling homelessness seek the public’s input on effective solutions. By Pam Marino In the wake of the sixth inmate death this year at Monterey County Jail, several families of people who have died at the jail have launched wrongful death lawsuits against the County of Monterey and its health care contractor at the facility. On Oct. 24, 34-year-old Edgar Maldonado died at the jail, where he was being held while awaiting trial. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has tapped the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the cause and manner of death. Maldonado is the sixth person to have died at the jail in 2023, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He is believed to be the 27th inmate to have died there since a 2015 class action settlement over inadequate inmate health care conditions. In September, a federal judge ruled that Wellpath, the jail’s for-profit health care provider, was in “substantial noncompliance” with the settlement’s terms, which called for the County and Wellpath to improve deficiencies in the jail’s medical, mental and dental health care. That continued noncompliance is now being cited by personal injury law firm Arias Sanguinetti in multiple lawsuits filed on behalf of family members of people who have died at the Salinas jail in recent years. After suing the County and Wellpath last year on behalf of the family of Carlos Regalado, who died by suicide in March 2021, the law firm filed complaints earlier this year representing the families of Juan Carlos Chavez, who died by suicide in April 2022, and Jimmy Steven Hall, who allegedly had multiple untreated medical conditions before collapsing in his cell in April 2023. Arias Sanguinetti partner Jamie Goldstein says her firm is also planning to file three more lawsuits in the coming months representing the families of David Sand, Matthew Medina and Jose Garcia Paniagua—all of whom died at the jail in the past 12 months. The complaints will all name the County and Wellpath as defendants, Goldstein says, while they differ in also naming various Wellpath and Sheriff’s Office officials, including Sheriff Tina Nieto and her predecessor, Steve Bernal. “The repeated occurrences where a person comes into the jail and is not initially evaluated properly at intake, both medically and for mental health issues, is often resulting in the deaths of these inmates,” Goldstein says. Eric Sand, whose 29-year-old son David Sand died at the jail in November 2022, says his lawsuit could be filed as early as this week. Sand says he is particularly disturbed at the jail’s treatment of mentally ill people like his son, who had a documented history of schizophrenia and whose cause of death was ruled as acute water intoxication from the excessive and compulsive drinking of water. “Whatever’s going on in the Monterey County Jail has to stop,” Sand says. He lays blame on Wellpath and its for-profit business model and also criticizes the Board of Supervisors for renewing the company’s contract at the jail last year. “Wellpath’s profit comes out of not addressing inmates’ needs. They minimize care of the inmates because it adds more profit for them—it’s strictly a money-making industry.” Representatives for Wellpath, the Sheriff’s Office and the County of Monterey did not respond to requests for comment. Juan Carlos Chavez (left) died at Monterey County Jail in April 2022. Chavez’s widow Anabel (right) has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and Wellpath. Court Dates Families of people who died in Monterey County Jail are turning up legal pressure on the County. By Rey Mashayekhi The SHARE Center in Salinas provides temporary housing, one solution of several listed in a community survey focused on approaches to ending homelessness. “Whatever’s going on in the Monterey County Jail has to stop.” Anabel Chavez Joel Angel Juárez
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==