Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, February 9, 2019

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2019

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

LOS ANGELES REGIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING 
TASK FORCE AND OPERATION RECLAIM AND 
REBUILD RESULTS


FREE PUBLIC TOURS OF TOURNAMENT HOUSE 

BEGIN TODAY FOR 2019

Come see the renovated Rose Bowl Game Room

PASADENA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2019) – Our doors 
are open, and you’re invited! Guided tours 
inside Tournament House, the iconic Southern 
California landmark, open to the public. Tours 
will be offered, at no cost, every Thursday at 
2 p.m. and 3 p.m. beginning today, February 
7. Tournament of Roses® volunteers from the 
Heritage Committee, knowledgeable of the 
organization’s history and details of the house, 
conduct the tours. 

 The Rose Bowl Game® room renovation at 
Tournament House is complete and open to the 
public for viewing. Highlights include: two new 
Hall of Fame touch screens, video playback of 
Rose Bowl Game history, depictions of Offensive 
and Defensive Player of the Game, a celebration 
of the 100-year anniversary of the 1919 Rose 
Bowl Game, the B-2 Flyover and more.

 Tournament House serves as the official 
headquarters of the Pasadena Tournament of 
Roses, its staff and the 935 volunteer members 
who work year-round to organize the annual 
Rose Parade® presented by Honda and Rose 
Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.

 Located in Pasadena, the house was once the 
home of chewing gum mogul William Wrigley 
Jr. and his wife, Ada. After Ada’s death in 1958, 
the Wrigley family presented the property to the 
city of Pasadena, with the request that it become 
the base of operations for the Tournament of 
Roses. The Wrigley family enjoyed the Rose 
Parade as it unfolded just beyond their front 
yard.

 Surrounding Tournament House are the 
Wrigley Gardens, which feature a floral display 
of roses, camellias and annuals. The gardens 
feature the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) 
award-winning Tournament of Roses rose 
developed especially for the Tournament of 
Roses Centennial in 1989.

By Joan Schmidt

At a time when serious crimes are daily reported, 
it is wonderful to receive some positive news. On 
January 29, Assistant Sheriff Maria Gutierrez held 
a press conference at the Hall of Justice announcing 
results from the fifth annual Operation Reclaim 
and Rebuild enforcement operation. January was 
Human Trafficking Awareness Month; more than 90 
federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and 
task forces from across California participated in the 
three-day statewide effort aimed at combating human 
trafficking from Thursday, January 24-Saturday, 
January 26. The results were very encouraging. 


 At the press conference, Assistant Sheriff Gutierrez 
was joined by executives and representatives from the 
CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 
California Highway Patrol, the office of CA Senator 
Ling Ling Chang, Coalition to Abolish Slavery 
and Trafficking (CAST), Contra Costa County 
Human Trafficking Task Force, Homeland Security 
Investigations, Journey Out, LA County Dept. of 
Children and Family Services, LA County DA’s 
Office, LA County Probation Dept., LASD, LAPD, 
LA School Police Dept., San Bernardino County 
Sheriff’s Dept., Saving Innocence, the office of US 
Senator Diane Feinstein and the US Attorney’s 
Office.

 To prepare for this event, an operational planning 
meeting had been held prior in LA with 210 federal, 
state and municipal law enforcement detectives 
from all over California in attendance. Enforcement 
operations would take place wherever human 
trafficking took place. That included confronting 
sidewalk prostitution, and challenging the virtual 
reality of the cyber world where traffickers feel they 
can remain anonymous by using the internet.

 There are specially-trained cyber detectives who 
posed as vulnerable teenagers and connected with 
suspects on social media. During a 3-day period, 
BOT’s exchanged thousands of texts with 75 men 
seeking to purchase sex and captured their phone 
numbers!

 Victims encountered during enforcement were 
cared for by personnel from various Dept. of 
Children and Family Services in each county. In LA 
County, CAST and Saving Innocence coordinated 
the emergency services response for victims.

 The results of this 3-day operation: 34 adult and 14 
minor victims being removed, 156 males arrested for 
Solicitation, 36 suspected traffickers and exploiters 
arrested. In total, there were 339 arrests.

 Assistant Sheriff Gutierrez’ message to traffickers 
and solicitors, “Don’t do business in Los Angeles 
County or the State of California because we will 
find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of 
the law. To the Johns: Sex with a minor is nothing 
short of child molestation and we aim to treat it as 
such. Buying sex adds to the exploitation of those 
involved.”

 The above results were very heartwarming to 
me and I thank Deputy Lillian Peck, Sheriff’s 
Information Bureau for the seven page report I was 
sent, and was able to convey the above information.

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COUNTY SEEKS STATE SUPPORT TO ACCESS 
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR MENTAL HEALTH 
TREATMENT

LOS ANGELES COUNTY – The Board of 
Supervisors unanimously passed a motion by 
Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Hilda L. Solis that 
urges the State of California to apply for a Section 
1115 Medicaid waiver that would expand coverage 
for inpatient mental health treatment. 

 “Medicaid is the largest payer of mental health 
services and expansion of this coverage would be 
critical to those who are in need of treatment,” said 
Supervisor Barger. “It is imperative that we use this 
opportunity to demonstrate that mental health 
treatment should be a permanent and ongoing 
priority that is worthy of both federal and state 
investments.”

 Currently, there is a significant gap in Medicaid 
coverage for low income people that are in need of 
mental health treatment. This gap in coverage is 
known as the Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) 
exclusion and has existed in the Medicaid program 
since its inception.

 In 1965, the Social Security Act was amended 
to establish the federal Medicaid and Medicare 
programs. The IMD exclusion was built into the 
foundation of the Medicaid program via these and 
subsequent amendments to the Social Security Act. 
The IMD exclusion as amended prohibits states from 
receiving Medicaid payments for individuals in an 
IMD that are ages 21-64. The law defines an IMD 
as a “hospital, nursing facility, or other institution 
of more than 16 beds, that is primarily engaged in 
providing diagnosis, treatment, or care of persons 
with mental diseases, including medical attention, 
nursing care, and related services.”

 In November 2018, the Centers for Medicaid 
and Medicare Services (CMS) announced that for 
the first time, the federal government would begin 
to consider state applications for an IMD exclusion 
waiver. This would provide Medicaid coverage for 
IMD treatment to those who suffer from a severe 
mental illness.

 “Last week, this board voted unanimously on 
Supervisor Barger’s previous motion to develop 
a countywide plan to expand our inpatient and 
stepdown mental health beds,” said Dr. Jonathan 
Sherin, Director of the Department of Mental 
Health. “Today’s motion is complementary to our 
existing efforts, and will allow us to right-size our 
network of hospital beds to ensure that the right 
level of care is delivered to those in need – including 
not just mental health services, but also services for 
addictions and medical comorbidities.”

 The motion directs the Chief Executive Officer 
to send a five-signature letter to Governor Gavin 
Newsom, the California Department of Health 
Care Services, and the Los Angeles County State 
Legislative Delegation urging the state to apply 
for the 1115 Medicaid waiver to allow for the 
expansion of Medicaid coverage to the excluded 
population who are in need of inpatient mental 
health treatment.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com