BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2263 HEARING DATE: 6/24/14
AUTHOR: Bradford
VERSION: 5/23/14
FISCAL: Yes
VOTE: Majority
SUBJECT
Veterans service advocate: correctional facilities.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law (federal and state) :
Federal law:
1. Provides a broad range of benefits and services to
veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, delivered primarily
through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), but
also through other federal and some state agencies.
2. Conditions the provision of certain veterans benefits,
which an incarcerated veteran - or the veteran's dependents
- may receive, based upon incarceration or fugitive felon
status.
(Details of federal law are presented below in the
Background section.)
State law:
1. Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop guidance policies, as
specified, that assist inmate veterans in pursuing claims
for federal veterans' benefits, or in establishing rights to
any other privilege, preference, care, or compensation
provided under federal or state law because of honorable
service in the military.
2. Authorizes CDCR to coordinate with the Department of
Veterans Affairs (CalVet) and the county veterans service
officer (CVSO) or veterans service organizations (VSO).
(Details of state law are presented below in the Background
section.)
This bill:
1. Allows a veterans service organization to volunteer at
CDCR to serve as a veterans service advocate.
2. Requires the veterans' service advocate to be responsible
for developing a veterans economic recidivism prevention
plan within 180 days prior to the inmate's release date.
3. Requires the veteran's economic recidivism prevention plan
to include:
a. Facilitating access of each inmate who is a veteran to
CVSOs, CalVet and federal VA officers and personnel, so
that the inmate may pursue claims for federal veterans'
benefits or any other privilege, preference, care, or
compensation provided under federal or state law because
of the inmate's service in the military.
b. Developing a plan for how an inmate who is a veteran
will access earned veterans' benefits that he or she may
be eligible for upon the inmate's release.
1. Requires CDCR to facilitate access by the advocate to each
inmate who is a veteran, subject to those department
screening and clearance guidelines and training requirements
that are imposed on other visitors and volunteers.
2. Requires CDCR to provide the advocate with access to
existing resources, including, but not limited to, computer
and Internet access, that would assist the advocate in
implementing the veterans economic recidivism prevention
plan, to the extent it does not pose a threat to the
security or safety of the facility, or to inmates and staff.
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3. Requires the advocate to coordinate with VA in order to
provide each inmate who is a veteran with access to earned
veterans' benefits.
4. Requires the advocate to coordinate with CalVet and the
CVSO in the county in which the facility is located for
advice, assistance, and training, and to evaluate the
effectiveness of the veterans economic recidivism prevention
plan.
5. Provides the following definitions:
a. "Advocate" means a veterans service organization that
is federally certified and has volunteered to serve as a
veterans service advocate pursuant to this title.
b. "Veteran" means a person who has been discharged from
the United States Army, United States Navy, United States
Air Force, United States Marine Corps, United States Coast
Guard, Merchant Marine, or American Red Cross.
BACKGROUND
Existing Federal Law
1)Limits the veterans' benefits a veteran may receive while he
or she is incarcerated for a felony, except provides a 60-day
grace period where the incarcerated veteran may still receive
full benefits. The withholding of benefits begins on the 61st
day of incarceration. (38 U.S.C.S. § 5313(a)(1); 38 C.F.R. §
3.666(a).)
2)States that an incarcerated veteran is entitled to full
benefits while he or she is participating in a work-release
program or is residing in a halfway house. (38 U.S.C.S. §
5313(a)(2).)
3)Allows the dependents of an incarcerated felon to receive an
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apportionment of the benefits to which the incarcerated
veteran would have been entitled, unless the dependent is
incarcerated for a felony. (38 U.S.C.S. § 5313(b).)
4)Prohibits compensation on behalf of a veteran for any period
during which he or she is a "fugitive felon." (38 U.S.C.S. §
5313B; 38 C.F.R. § 3.666(n).)
5)Defines a "fugitive felon" as a person who is a fugitive by
reason of:
a) Avoiding prosecution, or custody or confinement after
conviction, for an offense, or an attempt to commit an
offense, which is a felony under the laws of the place from
which the person flees; or
b) Violating a condition of probation or parole imposed for
commission of a felony under Federal or State law. (38
U.S.C.S. § 5313B(b).)
Existing State Law
1)Requires restoration of withheld benefits if a conviction is
overturned on appeal. (38 C.F.R. § 3.666(m).)
