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 SB 1054 (Steinberg) Page 1 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 SB 1054 (Steinberg) Page 2 (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. SB 1054 (Steinberg) Page 3 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 SB 1054 (Steinberg) Page 4 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.