Santa Cruz County Probation Chief: Fernando Giraldo

Fernando Giraldo is the Chief Probation Officer for the Santa Cruz County Probation Department and has been with the Department since 1995. He oversees Adult Services, Juvenile Services and the Juvenile Institution, supported by 127 staff and a $25 million budget. Mr. Giraldo has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from San Jose State University and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Latin American Studies from The University of California, Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz County is a national model site for juvenile justice reforms.  Fernando has spoken throughout California and the country about juvenile and adult justice reforms, racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system, evidence based programs, detention and pretrial alternatives and collaboration with community partners. Fernando serves on several local and state Boards. In 2016, Mr. Giraldo was appointed by California State Governor Jerry Brown to the California Sex Offender Management Board. Fernando also serves on the Board of United Way, Santa Cruz as the Chair.  As an active member of the community, Fernando helped launch the Youth Violence Prevention Task Force, was instrumental in the fund development for the AZTECAS Youth Soccer Program, is Vice President of Operations for the Aptos Tide Competitive Soccer League and has coached competitive youth soccer teams for more than a decade.