Board Awards $103m in Prop 47 Funds to Innovative Rehabilitative Programs

SACRAMENTO (June 8, 2017) – Grant awards from a voter initiative that reduces from felonies to misdemeanors certain low-level crimes and directs state savings to rehabilitative programs received approval today from the Board of State and Community Corrections.

Approximately $103 million in estimated state savings resulting from the enactment of Proposition 47 will go to 23 applicants whose rehabilitative programs were deemed most promising by a workgroup of the Board.

The criteria for the awards was established by language in the proposition, which directs 65 percent of the overall state savings to the BSCC to fund grants for mental health and substance-use disorder treatment. Assembly Bill 1056 added housing assistance and job training to the mix of eligible funding criteria. The bill targets for services people “who have been arrested, charged with, or convicted of a criminal offense and have a history of mental health issues or substance use disorders.”

Programs awarded funding include: $5.9 million to the Contra Costa County Health Services Department to divert low-level, non-violent people with behavioral health issues to treatment instead of jail; $6 million to San Diego County to expand a misdemeanant diversion program and rehabilitative services, which will be provided by community-based organizations; $1 million to the Tehama County Restore Program to connect youth who need mental health and substance-use treatment with coordinated care that includes housing and employment services; and $6 million to the Orange County Health Care Agency to expand jail in-reach and reentry planning to include outside support and resource services, counseling and housing.

The grant awards followed a lengthy and complex process. The time between the November 2014 election and the awarding of the grants allowed the state Department of Finance to estimate State court and incarceration savings for the three-year grant cycle. It also allowed BSCC staff time to consider input from a broad range of stakeholders and other interested parties with ideas about the types of rehabilitative programming and support services that should be funded. Staff particularly sought out strategies that formerly incarcerated people and their families said had been critical to recovery.

“We know this money will make a difference,” said Board Chair Linda Penner, “and we are optimistic and believe in a positive outcome.”

As part of the effort to recruit members for the workgroup, called an Executive Steering Committee (ESC), the BSCC sought statements of interest from individuals reflective of California’s diverse population, including people who were formerly incarcerated and system-involved. Board members Leticia Perez and Scott Budnick co-chaired the committee, and 16 other members with diverse personal and professional experience also served.

The ESC followed the requirements of the initiative and legislation to guide creation of the Request for Proposals. The committee also established “guiding principles” that successful projects needed to have met, including showing that applicants would implement trauma- informed practices, encourage community engagement, collaborate with other agencies and find ways to target underserved populations.

Projects were rated individually by committee members, who determined how well each met the established criteria. Members reconvened May 30 to discuss and, in some instances, adjust their scores before making final recommendations to the Board. Successful projects had to earn at least 65 percent of available scoring points to be considered for funding.

Prop 47 mandated that public agencies be the lead applicant on the project, and the ESC agreed that at least half of the funding must be passed through to community-based organizations. Agencies that proposed to pass through more than 60 percent of the funding earned additional points on their applications. Agencies could apply for large awards of up to $6 million, or small awards of up to $1 million. The County of Los Angeles was allowed to apply for up to $20 million.

The grant cycle begins June 16, 2017 and ends Aug. 15, 2020. The funding stream is ongoing, and the BSCC anticipates releasing a new RFP in early 2019.

The BSCC, established in 2012, is a multi-faceted organization that provides assistance to the counties on community corrections issues. The agency annually administers and awards millions of dollars in grants designed to reduce recidivism and address juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, sets standards for the training of local corrections officers and the operations of local corrections facilities, promulgates regulations and inspects local detention facilities, and administers the current lease-revenue bond process for local jail improvements.

A summary of funded projects in alphabetical order follows:

  1. Alameda County Health Care Services Agency
    1. Project Title: ACProp47
    2. Grant Funds Requested:  $6,000,000
    3. Summary: The purpose of the Alameda County Proposition 47 Project (ACProp47) is to support residents who are involved in the justice system and who have a mental health issue and/or substance use disorder (SUD). ACProp47 project funds will be used to augment and expand services under the County’s coordinated reentry plan. Specifically, funds will be used to: 1) implement a new, county-wide, intensive,  multidisciplinary reentry team model to provide service for members in the target population who are experiencing moderate to severe mental health issues and/or substance use disorders; 2) augment contracts with existing community based SUD providers to increase numbers of people in the target community who receive their services; and 3) launch a new grant program designed to increase the number and ability of organizations in the County to provide comprehensive housing supports.
  2. Contra Costa County Health Services Department
    1. Project Title: Contra Costa LEAD Plus (CoCo LEAD+)
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $5,984,047
    3. Summary: Building on and enhancing the LEAD framework developed In Seattle, WA, Contra Costa LEAD Plus” (CoCo LEAD+) will provide pre-arrest, at-arrest and post-arrest pre-booking diversion opportunities and coordinated services for people with behavioral health issues who have been repeatedly arrested by the Antioch Police Department for a broad array of low-level, non-violent misdemeanor and “wobbler” charges. Founded on trauma-informed, restorative, culturally competent, gender-responsive principles, and deploying a harm-reduction approach, CoCo LEAD+ will create individualized pathways of community-based treatment and peer-supported services for program participants. CoCo LEAD+ will implement a year-round schedule of cognitive-behavioral groups and restorative justice circles in community settings; open and operate two dedicated transitional housing residences; and dedicate fifty Section 8 1-3 bedroom vouchers for CoCo LEAD+ participants.
  3. City of Corning
    1. Project Title: Tehama County Restore Program
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $1,000,000
    3. Summary: The Tehama County RESTORE Program is an adolescent diversion program that is in its first full year of implementation. RESTORE is a tripartite diversion program that links: a) Michigan State’s Adolescent Diversion Program (ADP); b) mental health treatment; and c) substance use disorder treatment through coordinated case management services that connects youth and their families to housing, education, and employment services. RESTORE leverages federal, state, regional, and local resources to target arrested, charged with, and/or convicted adolescents with criminal offenses and a history of mental health issues and/or substance use disorders.
  4. El Rancho Unified School District
    1. Project Title: Promote Change Through Action (PCTA)
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $997,436
    3. Summary: Partnering with several community-based organizations, El Rancho Unified School District’s Prop. 47 grant program will expand and enhance existing restorative justice and diversion programs to effectively meet the needs of juveniles and young adults (up to age 22) in the criminal justice system by providing therapeutic mental health services, substance use disorder treatment and diversion programs, such as job skills training, legal consultations and housing-related assistance. The target population will include youth who are referred through probation, the juvenile courts or Teen Court. Housing assistance will include Standardized Assessment & Interventions for Rapid Re-Housing and/or Prevention and Coordinated Individual Service Plans for Supportive Housing.
  5. City of Los Angeles, City Attorney’s Office
    1. Project Title: LA Door (Diversion Outreach & Opportunities for Recovery)
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and other cross-sector partners seek to launch LA Door (Diversion Outreach and Opportunities for Recovery), a comprehensive health-focused drug intervention program emphasizing field-based services, pre-booking diversion, community engagement, and financial leveraging to address substance abuse afflicting local communities. LA DOOR will implement intervention strategies uniquely tailored to five South Los Angeles (South LA) “hotspot” locations – areas with a high density of misdemeanor drug arrests and homeless encampments – to connect high needs/high risk individuals with specialized substance use treatment, mental health care, and other wraparound services tailored to support recovery and minimize relapse.
  6. City of Los Angeles, Mayor’s Office of Reentry
    1. Project Title: Project impact
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $5,998,383
    3. Summary: Project imPACT is a year-long program that serves justice-affected individuals seeking employment. While enrolled in the program, program fellows will receive a personalized risk/needs assessment, cohort-based cognitive-behavioral therapy curriculum, ongoing support provided by a peer mentor (“Peer Navigator”), access to legal services provided by a lawyer (“Attorney”), and ongoing behavioral therapy by a licensed therapist (“Counselor”). A client’s “PACTeam,” which consists of his/her Peer Navigator, Attorney, and Counselor, will work together to stabilize the participant, eliminate barriers, and increase his/her ability to obtain and retain employment.
  7. Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of Diversion and Reentry
    1. Project Title: Proposition 47- Mental Health Services, Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Diversion Programs for People in the Criminal Justice System
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $20,000,000
    3. Summary: The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of Diversion and Reentry will expand substance use disorder (SUD) treatment housing, enhance access to mental health services, and develop new reentry-focused intensive case management, housing, and wraparound services to improve health and employment outcomes and reduce recidivism among justice involved individuals with mild to moderate substance use and mental health disorders. Services will include SUD treatment services administered by the Department of Public Health, mental health services provided by the Department of Mental Health, and workforce development services provided by Workforce Development, Aging, and Community Services. The County will leverage federal and state funding under Drug Medi-Cal, the Mental Health Services Act, Whole Person Care, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 6 Act, and Housing and Urban Development funding so that Proposition 47 funding can be used to fund costs that are not reimbursable or to expand needed services. Referrals will come from: community based organizations, Proposition 47 mailers, Diversion and Collaborative Courts, the Sheriff’s Department, Jail In-reach Providers, the Probation Department, and the Homeless Services Coordinated Entry System. All clients will be assessed for risk and needs based on a tool agreed upon by stakeholders.
  8. Marin County Health and Human Services
    1. Project Title: The Marin Count JCC Program
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $998,504
    3. Summary: Marin County will develop services for a conditional sentence diversion program – to add care coordination services for adults who are court-ordered to complete certain activities and need help to do so. Funds will support two (2) Justice Care Coordinators and an enrollment specialist to facilitate enrollment in available public benefits. Grant funds will also cover co-pays for access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers; and housing for women in this group who are homeless and precariously housed.  Leveraged funding and in-kind resources will be provided by the county’s system of care and by community-based organizations on contract with the county. Leveraged services include mental health and substance use disorder assessments, employment training and connections, housing supports and housing placements, social services, primary care services, and other ancillary services.
  9. Merced County Probation Department
    1. Project Title: Los Banos Community Service Network
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $960,667
    3. Summary: The goal of this project is to provide community-based, culturally competent mental health and substance use disorder treatment for youth and young adults in the Los Banos region. The project will bring the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA)-designated evidence-based El Joven Noble program to the Los Banos region in community settings and also the Community School and the Juvenile Justice Correctional Complex as part of preparation for reentry. In addition, the project will provide training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for substance use and mental health, along with supplemental trainings in trauma-informed practices to all Los Banos frontline probation, police, community health and middle and high school teachers and administrators working with system-involved youth. The County will collaborate with community-based organizations to create a Youth and Family Safety Hub (The Hub) in Los Banos, offering new or expanded community-based services, with a focus on young men up to age 18 and transitioning young adults ages 18-24.
  10. Monterey County Health Department, Behavioral Health Bureau
    1. Project Title: No Zip Code Left Behind: Addressing Inequities through Collaborative Partnerships
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: Monterey County will dedicate Prop 47 funds to implement new Substance Use Disorder Treatment services, and expand existing mental health services in a culturally relevant manner using evidence-based interventions in underserved South Monterey County.  The County will establish two new service sites in King City, South County’s largest city, to provide substance use disorder treatment to a minimum of 100 individuals yearly. Also funded will be a centrally located Sobering Center, job training, civil legal services, restorative justice, and case management. These programs will dovetail well with activities of the BSCC-funded Strengthening Law Enforcement Grant, awarded in 2016 to four South County cities.
  11. Oceanside Unified School District
    1. Project Title: Second Chances for Our Children
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $998,300
    3. Summary: Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD), located in the City of Oceanside in North San Diego County, will expand capacity to effectively meet the needs of juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system. OUSD will use grant funds to support mental health services; substance use disorder treatment; diversion programs including mentors, case management and community service; housing assistance; legal consultation; job skills training, certification, and placement; and evidence-based curricula including Seeking Safety and Aggression Replacement Training. Diversion programs, provided by community-based organization partner Lifeline, include: 1) an early intervention program designed to keep youth from entering or re-entering the juvenile justice system through assessment, counseling, and community service; 2) a continuation of detention alternatives to low-risk juvenile offenders, including case management, therapy, and short-term out-of-home placement when appropriate; and 3) interventions to youth who have been arrested and adjudicated and are at risk of continued involvement with the justice system.
  12. Orange County Health Care Agency
    1. Project Title: Orange County Community Supported Re-Entry Program
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: The Orange County Health Care Agency, as the Lead Agency, will implement this project as a collaboration between community and County partners. To address needs identified by the community, this project will address four primary initiatives: 1) expand jail in-reach and re-entry planning for those released from booking or custody;  2) develop a Community Support and Resource Center;  3) expand the Community Counseling & Supportive Services (CCSS) program; and 4) increase access to and availability of housing. This innovative program will provide a wide array of needed services including intensive case management, transportation, and access to a continuum of housing, for underserved populations in our community.
