Bill Text: CA AB2350 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Supervised release: California Fresh Start Grant Program.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-05 - Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. [AB2350 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB2350-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 04, 2020 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2350
| Introduced by Assembly Member Waldron |
February 18, 2020 |
An act to add Title 6.5 (commencing with Section 4950) to Part 3 of the Penal Code, relating to parole. supervised release.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2350, as amended, Waldron.
Criminal procedure: parole. Supervised release: California Fresh Start Grant Program.
Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections with the mission of providing statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California’s criminal justice system.
Under existing law, the board administers several grant programs that provide funds to local and nonprofit entities to address issues including crime prevention, criminal justice diversion, and recidivism.
This bill would create the California Fresh
Start Grant Program, to be administered by the board. The bill would require the board, if funds are appropriated by the Legislature, to award competitive grants, as specified, to public or private nonprofit entities for the purpose of providing coordinated reentry services for recently incarcerated persons. The bill would require the board to report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the program.
Under existing law, specified persons who have served a term of imprisonment in the state prison shall, upon release, be subject to the supervision of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for a specified period of parole. Existing law authorizes the supervising parole agency to impose sanctions for violations of parole conditions, including the use of flash incarceration for a period of one to 10 days in a city or county jail.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would reduce the negative impact of flash incarceration on the employment of parolees who are subject to flash incarceration.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares the following:(a) California has failed to ensure that all persons transitioning out of incarceration are equipped with the basic resources necessary to succeed in the community. In fact, there is no unified case management system for these persons that coordinates between state prisons, county jails, probation departments, parole, nonprofit service organizations, local businesses, employers, and
educators.
(b) The ability to obtain and maintain viable employment after incarceration is a very important component of successfully transitioning into the community. According to the Brookings Institute, postrelease, only 55 percent of former prisoners have any earnings and those that do tend to earn less than the earnings of a full-time job at the minimum wage.
(c) Inconsistent or nonexistent data-sharing practices further inhibit the transfer of critical information that can facilitate a successful transition, including successful job attainment and continuation. According to the Brookings Institute, the combination of high rates of incarceration and low employment
rates among former prisoners implies that roughly one-third of all men 30 years of age who are not working are either in prison, in jail, or are unemployed former prisoners.
(d) It is the goal of the Legislature in enacting this legislation to authorize and develop strong, effective collaborations, strengthen and expand the utilization of reentry coordinators, and open up the barriers to communication between stakeholders to allow better supportive structure around persons transitioning from incarceration.
SEC. 2.
Title 6.5 (commencing with Section 4950) is added to Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:TITLE 6.5. California Fresh Start Grant Program
4950.
(a) The California Fresh Start Grant Program is hereby created to be administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections.(b) The purpose of the program is to provide transitional support to qualifying formerly incarcerated individuals, with the goal of reducing recidivism and helping individuals lead healthy and productive lives.
(c) Program grants shall be used to do all of the following:
(1) Provide reentry coordinators that are properly trained to provide transitional assistance to person transitioning from incarceration.
(2) Develop, in
coordination with the client, a reentry plan that includes specific plans for housing, transportation, health care, employment, education, and other needs, as applicable.
(3) Advocate on the client’s behalf with relevant stakeholders including employers, educators, parole and probation staff, and housing and health care providers to assist the client in obtaining and successfully maintaining housing, employment, education and vocational training, and other needs.
(d) The use of program grant funds shall be limited to assisting formerly incarcerated persons who meet all of the following qualifications:
(1) Persons who express a willingness to participate with their reentry coordinator to develop and implement a reentry plan, and to comply with the provisions of a reentry plan.
(2) Persons who agree in writing to allow the sharing of certain information with relevant stakeholders, including, without limitation, reentry coordinators, employers, educators, and parole and probation staff.
(3) Persons who have not been convicted of a sexual offense requiring registration pursuant to Section 290.
(4) Persons who are classified by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the supervising county agency to be a low risk of violence to the community.
(5) Persons who, before enrolling in a reentry plan, were incarcerated either in the state prison or in a county jail pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 within the previous year.
(6) Persons who have not been
receiving services funded by the California Fresh Start Grant Program for more than two years.
(e) An applicant for a program grant shall submit a proposal, in a form prescribed by the board, which shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) A statement describing how the applicant proposes to use the grant to implement a transitional assistance program.
(2) A statement describing the applicant’s experience working with formerly incarcerated persons and relevant stakeholders in their community.
(3) A statement describing the need for a transitional assistance program within their community.
(f) In awarding program grants, the board shall give preference to applicants
whose grant proposals demonstrate the greatest likelihood of reducing recidivism and assisting formerly incarcerated individuals to lead healthy and productive lives.
(g) The board may award competitive grants in amounts not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) per applicant per grant cycle. The length of the grant cycle shall be determined by the board.
(h) The board may use up to 5 percent of the funds appropriated for the program each year for the costs of administering the program including, without limitation, the employment of personnel, providing technical assistance to grantees, and evaluation of programs supported by the grant funding.
(i) Each grantee shall report to the board, in a form and at intervals prescribed by the board, their progress in achieving the grant objectives.
(j) The board shall, by no later than 90 days following the close of each grant cycle, prepare and submit a report to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code regarding the impact of the California Fresh Start Grant Program on recidivism and other positive outcomes for formerly incarcerated persons receiving assistance from grant funded programs.
(k) The board shall make evaluations of the grant program available to the public.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would reduce the negative impact of flash incarceration on the employment of parolees who are subject to flash incarceration.
