Amended  IN  Senate  July 11, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  June 20, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 28, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1688

Introduced by Assembly Members Calderon and Jones-Sawyer

February 22, 2019

An act to add Section 2062.5 to, and to add Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 6150) to Title 7 of Part 3 of, to the Penal Code, relating to recidivism.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1688, as amended, Calderon. Rehabilitation programs: recidivism.
Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to operate the state prison system. Existing law establishes various rehabilitation programs for inmates in the state prison, including literacy, education, and vocational training programs. Existing law establishes the independent Office of the Inspector General and requires the Inspector General, when requested by the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, or the Speaker of the Assembly, to review policies, practices, and procedures of the department. Existing law requires the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board to regularly examine these programs and to annually report to the Governor and the Legislature on specified findings, including the effectiveness of treatment efforts and recommendations with respect to rehabilitation and treatment programs.
This bill would require the department to report, on or before January 10, 2020, and annually thereafter, to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and to the public safety committees of both houses of the Legislature on the department’s implementation of would, in response to the State Auditor’s recommendations as contained in the 2019 report entitled, titled “Several Poor Administrative Practices Have Hindered Reductions in Recidivism and Denied Inmates Access to In‑Prison Rehabilitation Programs.” Programs,” require the department to contract with an external researcher to analyze the effectiveness of its rehabilitation programs, as provided, and to submit a report to the Legislature by July 1, 2024. The bill would require the annual report to contain specified information, including a recidivism analysis that includes the number of sanctions or other adverse actions taken against rehabilitation program vendors in the previous calendar year and data on inmates receiving rehabilitation programs in their areas of expressed need. The bill would additionally require the office to provide public oversight of the department’s data collection and reporting process for the annual report, and to issue an annual report summarizing its oversight and recommendations. need, as well as performance targets, a corrective action plan, and the identification of programs that should be modified or eliminated based on their ineffectiveness.

The bill would require the department, by June 30, 2020, to contract with a researcher to conduct a recidivism analysis of the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs and to create performance targets. The bill would require the department, in the following fiscal year, to develop and implement a corrective action plan based on the recidivism analysis and performance targets, and would require the department to implement, during the 2021–22 fiscal year, the corrective action plan and to annually report to the Legislature on the recidivism analysis, performance targets, and corrective action plan.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 2062.5 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

2062.5.
 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department, the Office of the Inspector General, and the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board regularly Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board within the Office of the Inspector General provide information to the Legislature to allow it to better assess the performance of the department in establishing all of the following:
(1) Rehabilitative program performance targets, including an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of those programs and an analysis of the programs’ success at reducing recidivism.
(2) Systems to ensure that rehabilitative programs provide a significant benefit to program participants, and that those benefits are commensurate with the Legislature’s investment in rehabilitative programs.
(3) Processes to ensure that inmates who are most in need of rehabilitative programs do in fact receive access to those programs.

(b)The department shall report, on or before January 10, 2020, and annually thereafter, to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and to the public safety committees of both houses of the Legislature on the department’s implementation of the State Auditor’s recommendations as contained in the 2019 report entitled “Several Poor Administrative Practices Have Hindered Reductions in Recidivism and Denied Inmates Access to In‑Prison Rehabilitation Programs.” The annual report shall include all of the following:

(b) In response to the State Auditor’s recommendations contained in the 2019 report titled “Several Poor Administrative Practices Have Hindered Reductions in Recidivism and Denied Inmates Access to In-Prison Rehabilitation Programs,” the department shall contract with an external researcher pursuant to subdivision (c) to analyze the effectiveness of its rehabilitation programs. Upon completion of the report specified in subdivision (c), the department shall submit the report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and to the public safety committees of both houses of the Legislature by July 1, 2024.
(c) In order to analyze the effectiveness of the department’s programs, the department shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) By December 1, 2020, draft a scope of work, select and contract with an external researcher to conduct a recidivism analysis of the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs, define the data elements for purposes of the analysis, and create performance targets. The external researcher shall be a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization or research institute that regularly performs independent and objective research and publishes those findings and utilizes widely accepted and valid research methods.
(B) The data elements of the recidivism analysis shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)

(i) Data on rehabilitation program success, including participant testimony, as discussed in the University of California, Irvine, study on the department’s rehabilitation programs entitled, “CPAP Assessment of CDCR Recidivism-Reduction Programs.”

