DATE: October 17, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Margaret Mims, Sheriff-Coroner
SUBJECT: Agreement with Garden of Innocence National, a non-profit organization, for the
provision of humane and dignified disposition and burial service of deceased and abandoned children in Fresno County.
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with Garden of Innocence National for the humane and dignified disposition and burial service of deceased abandoned children up to eight years of age in Fresno County, effective October 17, 2017, not to exceed five consecutive years, which includes a three-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions ($0).
REPORT
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The Sheriff-Coroner’s Office cremates the abandoned dead with a contracted crematory service. After cremation, the Sheriff-Coroner then stores the cremains until a mass burial is performed at the County Cemetery. Since the inception of the Garden of Innocence in 2012, all abandoned children are cremated and placed in the Garden of Innocence Fresno. No children are placed in the County cemetery.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended action is not approved, deceased abandoned children will be cremated with all abandoned deceased and included in the mass burial at the County Cemetery.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Cost for services provided under this agreement have been provided by Garden of Innocence since your Board approved an agreement on September 25, 2012. Garden of Innocence National is a non-profit organization.
DISCUSSION:
The Sheriff-Coroner is mandated (Health and Safety Code section 7104) to act as the County burial authority for the abandoned dead, including abandoned infants and children, and if within 30 days of the Sheriff-Coroner’s attempts to notify the person responsible for interment of a decedents remains and is unable or the person fails, refuses or neglects to inter the remains, the Sheriff-Coroner may then inter the remains. To complete this function the Sheriff-Coroner contracts with a local crematory for cremation services, and once completed the cremains are returned to the Sheriff-Coroner. Should a responsible person be identified, the Sheriff-Coroner may recover any expenses of interment but the identification and collection from responsible persons is infrequent. As a cost control measure, the Sheriff-Coroner stores cremains until approximately 400 are collected and then a mass burial is performed at the County Cemetery. The mass burial does not include a formal service and is witnessed by Sheriff-Coroner staff with local clergy invited to attend.
The Garden of Innocence was established in 1999 in San Diego, California with the sole purpose of providing deceased abandoned infants and children up to eight years of age a compassionate and dignified burial. In 2005, the organization launched Garden of Innocence National with operations in the counties of Alameda, Butte, Kern, Merced, Napa, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. In 2005, the Garden of Innocence National added San Francisco and operations in the states of Seattle, Washington and Missouri. In 2012, the organization also launched Garden of Innocence National in Fresno and Ventura counties. The Garden of Innocence’s goal is to assist communities in mobilizing caring volunteers to provide infants and children with dignified burials. The Garden of Innocence also receives service donations from various local cemeteries and mortuaries.
On September 25, 2012, your Board approved an agreement with the Garden of Innocence for the humane and dignified disposition and burial service of deceased abandoned children in Fresno County at no cost to the County. Prior to this, deceased abandoned children were buried at the mass burial at the County Cemetery. The prior agreement was with the Coroner-Public Administrator for the term period of three years with two automatic one-year renewals upon the same terms and conditions. The last service was on June 24, 2017 prior to the agreement’s expiration on June 30, 2017. The next service date will be scheduled upon your Board’s approval of the recommended action.
The Garden of Innocence National cares for the deceased child as soon as the Sheriff-Coroner determines they are abandoned and notifies the Garden of Innocence with a Certificate of Abandonment. The Garden of Innocence National maintains the confidentiality of the child’s name, date of death and circumstances with each child provided a name, for burial purposes, to maintain the child’s anonymity. In each of its’ partner communities, the Garden of Innocence National uses public donations of funds and local resources to coordinate with the coroner, local mortuaries, cemeteries, and community volunteers to ensure that abandoned children are provided a dignified burial in the community where the child died. All burials include a full memorial service with volunteers that provide clergy services, a color guard, musicians and singers, handmade caskets or urns.
Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno has agreed to donate space for the exclusive use by the Garden of Innocence National for the burial of deceased abandoned infants and children of Fresno County. The Garden of Innocence National also finalized arrangements with various funeral homes locally for cremation services.
The key factor the Sheriff-Coroner considered in this recommendation was the recognition that the California Department of Consumer Affairs Cemetery and Funeral Bureau is responsible for the enforcement of the California Business and Professions Code that regulates both funeral and cemetery services, including business practices and licensure. The Garden of Innocence National is agreeing to only utilize local mortuaries and a cemetery (Mountain View Cemetery) that are compliant with all applicable state regulations and in good standing with the State.
Garden of Innocence National is a non-profit organization that uses local resources to provide the burial services and does not possess the standard level of insurance the County normally requires. In this recommended action the County does not relinquish its’ responsibility for final disposition of abandoned deceased infants and children; therefore, the Sheriff-Coroner recommends your Board waive the standard County insurance requirements.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI # 18, September 25, 2012
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Garden of Innocence National
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa