Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and charges it with certain duties and powers, including, among other things, the operation of prisons and other specified institutions.
This bill would require the department to establish a Peer Support Labor Management Committee tasked with crafting and updating crafting, updating, and monitoring the implementation of a standardized statewide policy for the department’s peer support program. The bill would require the committee to be composed of an equal number of representatives of the employer and the employees, and would require the members of the committee to be selected and
hold their first meeting on or before July 1, 2020. The bill would require the policy to address, among other things, the selection process and training for peer support team members, and guidelines for the types of communication that would remain confidential within the peer support program. The bill would require the policy to be fully implemented by January 1, 2022. The bill would require the department to submit submit, beginning July 1, 2020, an annual report to the Legislature that contains data pertaining to the utilization rates of the peer support program statewide.