BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1054 (Steinberg) - Mentally ill offender crime reduction
grants.
Amended: April 7, 2014 Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1054 would appropriate $50 million from the
Recidivism Reduction Fund (RRF) in Fiscal Year 2014-15 for use
by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to
administer the Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant
(MIOCRG) Program to provide grants to counties, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time appropriation: $50 million (Special Fund*) in FY
2014-15.
Total costs through 2019 to the BSCC of $2.5 million
(Special Fund*) from the RRF appropriation to establish and
administer the program, provide technical assistance to
counties, develop the evaluation assessment tool, and report
annually to the Legislature.
Significant future General Fund cost pressure to continue
funding the MIOCRG program given one-time availability of
RRF funds.
Unknown, potential significant future cost savings in state
and local criminal justice costs to the extent the services
provided through the grant program successfully reduce crime
and recidivism.
*Recidivism Reduction Fund
Background: In 1998, the MIOCRG program was established through
the enactment of SB 1485 (Rosenthal) Chapter 501/1998. SB 1485
directed the Board of Corrections (BOC) to award and administer
competitive grants to counties supporting the implementation and
evaluation of locally developed demonstration projects including
mental health courts and enhanced community-based mental health
and substance abuse treatment efforts through collaboration
between mental health and criminal justice agencies. Funds
allocated to the MIOCRG program (over $80.5 million) supported
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30 projects in 26 counties. To identify what worked most
effectively in reducing recidivism among mentally ill offenders,
the legislation also required the BOC to conduct a statewide
evaluation of the MIOCRG program.
According to the 2005 evaluation of the MIOCRG program, Mentally
Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant Program: Overview of
Statewide Evaluation Findings (CA Board of Corrections, March
2005):
The analysis of intervention data found that the
individuals receiving the enhanced treatment offered
by the MIOCRG projects, when compared to individuals
receiving treatment as usual, were: 1) more
comprehensively diagnosed and evaluated regarding
their mental functioning and therapeutic needs; 2)
more quickly and reliably provided with services
designed to ameliorate the effects of mental illness;
3) provided with more complete after-jail systems of
care designed to ensure adequate treatment and
support; and 4) monitored more closely to ensure that
additional illegal behavior, mental deterioration, and
other areas of concern were quickly addressed. (p.4)
Criminal Justice Outcomes : The results indicate that
MIOCRG project participants were booked less often,
convicted less often, and convicted of less serious
offenses than individuals receiving treatment as usual
(TAU). In addition, fewer participants served time in
jail and, when they did serve time, they were in jail
for fewer days than were TAU participants. (p.4)
Quality of Life Outcomes : The analysis of data related
to these "quality of life" issues shows that the
MIOCRG projects had a statistically significant,
positive impact on five of the six outcome variables
included in the statewide research. (p.5)
This bill seeks to re-establish the MIOCRG program utilizing
funds from the Recidivism Reduction Fund to provide counties
with additional resources to expand or establish effective
mental health treatment programs for these offenders.
The Recidivism Reduction Fund was created through SB 105
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(Steinberg) Chapter 310/2013, to support programs designed to
reduce the state's prison population, including, but not limited
to, reducing recidivism.
Proposed Law: This bill appropriates $50 million in FY 2014-15
from the RRF to the BSCC to provide MIOCR grants to counties, as
follows:
Requires the BSCC to administer and award MIOCR 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 specified.
In order for a county to be eligible for a grant, requires
a county to establish a strategy committee to include
specified members, and requires the committee to develop a
comprehensive plan including strategies for prevention and
intervention, identification of specific outcome and
performance measures, and annual reporting to the BSCC.
Requires the BSCC to award grants and provide funding for
four years which shall be used to supplement, rather than
supplant, funding for existing programs.
Authorizes funds to be used for specialized alternative
custody programs that offer appropriate mental health
treatment and services.
Requires a county match of 25 percent in resources which
may include in-kind contributions from participating
agencies.
Provides that the BSCC shall give priority to those
proposals that include additional funding that exceeds the
25 percent of the amount of the grant.
Requires the BSCC to establish minimum standards, funding
schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, which shall
take into consideration various factors, including the
likelihood that the program will continue to operate after
state grant funding ends.
Requires the BSCC to create an evaluation design for the
MIOCRG program 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.
Commencing June 5, 2015, and annually thereafter, requires
the BSCC to submit a report to the Legislature based on the
evaluation design, with a final report due on December 31,
2019.
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Prior Legislation: SB 105 (Steinberg) Chapter 310/2013, provided
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) with an
additional $315 million (General Fund) in 2013-14 to meet the
requirements of a revised court order. This bill also created
the Recidivism Reduction Fund (RRF) and provided that a share of
the $315 million be deposited in the RRF if the amount necessary
to meet the requirements of the court order was less than the
$315 million appropriation.
AB 1811 (Laird) Chapter 48/2006, amended and supplemented the
Budget Act of 2006 appropriation amounts, and provided $45
million (General Fund) for MIOCRG program funds to be equally
distributed between adult and juvenile offenders and awarded on
a competitive basis using criteria developed by the Corrections
Standards Authority.
Staff Comments: This bill provides for a $50 million
appropriation from the Recidivism Reduction Fund in FY 2014-15
to the BSCC to provide grants and administer the MIOCRG program.
Pursuant to the provisions of SB 105 (Steinberg), PC �1233.9
provides that funds appropriated from the RRF are "for
activities designed to reduce the state's prison population,
including, but not limited to, reducing recidivism." While the
activities specified in the bill would not specifically reduce
the state's existing prison population, to the extent the
activities seek to prevent offenders from returning to prison
would serve to reduce recidivism, and would appear to meet the
intent of the RRF.
The May Revision of the Governor's Budget augments the amount
available in the RRF by $9.9 million, increasing the total
amount available to $91 million in FY 2014-15. The May Revision
proposes to allocate $0.9 million to fund a planning grant for
the California Leadership Academy and an additional $9 million
for reentry programs.
The BSCC projects the resource and operational costs to
implement and administer the MIOCRG program could cost about
$2.5 million over five years, which would coincide with the due
date of the final Legislative Report in December 2019. The BSCC
estimates a need for five positions, as well as operating
expenses and equipment for necessary travel and information
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technology/research. The positions would be used to establish an
Executive Steering Committee and initiate a Request for Proposal
necessary to develop the program and procedures, conduct program
monitoring (including on-site monitoring), drafting of the
annual report, and address data reporting (database development
and maintenance, creating progress reports, etc.) and fiscal
oversight (invoicing, fiscal tracking, fiscal procedures). As
the bill appropriates RRF funds to the BSCC to "provide grants
and administer the MIOCRG program," all BSCC costs for
administration of the program are estimated to be funded from
the RRF.
Due to the one-time nature of the funding from the RRF, to the
extent the MIOCRG program is successful would potentially
require ongoing future funding, potentially from the General
Fund, to continue to work towards reducing crime and recidivism
to both state and local facilities.