2)Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop guidance policies relative to
the release of veterans who are inmates. The policies shall be
developed with the intent to assist veterans who are inmates
in pursuing claims for federal veterans' benefits, or in
establishing rights to any other privilege, preference, care,
or compensation provided under federal or state law because of
honorable service in the military. In developing the policies,
the department may coordinate with the Department of Veterans
Affairs and the county veterans service officer or veterans
service organizations. (Military and Veterans Code § 1840;
Penal Code § 2695.)
3)Authorizes each county board of supervisors to appoint a
county veterans service officer to perform specified
veterans-related services, including assisting veterans in
pursuing claims for federal or state veterans' benefits.
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(Military and Veterans Code § 972.)
4)Contains a number of provisions aimed at assisting California
veterans, such as farm and home loan assistance (Military and
Veterans Code §§ 987.50 et seq.), business enterprise
opportunities (Military and Veterans Code §§ 999 to 999.13),
and educational assistance (Military and Veterans Code §§ 981
et seq.).
Prison Overcrowding
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation
relating to conditions of confinement. Federal courts have both
forced and constrained state correctional policy.
In 2011, the state enacted several bills to "realign" to county
governments the responsibility for certain low-level offenders,
parolees, and parole violators. These changes were intended to
result in significant reductions in the inmate and parole
populations managed by CDCR. These reductions are having various
implications for how CDCR manages its prison and parole system.
According to one study veterans appear to be disproportionately
represented in the prison population. Veterans make up 10
percent of state prisoners. By 2004, veterans of the current
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan already comprised 4 percent of
the veterans in state and federal prisons. (Noonan & Mumola,
U.S. Department of Justice, Veterans in State and Federal
Prison, 2004, 2007)
An article in Science Daily on March 13, 2007, discussed a study
conducted by the University of California-San Francisco and the
San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center finding that
approximately one-third of veterans returning from Iraq received
one or more mental health or psychosocial diagnoses. (Mental
Illness Appears Common among Veterans Returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan, Science Daily (Mar. 13, 2007).)
Another study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in
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2004 stated that the rate of post-traumatic stress syndrome
(PTSD) among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans increased in a linear
manner with increased exposure to combat. (Hoge, Combat Duty in
Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to
Care (2004) 351 N. Engl. J. Med. 13-22.)
Monetary, educational, health and other veterans benefits assist
previously incarcerated veterans in building productive lives
for themselves and their dependents. That contributes toward
reducing recidivism rates among that population.
COMMENT
Author Comments :
Recidivism rates among veterans continue to be an issue
primarily for economic reasons. Currently the Department of
Corrections has been doing a good job of trying to provide
veteran inmates with information and forms to apply and
receive VA benefits. However, the process for qualifying for
VA benefits is often burdensome for even people with a four
year college degree.
One of the major problems is that facilities do not have a
designated person responsible for assuring that veterans are
able to have access to VA benefits upon release.
AB 2263 allows veteran service organizations that are
federally certified to volunteer to serve as a veterans
service advocate at prisons under the jurisdiction of CDCR.
The advocate would be responsible for developing a veteran's
economic recidivism prevention plan within 180 days prior to
an inmate's release date.
The advocate would also be responsible for assisting veteran
inmates by facilitating access to county veteran service
officers, United States Department of Veterans Affairs and
California Department of Veterans Affairs' personnel.
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Committee Staff Comments :
1.In its current form, this bill was approved 5-0 in Senate
Public Safety (6/17/14) and 77-0 on the Assembly Floor
(5/29/14).
Related Legislation :
AB 589 (Cook, died Senate Appropriations, 2009) would have
authorized CDCR or a local law enforcement agency to contract
with CVSOs in a county where a state or local correctional
facility is located to assist incarcerated veterans, as
specified, and their dependents in presenting and pursuing
claims against the United States arising out of war service
and in establishing the veterans' and dependents' right to any
privilege, preference, care, or compensation to which they may
have been entitled. Specifies that CDCR or the local
enforcement agency may, pursuant to the contract, compensate a
CVSO for the assistance provided at a rate of no more than
$20,000 annually, and that no more than six correctional
facilities may be the subject of such contracts.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization
Support:
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Public Defenders Association
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Oppose: None on file.
Analysis by: Wade Cooper Teasdale
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