BILL NUMBER: AB 219 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
An act to amend Section 6141 of, and to add Section
5056.8 to , the Penal Code, relating to criminal
recidivism.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 219, as amended, Portantino. California Recidivism Goals
Development and Achievement Act.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to oversee programs for the purposes of reducing
parolee recidivism.
This bill would declare the Legislature's intent regarding the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's role in reducing
criminal recidivism. The bill would require the department to
develop targets approved by the California Rehabilitation Oversight
Board and to implement a plan based on those targets to achieve
the goal of a reduction in the statewide criminal
recidivism rate from 2010 of 20% by 2015 and 40% by 2020. The
bill would provide that success towards meeting that goal
would be reviewed as part of the annual budget process for the
department's budget. The bill would require the department to
adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of the
statewide recidivism rate, as specified.
Existing law establishes the California Rehabilitation Oversight
Board and requires the board to meet at least quarterly and to
regularly examine the various mental health, substance abuse,
educational, and employment programs for inmates and parolees
operated by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Existing law requires the board to report to the Governor and the
Legislature biannually, and specifies that the reports shall include,
but are not limited to, findings on the effectiveness of treatment
efforts, rehabilitation needs of offenders, gaps in rehabilitation
services in the department, and levels of offender participation and
success in the programs. Existing law requires the board to make
recommendations to the Governor and Legislature with respect to
modifications, additions, and eliminations of rehabilitation and
treatment programs.
This bill would, in addition, require the board to examine the
programs and services to reduce criminal recidivism that are operated
by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The bill would
require the board to consult with the department regarding
implementing the department's plan to reduce recidivism, and to
approve the targets developed by the department for reducing
recidivism, as described above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) California's prison problems are tied directly to recidivism
and overcrowding. When parolees commit crimes, they not only burden
the state's overtaxed prison system--they create new victims and
compromise public safety. California's recidivism rate has been
historically estimated at 70 percent, one of the nation's highest. It
is the intent of the Legislature to make inmate rehabilitation
, including substance abuse treatment and vocational and academic
education programs, a priority to ensure the public safety and
to release inmates to our communities as productive and contributing
members of society. Currently the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation spends about 1 percent of its budget on academic or
vocational education programs even though 75 percent of the inmate
population cannot read above a ninth grade level. Since the time the
word "rehabilitation" was added to the department's title in 2006,
the budget for rehabilitation has been cut almost in half.
(2) A critical part of parole success is aftercare. Parolees
who are able to access community-based drug treatment, mental health,
and educational or job training services upon release are much more
likely to stay out of prison. As stated in a Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation 2009 study, female offenders who
completed both in-prison and community-based substance abuse
treatment had substantially lower return-to-prison rates (8.8 percent
after one year and 16.5 percent after two years) than those who
completed in-prison substance abuse programs but did not attend
community-based substance abuse treatment (25.0 percent after one
year and 37.7 percent after two years). These rates compare with a
30.1 percent return-to-prison rate after one year and a 43.7-percent
return-to-prison rate after two years for all female offenders of the
department.
(3) The same study found that male offenders who completed both
in-prison and community-based substance abuse treatment had lower
return-to-prison rates (25.4 percent after one year and 40.4 percent
after two years) than male offenders who completed in-prison
substance abuse programs but did not attend community-based substance
abuse treatment (39.8 percent after one year and 55.8 percent after
two years). These rates compare with a 41.2-percent return-to-custody
rate after one year and a 55.6-percent return-to-prison rate after
two years for all male offenders of the department.
(4) Overall, all offenders, both male and female, who completed
both in-prison and community-based substance abuse treatment in the
2005-06 fiscal year had a return-to-prison rate of 21.9 percent after
one year and 35.3 percent after two years. This compares with a
39.9-percent return-to-prison rate after one year and a 54.2-percent
return-to-prison rate after two years for all offenders. Offenders
who successfully complete both in-prison and community-based
substance abuse treatment programs have markedly lower
return-to-prison percentage rates than offenders who either do not
receive treatment or only receive in-prison substance abuse programs.
