Fact Check: “Siskiyou County Opportunity Center steps in: All 130 people from closed Redding center employed!”

The Claim:

“Siskiyou County Opportunity Center steps in: All 130 people from closed Redding center employed!”

When/Where:

On November 1st, KRCR published an article stating that all 130 clients from Shasta County’s recently closed Opportunity Center have been employed. According to KRCR’s reporting, the jobs were provided via Siskiyou County. The Record Searchlight also published an article this week stating that 134 people who were displaced by the Shasta County Opportunity Center closure were able to keep working. 

After the article was published by KRCR, the family member of a former OC client reached out to let Shasta Scout know that their family member is still unemployed and has not been contacted with new options for employment. In response, a reporter reached out to Shasta County, the private Siskiyou Opportunity Center, the nonprofit Far Northern Regional Center, and the state Department of Rehabilitation to verify whether all former clients of the opportunity center are currently employed.

Context:

As previously reported by Shasta Scout, more than 130 of Shasta County’s most vulnerable residents were impacted by the closure of the Opportunity Center (OC) earlier this year. The OC was a county-administered job training program that provided ongoing paychecks to adults with disabilities for almost 60 years. The decision to close the OC was made by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors after reports from HHSA staff indicated that the OC was not financially sustainable.

The board’s decision to close the OC without transitional plans in place for the clients led to numerous public comments during the board’s discussion expressing concern for the adults who would be facing an uncertain change in employment.

As of February 28, 2023, when the board made the decision to close the OC, there were three agencies that were referring clients to the center. They included Far Northern Regional Center, Shasta County Mental Health, and the Department of Rehabilitation. 

Our Analysis:

Partially false.

The part of the claim that indicates that the County of Siskiyou is the one serving Shasta County’s former OC clients is false. The clients are being served not by a county government but by an organization known as the Siskiyou Opportunity Center. That agency has stepped in to coordinate the employment of over 50 former OC clients. 

The claim that over 130 former Redding Opportunity Center clients are still employed is true according to Far Northern Regional Center’s current Executive Director, Melissa Gruhler. However, we are still waiting on confirmation that all clients, even those who were not referred to the OC by Far Northern Regional Center, were assisted in maintaining employment or finding new employment.

Out of the 131 clients mentioned in the February 28 staff report for the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, 86 were referred to the OC by the Department of Rehabilitation, 6 were referred by Shasta County Mental Health, and 39 were referred by Far Northern Regional Center.

We have reached out to Far Nothern Regional Center, Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency, and the Department of Rehabilitation for clarification, and will update the Fact Check once we receive a response.

Here’s What Else You Should Know:

Gruhler said some former Shasta OC clients have been placed in job training programs through an organization called North Valley Services located in Tehama County. A third organization that employs individuals to provide janitorial services at rest stops also took on some of the OC’s former clients. Gruhler also said that while a few clients did not choose to continue services, all clients were presented with options and given opportunities for placement. Shasta Scout is unable to confirm that claim. 

Dwayne Green, the current Shasta County Director of Economic Mobility, told Scout that HHSA is unable to comment on any job placement numbers as the agency no longer has involvement with previous clients and was not “involved in their placement in any job skills programs.” 

But in a press release at the time of the decision to close the OC, Health and Human Services Agency Director Laura Burch said that Shasta County is “ensuring the health and well-being of clients and staff as the program moves from county hands to private, non-profit management.”

That press release stated that HHSA was working with a federal-level job placement organization called Source America, although Far Northern Regional was still listed as the responsible agency for finding replacement organizations to fill the need.

If you’ve heard a statement in public meetings that you’d like to see fact-checked, let us know. Email: editor@shastascout.org