Bill Text: CA AB2717 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Prisoners: California Healthy Start Act.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Vetoed) 2022-09-29 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2717 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2717-Enrolled.html
|
Enrolled
August 26, 2022 |
|
Passed
IN
Senate
August 23, 2022 |
|
Passed
IN
Assembly
August 24, 2022 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
June 15, 2022 |
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 18, 2022 |
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 24, 2022 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2717
| Introduced by Assembly Member Waldron (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Carrillo, Gipson, and Akilah Weber) |
February 18, 2022 |
An act to amend Sections 3411, 3415, 3417, and 3430 of, and to add Section 3408.5 to, the Penal Code, relating to prisoners.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2717, Waldron.
Prisoners: California Healthy Start Act.
Existing law requires an incarcerated person who is confirmed to be pregnant to be provided with specified services, including referral to a social worker to discuss the options for feeding, placement, and care for the child after birth, and to oversee the placement of the newborn child. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish and implement a community treatment program, under which a woman sentenced to state prison who has one or more children under 6 years of age, whose child is born prior to incarceration, or who is pregnant, is eligible for release with their children to a public or private facility in the community suitable to their needs. Existing law limits this program to individuals with a term of imprisonment less than 6 years, assuming maximum good time credit is granted. Existing law requires the department to deny placement in
the community treatment program, except as provided, to women convicted of specified offenses, such as arson, individuals who may abscond, or individuals who may act in a manner adverse to themselves or other participants. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to consider women on a case-by-case basis for placement in the program who have been convicted of certain other offenses and women who are subject to a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold. Existing law requires the department to undertake various tasks related to female offenders, including building and strengthening systems of family support and involvement during incarceration.
This bill would expand the community treatment program to individuals regardless of their term of imprisonment, prior convictions, except as specified, or holds. The bill would require the secretary to consider placement on a case-by-case basis. The bill would
require a social worker to discuss with a pregnant person their options for parenting classes and visiting the newborn. The bill would require the department to provide parenting classes, transportation to minor children to visit on a monthly basis, and overnight family visits, and to establish an additional family visiting day as specified, among other things.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) The Legislature recognizes that an estimated 90,000 children in California have a parent or caregiver who is incarcerated.
(b) The Legislature acknowledges that while a parent is incarcerated, a child may experience a range of emotions, including sadness, shame, isolation, concern for the parent’s well-being, and anger toward the parent, the caregiver, or the system. Parental incarceration may also have long-term impacts on child well-being outcomes, including higher risk for learning disabilities and developmental
delays, and problems with school performance and engagement.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that research demonstrates that a child’s negative reactions to parental incarceration can be buffered by protective factors, including the personal characteristics and temperament of the child, the quality of their home environment, caregiver support following the incarceration, and frequent and meaningful opportunities to have contact with the incarcerated parent.
(d) The Legislature declares that the opportunity for children to have regular, frequent, and meaningful visits with an incarcerated parent is a fundamental right to ensure those children have the best chance to flourish and thrive.
SEC. 2.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Healthy Start Act.SEC. 3.
Section 3408.5 is added to the Penal Code, to read:3408.5.
Each incarcerated pregnant person shall be referred to a social worker who shall discuss with the incarcerated person options for parenting classes and other classes relevant to caring for newborns and options for visiting with the newborn.SEC. 4.
Section 3411 of the Penal Code is amended to read:3411.
The Department of Corrections shall on or before January 1, 1980, establish and implement a community treatment program under which women inmates sentenced to state prison who have one or more children under six years of age, whether born prior to or after January 1, 1976, shall be eligible to participate within the provisions of this section. The community treatment program shall provide for the release of the mother and child or children to a public or private facility in the community suitable to the needs of the mother and child or children, and which will provide the best possible care for the mother and child. In establishing and operating that program, the department shall have as a prime concern the establishment of a safe and wholesome environment for the participating children.SEC. 5.
Section 3415 of the Penal Code is amended to read:3415.
(a) The probation department shall, no later than the day that any woman is sentenced to the state prison, notify the woman of the provisions of this chapter.(b) The woman may, upon the receipt of that notice and upon sentencing to a term in state prison, give notice of her desire to be admitted to a program under this chapter. The probation department or the defendant shall transmit that notice to the Department of Corrections, and to the appropriate local social services agency that conducts investigations for child neglect and dependency hearings.
SEC. 6.
Section 3417 of the Penal Code is amended to read:3417.
