Rural parole offices get creative to find solutions

March 25, 2024

Michael Trujillo, parole administrator for the Sierra District, oversees the parole units in Redding, Chico, Auburn, and Red Bluff.

Working out of a rural office with picturesque Mount Shasta dominating the view, the dedicated staff at the Redding Parole Unit strive to make a difference.

From parole agents to clinical social workers, the Redding office serves roughly 470 people on active parole and parolees-at-large. The unit serves four counties: Shasta, Trinity, Siskiyou, and Modoc.

Inside CDCR recently met the Redding staff to learn more about their efforts and provide a snapshot of working in a rural parole office.

Overseeing a rural parole unit

Like other rural parole units in California, agents may need to drive for three hours each way to visit one client in a remote area. With limited resources, long distance travel, and clients with special needs, Parole Agent III Joe Eldridge says it can be a balancing act to get everyone on the same page.

“Often I’m balancing resources with outlying areas and parole agent assignments,” he said.

An agent might have one outlying area to cover, because one trip for a single home visit could take an entire day. Those on parole who visit the office will find clinical social workers, parole agents, and other resources offered out of the Redding Unit. This also means many of those faces become very familiar.

“When you live and work in a small community, and you’re out and about, you can run into people on parole,” Eldrige said. “So, there’s a bigger buy-in from staff and the community. As a smaller parole unit, we’re family oriented. We care about each other and our co-workers’ families.”

For parole agents in larger metropolitan areas, locating services isn’t as much of a challenge. Meanwhile, in rural settings, those same services often aren’t available.

“Services are limited so there is a lot of thinking outside the box,” he said. “Treatment is an issue for those on GPS monitoring (such as registered sex offenders), so we work with different providers to try to find them bed spots.”

Agents travel long distances

Joe Eldridge, parole agent III, standing in the Redding Parole Unit office with the quote: "In a rural parole office, we are always balancing resources with outlying areas and parole agent assignments."

“In the city you have traffic, but in rural areas, you have distance,” Eldridge explained. “For example, to get out to Alturas in Modoc County, from Redding, it is a three-hour drive for a few home visits.”

Snow or other adverse weather conditions impedes travel, especially over the mountain passes between Redding and Alturas.

Michael Trujillo, parole administrator for the Sierra District, oversees the parole units in Redding, Chico, Auburn, and Red Bluff.

He understands the challenges of managing caseloads in rural parole districts in California.

“We have a smaller number of agents in this unit,” Trujillo explained.

Like other agencies at all levels, filling vacant positions has been an issue. In a rural setting, the issue can be compounded by a lack of qualified candidates willing to work in more remote areas.

Working with the community

“We need to think outside the box. We hold monthly meetings with local health departments (to find solutions),” Trujillo said. “The meetings include our agents, mental health providers, and county probation.”

The meetings help them tap resources in the local community, or neighboring counties, to help people on parole.

Some of those on parole supervision require special services.

“For example, if they live in Siskiyou County and are required to complete a batterer’s program, we help connect them to those programs,” Eldridge said.

Story and photos by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Office of Public and Employee Communications

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