BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1013 Hearing Date: April 19, 2016
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|Author: |Beall |
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|Version: |April 7, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|JM |
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Subject: Mentally Ill Parolees: Housing
HISTORY
Source: Coalition for Supportive Housing
Prior Legislation:SB 1021 (Comm. on Budget) - Ch. 41, Stats.
2012
Support: California Attorneys for Criminal Justice; California
Catholic Conference; Disability Rights California;
County Behavioral Health Directors
Opposition:None known
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require service providers in the
Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) program to
provide parolee participants with adequate housing and related
assistance, including a path to permanent housing and
independent living, as part of the Supportive Housing Program
for Mentally Ill Prisoners.
Existing law authorizes California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to obtain day treatment, and contract for
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crisis care for parolees with mental health problems. "Day
treatment and crisis care services should be designed to reduce
parolee recidivism." CDCR shall work with counties to extend
mental health services to former parolees who need such
services. (Pen. Code § 3073.)
Existing law defines a "serious mental disorder" as a "disorder
that is severe in degree and persistent in duration, which may
cause behavioral functioning which interferes substantially with
the primary activities of daily living, and which may result in
an inability to maintain stable adjustment and independent
functioning without treatment, support, and rehabilitation for a
long or indefinite period of time. Serious mental disorders
include, but are not limited to, schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as major
affective disorders or other severely disabling mental
disorders. (Welf. & Inst. Code § 5600.3, subd. (b).)
Existing law provides that in the Integrated Supportive Housing
Program for Mentally Ill Parolees CDCR shall, with designated
funds, provide supportive housing services for parolees with
serious mental parolee disorders who are at risk of becoming
homeless. (Pen. Code § 2985-2985.5.)
Existing law provides that an eligible inmate or parolee shall
have a serious mental disorder, as defined, and a history of
mental health treatment in the prison system. He or she must
either be a homeless parolee or an inmate pending release who is
likely to be homeless upon release and voluntarily participate.
(Pen. Code § 2985.2, subd. (b).)
Existing law requires a service provider offer services for
parolees to maintain health and housing stability and comply
with parole conditions; and providers shall augment services to
other parolees. Services for parolees must include:
Case management;
Parole discharge planning;
Housing location and, if necessary, move-in cost
assistance;
Rental subsidies;
Linkage to vocational education and employment services;
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Transportation assistance to obtain services and
healthcare;
Assistance in obtaining identification; and
Assistance in entitlement applications and appeals (Pen.
Code § 2985.3)
Existing law requires that for eligible inmates pending release,
the provider shall collaborate with a participant's parole agent
and case manager or intake coordinator, as specified, to do the
following:
Receive prelease assessments and discharge plan.
Draft plan for housing to meet the parolee's needs and
resources, including support services and path to permanent
housing.
Engage the parolee to actively participate in services.
Assist him or her to obtain identification and benefits.
(Pen. Code § 2985.3, subd. (b).)
Existing law requires the service provider to do the following
to facilitate the parolees transition into the community to do
the following:
At least quarterly, assess a participant's needs and
include in the assessment a plan for permanent housing
after parole.
Transition participants from CDCR rental assistance into
mainstream rental assistance, such as specified federal
programs, if necessary for the parolee to remain in stable
housing.
Include in the parole discharge plan the need for
linkage to county mental health services and housing
services supported by specified legislation and other
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funding sources for permanent housing for permanent housing
for the mentally ill. (Pen. Code § 2985.3, subd. (c).
Existing law requires providers to identify and locate
supportive housing and transitional housing for participants
before release or as soon as possible upon release. (Pen.
Code § 2985.4.)
Existing law requires providers to report to CDCR as follows:
Number of participants served and types of services
provided.
Outcomes, including those who graduated to independent
living, remain in permanent housing left the program and
returned to prison. (Pen. Code § 2985.5, subd. (a).)
Existing law directs CDCR to analyze costs in comparison to
savings in reduced recidivism from the supportive housing
program, excluding federal funds. CDCR shall report this
material annually. (Pen. Code § 2985.5, subd. (c).)
This bill includes the following statements of legislative
intent:
Strengthen the ISMIP program to ensure that CDCR
promotes evidence-based wraparound services, including
adequate rental subsidies for mentally ill parolees to
obtain and keep stable housing, thereby decreasing
recidivism.
Provide that CDCR contracts in the ISMIP program require
providers to target resources to parolees who are homeless
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or at risk of becoming homeless. Contracts shall emphasize
housing needs over other services, including day center
services. Providers shall use a substantial proportion of
contract funds for housing support and services.
This bill would require a service provider in the program for
mentally ill parolees to demonstrate an existing relationship
with a supportive housing provider.
This bill would specify that a parolee participant is not
required to receive other services as a condition of eligibility
to receive rental assistance through the program.
This bill would require a service provider to offer rental
subsidies that are equal to or greater than fair market rent, as
defined.
This bill would also prohibit the department or a service
provider from limiting the duration that a program participant
may receive rental assistance through the program, except by the
length of the person's parole.
This bill would require a service provider to identify and
locate supportive housing opportunities no later than 9 months
after the program participant has agreed to participate in the
program. The bill would require that the housing located
provide the program participant with a lease where he or she has
all of the rights and responsibilities of tenancy.