  13. Pasadena Police Department
    1. Project Title: Pasadena/Altadena “Vision 20/20” Reintegration Project
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $2,511,537
    3. Summary: The proposed Vision 20/20 Reintegration Project will provide new and expanded comprehensive reentry services to individuals in Pasadena and Altadena. Services will include substance use and mental health disorder treatment and supportive services to include housing, education, job skills/career preparation, case management, and more. Services will be provided in three phases over 12 months with Phase One focused on stabilizing substance use and mental health disorders and providing critical services like housing. Phases Two and Three will incrementally add other services as needed, while continuing treatment. The Pasadena Police Department will provide organizational oversight. Flintridge Center, the community leader on reentry in Pasadena/Altadena will serve a project management role. Flintridge Center and nine other community-based providers will provide comprehensive services that are trauma-informed and client-focused.
  14. Placer County Health and Human Services
    1. Project Title: Action Team: Promoting Community Health and Safety
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $990,000
    3. Summary: The Placer County Proposition 47 Action Team will deliver strengths-based, youth and family-driven, wraparound services to address mental health, substance use, and diversion needs of young adults, ages 18-32. This program will deliver mental health and/or substance use treatment as well as provide support in finding safe and stable housing, developing vocational or educational skills, and creating positive social communities to support healthy choices. Services will be tailored to the individual’s needs, culturally competent, and trauma-informed, with an overall goal to divert individuals and prevent recidivism from the criminal justice system and to promote safe and healthy communities.
  15. Plumas County District Attorney
    1. Project Title: Plumas County Proposition 47 Project
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $1,000,000
    3. Summary: This project is the result of a collaboration between the Alternative Sentencing Program (ASP), Plumas County Superior Court, Plumas County Sheriff, Plumas County Public Health, Plumas County Behavioral Health, Plumas Crisis Intervention & Resource Center (PCIRC) and other community-based mental health and substance use disorder partners to expand the Plumas County Pretrial Release Program to create a full Pretrial Diversion Program and expand the ASP Bridges Program for offenders transitioning from incarceration. Specifically, the project will address service gaps by providing a comprehensive array of pretrial diversion and reentry services for transitioning offenders including mental health and alcohol and drug services, housing and related supports, intensive case management and job skills training through community partnerships that work to compliment and leverage existing resources, promote a regional approach and are trauma-informed and recidivism reduction minded.
  16. City of Rialto
    1. Project Title: Juvenile TEAM Program
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $996,975
    3. Summary: The Training, Education, Alcohol/Drug, Mental Health Treatment (T.E.A.M.) project will service youth in the cities of Rialto, Colton, and San Bernardino. TEAM will use a wraparound service model to reduce recidivism by providing community-based interdisciplinary services to 65 youth between the ages of 14 and 17 who are on probation or who have been arrested, charged with, or convicted of a misdemeanor criminal offense and have a history of mental health issues and/or a substance use disorder. To address the gap in services addressing these needs in the project area, the T.E.A.M. project will focus on: a) Limited access to pro-social experiences, b) Disparities in education, and c) Behaviors impacted by substance use disorder and mental health issues.
  17. Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health (RUHS-BH)
    1. Project Title: Integrated Care Behavioral Health Full Service Partnership Program
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: RUHS-BH proposes to fund two Integrated Care Behavioral Health Full Services Partnership (FSP) programs that will provide integrated mental health, substance use and primary care services. Service locations will be established in the Coachella Valley (Desert Region) and in the area of Perris/Moreno Valley in order to serve Western/Mid-County residents. Drawing from the model first adopted by the Mental Health Services Agency (MHSA), FSPs provide intensive, wraparound mental health and case management support. FSPs will also provide integrated behavioral health services by leveraging both Specialty Mental Health and Drug Medi-Cal services. The model will include integrated and closely coordinated physical health care and a recovery-based care plan, using a trauma-informed approach. Diversion services will be included for Veteran and Homeless court defendants as well as post-conviction informal probationers who are at risk for re-offending. Restorative justice activities and vocational services will also be provided along with comprehensive housing support.
  18. San Bernardino County Department of Public Health
    1. Project Title: San Bernardino County SAFE-T Net (Support and Advocacy For Re-Entry and Transition)
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000 (recommended for a partial award)
    3. Summary: SAFE-T Net will provide voluntary, comprehensive, client-focused, and culturally-competent services to 300 unduplicated clients over 38 months including post-incarcerated and at-risk adults in San Bernardino County. 100% of SAFE-T Net clients will receive substance use and/or mental health services plus other services, as needed, and peer-driven case management/service navigation services. A multi-disciplinary and culturally-diverse subcommittee of the San Bernardino County Reentry Collaborative will serve as the Local Advisory Committee.  SAFE-T Net addresses: 1) needs outlined in a recent county-wide reentry strategic plan; and 2) recommendations from a recent pilot project funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.  The project will be led by the County Department of Public Health, and 70% of grant funds will be devoted to community-based service providers.
