BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1056 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1056 (Atkins) As Amended August 31, 2015 2/3 vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 1, | | | | | | |2015) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: AB 1056 Page 2 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. AB 1056 Page 3 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 AB 1056 Page 4 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 AB 1056 Page 5 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; AB 1056 Page 6 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. AB 1056 Page 7 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 AB 1056 Page 8 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 AB 1056 Page 9 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