BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1056
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1056 (Atkins)
As Amended August 31, 2015
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 1, |
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Original Committee Reference: H. & C.D.
SUMMARY: Establishes the Second Chance Program (the Program) to
invest in community-based programs, services, and initiatives
for formerly incarcerated individuals in need of mental health
and substance use treatment services. Extends the sunset on the
Social Innovation Financing Program until 2022. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Includes legislative findings.
2)Directs the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to
administer the program.
3)Includes the following definitions:
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a) "Board" means the BSCC;
b) "Fund" means the Second Chance Fund; and
c) "Public agency" means 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.
d) "Recidivism" means a conviction of a new felony or
misdemeanor committed within three years of release from
custody or committed within three years of placement on
supervision for a previous criminal conviction.
4)Establishes the Fund within the State Treasury.
5)Provides that the BSCC is responsible for administering the
Fund.
6)Continuously appropriates moneys in the Fund without regard to
fiscal year.
7)Directs the State Controller, upon order of the Director of
Finance, to transfer moneys available to the BSCC into the
Fund.
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8)Provides that the Fund can receive moneys from any other
federal, state and local grants or any private donation or
grants.
9)Caps the amount the BSCC can spend on administrative costs at
5% annually.
10)Requires the BSCC to administer a competitive grant program
that focuses on community-based solutions for reducing
recidivism. The grant program shall, at minimum, do all of the
following:
a) Restrict eligibility to proposals designed to serve
people who have been arrested, charged with, or convicted
of a criminal offense and have a history of mental health
or substance use disorders;
b) Restrict eligibility to proposals that offer mental
health services, substance use disorder treatment services,
misdemeanor diversion programs, or some combination
thereof; and
c) Restrict eligibility to proposals that have a public
agency as the lead applicant.
11)Requires the BSCC to form an executive steering committee
that includes a balanced and diverse membership from relevant
state and local government entities, community-based treatment
and service providers, and the formerly incarcerated
community. The steering committee shall have expertise in
homelessness and housing, behavioral health and substance
abuse treatment, and effective rehabilitative treatment for
adults and juvenile.
12)Requires the steering committee to make recommendations
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regarding the design, efficacy, and viability of proposals,
and make recommendations on guidelines for the submission of
proposals that do all of the following:
a) Prioritize proposals that advance principles of
restorative justice while demonstrating a capacity to
reduce recidivism;
b) Prioritize proposals that leverage other federal, state,
and local funds or other social investments, such as the
following sources of funding:
i) The Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program;
ii) The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA);
iii) Funds provided for in connection with the
implementation of the 2011 Public Safety Realignment;
iv) The Community Corrections Performance Incentives Act;
v) The tax credits established pursuant to Revenue and
Taxation Code Sections 12209, 17053.57, and 23657;
vi) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Emergency Solutions Grant program;
vii) Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for
Veteran Families program;
viii)Social Innovation Funds established by the Corporation
for National and Community Service; and
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ix) The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
Program.
c) Prioritize proposals that provide for all of the
following:
i) Mental health services, substance use disorder
treatment services, misdemeanor diversion programs, or
some combination thereof;
ii) Housing-related assistance that utilizes
evidence-based models, including, but not limited to,
those recommended by HUD. Housing-related assistance may
include, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Financial assistance, including security
deposits, utility payments, moving-cost assistance,
and up to 24 months of rental assistance.
(2) Housing stabilization assistance, including
case management, relocation assistance, outreach and
engagement, landlord recruitment, housing navigation
and placement, and credit repair.
iii) Other community-based supportive services, such as job
skills training, case management, and civil legal
services.
d) Prioritize proposals that leverage existing contracts,
partnerships, memoranda of understanding, or other formal
relationships to provide one or more of the prioritized
services;
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e) Prioritize proposals put forth by a public agency in
partnership with a philanthropic or nonprofit organization;
f) Prioritize proposals that promote interagency and
regional collaborations;
g) 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;
h) Consider geographic diversity;
i) Consider appropriate limits for administrative costs and
overhead;
j) Consider proposals that provide services to juveniles;
and
aa) Permit proposals to expand the capacity of an existing
program and prohibit proposals from using the fund to
supplant funding for an existing program.
