BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1056 (Atkins) - Second Chance Program
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|Version: May 21, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 6 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: July 13, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1056 would enact the Second Chance Program, which
would require the Board of State and Community Corrections
(BSCC) to administer a competitive grant program using savings
resulting from the implementation of Proposition 47, the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014, and other fund sources,
as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Minor workload impact to the BSCC to administer the specified
grant program and establish the Executive Steering Committee,
as Proposition 47 already requires the BSCC to administer a
grant program.
Potentially significant increase in annual grant awards issued
(Federal/State/Private funds), as the bill creates a new fund,
the Second Chance Fund, which is continuously appropriated,
AB 1056 (Atkins) Page 1 of
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and may receive funds not only from the savings resulting from
Proposition 47, but also from other federal, state, local, or
private sources.
Background: In 2014, the voters approved Proposition 47, the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act, which reduces the penalties for
certain drug and property crimes. Proposition 47 requires the
resulting state savings to be deposited into the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Fund (SNSF), and requires these funds
to be disbursed by August 15th of each fiscal year beginning in
2016 to various state agencies for specified purposes, as
follows:
Twenty-five percent to the Department of Education, to
administer a grant program to public agencies aimed at
improving outcomes for public school pupils in kindergarten
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, by reducing truancy and
supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of
school or are victims of crime.
Ten percent to the Victim Compensation and Government
Claims Board, to make grants to trauma recovery centers to
provide services to victims of crime.
Sixty-five percent to the BSCC to administer a grant
program to public agencies aimed at supporting mental
health treatment, substance abuse treatment, and diversion
programs for people in the criminal justice system, with an
emphasis on programs that reduce recidivism of people
convicted of less serious crimes and those who have
substance abuse and mental health problems.
Under existing law, the agency responsible for administering the
programs is prohibited from spending more than five percent of
the total funds it receives from the SNSF on an annual basis for
administrative costs. (Government Code § 7599.2.)
Proposed Law:
This bill would enact the Second Chance Program, to be
administered by the BSCC, as follows:
Restricts the program to supporting mental health treatment,
substance use treatment, and diversion programs for persons in
the criminal justice system, with an emphasis on programs that
reduce recidivism of persons convicted of less serious crimes,
such as those covered by the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
AB 1056 (Atkins) Page 2 of
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Act of 2014, and those who have substance use and mental
health problems.
Defines "public agency" to mean a county, city, whether a
general law city or a chartered city, or city and county, the
duly constituted governing body of an Indian reservation or
rancheria, a school district, municipal corporation, district,
political subdivision, or any board, commission, or agency
thereof, entities that are legislative bodies of a local
agency, as specified, a housing authority, a state agency,
public district, or other political subdivision of the state,
or any instrumentality thereof, which is authorized to engage
in or assist in the development or operation of housing for
persons and families of low or moderate income.
Creates the Second Chance Fund, to be administered by the
BSCC, with moneys in the fund to be continuously appropriated
without regard to fiscal year.
Requires the BSCC to deposit the moneys disbursed to it
pursuant to Proposition 47 into the Second Chance Fund.
Provides that the Second Chance Fund may receive moneys from
any other federal, state, or local grant, or from any private
donation or grant, for the purposes of this article.
Provides that the BSCC may not spend more than 5 percent
annually of the moneys in the fund for administrative costs.
Requires the BSCC to administer a competitive grant program
that focuses on community-based solutions for reducing
recidivism. The grant program, at minimum, is required to do
all of the following:
o Restrict eligibility to proposals designed to
serve people who have been arrested, charged with, or
convicted of criminal offense and have a history of
mental health or substance use disorders.
o Restrict eligibility to proposals that offer
mental health services, substance use disorder
treatment services, misdemeanor diversion programs, or
some combination thereof.
o Restrict eligibility to proposals that have a
public agency as the lead applicant.
Requires the BSCC to create an executive steering
committee (ESC) to develop guidelines for administration of
the grant program, consistent with the purposes of the
bill. The ESC is to adopt guidelines for the submission of
proposals, including threshold or scoring criteria, or
both, that do all of the following:
o Prioritize proposals that advance principles
AB 1056 (Atkins) Page 3 of
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of restorative justice while demonstrating a capacity
to reduce recidivism.
o Prioritize proposals that leverage other
federal, state, and local funds or other social
investments, as specified.
o Prioritize proposals that provide for all of
the following:
§ Mental health services, substance
use disorder treatment services, misdemeanor
diversion programs, or some combination thereof.
§ Housing-related assistance that
utilizes evidence-based models, including, but
not limited to, those recommended by the federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Housing-related assistance may include, but is
not limited to, financial assistance, including
security deposits, utility payments, moving-cost
assistance, and up to 24 months of rental
assistance, and housing stabilization assistance,
including case management, relocation assistance,
outreach and engagement, landlord recruitment,
housing navigation and placement, and credit
repair.
§ Other community-based supportive
services, such as job skills training, case
management, and civil legal services.
o Prioritize proposals that leverage existing
contracts, partnerships, memoranda of understanding,
or other formal relationships to provide one or more
of the services noted above.
o Prioritize proposals put forth by a public
agency in partnership with a philanthropic or
nonprofit organization.
o Prioritize proposals that promote interagency
and regional collaborations.
o Consider ways to promote services for people
with offenses identical or similar to those addressed
by the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014,
without precluding assistance to a person with other
offenses in his or her criminal history.
o Consider geographic diversity, appropriate
limits for administrative costs and overhead, and
consider proposals that provide services to juveniles.
o Permit proposals to expand the capacity of an
AB 1056 (Atkins) Page 4 of
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existing program and prohibit proposals from using the
fund to supplant funding for an existing program.
Requires the ESC to consist of 13 members, as follows:
o A formerly incarcerated individual who has
received or is receiving mental health or substance
use disorder treatment.
o A family member of a current or formerly
incarcerated individual.
o A mental health expert, appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules.
o A substance use disorders expert, appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly.
o A housing programs expert.
o An expert on homelessness.
o Two community-based supportive service
providers with experience in providing services to
formerly incarcerated individuals and reducing
recidivism.
o A community supervision expert.
o An academic expert with a history of research
and expertise on the best practices for reducing
recidivism.
o A member of the BSCC.
o A public agency administrator.
o An additional expert, to be selected by the
BSCC.
Related
Legislation: SB 515 (Beall) 2015 would have required the BSCC
to award at least two-thirds of the grant funding received by
the BSCC under Proposition 47 to be allocated to public
behavioral health agencies, or other public agencies that
provide behavioral health services, as specified. This bill was
held on the Suspense File of this Committee.
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