BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1110|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1110
Author: Hancock (D), et al.
Amended: 5/31/16
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 6-1, 4/19/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the establishment of three pilot
projects for the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in
which a law enforcement officer takes a low-level drug seller or
possessor, or a prostitution offender, for evaluation for a
program of harm-reduction services that bypass the court system
in that matter, as specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1) Includes deferred entry of judgment (DEJ) and true diversion
programs for rehabilitation and treatment of drug offenders.
(Pen. Code §§ 1000 and 1000.5.)
a) In DEJ, a defendant determined by the prosecutor to be
eligible for DEJ must plead guilty to the underlying drug
possession charge. The court then defers entry of judgment
and places the defendant in a rehabilitation and education
program. If he or she successfully completes the program,
the guilty plea is withdrawn and the arrest is deemed to
have not occurred. If the defendant fails in the program,
the court immediately imposes judgment and sentences the
defendant.
b) In true diversion, the criminal charges against an
eligible defendant are set aside and the defendant is
placed in a rehabilitation and education program
treatment. If the defendants successfully complete the
program, the arrest is dismissed and deemed to not have
occurred. If the defendant fails in the program, criminal
charges are reinstated.
2) Includes the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act
(Proposition 36 of the 2000 General Election.) Defendants
convicted of a non-violent drug possession offense must be
offered treatment on probation without incarceration, if not
disqualified by prior violent or serious felony convictions,
commission of a non-drug offense or a history establishing
that he or she is no amenable to treatment. (Pen. Code §
1210 and 1210.1.)
3) Includes a limited number of pre-trial diversion programs for
non-drug offenses. In these programs, criminal charges are
reinstated if the defendant fails in the program.
a) Misdemeanor diversion, excluding driving under the
influence, crimes requiring registration as a sex
offender, crimes involving violence, as specified. (Pen.
Code §§ 1001, 1001.50-1001.55.)
b) Bad check diversion. (Pen. Code §1001.60.)
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4) Defines misdemeanor diversion thus: "[P]retrial diversion
refers to the procedure of postponing prosecution of an
offense filed as a misdemeanor either temporarily or
permanently at any point in the judicial process from the
point at which the accused is charged until adjudication."
(Pen. Code § 1001.1.)
5) Excludes specified driving under the influence offenses from
pretrial diversion eligibility. (Pen. Code § 1001.2, subd.
(a).)
6) Provides that the district attorney of each county shall
review annually any diversion program adopted by the county.
The district attorney must approve the program and each
participant. (Pen. Code § 1001.2, subd. (b).)
This bill:
1) States that a LEAD program shall be consistent with the
following principles:
a) Intensive case management.
b) Priority for housing with supportive services, without
preconditions of abstinence from alcohol or drugs.
c) Coordination of human services and law enforcement in a
manner to improve community safety and individual
outcomes.
d) Participation in a LEAD program is voluntary and is
not conditioned on abstinence from alcohol or drugs.
2) Provides that the Board of State and Community Corrections
(board) shall set funding schedules and procedures for
awarding competitive grants to applicants in three
jurisdictions. Applications should include:
a) A clear understanding of LEAD and the willingness and
ability to implement the program.
b) Local partners for the LEAD program that include
balanced participation from law enforcement, a
prosecutor's office, defense counsel, public health and
social service entities and other entities integral to a
successful LEAD program.
c) Capacity and commitment to coordinate decisions and
actions of LEAD partners
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3) Requires LEAD programs to collect and maintain data, as
specified.
4) Provides that a LEAD program shall include the following:
a) Prebooking referral by law enforcement of a potential
participant to a case manager to be screened for crisis
services and a full LEAD assessment.
b) Participation shall be voluntary.
c) Criminal charges will not be filed for a LEAD
participant for the offense or conduct for which a person
was referred to LEAD, provided that the person completes a
complete assessment within 30 days.
5) Provides that LEAD officers may refer a person for LEAD
through social contact, not because of the commission of a
criminal offense. The social contact participant must meet
qualifications and the program may accept the person if the
program has resources not needed for prebooking
participants.