13)Extends the sunset on the Social Innovation Financing Program
until 2022.
The Senate amendments:
1)Delete the specific makeup of executive steering committee
membership.
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2)Extend the sunset on the Social Innovation Financing Program
until 2022.
3)Make technical, clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor workload impact to the BSCC to administer the Program
and establish the executive steering committee, as Proposition
47 (2014) already requires the BSCC to administer a grant
program.
2)Potentially significant increase in annual grant awards issued
(Federal/State/Private funds), as the bill creates a new fund,
which is continuously appropriated, and may receive funds not
only from the savings resulting from Proposition 47, but also
from other federal, state, local, or private sources.
3)Potential future cost pressure (Special Fund/General Fund) due
to the extension of the sunset date. According to the BSCC,
$5 million was appropriated from the Recidivism Reduction Fund
for this program, with funding estimated to be fully allocated
to the three local county projects by June 30, 2016.
COMMENTS: Background: In response to prison overcrowding
directives as well as recent public safety reforms such as AB
109 (Budget Committee), Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011 and
Proposition 47, unprecedented numbers of formerly incarcerated
individuals are returning to our communities. Nationally, over
half of people in prisons or jails have experienced a mental
health issue within the last year, and over half of women in
jail and 44% of men in jail have a drug or alcohol dependency.
As a result of these factors, many detained in local jails are
chronic offenders who frequently cycle in and out of the jail
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facility and other public crisis systems in part because of
their long histories of residential instability or homelessness,
chronic mental and physical health issues, and substance abuse
disorders.
Proposition 47: In 2014, the voters approved Proposition 47
which would reduce the penalties for certain non-violent,
nonserious drug and property crimes and require the resulting
state savings to be used to pay for mental health and substance
use services, truancy, dropout prevention, and victim crimes.
DOF will calculate the savings that accrue to the state from the
implementation of Proposition 47. Proposition 47 requires the
savings be distributed among state agencies as follows:
1)Twenty-five percent to the State Department of Education, to
administer a grant program to public agencies aimed at
improving outcomes for public school pupils in kindergarten
and grades one to twelve, inclusive, by reducing truancy and
supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of school
or are victims of crime.
2)Ten percent to the California Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board, to make grants to trauma recovery
centers to provide services to victims of crime pursuant to
Section 13963.1 of the Government Code.
3)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, such as those covered by Proposition 47, and
those who have substance abuse and mental health problems.
The Legislature has authority under the Proposition to determine
how the funds are used by the departments that receive them and
how much oversight to provide to determine if the funds are used
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effectively. The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) estimates
that the savings resulting from Proposition 47, while subject to
significant uncertainty, will likely range from $100 million to
$200 million beginning in 2016-17.
This bill provides direction to the BSCC on how to spend the 65%
in savings directed to it to support mental health and substance
use treatment. This bill sets out minimum criteria that the
BSCC must use when creating the program and how to evaluate
applicants based on the types of people served, services that
should be funded, other funding sources that could be leveraged,
and the level of geographic diversity, among other factors.
Purpose of this bill: Various organizations support this bill
and the goal of establishing a stable housing source for
formerly incarcerated individuals. According to the author,
"people in the criminal justice system and formerly incarcerated
individuals have difficulty securing housing and employment upon
leaving incarceration." This bill provides guidance to the BSCC
on the establishment of a competitive grant program, which will
promote comprehensive, collaborative projects that serve people
who have been arrested, charged with, or convicted of an offense
and have a history of mental health issues.
Analysis Prepared by: Rebecca Rabovsky /
H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085 FN: 0001942