California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1119

Introduced by Assembly Member Hagman

February 22, 2013

An act to add and repeal Section 3016 to the Penal Code, relating to parole.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1119, as introduced, Hagman. Postrelease reentry pilot program.

Existing law requires that all persons released from prison on and after October 1, 2011, after serving a prison term for a felony, be subject to postrelease community supervision provided by a county agency for a period of 3 years immediately following release, except for persons released after serving a term for a serious felony, a violent felony, an offense for which the person was sentenced pursuant to the Three Strikes law, a crime where the person is classified as a High Risk Sex Offender, or a crime where the person is required to undergo treatment by the State Department of State Hospitals because the person has a severe mental disorder. Existing law requires these persons to be subject to parole supervision by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation following release from state prison. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a parole reentry accountability program, and, subject to the availability of funding, to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Administrative Office of the Courts for the establishment and operation of reentry court programs for parolees and persons on postrelease community supervision.

This bill would, until January 1, 2018, require the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a 3-year postrelease reentry pilot program, using an existing Sacramento area-based parole reentry program as a model, in 3 additional counties to provide comprehensive, structured reentry services for offenders released from state prison. The bill would require the Counties of San Bernardino, San Joaquin, and San Mateo to participate in the pilot program, and would provide that parolees, persons on postrelease community supervision, and probationers are eligible for participation in the program. The bill would require the secretary to submit a report on the effectiveness of the program for the 3 years of its operation to the Legislature on or before March 1, 2017, and a summary of the report to the Governor and the Legislature outlining the successes of the program. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to appropriate $1,200,000 per year per site from the state General Fund for the operation of the program, subject to matching funds from the county, and to appropriate an additional amount for the cost of evaluating the program. By imposing new and additional duties on local agencies in the participating counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) The Sacramento Community Based Coalition is an
innovative, intensive, and integrated program for parolees that
provides individualized treatment services necessary for a
successful transition back into the community.

(2) According to a 2011 report by the Pew Center on the States,
State of Recidivism - The Revolving Door of America’s Prisons,
between 2004 and 2007, California had the second highest
recidivism rate in the United States.

(3) Reducing recidivism reduces criminal victimization and the
cost to the prison system, courts, and county jails.

(4) The annual cost to incarcerate 43 inmates would have funded
the Sacramento Community Based Coalition for one year and
provided services for 523 parole clients.

(5) Only 3.6 percent of graduates of the Sacramento Community
Based Coalition returned to prison with a new term and only 8.5
percent of clients who participated in the program returned to
prison with a new term.

(6) The overall rate of recidivism, including parole violation
return to custody, of Sacramento Community Based Coalition
graduates was 18.8 percent.

(7) Key components of the Sacramento Community Based
Coalition include an individualized treatment plan and wraparound
reentry services, including substance abuse services, job placement
and preparation, computer literacy training, GED testing and
preparation services, parenting courses, community-based sober
living, community service opportunities, family reintegration
programs, life skills courses, sexually transmitted disease
prevention and education, and gender-specific programming with
structured phases for program participants.

(8) The Sacramento Community Based Coalition has a goal of
reducing the recidivism of participants at least 50 percent.

(9) Promising programs should be expanded to other locales so
that the effectiveness of the model can be tested.

(10) Assisting parolees and those on postrelease community
supervision by providing them with structured reentry services,
while holding them accountable for compliance with legal and
program requirements, and while promoting the elimination of
criminogenic attitudes and behaviors, is a smart way to assist them
with the transition back to the community consistent with the needs
of public safety.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
act to attempt to replicate the Sacramento Community Based
Coalition model in additional counties, to measure the success of
the model in reducing recidivism and improving program outcomes
for offenders who participate in the program, and to determine
whether the program should be further geographically expanded
or extended in order to promote better outcomes for parolees and
those on postrelease community supervision, lower recidivism
rates, and safer communities.

SEC. 2.  

Section 3016 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

3016.  

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation shall establish a three-year postrelease reentry pilot
program, using an existing Sacramento area-based parole reentry
program as a model, in three additional counties to provide
comprehensive, structured reentry services for offenders released
from state prison.

(b) The Counties of San Bernardino, San Joaquin, and San
Mateo shall participate in the pilot program established pursuant
to subdivision (a). The pilot program shall be operated for a
three-year period from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017,
inclusive.

(c) Parolees, persons on postrelease community supervision,
and probationers are eligible for participation in the program,
except that an offender who has been convicted of, or had a juvenile
adjudication for, any crime described in subdivision (c) of Section
290 committed against a minor victim is not eligible to participate.
Program participants shall be referred by a parole officer or
probation officer.

(d) Features of the program shall include an individualized
treatment plan and wraparound reentry services, including, but not
limited to, substance abuse services, job placement and preparation,
computer literacy training, GED testing and preparation services,
parenting courses, community-based sober living, community
service opportunities, family reintegration programs, life skills
courses, sexually transmitted disease prevention and education,
and gender-specific programming with structured phases for
program participants. The program may include other types of
rehabilitative programming appropriate for the needs of program
participants.

(e) The managers and staff of each of the three county programs
shall coordinate operations and share insights with each other and
with the Sacramento Community Based Coalition.

(f) (1) The secretary shall submit a report on the effectiveness
of the program for the three years of its operation to the Legislature
on or before March 1, 2017, and a summary of the report to the
Governor and the Legislature outlining the successes of the
program.

(2) Each of the three county programs shall submit data to be
compiled and included in the report described in paragraph (1)
outlining whether, and to what extent, the program accomplished
both of the following:

(A) Improvement of offender outcomes in terms of acquiring
GEDs or other educational certificates.

(B) Success in placing program participants in jobs and reduced
recidivism. As used in this paragraph, “recidivism” shall be
measured by the return to prison rate, the parole or postrelease
community supervision violation rate, and conviction rate, and the
arrest rate for participants, each measured separately. The program
shall employ an evaluator to monitor and compile this information.

(3) The report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate one million
two hundred thousand dollars ($1,200,000) per year per site from
the state General Fund for the operation of the program, subject
to matching funds from the county’s Community Corrections
Partnership, or other available county funds. The operating costs
of the program shall be split between the state and the county,
except that the county is responsible for the full cost of probationer
participation. The program shall serve 125 to 150 clients, inclusive
per site at any given time, and a total of 400 clients throughout the
year. It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate an additional
amount for the cost of evaluating the program.

(h) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 3.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.