BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A
2011-2012 Regular Session B
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AB 1387 (Solorio) 7
As Amended May 27, 2011
Hearing date: June 28, 2011
Penal Code
AA:mc
YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS:
REENTRY
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 2200 (Solorio) - 2009-2010 session; held
in Assembly Appropriations
AB 1049 (Solorio) - 2007-2008 session; vetoed
AB 1806 (Committee on Budget) - Chapter 69,
Statutes of 2006
AB 643 (Wesson) - Chapter 829, Statutes of 1999
Support: California YouthBuild Coalition; California Public
Defenders Association; Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children; California Police Chiefs Association
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 58 - Noes 18
KEY ISSUE
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SHOULD A YOUTHFUL OFFENDER REENTRY GRANT PROGRAM UNDER CAL-EMA
BE ENACTED, AS SPECIFIED?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require, to the extent funds are
appropriated for this purpose, the California Emergency
Management Agency to establish a Youthful Offender Reentry grant
program, as specified.
Current law directs the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation Division of Juvenile Facilities to administer the
Juvenile Justice Community Reentry Challenge Grant Program to
award grants on a competitive basis to applicants that
demonstrate a collaborative and comprehensive approach to the
successful community reintegration of juvenile parolees. The
purposes of the program are improving the performance and
cost-effectiveness of post-custodial reentry supervision of
juvenile parolees, reducing the recidivism rates of juvenile
offenders, and piloting innovative reentry programs consistent
with DJJ's focus on a rehabilitative treatment model. (Welfare
and Institutions Code (WIC) � 749.7.)
Current law states that the programs awarded grants through the
Juvenile Justice Community Reentry Challenge Grant Program shall
provide wrap-around services which may include, but are not
limited to, transitional or step-down housing, including, but
not limited to: group homes; occupational development and job
placement; outpatient mental health services; substance abuse
treatment services; education; life skills counseling;
restitution and community service; case management; and,
intermediate sanctions for technical violations of conditions of
parole. (WIC � Section 749.7(b).)
Current law provides that the California Department of
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Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) shall operate the
Preventing Parolee Crime Program with various components
including, at a minimum, residential and non-residential
multi-service centers, literacy laboratories, drug treatment
networks and job placement assistance for parolees. (Penal Code
� 3068(a).)
Current law provides that prisoners on parole shall remain under
the legal custody of CDCR and shall be subject at any time to
being taken back within the enclosure of the prison. (Penal
Code
� 3056.)
Current law provides that the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) has
the power to establish and enforce parole rules and regulations.
(Penal Code � 3052.)
Current law provides that BPH has full power to suspend or
revoke any parole, and to order returned to prison any prisoner
upon parole. (Penal Code � 3060.)
This bill would enact new statutory provisions to require the
California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA), to the extent
funds are appropriated for the purpose of this bill, "to
establish a Youthful Offender Reentry (Cal-YOR) competitive
grant program specifically targeting offenders who will be
between 16 and 23 years of age upon their release from a local
county juvenile facility, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation's Division of Juvenile Facilities, probation, or
parole," with the following features and requirements:
This bill would require grantees to pre-enroll eligible youths
into eligible community programs, as specified.
This bill would provide that priority "shall be given to
programs that have existed for at least one year prior to the
effective date of this section and to those eligible community
programs that have operated at any time in the previous three
years."
This bill would require each grantee to "officially enroll each
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youthful offender into its program no more than 72 hours after
release from a described local or state facility. Participation
of an eligible youth in any eligible community program shall
commence no more than 72 hours after release, parole, or
discharge from a facility operated by the department or the
local entity. Enrollment and participation are subject to the
approval of each program or local entity."
This bill would provide that an "eligible community program"
means, at a minimum, a program that provides all of the
following:
(1) Integrated education and job training services and
activities on an equally divided basis, with 50 percent of
participants' time spent in classroom-based instruction,
counseling, and leadership development instruction, and 50
percent of participants' time spent in experiential job
training.
A. The education component . . . shall include basic skills
instruction, secondary education services, and other
activities designed to lead to the attainment of a high
school diploma or its equivalent. The curriculum for this
component shall include math, language arts, vocational
education, life skills training, social studies related to
the cultural and community history of the participants, and
leadership skills.
B. Bilingual services shall be available for individuals
with limited English proficiency, and an English learning
curriculum shall be provided where feasible and
appropriate.
C. A program shall have a goal of a minimum
teacher-to-student ratio of one teacher for every 18
students.