  19. San Diego County
    1. Project Title: Community Based Service and Recidivism Reduction (CoSRR) with San Diego Misdemeanants At-Risk Track (SMART)
    2. Grant Funds: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: The County of San Diego will collaborate with the San Diego City Attorney’s Office to oversee implementation and integration of two projects: the expansion of the City’s San Diego Misdemeanant At-Risk Track (SMART) Diversion program, and a new County program for Community Based Services and Recidivism Reduction (CoSRR). All direct services will be provided by community-based organizations (CBOs). It is anticipated that this project will change the lives of participants by identifying and addressing complex needs at the root of criminogenic behavior, by advancing wellness and healing, building skills for self-sufficiency and strengthening connections for participants to individuals and organizations to support recovery, rehabilitation and success of those participants in the community.
  20. San Francisco Department of Public Health
    1. Project Title: Promoting Recovery and Services for the Prevention of Recidivism (PRSPR)
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: The San Francisco Department of Public Health proposes to interrupt the cycle of substance abuse, unaddressed mental health issues, homelessness, and incarceration by increasing the availability of residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for criminal justice system-involved adults who may also have co-occurring mental health (MH) issues. In addition, the project layers peer outreach and developmentally-appropriate programming specific to transitional age youth on top of the residential treatment. Over the three year grant period, the project will serve 192 potentially duplicated participants. All participants, under the guidance of case managers or Peer Navigators, will have access to the city’s system of care including behavioral health services (SUD and MH treatment), physical health services, employment, and the newly formed Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, which coordinates all of the city’s housing resources (bridge housing, support hotels, sober living environments, coops) through one agency.
  21. San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services (BHS)
    1. Project Title: Homeward Bound
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: Homeward Bound is a comprehensive initiative to restore non-serious, non-violent offenders back into the community and reduce recidivism. The initiative will address critical system gaps that contribute to: a revolving door, whereby individuals released from jail are soon re-arrested for similar offenses; and hopelessness, whereby those seeking support are “not eligible” for services intended for higher-acuity/risk populations.  Specifically, Homeward Bound will create a Behavioral Health Assessment, Respite and Treatment Center offering MAT (medication assisted treatment), medically-monitored withdrawal management services, and primary health care services – along with case management and housing support services for individuals enrolled in program activities. BHS anticipates that as many as 1,000 individuals will be served annually through the WPC (Whole Person Care) homeless outreach and engagement components; coordination with law enforcement to deflect public inebriates away from the jail and into program services; and partnership agreements with local community-based organizations to help direct clients to assessments and evidence-based treatment services.
  22. Solano County Health & Social Services
    1. Project Title: Prop 47: Expanding Service Continuum for Drug Treatment and Continued Supports for Improved Outcomes
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $6,000,000
    3. Summary: This project is intended to deepen the capacity to provide residential drug treatment and the many services necessary throughout the continuum of recovery in order to sustain treatment achievements. A lack of residential treatment beds in Solano County makes it difficult for someone engaged in treatment to also transition seamlessly to their community, support system, or even a job opportunity. Creating in-County resources will improve the ability for our residents to sustain the gains they make when they are in residential treatment.  For others who do not need or will not accept residential treatment, it is critical that they are in a safe and supportive living environment while engaged in outpatient services; for this reason the project also emphasizes transitional housing and sober living environments. This continuum of service and housing will be supported by a robust case management program that will assist the clients transitioning through the service continuum and help to address barriers toward their success.  In addition, an attorney will be dedicated to the program to assist with legal advocacy.
  23. Yolo County Health & Human Services Agency
    1. Project Title: Steps to Success
    2. Grant Funds Requested: $5,968,215
    3. Summary: This project proposes to use Proposition 47 grant funds to expand Yolo County’s existing continuum of criminal justice diversion programs. Specifically, the proposed project will apply the principles of restorative justice and trauma-informed care to provide wraparound services to individuals who are eligible for a diversion program, but are unlikely to succeed without intensive supports due to their history of mental health issues and/or substance use disorders. In an effort to address the gaps in its current criminal justice continuum, HHSA’s Steps to Success project will use the following five-step process to provide participants with a range of diversion as well as mental health, substance use disorder, and supportive service assistance: Step 1-Outreach and Assessment; Step 2-Diversion Program; Step 3-Intensive Case Management and Treatment; Step 4-Civil Legal Services; and Step 5-Permanent Housing Assistance.