California Senate Bill SB1054 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1054AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2014 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg FEBRUARY 18, 2014 An act to  add Article 4 (commencing with Section 6045) to Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 3   amend Sections 6032, 6045, 6045.4, and 6045.8  of the Penal Code, relating to mentally ill criminal offenders. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1054, as amended, Steinberg. Mentally ill offender crime reduction grants.  (1) Existing law establishes, within the Board of State and Community Corrections, the California Juvenile Justice Data Working Group, as provided, and the working group is required, among other things, to recommend a plan for improving specified juvenile justice reporting requirements, including streamlining and consolidating requirements without sacrificing meaningful data collection. The working group is required to submit its recommendations to the board no later than December 31, 2014.   This bill would extend, to April 30, 2015, the date to submit recommendations.   (2) Existing law requires the board to administer mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum of timely and effective responses to reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill juvenile and adult offenders. The grants administered by the board are required to be divided between adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants in accordance with the funds appropriated for each type of grant.   This bill would clarify that the grants be divided equally between adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants.   (3) Existing law requires an application for a mentally ill offender crime reduction grant to describe a 4-year plan for programs, services, or strategies, and requires the board to award grants that provide funding for 4 years with the proviso that funding beyond the first year of the plan is contingent upon annual appropriations and the availability of funds to support mentally ill offender crime reduction grants beyond the first funding year.   This bill would delete that proviso and reduce the term of the award grants to funding for 3 years.   (4) Existing law requires the board to create an evaluation design for adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants that assesses the effectiveness of the program in reducing crime, adult and juvenile offender incarceration and placement levels, early releases due to jail overcrowding, and local criminal and juvenile justice costs. The board is required to annually submit a report to the Legislature based on the evaluation design, commencing October 1, 2015, with a final report due on December 31, 2019.   This bill would change the due date of the final report to December 31, 2018.   Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections to collect and maintain available information and data about state and community correctional policies, practices, capacities, and needs, as specified.   This bill would require the board to administer and award mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum of swift, certain, and graduated responses to reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill juvenile and adult offenders. The bill would require the board to establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 6032 of the   Penal Code   is amended to read:  6032. (a) There is hereby established within the Board of State and Community Corrections the California Juvenile Justice Data Working Group. The purpose of the working group is to recommend options for coordinating and modernizing the juvenile justice data systems and reports that are developed and maintained by state and county agencies. (b) (1) The working group shall include representatives from each of the following: (A) The Department of Justice. (B) The Board of State and Community Corrections. (C) The Division of Juvenile Justice within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (D) The Chief Probation Officers of California. (E) The Judicial Council. (F) The California State Association of Counties. (G) Any other representatives that are deemed appropriate by the board. (2) Members of the working group shall include persons that have experience or expertise related to the California juvenile justice system or the design and implementation of juvenile justice data systems, or both. (c) (1) The working group shall analyze the capacities and limitations of the data systems and networks used to collect and report state and local juvenile caseload and outcome data. The analysis shall include all of the following: (A) A review of the relevant data systems, studies, or models from California and other states having elements worthy of replication in California. (B) Identify changes or upgrades to improve the capacity and utility of juvenile justice caseload and outcome data in California, including changes to support the gathering of juvenile justice outcome and recidivism information, and changes to improve performance outcome measurements for state-local juvenile justice grant programs. (2) No later than January 1, 2016, the working group shall prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the options for improving interagency coordination, modernization, and upgrading of state and local juvenile justice data and information systems. The report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following: (A) The additional collection and reporting responsibilities for agencies, departments, or providers that would be affected. (B) Recommendations for the creation of a Web-based statewide clearinghouse or information center that would make relevant juvenile justice information on operations, caseloads, dispositions, and outcomes available in a user-friendly, query-based format for stakeholders and members of the public. (C) An assessment of the feasibility of implementing the responsibilities identified in subparagraph (A) and the recommendations developed pursuant to subparagraph (B). (3) The working group shall also recommend a plan for improving the current juvenile justice reporting requirements of Section 1961 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and Section 30061 of the Government Code, including streamlining and consolidating current requirements without sacrificing meaningful data collection. The working group shall submit its recommendations to the Board of State and Community Corrections no later than  December 31, 2014.   