D. The job training component . . . shall involve work
experience and skills training apprenticeships related to
construction and rehabilitation activities, as specified.
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(2) Assistance in attaining postsecondary education and in
obtaining financial aid shall be made available to participants
prior to graduation from the program.
(3) Counseling services designed to assist participants in
positively participating in society, including all of the
following, as necessary:
(A) Outreach, assessment, and orientation.
(B) Individual and peer counseling.
(C) Life skills training.
(D) Drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention.
(E) Referral to appropriate drug rehabilitation, medical,
mental health, legal, housing, and other community services
and resources. A program shall have a goal of a minimum
counselor-to-participant ratio of one counselor for every
28 participants.
(4) Acquisition, rehabilitation, acquisition and rehabilitation,
or construction of housing and related facilities to be used for
the purpose of providing home ownership for disadvantaged
persons, residential housing for homeless individuals and very
low income families, or transitional housing for persons who are
homeless, ill, deinstitutionalized, or who have disabilities or
special needs.
(5) Leadership development training that provides participants
with meaningful opportunities to develop leadership skills,
including decision making, problem solving, and negotiating. A
program shall encourage participants to develop strong peer
group ties that support their mutual pursuit of skills and
values.
This bill would require that each "eligible community program
shall work cooperatively with local probation and parole offices
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to ensure appropriate oversight of any eligible youth who
enrolls and participates in the program for the duration of the
eligible youth's participation and term of probation or parole.
Eligible community programs shall meet . . ." specified
requirements.
This bill would provide that for purposes of its provisions an
"eligible youth" means a person between 16 and 23 years of age,
who is economically disadvantaged, as defined in Section 12511
of Title 42 of the United States Code, and who is under the
custody and control of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, or a county.
This bill would provide that priority "for enrollment shall be
given to eligible youths whom the department or local entity has
determined to be gang affiliated, or who have an immediate
family member who has been identified as gang affiliated."
This bill would require CalEMA to "maintain statistical
information on the success of this program, including, but not
limited to, the number of eligible youths served and the rate of
return to custody for those eligible youths who enroll and
participate in an eligible community program. This information
shall be provided to the Legislature upon request."
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation.
As these cases have progressed, prison conditions have
continued to be assailed, and the scrutiny of the federal courts
over California's prisons has intensified.
On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years
earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California established a Receivership to take
control of the delivery of medical services to all California
state prisoners confined by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006,
plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a
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court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California
to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design
capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates
-- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its
ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the
decision of the three-judge panel in its entirety, giving
California two years from the date of its ruling to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, subject
to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate
circumstances.
In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, in early
2007 the Senate Committee on Public Safety began holding
legislative proposals which could further exacerbate prison
overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis described above.
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
Currently, nearly 80 percent of youthful offenders
commit new crimes within three years. Most of these
youth lack a high school diploma, do not have job
skills, and have failed to take personal
responsibility for the well-being of their
communities. The reentry program proposed by AB 1387
addresses these core contributors to youthful
delinquency.
2. Existing CalEMA Program
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This bill appears to be virtually identical to the $4 million
California Youthful Offender Reentry (Cal-YOR) Program
administered by the California Emergency Management Agency
(CalEMA) with federal funds from last year. As CalEMA's
November 2010 solicitation memo explained:
The California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA),
Gang Violence Section, is soliciting proposals from
qualified Applicants who can demonstrate the ability
to sustain a program which provides or coordinates the
services necessary to address the needs of, and
positively impact, youthful offenders reentering
society.
There is $2,000,000 in Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
funding and approximately $1,700,000 in Residential
Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) funding available.
Cal EMA intends to fund up to nine (9) projects
through this funding opportunity. The grant period for
this Program will be 24 months, beginning March 1,
2011, and ending February 28, 2013. . . .
Eligible Service Population : Youthful Offenders, aged
16 to 23 years, returning to the community after a
period of confinement or out-of-home placement are the
target population for the California Youthful Offender
Reentry (Cal-YOR) Program. Projects selected to
receive grant funding must serve a population
comprised of at least 75 percent youthful parolees,
and 25 percent youthful probationers under the
jurisdiction of the county or local juvenile court
system.
Eligible Projects : Cal-YOR projects are to be
innovative, collaborative and comprehensive. Projects
must seek to improve youthful offenders' successful
return and reintegration into the community either as
a new parolee or probationer. Priority will be given
to innovative programs with educational activities -
including basic skills instruction and assistance in
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attaining postsecondary education, job training,
counseling services, housing assistance, leadership
development and substance abuse treatment for youthful
offenders to promote successful community
reintegration.
