BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          SB 1054 (Steinberg) - Mentally ill offender crime reduction  
          grants.
          
          Amended: April 7, 2014          Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 19, 2014      Consultant: Jolie Onodera
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill Summary: SB 1054 would appropriate $50 million from the  
          Recidivism Reduction Fund (RRF) in Fiscal Year 2014-15 for use  
          by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to  
          administer the Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant  
          (MIOCRG) Program to provide grants to counties, as specified.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              One-time appropriation: $50 million (Special Fund*) in FY  
              2014-15.
              Total costs through 2019 to the BSCC of $2.5 million  
              (Special Fund*) from the RRF appropriation to establish and  
              administer the program, provide technical assistance to  
              counties, develop the evaluation assessment tool, and report  
              annually to the Legislature.
              Significant future General Fund cost pressure to continue  
              funding the MIOCRG program given one-time availability of  
              RRF funds.
              Unknown, potential significant future cost savings in state  
              and local criminal justice costs to the extent the services  
              provided through the grant program successfully reduce crime  
              and recidivism.
          *Recidivism Reduction Fund

          Background: In 1998, the MIOCRG program was established through  
          the enactment of SB 1485 (Rosenthal) Chapter 501/1998. SB 1485  
          directed the Board of Corrections (BOC) to award and administer  
          competitive grants to counties supporting the implementation and  
          evaluation of locally developed demonstration projects including  
          mental health courts and enhanced community-based mental health  
          and substance abuse treatment efforts through collaboration  
          between mental health and criminal justice agencies. Funds  
          allocated to the MIOCRG program (over $80.5 million) supported  








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          30 projects in 26 counties. To identify what worked most  
          effectively in reducing recidivism among mentally ill offenders,  
          the legislation also required the BOC to conduct a statewide  
          evaluation of the MIOCRG program.

          According to the 2005 evaluation of the MIOCRG program, Mentally  
          Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant Program: Overview of  
          Statewide Evaluation Findings (CA Board of Corrections, March  
          2005):

              The analysis of intervention data found that the  
              individuals receiving the enhanced treatment offered  
              by the MIOCRG projects, when compared to individuals  
              receiving treatment as usual, were: 1) more  
              comprehensively diagnosed and evaluated regarding  
              their mental functioning and therapeutic needs; 2)  
              more quickly and reliably provided with services  
              designed to ameliorate the effects of mental illness;  
              3) provided with more complete after-jail systems of  
              care designed to ensure adequate treatment and  
              support; and 4) monitored more closely to ensure that  
              additional illegal behavior, mental deterioration, and  
              other areas of concern were quickly addressed. (p.4)

               Criminal Justice Outcomes  : The results indicate that  
              MIOCRG project participants were booked less often,  
              convicted less often, and convicted of less serious  
              offenses than individuals receiving treatment as usual  
              (TAU). In addition, fewer participants served time in  
              jail and, when they did serve time, they were in jail  
              for fewer days than were TAU participants. (p.4)

               Quality of Life Outcomes  : The analysis of data related  
              to these "quality of life" issues shows that the  
              MIOCRG projects had a statistically significant,  
              positive impact on five of the six outcome variables  
              included in the statewide research. (p.5)

          This bill seeks to re-establish the MIOCRG program utilizing  
          funds from the Recidivism Reduction Fund to provide counties  
          with additional resources to expand or establish effective  
          mental health treatment programs for these offenders.

          The Recidivism Reduction Fund was created through SB 105  








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          (Steinberg) Chapter 310/2013, to support programs designed to  
          reduce the state's prison population, including, but not limited  
          to, reducing recidivism.  