April 30, 2015.  (d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (c) is inoperative on January 1, 2016, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code. (2) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.  SEC. 2.   Section 6045 of the   Penal Code   is amended to read:  6045. (a) The Board of State and Community Corrections shall administer mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum of timely and effective responses to reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill offenders. The grants administered under this article by the board shall be divided  equally  between adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants in accordance with the funds appropriated for each type of grant. The grants shall support prevention, intervention, supervision, and incarceration-based services and strategies to reduce recidivism and to improve outcomes for mentally ill juvenile and adult offenders. (b) For purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) "Board" means the Board of State and Community Corrections. (2) "Mentally ill adult offenders" means persons described in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (3) "Mentally ill juvenile offenders" means persons described in subdivision (a) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.  SEC. 3.   Section 6045.4 of the   Penal Code   is amended to read:  6045.4. (a) The application submitted by a county shall describe a four-year plan for the programs, services, or strategies to be provided under the grant. The board shall award grants that provide funding for  four years with the proviso that funding beyond the first year of the plan is contingent upon annual appropriations and the availability of funds to support mentally ill offender crime reduction grants beyond the first funding year.   three years.  Funding shall be used to supplement, rather than supplant, funding for existing programs. Funds may be used to fund specialized alternative custody programs that offer appropriate mental health treatment and services. (b) A grant shall not be awarded unless the applicant makes available resources in accordance with the instructions of the board in an amount equal to at least 25 percent of the amount of the grant. Resources may include in-kind contributions from participating agencies. (c) In awarding grants, priority or preference shall be given to those grant applications that include documented match funding that exceeds 25 percent of the total grant amount.  SEC. 4.   Section 6045.8 of the   Penal Code   is amended to read:  6045.8. (a) The board shall create an evaluation design for adult and juvenile mentally ill offender crime reduction grants that assesses the effectiveness of the program in reducing crime, adult and juvenile offender incarceration and placement levels, early releases due to jail overcrowding, and local criminal and juvenile justice costs. The evaluation design may include outcome measures related to the service levels, treatment modes, and stability measures for juvenile and adult offenders participating in, or benefitting from, mentally ill offender crime reduction grant programs or services. (b) Commencing on October 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the board shall submit a report to the Legislature based on the evaluation design, with a final report due on  December 31, 2019.   December 31, 2018.  (c) The reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code. (d) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section shall be repealed as of January 1, 2024.  SECTION 1.   The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (a) A share of the restored mentally ill offender crime reduction grants, with the enactment of this act, will be dedicated to improving mental health outcomes for children in the juvenile justice system. (b) While California's youth crime rates are down overall in California, our courts and juvenile justice facilities are brimming with children and youth with a broad range of mental health disorders and unmet treatment needs. (c) In a 2005 "gap survey" of California probation chiefs, paving the way for the subsequent realignment of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice population to local control, the chiefs identified juvenile mental health cases as the most significant problem and service gap they faced. In a later study, Chief Probation Officers of California documented long stays and high costs related to the detention of juveniles with mental health problems. State and national studies confirm, again and again, extremely high rates of mental health disorders among incarcerated youth, with prevalence exceeding 70 percent of juveniles in custody. Data from the Board of State and Community Corrections in 2013 documents the fact that nearly half of the daily 8,200 juveniles in custody or on electronic monitoring in California have "open mental health cases." (d) When the mental health needs of young offenders are ignored, these youth enter a high-risk zone of becoming chronic adult offenders, committing further crimes, and filling up our already crowded prisons and jails. This comes at a cost in public safety, a cost to the probation, court, and corrections agencies who must then deal expensively with the problem on a long-term basis at the deep end of our jail and prison systems, and a cost to the taxpayers. (e) We know that early intervention in these youth mental health cases is a key to success. The mentally ill offender crime reduction grant program investment on the juvenile justice side is an investment in crime prevention. The juvenile justice share of the mentally ill offender crime reduction grants will support local investment in proven best-practices, including early diagnoses, family and community-based treatment models, specialized mental health courts, and other collaborative models