6) Provides that social contacts referrals shall include law
enforcement verification of the person's prior involvement in
eligible drug and prostitution offenses within the LEAD area.
Social contact participants must meet other specified
criteria, including that the person does not have a pending
criminal case or be subject to a restraining order.
7) Provides that the following offenses are eligible for LEAD
referral:
a) Sale or transfer, or possession for sale or transfer,
of a controlled substances where the sale or transfer is
intended to provide subsistence living or to allow the
person to obtain drugs for his or her own consumption.
b) Possession of a controlled substance or other
prohibited substance.
c) Being under the influence of a controlled substance,
other prohibited drug or alcohol.
8) Provides that LEAD services may include case management,
housing, medical and mental health care, drug and alcohol
abuse treatment, nutritional counseling, education,
employment training and "civil legal system navigations.
9) Specifies that LEAD funding may support the following:
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a) Project management and community engagement.
b) Temporary services and treatment necessary to stabilize
the participant's life, including housing.
c) Civil legal services for participants.
d) Dedicated law enforcement and prosecutorial resources,
as specified.
e) Training and technical services from LEAD experts.
f) Data collection.
10)Provides that the board shall contract with a non-profit
research entity to evaluate the effectiveness of the program,
including comparing outcomes of LEAD and non-LEAD cases,
cost-benefit analysis, recidivism and specified other
measures. The report shall be submitted by January 1, 2020,
as specified.
11)Authorizes the board to contract with LEAD experts and cap
board administrative expenses at 5%
12)Sunsets the grant program as of January 1, 2020.
Background
According to the author:
In 2011, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) was
developed and launched in Seattle, Washington. The
program was a new harm-reduction oriented process for
responding to low-level offenses such as drug
possession, sales and prostitution. It was the result
of an unprecedented collaboration between police,
prosecutors, civil rights advocates, public defenders,
political leaders, mental health and drug treatment
providers, housing providers, other service agencies
and business and neighborhood leaders.
In a LEAD program, police officers exercise
discretionary authority at point of contact to divert
individuals to a community-based, harm-reduction
intervention. When officers encounter individuals who
have violated the law due to unmet behavioral health
needs, the officers refer the individuals to a
trauma-informed intensive case management program. In
lieu of the normal criminal justice system cycle -
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booking, detention, prosecution, conviction and
incarceration - the case management program provides a
wide range of support services for the individual,
often including transitional and permanent housing
and/or drug treatment.
After three years of operation in Seattle, a 2015
independent, non-randomized controlled outcome study
by the University of Washington found that LEAD
participants were 58% less likely to be arrested after
enrollment in the program compared to a control group
that went through the usual criminal justice
processing. With significant reductions in recidivism,
LEAD functions as a public safety program that has the
potential to decrease the number of those arrested as
well as improve the health and well-being of
participants.
This bill would approve three jurisdictions for the
establishment of a LEAD pilot program. This bill
would also require the LEAD pilot programs to
authorize designated officers to take a person for
whom the officer has probable cause for arrest for
specified controlled substances offenses, including
possession of a controlled substance or other
prohibited substance, or prostitution to treatment
programs and services in lieu of arrest.
It is sometimes stated that LEAD referrals are made at the time
of arrest. In an interaction that is not social, it appears
that the officer would detain, not formally arrest, a potential
participant. The person would then essentially have the option
to either accept referral for LEAD or submit to arrest and
prosecution. If the person refuses referral or does not qualify
for LEAD after screening, the arrest would formally occur and
the person would be booked and prosecuted.
The core of the LEAD program is case management. A LEAD officer
brings the participant to a social services case manager. The
case manager determines the best program for the participant.
Social workers involved in the program can maintain direct
contact with participants in the community or at appointments.
The core goals of LEAD are harm reduction and housing stability.
The participant can engage in treatment, but ongoing treatment
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is not a condition of participation. As noted above, once the
participant is accepted into LEAD, there will be no prosecution
of the underlying offense.