(2)

(ii) The percentage of inmates that were recommended for rehabilitation programs who actually received the rehabilitation services.

(3)

(iii) Data on the placement of inmates on rehabilitation program waiting lists after they have been identified as candidates for rehabilitation programs.

(4)

(iv) Data on staffing levels for rehabilitation programs and a description of current efforts to reach full staffing.

(5)

(v) The number of sanctions or other adverse actions taken against rehabilitation program vendors in the previous calendar year.

(6)

(vi) Data on the Prison Industry Authority program participation and a description of efforts to increase participation.

(7)

(vii) Data on infrastructure capacity for rehabilitation programs and additional space needed, if any.

(8)

(viii) Data on federal recidivism funds applied for by the department in the prior calendar year.

(9)

(ix) Data on rehabilitation program completion rates.

(10)

(x) Data on inmates receiving rehabilitation programs in their areas of expressed need.

(11)Data on recidivism rates for each rehabilitation program in operation over the previous calendar year.

(12)

(xi) Data on the success of volunteer programs in rehabilitation and preventing recidivism.
(C) Contracts awarded pursuant to this section are exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Administrative Manual, and are not subject to approval by the Department of General Services.
(2) During the 2021 to 2023, inclusive, calendar years:
(A) Ensure that the selected external researcher conducts and completes a recidivism analysis pursuant to the scope of work.
(B) Prepare an interim report on the recidivism analysis, performance targets identified in paragraph (1), data elements specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), and proposed corrective action plan, and submit the interim report to the entities specified in subdivision (b) by December 1, 2022.
(3) During the 2024 calendar year:
(A) Prepare a comprehensive report on the recidivism analysis, data elements, performance targets, and corrective action plan, and deliver the report to the entities listed in subdivision (b) no later than July 1, 2024.
(B) The report shall, based on the results of the recidivism analysis, include new performance targets and policies, and identify rehabilitation programs that should be modified or eliminated as a result of their ineffectiveness.

(c)

(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (b) is inoperative on January 10, 2024, 1, 2025, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(d)The Office of the Inspector General shall provide public oversight of the department’s data collection and reporting process required by this section and shall issue a public report, no less than once per year, summarizing its oversight and recommendations.

(e) In addition to the entities listed in subdivision (b), the department shall provide a copy of the report to the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board and present a summary of the report during the board’s next public meeting. The board shall review and discuss the department’s report and consider the information provided in the department’s report when making findings and recommendations pursuant to Section 6141.

SEC. 2.Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 6150) is added to Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:
8.3.Improving In-Prison Rehabilitation Programs
6150.

It is the intent of the Legislature to require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to do all of the following with respect to rehabilitation programs operated in state prisons:

(a)Evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs.

(b)Establish performance measures, including ones for reducing recidivism and determining the cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation programs, in order to improve oversight of rehabilitation programs.

(c)Improve the efficient use of existing rehabilitation resources.

6151.

(a)The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall do all of the following:

(1)(A)By June 30, 2020, draft a scope of work, select and contract with an external researcher to conduct a recidivism analysis of the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs, define the data elements for purposes of the analysis, and create performance targets.

(B)Contracts awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Administrative Manual, and shall not be subject to the approval of the Department of General Services.

(2)During the 2020–21 fiscal year:

(A)Ensure that the selected external researcher conducts and completes a recidivism analysis pursuant to the scope of work.

(B)Develop and implement a corrective action plan in response to the recidivism analysis and performance targets identified in paragraph (1).

(3)During the 2021–22 fiscal year:

(A)Modify, as necessary, and continue implementing, the corrective action plan.

(B)Given the results of the recidivism analysis, create new performance targets and policies, and modify or eliminate rehabilitation programs that are proven ineffective.

(C)Prepare a report on the recidivism analysis, performance targets, and corrective action plan.

(b)By June 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall submit to the Legislature the report specified in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).

(c)(1)The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (b) is inoperative on June 1, 2026, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

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