BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2326
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2326 (Bass)
As Amended August 19, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |54-20|(June 2, 2010) |SENATE: |24-6 |(August 25, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Expands the membership and reporting requirements of
the Reentry Advisory Committee (RAC).
The Senate amendments :
1)State that the RAC shall meet at least quarterly and upon the
call of the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) Secretary.
2)Require the CDCR Secretary, in consultation with RAC, to
immediately seek and apply for grant funding available through
the federal Second Chance Act of 2007. If grant funding is
awarded, the CDCR Secretary, in consultation with RAC shall:
a) Develop a comprehensive strategic reentry plan
containing annual and five-year performance goals. This
plan will seek to reduce the recidivism rate by 50% over a
five year period for offenders released from a facility and
served with funds provided under the Second Chance Act.
The outcome measures of the plan must include, but are not
limited to: reduction in crime, increase in employment and
educational opportunities, reduction in supervised release
violations, increase in child support obligation
compliance, reduction in drug and alcohol abuse, increase
in participation in substance abuse and mental health
services, and other outcome measures that correlate
positively with the reentry success rate of offenders who
transition out of prisons, jails or juvenile facilities;
b) Develop a comprehensive strategic reentry plan in
consultation with community members and stakeholders,
including persons in the field of public safety, juvenile
and adult corrections, housing, health, education,
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substance abuse, child and family services, victim
services, employment, and business, and members of
nonprofit organizations working on reentry policy or
providing reentry services; and,
c) Submit an annual report to the Legislature and the
United States Attorney General detailing the progress of
grantees toward achieving strategic performance outcomes
and describing other activities conducted by grantees to
increase the success rates of the reentry population, such
as programs that foster effective risk management and
treatment, offender accountability, and community and
victim participation.
3)Expand the list of stakeholders that must be represented on
the RAC to include a chief probation officer, a victims'
representative, and a district attorney and requires that both
a county public defender and a private defense attorney sit on
the committee, rather than one or the other.
4)Specify that one member of the RAC must be currently providing
either academic or vocational services within a state prison.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill expanded the membership and
reporting requirements of the RAC.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Extends RAC sunset $200 $400*
$400* General
New RAC duties/expansion $34
$77 $77 General
Grant application: CDCR up to $100
up to $200 General
Re-entry plan/grant activities** -----Potentially
substantial costs----- General
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*Annual costs will continue through 2014-15; half-year costs in
2015-16.
**If CDCR receives a federal Second Chance Act grant, the state
will be required to show a 100% match of federal funding in its
activities relates to re-entry, at least 50% of which must be in
cash for the new projects.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "California's prison system
is experiencing a crisis. The issues of reentry and reducing
recidivism have received great national attention as the number
of people released from prison has increased 350% over the last
20 years. In California, 70% of paroled felons re-offend within
18 months of their release date, representing the highest
recidivism rate in the nation. Often, failures within the
system represent the beginning of a never-ending cycle in which
a person remains on probation, violates probation, and then
returns to county jail.
"State law required the CDCR Secretary to establish a RAC to
advise the Secretary on matters related to the successful
planning, implementation, and outcomes of all reentry programs
and services in CDCR, with the goal of reducing recidivism with
a sunset date of January 1, 2011. My bill would impose
additional requirements on the RAC, including that the RAC seek
and apply for funds available under the 2nd Chance Act of 2007,
develop a comprehensive strategic reentry plan seeking to reduce
the recidivism rate, and submit a report to the Legislature;
revises current membership, and extends the repeal date on these
provisions until January 1, 2016.
"The Second Chance Act funds will go to the development of adult
and juvenile offender state and local reentry demonstration
projects. The funds will enable states and communities to test
evidence based approaches to reducing recidivism and addressing
the alarming recidivism rates nationwide. The maximum grant
award is $750,000 per year for possibly three years, depending
upon the availability of funds. The federal government will
fund no more than 50% of a project, for a maximum of a $1.5
million project. Grantees need to come up with $750,000 (or
more if the project costs more than $1.5). Of that, at least
$375,000 must be cash and $375,000 may be in-kind. The
availability of these resources will be immensely helpful in the
event we look to expand or create these types of much needed
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programs. This makes the notion of accessing these funds in a
comprehensive fashion all the more critical.
"In 1990, California's Blue Ribbon Commission on Inmate
Population Management indicated that the prison system
compromises public safety by relying so heavily on punishment
and recommends drug treatment and work programs for parolees.
Decades later we continue to employ the same ineffective
practices. California must combat the culture which dictates
that incarceration is for purposes of punishment as opposed to
rehabilitation. The delivery of reentry services and options as
of late have typically been provided sporadically or solely at
the local level resulting in modest improvements in our
recidivism rates at best. The Second Chance Act calls for
collaboration between key stakeholders, service providers, and
community based organizations affording California the
opportunity for more effective formal collaboration and a shift
from business as usual. The Act contains a number of allowable
uses of funds some of which include services such as prerelease
planning and coordination, substance abuse and mental health
treatment, housing, and job training. These types of
transitional assistance are direly needed if we expect for
former offenders to be successfully reintegrated back into our
communities.
"It is my belief that partnerships between community-based
organizations, law enforcement agencies and service providers in
collaboration with CDCR will provide the necessary tools to
combat California's recidivism rates while increase the
communication between law enforcement, community members, and
ex-offenders.
"Breaking the cycle of recidivism eases the burden on
California's taxpayers and increases the public safety of its
people. This bill addresses the need to end this cycle and a
means of doing so."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Milena Nelson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
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