of intervention that have proven to be successful. The goal, overall, is to break the link between mental illness and crime as soon as possible, using state-of-the-art assessment and intervention strategies. Early recognition and treatment in these cases is also critical to our goal of preventing the escalation of youth mental health disorders into tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that occurred in 2012. (f) Modern science tells us that children are developmentally different from adults. This finding has been embedded in decisions of the United States Supreme Court in recent years, placing limits on the death penalty and other punishments imposed on children. In the foster care sector, important cases like the Katie A. litigation recognize the need for more effective strategies and collaborative efforts to address the mental health needs of children without homes of their own. (g) The good news is that science and evidence-based studies point the way to interventions that can stop the cycle of mental illness and crime early in these young lives. The new mentally ill offender crime reduction grants will prioritize funding for local assessments and interventions that promise to produce better youth outcomes, to lower youth recidivism rates, and to reduce system workloads and costs that result from failing to address the problem. (h) Research indicates that a continuum of responses for mentally ill offenders that includes prevention, intervention, and incarceration can reduce crime, jail overcrowding, and criminal justice costs. (i) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that grants be provided to counties that develop and implement a comprehensive, cost-effective plan to reduce the rate of crime and offenses committed by persons with serious mental illness and reduce jail overcrowding and local criminal justice costs related to mentally ill offenders.   SEC. 2.   Article 4 (commencing with Section 6045) is added to Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read: Article 4. Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grants 6045. The Board of State and Community Corrections shall administer and award mentally ill offender crime reduction grants on a competitive basis to counties that expand or establish a continuum of swift, certain, and graduated responses to reduce crime and criminal justice costs related to mentally ill offenders, as defined in subdivision (a), paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), and subdivision (c) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. 6045.2. (a) To be eligible for a grant, a county shall establish a strategy committee that shall include, at a minimum, the sheriff or director of the county department of corrections in a county in which the sheriff is not in charge of administering the county jail system, who shall chair the committee, representatives from other local law enforcement agencies, the chief probation officer, the county mental health director, a superior court judge, a former client of a mental health treatment facility, and representatives from organizations that can provide, or have provided, treatment or stability, including income, housing, and caretaking, for persons with mental illnesses. (b) The committee shall develop a comprehensive plan for providing a cost-effective continuum of graduated responses, including prevention, intervention, and incarceration, for mentally ill offenders. Strategies for prevention and intervention shall include, but are not limited to, both of the following: (1) Mental health or substance abuse treatment for mentally ill offenders who have been released from law enforcement custody. (2) The establishment of long-term stability for mentally ill offenders who have been released from law enforcement custody, including a stable source of income, a safe and decent residence, and a conservator or caretaker. (c) The plan shall include the identification of specific outcome and performance measures and a plan for annual reporting that will allow the Board of State and Community Corrections to evaluate, at a minimum, the effectiveness of the strategies in reducing crime and offenses committed by mentally ill offenders and the criminal justice costs related to mentally ill offenders. 6045.4. The Board of State and Community Corrections shall award grants that provide funding for four years. Funding shall be used to supplement, rather than supplant, funding for existing programs. The funds may be used to fund specialized alternative custody programs that offer appropriate mental health treatment and services. A grant shall not be awarded unless the applicant makes available resources in an amount equal to at least 25 percent of the amount of the grant. Resources may include in-kind contributions from participating agencies. In awarding grants, priority shall be given to those proposals that include additional funding that exceeds 25 percent of the amount of the grant. 6045.6. The Board of State and Community Corrections shall establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, which shall take into consideration, but not be limited to, all of the following: (a) Percentage of the jail population with severe mental illness. (b) Demonstrated ability to administer the program. (c) Demonstrated ability to develop effective responses to provide treatment and stability for persons with severe mental illness. (d) Demonstrated history of maximizing federal, state, local, and private funding sources. (e) Likelihood that the program will continue to operate after state grant funding ends. 6045.8. (a) The Board of State and Community Corrections shall create an evaluation design for mentally ill offender crime reduction grants that will assess the effectiveness of the program in reducing crime, the number of early releases due to jail overcrowding, and local criminal justice costs. (b) Commencing on June 30, 2015, and annually thereafter, the board shall submit a report to the Legislature based on the evaluation design, with a final report due on December 31, 2019. (c) The reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code. (d) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed as of January 1, 2024.