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Corrections and Rehabilitation
Implementation of AB 900 (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2007)
On May 3, 2007, the Governor signed AB 900 (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2007), also known as the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, which takes important steps toward solving California's prison overcrowding crisis. AB 900 emphasizes expanding rehabilitative programs and measuring outcomes through performance goals to reduce the high rate of recidivism among adult offenders, and appropriates $50 million General Fund for additional rehabilitative programming activities. To ensure the additional rehabilitation funding is utilized on the most effective evidence-based programs, the Governor established the Rehabilitation Strike Team to help implement the programming requirements of AB 900.
The Rehabilitation Strike Team will focus on evaluating existing education, training and substance abuse programs, developing leading-edge rehabilitation classes, delivering the services to inmates and parolees in order to improve public safety, designing facilities to best accommodate rehabilitation programs, and working with communities to continue services in local settings.
In addition to enhanced programmatic resources, AB 900 also authorizes the construction of infill beds, secure reentry facilities, local jail beds, and health care facilities, and allows the CDCR to transfer inmates to out-of-state correctional facilities for up to four years. AB 900 authorizes over $6.1 billion in lease-revenue bonds to build 16,000 infill beds, 16,000 reentry facility beds, and 8,000 health care beds, and authorizes $1.2 billion in lease-revenue bonds to add 13,000 county jail beds. AB 900 also appropriates $300 million General Fund to make infrastructure improvements at state prisons. To ensure best practices are used and cost containments are in place, the Governor established the Facilities Construction Strike Team to help implement the construction requirements of AB 900.
The Facilities Construction Strike Team has evaluated all alternative construction methods for the construction of reentry facilities and infill capacity, and is working within CDCR to look at any options for housing inmates in existing facilities within the state that are not being utilized before inmates are transferred, develop cost containments for proposed construction, evaluate regulatory impediments to construction and whether waiver of regulations benefit the state, and address local mitigation issues for communities that are impacted by current prison facilities.
The Budget includes $11.9 million, comprised of $2.4 million General Fund and $9.5 million in Reimbursement authority, for the CDCR's Office of Facilities Management and Support Services Division to address workload associated with these prison construction projects. The Budget also includes $1.7 million General Fund for the Corrections Standards Authority to administer the local jail bed construction program authorized by AB 900. These resources are necessary to ensure that these critical infrastructure projects are effectively managed and standards of quality and accountability are not compromised.
The Administration is committed to improving the space issues for medical, mental health, and dental care through the use of AB 900 funding. The CDCR will be working in conjunction with the Coleman and Perez courts and the federal Receiver appointed by the Plata court to provide the most efficient, consolidated use of space in order to provide constitutionally adequate health care to all CDCR inmates.
In order to increase the transparency and accountability of the use of AB 900 funds, the Budget requires the CDCR to provide the Legislature specific information defining project scope, cost, and schedule, as well as quarterly reports tracking the authorized projects. These reporting requirements will ensure the management of the $7.7 billion prison reform package in a transparent and responsible fashion.
This comprehensive approach to solving California's prison overcrowding crisis will allow the CDCR to fulfill its core mission of improving public safety through evidence-based crime prevention and recidivism reduction strategies.
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Enacted Budget Detail - Corrections and Rehabilitation
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