BILL NUMBER: SB 1121	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hancock

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2012

   An act to amend Section 3020 of the Penal Code, relating to
inmates.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1121, as introduced, Hancock. Inmates: assessments.
   Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to conduct assessments of all inmates that include,
but are not limited to, data regarding the inmate's history of
substance abuse, medical and mental health, education, family
background, criminal activity, and social functioning. Existing law
requires these assessments to be used to place inmates in programs
that will aid reentry to society and will most likely reduce the
inmate's chances of reoffending.
   This bill would require that credentialed teachers, with input
from the staff of the institution that has custody of the inmate, use
these assessments to assign to, place within, or remove from
academic or vocational educational programs operated by the
department an inmate who does not have a high school diploma or a
GED, who lacks vocational skills, or whose assessments indicate that
he or she has identified academic deficits. The bill would also
require that placement and assignment efforts permit the dual
placement of an inmate in work assignments and in academic or
vocational programs.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3020 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   3020.  The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall
conduct assessments of all inmates that include, but are not limited
to, data regarding the inmate's history of substance abuse, medical
and mental health, education, family background, criminal activity,
and social functioning. The assessments shall be used to place
 inmates   an inmate  in programs that will
aid in  their   his or her reentry to
society and that will most likely reduce the inmate's chances of
reoffending.  Credentialed teachers, with input from the staff of
the institution that has custody of the inmate, shall use these
assessments to assign to, place within, or remove from academic or
vocational educational programs operated by the department an inmate
who does not have a high school diploma or a GED, who lacks
vocational skills, or who whose assessments indicate that he or she
has identified academic deficits. Placement and assignment efforts
shall permit the dual placement of an inmate in work assignments and
in academic or vocational programs.