Probation Department Policy/Procedure Manual

2.3 Credit Card Usage for Coastal Valley Academy

Location	CVA Programmatic
Section	N/A
Subject	2.3 Coastal Valley Academy (CVA) Credit Card Usage
Purpose	To provide guidelines for using a county credit card assigned to CVA for the purpose of purchasing food items or other specified items while on outings or for special occasions on the program unit.
Effective Date	6/1/2019
Previous Effective Date

 

Overview

CVA provides residential treatment to youth serving intermediate to long-term commitments at the Juvenile Hall. CVA Staff members routinely take youth out of the facility for outings such as field trips or community service activities. At times, these outings conflict with regular meal times in the Juvenile Hall or otherwise result in the need for youth to be provided alternative food and/or beverages. There is also occasion where other costs are incurred for which payment must be made at the time (such as haircuts for a youth or fees for an event such as bowling). In addition, given the extended length of typical commitments to the program, youth experience more special occasions in custody, such as birthdays and holidays, than youth detained in the Juvenile Hall. This, in combination with the use of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), creates the need for the occasional purchase of outside food items for youth in the program such as a special birthday or holiday meal. Staff are involved in these outings and special occasions, and at times they are required to continue supervision responsibilities during meals and do not have the opportunity to take a separate meal break. In these instances, they may be included in these outside food purchase.

A county credit card has been procured to meet the specific needs identified above. This card is only to be used by the pre-approved CVA staff and only in accordance with the procedures outlined below.

Specific Procedure

1. Storage and Checking out of CVA Credit Card
   1. The CVA credit card will be kept in a locked storage box in the control room at Juvenile Hall.
   2. Only Juvenile Services Officers (JSOs), Deputy Probation Officers (DPOs), and Supervising Deputy Probation Officers (SDPOs) assigned to the CVA program may use the CVA credit card unless authorized in advance by either the Custody or Juvenile Services Division Chief Deputy Probation Officer (CDPO)
   3. Authorized officers must do the following for each transaction made in order to check out the CVA credit card:
      1. Fill out and submit a CVA Credit Card Request form for each planned transaction to the CVA SDPO or a Juvenile Hall SDPO for approval (Note: if a SDPO requesting to use the card, he/she shall submit the request form to the Custody or Juvenile Services Division CDPO for approval)
      2. If approved, the officer then submits the approved form(s) to the control room JSO in order to check out the CVA credit card
      3. The control room JSO shall make an entry in the CVA Credit Card Log, file the CVA Credit Card Request Form(s) in the CVA Credit Card Binder and provide the credit card to the officer
2. Using and Documenting Use of CVA Credit Card
   1. The CVA credit card may only be used for purchasing specified items while on outings (such as fees for an activity like bowling or a sporting event or payments for haircuts). Food may also be purchased BUT ONLY for CVA youth and staff when they are outside of the Juvenile Hall on an outing or when CVA youth in the Juvenile Hall have a special occasion such as birthday or holiday as pre-approved by a SDPO or CDPO
   2. Officers who use the CVA credit card shall keep all credit card receipts and submit the receipts with a completed a CVA Payment Document for each transaction
      1. If multiple transactions are made on the same day, the officer shall complete separate CVA Payment Documents for each transaction
      2. Officers shall include an identifier on all CVA Payment Document forms for each youth and/or staff member who food or other items was purchased for in a format of first name and last initial (i.e. John D) for the youth and full name for the staff member
      3. Officers shall submit completed CVA Payment Document forms with receipts to the Placement/Commitment Unit SDPO or CVA Custody SDPO as reasonably possible and within two (2) business days after returning from the outing when a CVA credit card was used
         1. The receiving SDPO shall ensure the submitted CVA Payment Document forms are complete and accurate and shall route to the Juvenile Services or Juvenile Hall CDPO for approval
         2. Approved CVA Payment Document forms shall be routed to the Probation Department Business Manager
   3. All purchases with CVA credit card shall adhere to the meal limits outlined in the County Travel Policy
   4. The CVA credit card may not be used to make purchases from a business where the Department already has a purchase order
   5. The officer shall return the CVA credit card to the control room JSO as soon as reasonably possible after returning from the outing and shall never keep the CVA credit card to the following day
   6. The control room JSO shall make an entry in the CVA Credit Card Log showing the card was returned and return the card to the lockbox
3. Training on CVA Credit Card
   1. Staff shall be training on this procedure prior to being authorized to check out the CVA credit card
   2. A list of staff trained on this procedure and the date on which they were trained will be maintained in the CVA Credit Card Binder located in the control room at Juvenile Hall