A very detailed description of how LEAD was created and
implemented in Seattle can be found in the University of
Washington evaluations. The link to the evaluations pages of
the Seattle LEAD Web site is the following:
http://leadkingcounty.org/lead-evaluation/.
The University of Washing evaluation of the Seattle LEAD program
sets out findings from a quantitative analysis comparing
outcomes for LEAD participants versus "system-as-usual" control
participants on criminal justice and legal system utilization
(i.e., jail, prison, prosecution, and defense) and associated
costs. Findings include:
The cost of the LEAD program averaged $899 per person per
month. However, these costs included program start-up and
decreased to $532 per month towards the end of the evaluation.
Across nearly all outcomes, we observed statistically
significant reductions for the LEAD group compared to the
control group on average yearly criminal justice and legal
system utilization and associated costs.
o Jail bookings: Compared to the control group, LEAD
program participants had 1.4 fewer jail bookings on average
per year subsequent to their evaluation entry.
o Jail days: Compared to the control group, the LEAD group
spent 39 fewer days in jail per year subsequent to their
evaluation entry.
o Prison incarceration: Compared to the control group, the
LEAD group had 87% lower odds of at least one prison
incarceration subsequent to evaluation entry.
o Misdemeanor and felony cases: There were no
statistically significant LEAD effects on the average
yearly number of misdemeanor cases. Compared to control
participants, however, LEAD participants showed significant
reductions in felony cases.
o Costs associated with criminal justice and legal system
utilization: From pre- to post-evaluation entry, LEAD
participants showed substantial cost reductions (-$2100),
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whereas control participants showed cost increases
(+$5961).
Interpretation of findings:
o LEAD program costs were commensurate with another
supportive program for homeless individuals in King County.
It should be noted that LEAD program costs LEAD Evaluation:
Utilization and Cost Report 6/24/15 UW LEAD Evaluation Team
3 will vary widely across communities depending on LEAD
participant characteristics (e.g., prevalence of
homelessness) and community factors (e.g., cost of living,
Medicaid coverage).
o Compared to system-as-usual controls, LEAD participants
evinced meaningful and statistically significant reductions
in criminal justice and legal system utilization and
associated costs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
BSCC: One-time costs of approximately $65,000 (General Fund)
to support activities related to the review and approval of
applications for pilot participation.
Local agencies: Major costs potentially in excess of $7
million (Local Funds/General Fund/General Fund*) annually for
three years (total costs of $21 million) to provide the
necessary treatment, services, and collaborative case
management activities for three counties. The pilot program is
limited to three jurisdictions.
CSEC program: Potential increase in Commercially Sexually
Exploited Children program costs (General Fund**) for
services, treatment, and case management activities for
juvenile LEAD program participants that otherwise may have
been charged with the specified prostitution offense. Costs
would be dependent on the specific counties approved for the
pilot, the number of LEAD participants in each county, and the
existing infrastructure and service capacity available to
serve LEAD participants in these counties.
Medi-Cal services: Potentially significant increase in
Medi-Cal program costs (Federal Fund/General Fund) for greater
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provision of alcohol/substance abuse treatment and mental
health services to LEAD participants.
Criminal justice system: Potentially major future cost
savings in the millions of dollars (General Fund/Local Funds)
to numerous state and local agencies, including but not
limited to the courts, state prisons, local correctional
facilities, law enforcement agencies, and human services
agencies to the extent LEAD participation results in reduced
recidivism of LEAD participants.
Proposition 47: Staff notes the funds to be disbursed
annually to the board under the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Act (65 percent of Proposition 47 calculated savings) for
mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and
diversion programs for people in the criminal justice system,
with emphasis on programs that reduce recidivism of people
convicted of less serious crimes may potentially be used for
the purposes specified in this bill.
* Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund (annual transfer from the
General Fund)
**Proposition 30 General Fund
SUPPORT: (Verified5/31/16)
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California
Crime Victims United of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/31/16)
California District Attorneys Association
Prepared by:Jerome McGuire / PUB. S. /
5/31/16 21:52:02
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