Santa Cruz focused intervention team likely cut until at least early 2021

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisor is tasked with closing a more than $20 million budget deficit during the county budget hearings this week. Some of the likely cuts will come from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, including a program targeted at rehabilitating some of the most habitual criminal offenders in the county.

The goal of the Focused Intervention Team (FIT) is to get those criminal offenders off the street and into drug, rehab and mental health programs to be a productive member of society. The program had to take a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and now it is included in the proposed cuts.

However, the board voted to restore the $759,000 program if it's financially possible after February.

Tonight at 5 and 6 p.m. on KION, Drew Andre will have more on the program’s past success and other proposed budget cuts in Santa Cruz County.