For purposes of this grant Program, a project or an
approach will be considered innovative if it
demonstrates a combination of proven elements or
components; or if it is an expansion or extension of
an evidence-based program or model. Applicants are
required to identify and define the evidence-based or
promising model or approach their program
incorporates, or is based upon, and cite the research
studies indicating the program's or intervention's
effectiveness.
CalEMA explains the following funding for this program:
The Cal-YOR Program is split funded. The first
funding source is provided by the Federal Edward Byrne
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG). The JAG
funds allow states, tribes and local government to
support a broad range of activities to prevent and
control crime based on their own local needs and
conditions through six authorized Program Purpose
Areas (PPAs). The PPA of the Cal-YOR Program is
" Corrections and Community Corrections Programs ".
Each of the nonprofit organizations funded under the
Cal-YOR Program will receive approximately $222,222 in
JAG funds. This amount is an estimate, but should be
used for completion of this proposal.
The second funding source is provided through the
Bureau of Justice Assistance, Residential Substance
Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program. The goal of the RSAT
funds is to break the cycle of drugs and violence by
reducing the demand for, use, and trafficking of
illegal drugs. RSAT enhances the capability of states
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and units of local and tribal government to provide
residential substance abuse treatment for incarcerated
inmates; prepares offenders for their reintegration
into the communities from which they came by
incorporating reentry planning activities into
treatment programs; and assists offenders and their
communities through the reentry process through the
delivery of community-based treatment and other
broad-based aftercare services.
Each of the nonprofit organizations funded under the
Cal-YOR Program will also receive approximately
$189,157 in RSAT funds. This amount is an estimate,
but should be used for completion of this proposal.<1>
Decisions concerning this use of federal funds under current law
are subject to supervision by the California Council on Criminal
Justice. (See Penal Code � 13813.) This bill would appear to
direct state funds to this same program "to the extent funds are
appropriated" for this purpose. Members of the Committee and/or
the author may wish to discuss how the program proposed by this
bill would interact with the current CalEMA program.
HOW WOULD THE PROGRAM THIS BILL PROPOSES INTERACT WITH THE
EXISTING, VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL FEDERALLY-FUNDED CAL-EMA PROGRAM?
3. Background
The Assembly Public Safety Committee analysis of this bill
includes the following information about the program this bill
promotes:
According to the California YouthBuild Coalition ,
"Currently, nearly 80% of youthful offenders commit
new crimes within three years. At a cost of $224,712
per ward, per year to house a youth in the Division of
----------------------
<1>
http://www.oes.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/OESLevsPDF/2010%20Ca
lifornia%20Youthful%20Offender%
20Reentry%20Program%20(Cal-YOR)/$file/Cal-YOR10%20RFP.pdf.
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Juvenile Justice, this is a very serious problem.
Fortunately, young people are uniquely receptive to
reentry programs and studies have shown that access to
education and job training programs can play a
significant role in reducing recidivism rates
especially if enrollment takes place immediately upon
release from incarceration.
Cal-YOR will fund innovative evidence-based programs
to reduce recidivism - the first round of funding was
allocated almost $4 million to community based
organizations throughout the state. In 2007, the
Fresno YouthBuild tested a version of this reentry
program after securing funding from the Juvenile
Justice Challenge Grant, which was a one-time
allocation in the California State Budget overseen by
the Department of Juvenile Justice.
The Fresno program had amazing results. They enrolled
twenty-nine youth who were incarcerated in Department
of Juvenile Justice facilities. Each youth was
recruited while still in custody and upon release they
were immediately transported to the Fresno YouthBuild
program. According to an official DJJ evaluation,
only one of these students committed a new offense .
All 29 youth were employed for some period of their
enrollment. Half of the students achieved a high
school diploma or GED equivalent after less than 12
months in the program. Eight of the youth eventually
enrolled in a community college or university within
the first year. (See Community Reentry Challenge
Grant Program Evaluation Interim Report, Center for
Public Policy Research, University of California,
Davis, March 1, 2009.)
Cal-YOR is based on a national award winning reentry
model developed by YouthBuild USA, a national
coalition of job training programs specializing in
at-risk youth. YB programs have attained an
unparalleled level of success throughout the country.
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A recent national study of 900 participants determined
that after enrollment only 15% committed a
misdemeanor, and 95 committed a felony. The rate of
drug use also plummeted by approximately 70%. AB 1387
would ensure that the Cal-YOR program, as funding is
available, continues its critical role in reducing
crime, offering young men and women a second chance,
and rebuilding communities victimized by crime.
