BILL NUMBER: AB 2114	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2016

   An act relating to prisoners.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2114, as introduced, Eduardo Garcia. Prisoners: support
services.
   Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to contract with a private nonprofit agency or
agencies to establish and operate a visitor center outside each state
adult prison in California which has a population of more than 300
inmates. Under existing law, those visitor centers are required to
provide minimum services to prison visitors, including, among other
services, assistance with transportation between public transit
terminals and prisons, child care for visitors' children, and
referral to other agencies and services.
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that supports and creates culturally competent programs
that increase opportunities for family friendly contact during and
after imprisonment, that funds and creates culturally competent
programmatic support services and reentry strategies outside of
imprisonment that support fatherhood involvement, family
reunification, and family strengthening, and that supports expanded
funding for innovation on culturally relevant parenting, fatherhood
support, and young male mentorship. The bill would make related
legislative findings and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) Studies have consistently found that prisoners who maintain
close contact with their family members while incarcerated have
better postrelease outcomes and lower recidivism rates. Despite this,
corrections officials are often obstinate in supporting this
communication with respect to written correspondence, visitation, and
phone calls.
   (2) Revising visitation policies to facilitate visits by family
members, investing in prison-based literacy programs and less
restrictive mail policies, and reducing intrastate prison and jail
phone rates would provide prisoners with greater opportunities to
maintain close relationships with their families.
   (3) Research cites that positive fatherhood involvement improves
life trajectory for a child. Also, fatherhood involvement in a child'
s life protects against risk factors that pose harm to children, such
as problematic behavior, maternal depression, and family economic
hardship. Fatherhood involvement is also associated with promoting
children's social and language skills.
   (4) Specific examples of culturally relevant approaches to
parenting, fatherhood support, and young male mentorship include Cara
y Coraz�n, El Joven Noble, and Circulo de Hombres, which have been
chosen as the culturally based family strengthening interventions in
other initiatives.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
accomplishes all of the following:
   (1) Supports and creates culturally competent programs that
increase opportunities for family friendly contact during and after
imprisonment.
   (2) Funds and creates culturally competent programmatic support
services and reentry strategies outside of imprisonment that support
fatherhood involvement, family reunification, and family
strengthening.
   (3) Supports expanded funding for innovation on culturally
relevant parenting, fatherhood support, and young male mentorship to
decrease the risk of violence, suicide, and other traumas that
children of prisoners who are under 17 years of age may be exposed to
by providing education, skills-based training, and early
intervention and treatment referrals to parents, families, and
children.