This bill would require a service provider to use a portion of
the program payments received to provide interim housing, as
defined.
This bill would also require a service provider to report to the
department the percentage of program participants currently
living in permanent housing and the number who are arrested and
residing in county jail.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
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For the past several 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 December of 2015 the administration reported that as "of
December 9, 2015, 112,510 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.0% of design bed
capacity, and 5,264 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. The current population is 1,212 inmates below the
final court-ordered population benchmark of 137.5% of design bed
capacity, and has been under that benchmark since February
2015." (Defendants' December 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).) One
year ago, 115,826 inmates were housed in the State's 34 adult
institutions, which amounted to 140.0% of design bed capacity,
and 8,864 inmates were housed in out-of-state facilities.
(Defendants' December 2014 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 must stabilize these advances and
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
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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. Need for This Bill
Established in the 2009-10 budget, ISMIP was intended
to support holistic, intensive case
management-including food, clothing, shelter, and
treatment-for a population that faces high risk of
recidivism. Mentally ill parolees often struggle to
manage their conditions and meet the terms of their
parole when they lack stable housing and easy access
to services. One of the goals stated in the language
authorizing ISMIP was to fund housing for these
parolees, and to support the integration of services
with housing when possible.
In spite of these goals, only eight percent of ISMIP
program funds are currently being spent on housing
program participants. That relatively low proportion
indicates that providers are either not prioritizing
this need or not targeting homeless parolees
specifically.
CDCR's implementation of ISMIP thus far has focused
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more on funding day treatment. Day treatment provides
services at a center that parolees must travel to
visit, which increases the difficulty of accessing
necessary services for people whose mental illness and
limited resources may preclude them from easily using
public transportation. These services can also be
expensive - perhaps as much as $10,000 per person per
year more than similar treatment and service provision
programs implemented under Proposition 63.
Additionally, providers may be using ISMIP funds to
pay for services that are now eligible for federal
reimbursement.
SB 1013 clarifies in statute that ISMIP should
continue to provide the full suite of necessary
services to mentally ill parolees, including housing
services; leverage other fund sources for services
when possible; and utilize evidence-based approaches
to treatment.
2. Mental Illness among California Prisoners and Parolees
- Research on the
Importance of Stable Housing
A 2007 article in the Journal of Contemporary Health Law and
Policy<1> detailed the pervasive and difficult issues concerning
mentally ill inmates and parolees in California. Since the
article was published, the California Prison Healthcare
Correctional Healthcare Services has overseen the expenditure of
hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with federal court
orders to reform the prison healthcare system, including serious
problems with mental health treatment.
Thousands of people with mental illness are currently
serving terms in California prisons. These
individuals receive inadequate medical and psychiatric
care, serve longer terms than the average inmate, and
are released without adequate preparation and support
for their return to society. As a result, mentally
ill offenders are more likely than general-population
offenders to violate parole and return to prison.
----------------------
<1>
http://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&conte
xt=jchlp
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The article recommended wraparound services for mentally ill
parolees upon release from prison. The ISMIP and this bill
appear to implement or require these recommendations:
If intake diagnoses prisoners' mental illnesses and
the prison sentence treats them, release should
prepare prisoners to treat their condition outside
prison and, one hopes, avoid further incarceration.
Recidivism can be reduced if re-entry is planned, if
intervention is frontloaded, and if parole officers
embrace the harm reduction principle (a
public-health-oriented rather than
criminal-justice-oriented approach to dealing with
parole infractions). Investments in release programs
should ultimately generate a virtuous cycle; when
prisoner recidivism decreases, more resources are
freed for treatment within the prison system and
within non-penal mental health institutions.
The most effective post-release programs follow the
integrated services model, concentrating on the period
immediately following release and coordinating
multiple services such as mental health, parole,
therapeutic treatment for drug and alcohol addiction,
housing, and employment."' For example, prisoners
about to be released should have an adequate supply of
medication (at least seventy-two hours' worth), some
form of housing, and contacts with a coordinated team
of correctional and social services staff.
Such efforts will aid the recently-released prisoners
as they enter parole, seek permanent housing, pursue
job training and employment, enroll in drug and
alcohol abuse counseling, and receive restored
government benefits such as Temporary Aid to Needy
Families, Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Social Security, and
State and Social Security Disability Insurance
The article then specifically addressed positive outcomes that
resulted from providing the mentally ill, including former
inmates, with stable housing. The article described the
programs implemented through AB 2034 (Steinberg) Ch. 518 Stats.
2000. That bill continued an earlier pilot project to provide
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grants to counties and cities for mental health treatment of the
homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless or incarcerated.
Stable housing was shown to substantially reduce recidivism:
Over three years, participants in AB 2034 pilot
programs reduced days spent in incarceration by 72.1%
and the number of incarcerations by 45.9%.187
Participants' ability to secure housing was a
foundation for successful treatment. What has become
apparent to most providers and stakeholders is the
therapeutic significance of having a stable place to
live, and the foundation this provides for individuals'
ability and desire to make progress in other aspects of
their lives. (Internal quotation marks and citations
have been omitted in the material quoted from the
article.)
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