Amended in Assembly August 18, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 23, 2014

Amended in Senate April 7, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1054

Introduced by Senator Steinberg

February 18, 2014

An act to begin delete add Article 4 (commencing with Section 6045) to Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 3 end delete begin insert amend Sections 6032, 6045, 6045.4, and 6045.8 end insert of the Penal Code, relating to mentally ill criminal offenders.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1054, as amended, Steinberg. Mentally ill offender crime reduction grants.

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(1) Existing law establishes, within the Board of State and Community Corrections, the California Juvenile Justice Data Working Group, as provided, and the working group is required, among other things, to recommend a plan for improving specified juvenile justice reporting requirements, including streamlining and consolidating requirements without sacrificing meaningful data collection. The working group is required to submit its recommendations to the board no later than December 31, 2014.

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This bill would extend, to April 30, 2015, the date to submit recommendations.

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(2) Existing law requires the board to administer mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum of timely and effective responses to reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill juvenile and adult offenders. The grants administered by the board are required to be divided between adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants in accordance with the funds appropriated for each type of grant.

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This bill would clarify that the grants be divided equally between adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants.

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(3) Existing law requires an application for a mentally ill offender crime reduction grant to describe a 4-year plan for programs, services, or strategies, and requires the board to award grants that provide funding for 4 years with the proviso that funding beyond the first year of the plan is contingent upon annual appropriations and the availability of funds to support mentally ill offender crime reduction grants beyond the first funding year.

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This bill would delete that proviso and reduce the term of the award grants to funding for 3 years.

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(4) Existing law requires the board to create an evaluation design for adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants that assesses the effectiveness of the program in reducing crime, adult and juvenile offender incarceration and placement levels, early releases due to jail overcrowding, and local criminal and juvenile justice costs. The board is required to annually submit a report to the Legislature based on the evaluation design, commencing October 1, 2015, with a final report due on December 31, 2019.

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This bill would change the due date of the final report to December 31, 2018.

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Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections to collect and maintain available information and data about state and community correctional policies, practices, capacities, and needs, as specified.

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This bill would require the board to administer and award mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum of swift, certain, and graduated responses to reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill juvenile and adult offenders. The bill would require the board to establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 6032 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

6032.  

(a) There is hereby established within the Board of State
and Community Corrections the California Juvenile Justice Data
Working Group. The purpose of the working group is to
recommend options for coordinating and modernizing the juvenile
justice data systems and reports that are developed and maintained
by state and county agencies.

(b) (1) The working group shall include representatives from
each of the following:

(A) The Department of Justice.

(B) The Board of State and Community Corrections.

(C) The Division of Juvenile Justice within the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(D) The Chief Probation Officers of California.

(E) The Judicial Council.

(F) The California State Association of Counties.

(G) Any other representatives that are deemed appropriate by
the board.

(2) Members of the working group shall include persons that
have experience or expertise related to the California juvenile
justice system or the design and implementation of juvenile justice
data systems, or both.

(c) (1) The working group shall analyze the capacities and
limitations of the data systems and networks used to collect and
report state and local juvenile caseload and outcome data. The
analysis shall include all of the following:

(A) A review of the relevant data systems, studies, or models
from California and other states having elements worthy of
replication in California.

(B) Identify changes or upgrades to improve the capacity and
utility of juvenile justice caseload and outcome data in California,
including changes to support the gathering of juvenile justice
outcome and recidivism information, and changes to improve
performance outcome measurements for state-local juvenile justice
grant programs.

(2) No later than January 1, 2016, the working group shall
prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the options for
improving interagency coordination, modernization, and upgrading
of state and local juvenile justice data and information systems.
The report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) The additional collection and reporting responsibilities for
agencies, departments, or providers that would be affected.

(B) Recommendations for the creation of a Web-based statewide
clearinghouse or information center that would make relevant
juvenile justice information on operations, caseloads, dispositions,
and outcomes available in a user-friendly, query-based format for
stakeholders and members of the public.

(C) An assessment of the feasibility of implementing the
responsibilities identified in subparagraph (A) and the
recommendations developed pursuant to subparagraph (B).

(3) The working group shall also recommend a plan for
improving the current juvenile justice reporting requirements of
Section 1961 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and Section
30061 of the Government Code, including streamlining and
consolidating current requirements without sacrificing meaningful
data collection. The working group shall submit its
recommendations to the Board of State and Community Corrections
no later than begin delete December 31, 2014. end delete begin insert April 30, 2015. end insert

(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (c) is inoperative on January 1, 2016, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(2) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision
(c) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 6045 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

6045.  

