BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 210 (Hancock)
Hearing Date: 01/17/2012 Amended: 01/04/2012
Consultant: Jolie Onodera Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 210 would broaden the eligibility criteria for
the Community Prisoner Mother Program (CPMP) community treatment
program to allow participation by a female offender who has been
convicted of planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, or
processing marijuana or possession for sale of marijuana, as
specified.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Fund
CPMP expansion $25-$63* $100-$175* $150-$225*General
Potential future cost savings General
Renew CPMP contracts Potential annual costs of
$800-$1,600General
offset in part by reduced incarceration
*Assumes CPMPs continue to be funded in the CDCR budget
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to
the Suspense File.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish and implement a community
treatment program under which a woman sentenced to state prison
may be eligible for the program subject to specified eligibility
requirements. The CPMP is a community treatment program that
allows eligible women
sentenced to state prison and who are pregnant or have one or
more children under the age of six to participate together in a
community-based facility. To be eligible, a woman must have been
the primary caretaker of the child(ren) prior to incarceration
and not have been found to be an unfit parent. Further, she must
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be sentenced to a maximum of six years (calculated after
deduction of any possible good time credit).
Under current law, women who have been convicted of the unlawful
sale or possession for sale, manufacture, or transportation of a
controlled substance, if large scale and for profit, are
ineligible to participate in the CPMP. This bill would amend the
eligibility criteria for the program to allow participation by a
female offender who has been convicted of planting, cultivating,
harvesting, drying, or processing marijuana (Health and Safety
(H&S) Code section 11358), or possessing for sale any marijuana
(H&S Code section 11359).
The CPMP total capacity is 47 beds within two facilities, with
32 beds (68 percent) currently filled. The annual cost to
operate the two facilities on a contracted basis is
approximately $1.6 million General Fund. According to the CDCR,
there are approximately 36 offenders who are currently
disqualified from the CPMP due to applicable convictions
involving marijuana, but may otherwise meet the remaining
program eligibility requirements. The average annual cost per
CPMP participant is approximately $33,400. CPMP costs include
programming activities such as assistance in parenting skills,
drug treatment, education, vocational training, and community
reentry. Additional costs include transportation, child care,
and food. In comparison, the average annual marginal cost to
incarcerate an offender is approximately $25,000. As a result,
additional annual costs of approximately $8,400 per inmate could
be incurred for additional offenders in the CPMP in lieu of
incarceration in state prison.
Although an additional 36 inmates would be eligible to be
screened for the program, not all inmates will necessarily apply
for participation and some may ultimately be ineligible due to
their criminal history. As a result, CDCR estimates
approximately six to eight new cases will be enrolled per year.
Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-13 costs (six months) in excess of
incarceration for participation of six additional inmates would
be $25,200. Participation by 15 additional inmates (to reach
capacity of 47) would result in increased FY 2012-13 costs of
approximately $63,000. By the third year of implementation,
additional program costs could range between $150,000 and
$225,000 per year, depending on the level of program
participation.
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Pursuant to Assembly Bill 111 (Chapter 16, Statutes of 2011,
Public Safety Realignment), effective October 1, 2011, sentences
for non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offenses (including H&S
Code sections 11358 and 11359) will be served in county jail
rather than state prison. As a result, notwithstanding the 36
offenders currently in state prison who may be eligible for the
expanded program, there will likely be very few additional
inmates prospectively eligible for the existing and/or expanded
program (unless convicted of a prior serious or violent felony,
or convicted of an exempted felony), as admission to the CPMP
occurs after a woman arrives at a state prison.
Staff notes the CDCR has indicated they will terminate its
contracts with the CPMPs as a result of the projected lack of
inmates eligible to participate in the program. Turning Point in
Bakersfield is scheduled to close on January 31, 2012, and
Prototypes in Pomona is scheduled to close on June 30, 2012. As
a result, contract funding of $1.6 million (approximately
$800,000 per facility) has been removed from the CDCR budget as
proposed in 2012-13. Costs to renew the contracts and continue
CPMP operations to accommodate the existing and expanded
population would result in additional costs of $800,000 to $1.6
million General Fund not currently included in the CDCR proposed
budget. These costs would be offset in part by reduced
incarceration costs, the level of which would depend on program
utilization.
To the extent increased CPMP participation results in
effectively reducing recidivism* leading to more successful
outcomes for this population, the expansion of the program could
result in future cost savings in incarceration, as well as the
provision of health and social services, of an unknown but
potentially significant amount.
*A CDCR Office of Research report on Female Offenders Programs
(2008) indicated that although the CPMP reported a relatively
low recidivism rate (16-25%), the recidivism rate could not be
compared to a control group of female offenders. Therefore, the
report noted the low rate could not definitively be attributed
to participation in the CPMP alone, as female offenders who met
the eligibility requirements but did not participate in the CPMP
could have a comparatively low recidivism rate as well.
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