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...
Click here for full text