(a) The Board of State and Community Corrections shall
administer mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a
competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum
of timely and effective responses to reduce crime and criminal
justice costs related to mentally ill offenders. The grants
administered under this article by the board shall be divided begin insert equally end insert
between adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction
grants in accordance with the funds appropriated for each type of
grant. The grants shall support prevention, intervention,
supervision, and incarceration-based services and strategies to
reduce recidivism and to improve outcomes for mentally ill juvenile
and adult offenders.

(b) For purposes of this article, the following terms shall have
the following meanings:

(1) “Board” means the Board of State and Community
Corrections.

(2) “Mentally ill adult offenders” means persons described in
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.

(3) “Mentally ill juvenile offenders” means persons described
in subdivision (a) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 6045.4 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

6045.4.  

(a) The application submitted by a county shall
describe a four-year plan for the programs, services, or strategies
to be provided under the grant. The board shall award grants that
provide funding for begin delete four years with the proviso that funding beyond
the first year of the plan is contingent upon annual appropriations
and the availability of funds to support mentally ill offender crime
reduction grants beyond the first funding year. end delete begin insert three years. end insert Funding
shall be used to supplement, rather than supplant, funding for
existing programs. Funds may be used to fund specialized
alternative custody programs that offer appropriate mental health
treatment and services.

(b) A grant shall not be awarded unless the applicant makes
available resources in accordance with the instructions of the board
in an amount equal to at least 25 percent of the amount of the grant.
Resources may include in-kind contributions from participating
agencies.

(c) In awarding grants, priority or preference shall be given to
those grant applications that include documented match funding
that exceeds 25 percent of the total grant amount.

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begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 6045.8 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

6045.8.  

(a) The board shall create an evaluation design for
adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants that
assesses the effectiveness of the program in reducing crime, adult
and juvenile offender incarceration and placement levels, early
releases due to jail overcrowding, and local criminal and juvenile
justice costs. The evaluation design may include outcome measures
related to the service levels, treatment modes, and stability
measures for juvenile and adult offenders participating in, or
benefitting from, mentally ill offender crime reduction grant
programs or services.

(b) Commencing on October 1, 2015, and annually thereafter,
the board shall submit a report to the Legislature based on the
evaluation design, with a final report due on begin delete December 31, 2019. end delete
begin insert December 31, 2018. end insert

(c) The reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(d) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section shall be repealed as of January 1, 2024.

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SECTION 1.  

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:

(a) A share of the restored mentally ill offender crime reduction
grants, with the enactment of this act, will be dedicated to
improving mental health outcomes for children in the juvenile
justice system.

(b) While California’s youth crime rates are down overall in
California, our courts and juvenile justice facilities are brimming
with children and youth with a broad range of mental health
disorders and unmet treatment needs.

(c) In a 2005 “gap survey” of California probation chiefs, paving
the way for the subsequent realignment of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice
population to local control, the chiefs identified juvenile mental
health cases as the most significant problem and service gap they
faced. In a later study, Chief Probation Officers of California
documented long stays and high costs related to the detention of
juveniles with mental health problems. State and national studies
confirm, again and again, extremely high rates of mental health
disorders among incarcerated youth, with prevalence exceeding
70 percent of juveniles in custody. Data from the Board of State
and Community Corrections in 2013 documents the fact that nearly
half of the daily 8,200 juveniles in custody or on electronic
monitoring in California have “open mental health cases.”

(d) When the mental health needs of young offenders are
ignored, these youth enter a high-risk zone of becoming chronic
adult offenders, committing further crimes, and filling up our
already crowded prisons and jails. This comes at a cost in public
safety, a cost to the probation, court, and corrections agencies who
must then deal expensively with the problem on a long-term basis
at the deep end of our jail and prison systems, and a cost to the
taxpayers.

(e) We know that early intervention in these youth mental health
cases is a key to success. The mentally ill offender crime reduction
grant program investment on the juvenile justice side is an
investment in crime prevention. The juvenile justice share of the
mentally ill offender crime reduction grants will support local
investment in proven best-practices, including early diagnoses,
family and community-based treatment models, specialized mental
health courts, and other collaborative models of intervention that
have proven to be successful. The goal, overall, is to break the link
between mental illness and crime as soon as possible, using
state-of-the-art assessment and intervention strategies. Early
recognition and treatment in these cases is also critical to our goal
of preventing the escalation of youth mental health disorders into
tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that
occurred in 2012.