          Proposed Law: This bill appropriates $50 million in FY 2014-15  
          from the RRF to the BSCC to provide MIOCR grants to counties, as  
          follows:
              Requires the BSCC to administer and award MIOCR grants on a  
              competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a  
              continuum of swift, certain, and graduated responses to  
              reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally  
              ill offenders, as specified.
              In order for a county to be eligible for a grant, requires  
              a county to establish a strategy committee to include  
              specified members, and requires the committee to develop a  
              comprehensive plan including strategies for prevention and  
              intervention, identification of specific outcome and  
              performance measures, and annual reporting to the BSCC.
              Requires the BSCC to award grants and provide funding for  
              four years which shall be used to supplement, rather than  
              supplant, funding for existing programs.
              Authorizes funds to be used for specialized alternative  
              custody programs that offer appropriate mental health  
              treatment and services.
              Requires a county match of 25 percent in resources which  
              may include in-kind contributions from participating  
              agencies.
              Provides that the BSCC shall give priority to those  
              proposals that include additional funding that exceeds the  
              25 percent of the amount of the grant.
              Requires the BSCC to establish minimum standards, funding  
              schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, which shall  
              take into consideration various factors, including the  
              likelihood that the program will continue to operate after  
              state grant funding ends.
              Requires the BSCC to create an evaluation design for the  
              MIOCRG program that will assess the effectiveness of the  
              program in reducing crime, the number of early releases due  
              to jail overcrowding, and local criminal justice costs.
              Commencing June 5, 2015, and annually thereafter, requires  
              the BSCC to submit a report to the Legislature based on the  
              evaluation design, with a final report due on December 31,  
              2019.









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          Prior Legislation: SB 105 (Steinberg) Chapter 310/2013, provided  
          the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) with an  
          additional $315 million (General Fund) in 2013-14 to meet the  
          requirements of a revised court order. This bill also created  
          the Recidivism Reduction Fund (RRF) and provided that a share of  
          the $315 million be deposited in the RRF if the amount necessary  
          to meet the requirements of the court order was less than the  
          $315 million appropriation.

          AB 1811 (Laird) Chapter 48/2006, amended and supplemented the  
          Budget Act of 2006 appropriation amounts, and provided $45  
          million (General Fund) for MIOCRG program funds to be equally  
          distributed between adult and juvenile offenders and awarded on  
          a competitive basis using criteria developed by the Corrections  
          Standards Authority.

          Staff Comments: This bill provides for a $50 million  
          appropriation from the Recidivism Reduction Fund in FY 2014-15  
          to the BSCC to provide grants and administer the MIOCRG program.  


          Pursuant to the provisions of SB 105 (Steinberg), PC §1233.9  
          provides that funds appropriated from the RRF are "for  
          activities designed to reduce the state's prison population,  
          including, but not limited to, reducing recidivism." While the  
          activities specified in the bill would not specifically reduce  
          the state's existing prison population, to the extent the  
          activities seek to prevent offenders from returning to prison  
          would serve to reduce recidivism, and would appear to meet the  
          intent of the RRF. 

          The May Revision of the Governor's Budget augments the amount  
          available in the RRF by $9.9 million, increasing the total  
          amount available to $91 million in FY 2014-15. The May Revision  
          proposes to allocate $0.9 million to fund a planning grant for  
          the California Leadership Academy and an additional $9 million  
          for reentry programs.

          The BSCC projects the resource and operational costs to  
          implement and administer the MIOCRG program could cost about  
          $2.5 million over five years, which would coincide with the due  
          date of the final Legislative Report in December 2019. The BSCC  
          estimates a need for five positions, as well as operating  
          expenses and equipment for necessary travel and information  








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          technology/research. The positions would be used to establish an  
          Executive Steering Committee and initiate a Request for Proposal  
          necessary to develop the program and procedures, conduct program  
          monitoring (including on-site monitoring), drafting of the  
          annual report, and address data reporting (database development  
          and maintenance, creating progress reports, etc.) and fiscal  
          oversight (invoicing, fiscal tracking, fiscal procedures). As  
          the bill appropriates RRF funds to the BSCC to "provide grants  
          and administer the MIOCRG program," all BSCC costs for  
          administration of the program are estimated to be funded from  
          the RRF.
           
          Due to the one-time nature of the funding from the RRF, to the  
          extent the MIOCRG program is successful would potentially  
          require ongoing future funding, potentially from the General  
          Fund, to continue to work towards reducing crime and recidivism  
          to both state and local facilities.