Administration of Justice update 1/31/2014
Senate Budget Committee Holds Informational Hearing on Corrections and Realignment
This week, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review held a lengthy informational hearing focused on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as well as realignment and reentry issues identified by various subject matter experts invited to testify before the panel.
The hearing was intended to provide a current update on the status of California’s criminal justice system two years after implementation of realignment. The committee was particularly focused on how the state was doing in terms of reaching three key goals identified in CDCR’s strategic planning document entitled “Future of California Corrections: A Blueprint to Save Billions of Dollars, End Federal Court Oversight, and Improve the Prison System.” According to the Blueprint, the state’s highest priority foundational reforms include: 1) reducing the state’s correctional costs in proportion to other general fund categories; 2) reducing the state’s prison population to a level compliant with federal court orders; and 3) improving public safety and reducing recidivism among criminal offenders.
Over the course of the day, committee members heard testimony from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Public Policy Institute of California, the Undersecretary of CDCR, the Texas Public Policy Institute, the Assistant Sheriff of Los Angeles County, and the Vera Institute of Justice.
All background materials for the committee hearing, including the agenda and speaker presentations can be accessed by clicking here.
To watch a video of the hearing, please click here.
February Training Opportunity: Connecting Court-Involved Individuals to treatment under the Affordable Care Act: February 21, 2014
There is still time to register for the Joint Training Partnership’s third seminar in our healthcare series. Sponsored by CSAC, the California Sheriffs’ Association, and the Chief Probation Officers of California, this one-day event entitled “Nuts and Bolts: Connecting Court-Involved Individuals to Treatment under the Affordable Care Act” will provide those working in the criminal justice system with specific strategies and detailed examples of how to connect justice involved individuals to treatment.
The session is designed to offer diverse county perspectives that will focus on three main areas affecting practitioners in the field:
- Policy decisions impacting eligibility, enrollment, and liability
- Jail and community-based case studies
- Tactics for improving access to care
County stakeholders are highly encouraged to attend as teams, particularly those working with or planning to work on continuum of care issues. Ideal participants include corrections and probation administrators, health and behavioral health providers, county administrators, and local law enforcement officials.
We anticipate that this will be a very popular convening and spots are limited, so please don’t wait to sign-up.
Where: Hyatt Regency Sacramento
1209 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
When: February 21, 2014: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $100 per individual, includes course materials and lunch
For hotel accommodations and booking, please click here. Please note that our promotional rate for the event expires on February 6, 2014 so book your room today!
To register for the training, please following the link provided here.
CSAC Institute Offers February Realignment Funding Courses
The CSAC Institute for Excellence in County Government will be offering two courses focused on aspects of realignment during the month of February that may be of particular interest for criminal justice analysts and program managers.
The first course, “A Detailed Examination of Public Safety Realignment Funding Streams,” covers an in-depth review of the law enforcement accounts from the 2011 realignment. It includes a discussion of: statutory changes; actual revenue results; the “base” calculations for each account; how base and growth amounts are distributed to each state level account; how amounts are distributed to counties; and the formulas and the data behind the formulas.
Important lessons about the dynamics of realignment from Health and Social Services Realignment 1991 and 2011 will be shared. Tools are introduced to project and track county revenues and examine what county staff should consider when budgeting for these accounts in the coming years. The course also includes discussions of the risks and opportunities of realignment for law enforcement and the strategic investments counties have undertaken. Participants will examine what’s next, including possible legislative changes to realignment for law enforcement.
REALIGNMENT 301:
FUND FLOWS IN PUBLIC SAFETY REALIGNMENT
When: Friday, February 7, 2014 – 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
Where: CSAC Conference Center, Sacramento
Course Fee: $129 (includes lunch and materials)
Instructors: Dorothy Thrush, Public Safety Group Finance Director, San Diego County; Elizabeth Howard Espinosa, Senior Legislative Representative, CSAC; and county experts.