(f) Modern science tells us that children are developmentally
different from adults. This finding has been embedded in decisions
of the United States Supreme Court in recent years, placing limits
on the death penalty and other punishments imposed on children.
In the foster care sector, important cases like the Katie A. litigation
recognize the need for more effective strategies and collaborative
efforts to address the mental health needs of children without
homes of their own.

(g) The good news is that science and evidence-based studies
point the way to interventions that can stop the cycle of mental
illness and crime early in these young lives. The new mentally ill
offender crime reduction grants will prioritize funding for local
assessments and interventions that promise to produce better youth
outcomes, to lower youth recidivism rates, and to reduce system
workloads and costs that result from failing to address the problem.

(h) Research indicates that a continuum of responses for
mentally ill offenders that includes prevention, intervention, and
incarceration can reduce crime, jail overcrowding, and criminal
justice costs.

(i) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that grants be
provided to counties that develop and implement a comprehensive,
cost-effective plan to reduce the rate of crime and offenses
committed by persons with serious mental illness and reduce jail
overcrowding and local criminal justice costs related to mentally
ill offenders.

SEC. 2.  

Article 4 (commencing with Section 6045) is added
to Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:

 

Article 4.  Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grants

 

6045.  

The Board of State and Community Corrections shall
administer and award mentally ill offender crime reduction grants
on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a
continuum of swift, certain, and graduated responses to reduce
crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill offenders,
as defined in subdivision (a), paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), and
subdivision (c) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.

6045.2.  

(a) To be eligible for a grant, a county shall establish
a strategy committee that shall include, at a minimum, the sheriff
or director of the county department of corrections in a county in
which the sheriff is not in charge of administering the county jail
system, who shall chair the committee, representatives from other
local law enforcement agencies, the chief probation officer, the
county mental health director, a superior court judge, a former
client of a mental health treatment facility, and representatives
from organizations that can provide, or have provided, treatment
or stability, including income, housing, and caretaking, for persons
with mental illnesses.

(b) The committee shall develop a comprehensive plan for
providing a cost-effective continuum of graduated responses,
including prevention, intervention, and incarceration, for mentally
ill offenders. Strategies for prevention and intervention shall
include, but are not limited to, both of the following:

(1) Mental health or substance abuse treatment for mentally ill
offenders who have been released from law enforcement custody.

(2) The establishment of long-term stability for mentally ill
offenders who have been released from law enforcement custody,
including a stable source of income, a safe and decent residence,
and a conservator or caretaker.

(c) The plan shall include the identification of specific outcome
and performance measures and a plan for annual reporting that
will allow the Board of State and Community Corrections to
evaluate, at a minimum, the effectiveness of the strategies in
reducing crime and offenses committed by mentally ill offenders
and the criminal justice costs related to mentally ill offenders.

6045.4.  

The Board of State and Community Corrections shall
award grants that provide funding for four years. Funding shall be
used to supplement, rather than supplant, funding for existing
programs. The funds may be used to fund specialized alternative
custody programs that offer appropriate mental health treatment
and services. A grant shall not be awarded unless the applicant
makes available resources in an amount equal to at least 25 percent
of the amount of the grant. Resources may include in-kind
contributions from participating agencies. In awarding grants,
priority shall be given to those proposals that include additional
funding that exceeds 25 percent of the amount of the grant.

6045.6.  

The Board of State and Community Corrections shall
establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures
for awarding grants, which shall take into consideration, but not
be limited to, all of the following:

(a) Percentage of the jail population with severe mental illness.

(b) Demonstrated ability to administer the program.

(c) Demonstrated ability to develop effective responses to
provide treatment and stability for persons with severe mental
illness.

(d) Demonstrated history of maximizing federal, state, local,
and private funding sources.

(e) Likelihood that the program will continue to operate after
state grant funding ends.

6045.8.  

(a) The Board of State and Community Corrections
shall create an evaluation design for mentally ill offender crime
reduction grants that will assess the effectiveness of the program
in reducing crime, the number of early releases due to jail
overcrowding, and local criminal justice costs.

(b) Commencing on June 30, 2015, and annually thereafter, the
board shall submit a report to the Legislature based on the
evaluation design, with a final report due on December 31, 2019.

(c) The reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(d) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed as of January 1, 2024.

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