(a) Subject to reasonable rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Section 3414, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall admit to the program any applicant whose child was born prior to the receipt of the inmate by the department, whose child was born after the receipt of the inmate by the department, or who is pregnant, if all of the following requirements are met:(1) The applicant was the primary caretaker of the infant prior to incarceration. “Primary caretaker” as used in this chapter means a parent who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, and safety of the child prior to incarceration. A parent who, in the best interests of the
child, has arranged for temporary care for the child in the home of a relative or other responsible adult shall not for that reason be excluded from the category, “primary caretaker.”
(2) The applicant had not been found to be an unfit parent in any court proceeding. An inmate applicant whose child has been declared a dependent of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall be admitted to the program only after the court has found that participation in the program is in the child’s best interest and that it meets the needs of the parent and child pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 361.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The fact that an inmate applicant’s child has been found to come within Section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall not, in and of itself,
be grounds for denying the applicant the opportunity to participate in the program.
(3) The offense underlying the applicant’s commitment does not involve a violation of Section 273a, 273ab, 273d, or 273i.
(b) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall deny placement in the community treatment program if it determines that an inmate would pose an unreasonable risk to the public or if the applicant has been convicted of a sex offense requiring registration pursuant to Section 290. It is not the intent of the Legislature to exclude a victim of human trafficking from the community treatment program.
(c) The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall consider the placement of inmates
in the community treatment program on a case-by-case basis.
(d) A charged offense that did not result in a conviction shall not be used to exclude an applicant from the program.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the discretion of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to deny or approve placement when subdivision (b) does not apply.
(f) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall determine if the applicant meets the requirements of this section within 30 days of the parent’s application to the program. The department shall establish an appeal procedure for the applicant to appeal an adverse decision by the department.
SEC. 7.
Section 3430 of the Penal Code is amended to read:3430.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall do all of the following:(a) Create a Female Offender Reform Master Plan, and shall present this plan to the Legislature by March 1, 2008.
(b) Create policies and operational practices that are designed to ensure a safe and productive institutional environment for female offenders.
(c) Contract with nationally recognized gender responsive experts in prison operational practices staffing, classification, substance abuse, trauma treatment services, mental health services, transitional
services, and community corrections to do both of the following:
(1) Conduct a staffing analysis of all current job classifications assigned to each prison that houses only females. The department shall provide a plan to the Legislature by March 1, 2009, that incorporates those recommendations and details the changes that are needed to address any identified unmet needs of female inmates.
(2) Develop programs and training for department staff in correctional facilities.
(d) Create a gender responsive female classification system.
(e) Create a gender responsive staffing pattern for female institutions and community-based offender beds.
(f) Create a needs-based case and risk management tool designed specifically for female offenders. This tool shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment upon intake, and annually thereafter, that gauges an inmate’s educational and vocational needs, including reading, writing, communication, and arithmetic skills, health care needs, mental health needs, substance abuse needs, and trauma-treatment needs. The initial assessment shall include projections for academic, vocational, health care, mental health, substance abuse, and trauma-treatment needs, and shall be used to determine appropriate programming and as a measure of progress in subsequent assessments of development.
(g) Design and implement evidence-based gender specific rehabilitative programs, including “wraparound”
educational, health care, mental health, vocational, substance abuse, and trauma treatment programs that are designed to reduce female offender recidivism. These programs shall include, but not be limited to, trauma-informed group or individual therapy, educational programs that include academic preparation in the areas of verbal communication skills, reading, writing, arithmetic, and the acquisition of high school diplomas and GEDs, and vocational preparation, including counseling and training in marketable skills, and job placement information.
(h) Build and strengthen systems of family support and family involvement during the period of the female’s incarceration by providing for parenting classes, transportation for minor children to visit on a monthly basis in a dedicated child-friendly location on the prison grounds, and
overnight family visits.
(i) Establish a family service coordinator at each prison that houses only females.
(j) Establish an additional day of in-person visitation at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) and California Institution for Women (CIW). This additional visiting day shall present a family-friendly environment, which includes, but is not limited to, ensuring there are available children-centered books, toys, and games, as well as trauma-informed staff, and would limit visitors to only include incarcerated mothers, their children, and their children’s caregivers.
(k) CCWF and CIW shall ensure that those incarcerated with young children less than 18 years of age are given priority when applying for overnight family visitation if that applicant has not had an overnight family visit with their children in three months.