4. State Support for Youthful Offender Programs
As noted above, current law provides for a "Juvenile Justice
Community Reentry Challenge Grant Program" that has been
administered by the Division of Juvenile Justice in CDCR. In
2007, DJJ issued the following description of that program:
The Juvenile Justice Community Reentry Challenge Grant
Program is to be administered by DJJ, in consultation
with the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA), for
the purpose of improving the performance and
cost-effectiveness of post-custodial reentry
supervision of juvenile parolees, reducing the
recidivism rates of juvenile offenders, and piloting
innovative reentry programs consistent with the
division's focus on a rehabilitative treatment model.
As required by AB 1806, the JJCRC Grant Program will
award grants on a competitive basis to applicants that
demonstrate a collaborative and comprehensive approach
to the successful community reintegration of juvenile
parolees and county probationers returning from
commitment or out of home placement, through the
provision of wrap-around services that may include,
but are not limited to the following:
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1. Transitional or step-down housing, including but
not limited to group homes subject to WIC Section
18987.62.
2. Occupational development and job placement.
3. Outpatient mental health services.
4. Substance abuse treatment services.
5. Education.
6. Life skills counseling.
7. Restitution and community service.
8. Case management.
9. Intermediate sanctions for technical violations of
conditions of parole.<2>
In April of 2007 DJJ announced the following grantees under this
program:
Youth Employment Partnership (Oakland)
Sacramento Employment and Training Agency
Phoenix House, Orange County
Prototypes, Center for Innovation (Los Angeles)
California YouthBuild Initiatives (Fresno)<3>
Unlike this bill, which would codify particular program elements
for youthful offenders under post-custodial supervision, the
Community Reentry Challenge Grant Program is constructed to
support a variety of programs and approaches aimed at reducing
recidivism among youthful offenders. Similarly, state funding
that has been available for juvenile offenders pursuant to
AB 1913 (Cardenas) since 2000 has not prescribed particular
programs or approaches for youthful offenders, but rather has
been framed to support a range of strategies adopted locally to
reduce juvenile crime:
---------------------------
<2>
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Juvenile_Justice/Community_Reentry_Challen
ge_Grant_Program/docs/RFP.pdf.
<3>
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Juvenile_Justice/Community_Reentry_Challen
ge_Grant_Program/docs/Awarded GranteesChallengeGrant.pdf
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(A) Juvenile justice plans shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following components:
(i) An assessment of existing law enforcement,
probation, education, mental health, health, social
services, drug and alcohol, and youth services
resources that specifically target at-risk juveniles,
juvenile offenders, and their families.
(ii) An identification and prioritization of the
neighborhoods, schools, and other areas in the
community that face a significant public safety risk
from juvenile crime, such as gang activity, daylight
burglary, late-night robbery, vandalism, truancy,
controlled substances sales, firearm-related violence,
and juvenile substance abuse and alcohol use.
(iii) A local juvenile justice action strategy that
provides for a continuum of responses to juvenile
crime and delinquency and demonstrates a collaborative
and integrated approach for implementing a system of
swift, certain, and graduated responses for at-risk
youth and juvenile offenders.
(iv) Programs identified in clause (iii) that are
proposed to be funded pursuant to this subparagraph,
including the projected amount of funding for each
program.
(B) Programs proposed to be funded shall satisfy
all of the following requirements:
(i) Be based on programs and approaches that have
been demonstrated to be effective in reducing
delinquency and addressing juvenile crime for any
elements of response to juvenile crime and
delinquency, including prevention, intervention,
suppression, and incapacitation.
(ii) Collaborate and integrate services of all the
resources set forth in clause (i) of subparagraph (A),
to the extent appropriate.
(iii) Employ information sharing systems to ensure
that county actions are fully coordinated, and
designed to provide data for measuring the success of
juvenile justice programs and strategies.
(iv) Adopt goals related to the outcome measures
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that shall be used to determine the effectiveness of
the local juvenile justice action strategy.
(Government Code � 300061(b)(4)(A).) (emphasis
added.)
Members of the Committee and the author may wish to discuss how
the approach taken by this bill, to codify a specific strategy
intended to promote improved outcomes among youthful offenders
re-entering the community, compares to the broader approach
described above, where statute describes principles and
outcomes, but does not codify a particular program or approach.
In addition, members may wish to discuss the need for this
measure, and how it might impact future funding for this program
and other programs designed to reduce recidivism and improve
outcomes among youthful offenders.
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