BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
151 (Ducheny)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: As introduced
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Public Safety
7-0
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: SB 151 requires the Judicial Council to develop a
pilot program for up to 10 parole reentry courts for parolees
who would benefit from community drug treatment or mental health
treatment. The program would use key components used by drug and
collaborative courts using a highly structured model, including
close supervision by a judicial officer, dedicated calendars,
non-adversarial proceedings, frequent drug and alcohol testing,
and close collaboration between CDCR, the courts, and treatment
programs. These reentry courts would supervise specified
parolees who would otherwise be subject to parole revocation.
This bill requires the Judicial Council to submit a preliminary
program plan to the Governor and Legislature by March 1, 2010.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Programs' operating costs $1,300
$1,300 - 13,000* General
Program evaluation and reports $800
$800 General
Facilities Potentially significant, depending on program
design and participation
* This bill specifies "up to 10 court-based reentry programs" at
a cost of $1,300,000 each.
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE
This bill contains substantial upfront costs, which will vary
depending upon the number of pilot programs established (the
bill allows up to 10) and the number of participants in each
program. The Judicial Council estimates its operating costs to
be $1.3 million per program based on 2,000-3,000 participants
per program. Because this bill provides that the Judicial
Council will create the pilot programs, the operations cost will
be determined in large part by the number of participants, and
level of services and court supervision afforded them. The LAO
has estimated that similar programs such as drug courts,
typically cost about $10,000 per offender.
Judicial Council estimates incurring $1.9 million ongoing
facilities costs, based on 2,000-3,000 participants per site.
These costs will vary by program based on actual participation
and the location, if space is leased. The Judicial Council also
estimates $800,000 cost for ongoing evaluation and reports,
which will vary based on the criteria for the reports (that must
still be developed), and the number of programs.
To the degree that the program is successful, there may be
substantial future savings by avoiding cost of incarceration for
parole violations, as well as long term recidivism.
Page 2
SB 151 (Ducheny)
While many variables remain for the specific program to be
authorized by this bill, the author suggests the following
possible savings:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Trial Court Parolee Diversion Pilot |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Key Assumptions |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Number of Courts |
| 10 |
| |
| |
| |
| Average Caseload |
| 500 |
|parolees |
| |
| |
| Annual Number Served per Court |
| 1,500 |
| parolees |
| |
| |
| Total Number Diverted |
| 15,000 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Diversion Costs |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Average Treatment Program Cost |
|$85 |
| Day |
| |
| |
| Average Day Treatment Program Cost |
| $20 |
| |
| |
| |
| Average Days in Treatment |
| 150 |
| |
| |
| |
| Modality of Treatment Assumption |
| 50 % Day, 50 % Residential |
| |
| Total Cost of Treatment |
| $118,125,000 |
| |
| |
| |
| Court Costs ($2,000 per case) |
| 30,000,000 |
| |
| |
| |
| County Costs ($1,500 per case) |
| 22,500,000 |
| |
| |
| |
| Costs |
| 170,625,000 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Avoided Costs |
|100% |
|50% |
|Program completion rate |
| |
| Prison Costs |
| $ 62 |
| |
| |
| |
| Jail Costs |
| $ 77 |
| |
| |
| |
| Average Prison Days Avoided |
| 90 |
| |
| |
| |
| Average Jail Days Avoided |
| 60 |
| |
| |
| |
| Total Prison Costs Avoided |
| 83,065,500 |
|41,532,750 |
| |
| |
| Total Jail Costs Avoided |
| 69,453,000 |
|34,726,500 |
| |
| |
| Parole Violation Valdivia Costs Avoided ($1,000 per case) |
| 15,000,000 |
|7,500,000 |
| |
| |
| |
| 167,518,500 |
|83,759,250 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These assumptions suggest that a full 10-site pilot could result
in a cost of a low as $3.1 million, but could range as high as
$87 million. There may also be potential savings from a
reduction in long term recidivism (which evidence suggests is
reduced by participation in similar programs), but these
calculations are difficult, as they depend on a number of
factors.