(5) According to a Washington State Policy Institute study from
2010, for every dollar spent on vocational education programs in
prison there was a return of nearly fourteen dollars ($14), and for
academic programs, for every 96 cents ($0.96) spent, the return was
nearly eleven dollars ($11). Currently, less than 7 percent of
inmates are enrolled in education programs. The widely cited "Three
State Recidivism Study" from 2001,conducted in Maryland, Ohio, and
Minnesota on the effects of in-prison educational programming on
recidivism, found a 29 percent overall reduction in reincarceration
rates when compared to inmates without programming.
(6) In the 2008 report "From Cellblocks to Classrooms," California'
s own Legislative Analyst's Office acknowledged the central role that
education programming plays in reducing recidivism and recommended
several steps the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation could
take to maximize current programming resources and increase
attendance in academic and vocational programs.
(5)
(7) If California is to solve its prison overcrowding
problem, immediate steps must be taken to reduce the revolving door
of prison that sees inmates return after only a short time.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation coordinate with state agencies as well
as consult with the medical community, drug and alcohol abuse
treatment professionals and centers, the criminal justice community,
industry sectors, business groups, academic institutions,
organizations, and other stakeholders in implementing a reduction in
criminal recidivism rates to achieve a reduction of
of the goal of reducing recidivism by 20 percent
by 2015 and 40 percent by 2020 from the 2010 level.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation develop specific standards, programs,
educational opportunities, counseling, and medical and followup care
that will reduce criminal recidivism among persons incarcerated in
California prisons to meet the targets specified in subdivision (b).
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation create identifiable and measurable
goals designed to assess the effectiveness of programs and efforts to
reduce recidivism statewide and at each state correctional facility.
SEC. 2. Section 5056.8 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
5056.8. (a) This act shall be known and may be cited as the
California Recidivism Goals Development and Achievement Act.
(b) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is the state
agency charged with creating programs and services to reduce criminal
recidivism. As part of this charge, the department shall assess and
identify the success of programs and services as necessary to meet
state-mandated goals.
(c) Using 2010 statewide recidivism statistics as the baseline,
the department shall develop realistic targets, approved by the
California Rehabilitation Oversight Board pursuant to
Section 6141, and shall implement a plan based upon those targets to
achieve a reduction in the statewide recidivism rate
of rate. When setting these targets, the department
shall seek ways of achieving a goal of reducing recidivism by
20 percent by 2015 and 40 percent by 2020. Success towards
meeting that goal shall be reviewed as part of the annual budget
process for the department's budget.
(d) The department shall adopt regulations that require the
reporting and verification of the statewide criminal recidivism rate
on an annual basis. In reporting a prior year's criminal recidivism
rate, the department shall compare the prior year's rate to the
criminal recidivism rate from 2010.
SEC. 3. Section 6141 of the Penal Code
is amended to read:
6141. The California Rehabilitation Oversight Board shall meet at
least quarterly, and shall regularly examine the
various mental health, substance abuse, educational, and employment
programs for inmates and parolees operated by the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation , and shall examine the programs
and services operated by the department to reduce cri
minal recidivism. The board shall consult with the department
regarding implementing the department's plan to reduce recidivism and
shall approve the targets developed by the department for reducing
recidivism, pursuant to Section 5056.8 . The board shall report
to the Governor and the Legislature biannually, on March 15 and
September 15, and may submit other reports during the year if it
finds they are necessary. The reports shall include, but are not
limited to, findings on the effectiveness of treatment efforts,
rehabilitation needs of offenders, gaps in rehabilitation services in
the department, and levels of offender participation and success in
the programs. The board shall also make recommendations to the
Governor and Legislature with respect to modifications, additions,
and eliminations of rehabilitation and treatment programs. In
performing its duties, the board shall use the work products
developed for the department as a result of the provisions of the
2006 Budget Act, including Provision 18 of Item 5225-001-0001.