The second course will examine the context and structure of Realignment in California for county staff that might not be as familiar with all of the various aspects and impacts of AB 109. Specifically, this course will answer such questions as: What is realignment? Where did it come from? And how does it work?
The course will walk participants through the history and rationale, as well as discuss why programs were included and what was learned. The 2011 realignment – including AB 109 – will be explored with an emphasis on the impacts on public safety programs. Details on the realigned programs, changes to 1991 realignment services, implementation, and funding will all be explored.
REALIGNMENT 101:
THE BASICS OF 1991 AND 2011 REALIGNMENTS
When: Friday, February 21, 2014 – 10:00 am to 3:30 pm
CSAC Conference Center, Sacramento
Course Fee: $129 (includes lunch and materials)
Instructors: Diane Cummins, special advisor to the Governor on state and local realignment; Graham Knaus, Assistant Director of Health and Human Services, Placer County; and Karen Pank, Executive Director, Chief Probation Officers of California.
To register for either course, please click here or visit www.csacinstitute.org for more information.
Legislative Update
Non-Homicide Trials Cost Assistance
SB 16 (Gaines) – Support
As amended May 21, 2013
SB 16, by Senator Ted Gaines, seeks to address cost assistance in non-homicide criminal cases. CSAC and RCRC jointly support this measure.
SB 16 would create a cost assistance program largely modeled after the homicide reimbursement program in which state financial assistance may be available when costs greatly exceed a county’s financial capacity. Under this measure, counties could apply to the State Controller’s Office if costs in a non-homicide trial exceed a specified threshold of the county’s assessed property value. The program would be subject to an appropriation by the Legislature.
In our view, SB 16 is narrowly crafted and seeks to address only the most complex and costly cases that threaten to overwhelm a county’s ability to provide an appropriate defense. The reimbursement program only would apply to cases in which the Attorney General is handling the prosecution due to the matter’s scope and complexity. The bill stems from a case in the author’s jurisdiction where a case involving a complex financial scheme is severely taxing the county’s resources.
SB 16 was passed by the Senate on a unanimous vote. The bill now awaits referral to a policy committee in the Assembly.
Mandatory Supervision
AB 579 (Melendez) – Support
As amended January, 15, 2014
AB 579 by Assembly Member Melissa Melendez is an urgency measure which seeks to clarify in state law that the period of mandatory supervision period begins immediately upon release from custody for individuals who have been given a split sentence under Penal Code Section 1170 (h) as a result of Realignment.
This is not a new policy, but rather clean-up language necessary to correct a chaptering out issue created by 2013 legislation which amended the same code section and inadvertently removed the mandatory supervision language.
CSAC supports this measure as it will ensure that county probation departments are – once again – able to initiate their mandatory supervision duties as originally intended by statute.
AB 579 is co-sponsored by the California State Sheriffs’ Association and the Chief Probation Officers of California. The bill passed out of the Assembly on a unanimous vote and now awaits referral to the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Mentally Disordered Offenders
AB 1065 (Holden) – Support
As amended January 6, 2014
AB 1065, by Assembly Member Chris Holden, originally sought to clarify that any offender who has been designated a mentally disordered offender (MDO) – even if the person’s MDO status changes – would be subject to parole rather than probation jurisdiction when released into the community. Given the particularly acute needs of this population, CSAC supported AB 1065 in that it maintained consistency with the framework of 2011 public safety realignment that designated parole responsibility for the MDO population.
Recent amendments to the bill crafted in consultation with the bill’s sponsor, Los Angeles County, and the Assembly Public Safety Committee have narrowed the focus of the bill to provide additional notification to county probation departments should an individual’s MDO status change due to a court order. Specifically, AB 1065 now extends the time the State would hold an offender after they have been declassified as MDO from five to 30 days. Additionally, the bill would require CDCR to notify the county of a pending release of a former MDO within five days of a court order for release.
CSAC supports the amended version of the bill given that additional notification and planning time before discharge will allow for more coordinated and safer releases into the community for these individuals.
AB 1065 passed unanimously out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee and was referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.