Probation Division Chief Gonzalo Mendez and Supervising Probation Officer Keith Hicks took Julie Hernandez (at right) and her family shopping for Christmas using money from a work crew recycling program.
San Diego County Probation selected a 23-year-old woman under its supervision to be the recipient of some holiday generosity thanks to a Probation work crew recycling program. Managed by Probation’s Work Projects Program, it directs probationers to collect and sort recyclable trash from roads and freeways. Sorted bags are cashed in by a supervisor at various times throughout the year and the money is saved until the end of the year, said Supervising Probation Officer Keith Hicks. At that time, the probation supervisors in his unit vote on how to disperse the money. This year they chose to assist Julie Hernandez, a mother of two children and a recent amputee following a car accident.
Hernandez, who was convicted of drug offenses, is enrolled in a Probation program for those who are or who became pregnant while on Probation. The Women and Their Children (WATCh) program is a zero-tolerance, intensive supervision program for mothers who have a history of drug and alcohol abuse. The goal of the program is for babies to be born drug- and alcohol-free. The cases remain open for at least three to six months after the child’s birth.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Hernandez said. “Here we were stressing about what we were going to do for Christmas and my mom is always telling me God is going to provide. My mom was in shock, my husband was in shock--we all had our mouths hanging open.”
This article was published on the San Diego County News site -- http://www.sdcountynews.org/ho...ioners.html, on December 24, 2015.
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