BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1093 Hearing Date: June 16, 2015
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|Author: |Eduardo Garcia |
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|Version: |February 27, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|AA |
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Subject: Public Safety: Supervised Population Workforce
Training: Grant Program
HISTORY
Source: California Workforce Association (co-source)
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
(co-source)
PolicyLink (co-source)
Prior Legislation:AB 2060 (V.M. Perez), Chapter 383, Statutes of
2014
Support: California Edge Coalition; California Public Defenders
Association; National Center for Youth Law; Office of
the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools;
REDF; Root & Rebound
Opposition:None Known
Assembly Floor Vote: 77 - 0
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to make minor modifications to the
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criteria for the Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant
Program administered by the Workforce Investment Board, as
specified.
Current law states that California Workforce Investment Board
("WIB") is the body responsible for assisting the Governor in
the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of
California's workforce investment system and the alignment of
the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of
the 21st century economy and workforce. (Unemp. Ins. Code, §
14010.)
Current law establishes the Supervised Population Workforce
Training Grant Program to be administered by the WIB. (Pen.
Code, § 1234.1.)
Current law requires WIB to administer the grant program as
follows:
1)Develop criteria for the selection of grant recipients through
a public application process, including the rating and ranking
of applications that meet threshold criteria; and
2) Design the grant program application process to ensure all of
the following occurs:
a) Outreach and technical assistance is made available to
eligible counties;
b) There is fairness and competitiveness for all counties,
including for smaller and rural counties;
c) It encourages applicants to develop evidence-based,
best practices to serve the target population; and,
d) It addresses the education and training needs of both
individuals with some postsecondary education who can
benefit from services that result in certifications, and
placement on a middle skill career ladder, and individuals
who require basic education and training to obtain entry
level jobs. (Pen. Code § 1234.2.)
This bill would revise the criteria described above to allow
applicants to address either the education and training needs of
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individuals with some postsecondary education, or individuals
who require basic education and training to obtain entry level
jobs, instead of requiring the applicants to serve both
education needs.
Current law requires the grant program to be competitively
awarded through at least two rounds of funding, as specified,
and provides that each county is eligible to apply but that a
single application may include multiple counties applying
jointly. Requires each application to include a partnership
agreement between the county, or counties, and one or more local
workforce investment boards that outline the actions each party
agrees to undertake as part of the project proposed in the
application. (Pen. Code, § 1234.3.)
Current law requires, at a minimum, each project proposed in the
application to include a provision for an education and training
assessment for each individual of the supervised population who
participates in the project. (Pen. Code, § 1234.3, subd. (c).)
This bill would authorize the WIB to delegate the responsibility
for determining the sufficiency of a prior assessment to one or
more local workforce investment boards.
Current law provides that eligible uses of grant funds include,
but are not limited to, vocational training, stipends for
trainees, and apprenticeship opportunities for the supervised
population. Current law further states that supportive services
and job readiness activities are to serve as bridge activities
that lead to enrollment in long-term training programs. (Pen.
Code, § 1234.3, subd. (d).)
Current law requires the WIB to report to the Legislature the
outcomes from the grant program, as specified. (Pen. Code, §
1234.4.)
This bill would expand the content of the report to be given to
the Legislature evaluating the Supervised Population Workforce
Training Grant Program to include the following:
1)The education and workforce readiness of the supervised
population at the time individual participants entered the
program and how this impacted the types of services needed and
offered; and
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2) Whether the metrics used to evaluate the individual grants
were sufficiently aligned
with the objectives of the program.
This bill includes uncodified legislative findings and
declarations concerning the importance of job training for
formerly incarcerated persons, as specified.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the
state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care
to its inmate population and the related issue of prison
overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison
overcrowding.
On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to
reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of
design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:
143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of this year the administration reported that as "of
February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed
capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. This current population is now below the
court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(
Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February
10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman
v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
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demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and
Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December
31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,
Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's
consideration of bills that may impact the prison population
therefore will be informed by the following questions:
Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed
to reducing the prison population;
Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy;
Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or
legislative drafting error; and
Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
1.Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
With orders from the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce its
prison population, the state needs smart, effective
policies to help local jurisdictions achieve
realignment goals and reduce recidivism. Workforce
development for the re-entry population is a practical
strategy for improving access to a stable job. It
helps improve offender outcomes, reduce the likelihood
of recidivism, and promote community safety and
stability. AB 1093 makes key program changes to the
2014 bill [AB 2060 (V. Manuel Perez)].
2.Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant Program
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The WIB is the body responsible for assisting the Governor in
the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of
California's workforce investment system and the alignment of
the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of
the 21st century economy and workforce. The WIB administers the
Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant Program, a
program to award grant funding for vocational training and
apprenticeship opportunities for offenders under county
jurisdiction who are on probation, mandatory community
supervision, or post-release community supervision. This bill
makes various minor technical changes to the Supervised
Population Workforce Training Grant Program in the WIB.
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