About Executive Steering Committees and Scoring Panels

Many of the decisions made by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) directly impact the day-to-day operations of local public safety agencies and service providers. To ensure successful program design and implementation, it is essential that those impacted are included in the decision making process. The BSCC uses Executive Steering Committees to inform decision making related to the Board’s programs, including distributing funds and developing regulations. ESCs help the BSCC to work collaboratively in changing environments, complete work on time and create positive partnerships critical for success.

This collaborative approach is supported by BSCC’s statute, Penal Code section 6024 (c), which states:

"The Board shall regularly seek advice from a balanced range of stakeholders and subject matter experts on issues pertaining to adult corrections, juvenile justice, and gang problems relevant to its mission. Toward this end, the Board shall seek to ensure that its efforts

are systematically informed by experts and stakeholders with the most specific knowledge concerning the subject matter,
include the participation of those who must implement a board decision and are impacted by a board decision, and
promote collaboration and innovative problem solving consistent with the mission of the Board.

The Board may create special committees, with the authority to establish working subgroups as necessary, in furtherance of this subdivision to carry out specified tasks and to submit its findings and recommendations from that effort to the board."

ESC Roles and Responsibilities

ESCs are appointed by the BSCC, as the need arises, to carry out specified tasks and to submit findings and recommendations to the BSCC. The Board then approves, rejects or revises those recommendations. Members of the ESCs are not paid for their time but are reimbursed for travel expenses incurred to attend meetings. When the specific task is completed the ESC is automatically disbanded.

Chair: The role of the Chair is to ensure that the Committee completes its assigned task within scope and on time. The Chair leads the meetings and facilitates the group discussion. Working with BSCC staff, the Chair names the appropriate members to the committee, develops the meeting agendas and represents the committee to the Board.

Member – The role of the member is to attend and actively participate in ESC meetings. Working collaboratively, the ESC members develop recommendations and/or work product in accordance with the stated purpose of the ESC.

Time Commitment

Once an ESC is seated, it generally takes four to six all-day, in-person, weekday meetings at the BSCC in Sacramento to discuss, deliberate and reach consensus on the elements of the RFP and rating criteria, and to complete the scoring and award recommendation process. The ESC members must attend all in-person meetings to be eligible to continue participation on the committee throughout the process. Additionally, after proposals are received, the ESC members will work independently to review and rate the proposals. Each proposal will take between one to three hours to read and score, which will add several days of work by each member to the overall meeting-time commitment indicated above.

Travel

This is uncompensated work. However, the BSCC will reimburse ESC members for air travel expenses to Sacramento and reimburse for meals, mileage and hotels. Each ESC member is responsible for securing approved time off from work and/or school to attend each meeting.

Conflict of Interest Laws

Current law prohibits any entity represented by any person participating on an ESC from receiving funds from the grant for which the ESC was established. Government Code 1090 prohibits participation of financially interested individuals in the ESC process. A person who is “financially interested” includes employees of any governmental, nongovernmental entity or service provider that might receive funding through the applicable grant project. Additionally, a member could be “financially interested” if he or she serves with an organization that might make a contribution to the applicable grant project.

In cases of a conflict of interest with an ESC member, a grant award would be revoked and legal consequences could exist for the parties involved. We want to make sure potential members consider this information carefully before deciding to participate on an ESC as the impact could adversely affect awarded grantees and their community partners. To make a fully informed decision on this issue we encourage potential members to consult with their organization’s legal counsel or an attorney before submitting a statement of interest to participate on an ESC. Your submission of a Statement of Interest means that you have determined that you do not have a conflict of interest now and do not intend to seek grant funds during the life of the RFP that will be developed by the ESC for which you have submitted your Statement of Interest.

Please Note:These conflict of interest rules do not apply to public employees that serve on the executive steering committees tasked with developing and scoring the Requests for Proposals for Proposition 47 or federal Byrne/JAG funding. Employees of governmental entities are deemed not to have a financial interest in these executive steering committees. (See Pen. Code, § 6025.1, subd. (a).)

Financial Reporting Requirements for ESC Members

ESC members are subject to potential financial scrutiny. Under the Political Reform Act and the BSCC’s conflict of interest policies, all ESC members must file a Form 700, which is a public document that requires disclosure of some of personal finances and investments. The reporting requirement is to guard against conflicts of interest, and the form becomes a public document. Please review the Statements of Economic Interests - Form 700 to see the information that you will be required to disclose if you are appointed as member of an ESC. You do not need to complete the Form 700 if you submit a Statement of Interest. The Form 700 is required to be completed only if you are appointed as an ESC member.

Ethics Training

All ESC members are required to complete ethics training, which may be completed by the Office of the Fair Political Practices Commission’s online Ethics Training Course. If you have already completed this course within the last two years, you can submit your certificate from that training to satisfy this requirement. This course takes about two hours to complete. You do not need to complete this training to submit a Statement of Interest. This training is required only if you are appointed as an ESC member.

Open Meetings

The ESC process is subject to California’s open meeting laws (Bagley-Keene). Additional information on Bagley-Keene can be found in this Guide to The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act of 2004

Composition and Appointment

The Board has the discretion to determine the composition and size of ESCs depending upon the complexity of the need of the project. The ESCs should be balanced by demographics, geography, stakeholder interest, and subject matter expertise as appropriate to the assigned task. The size of committees will generally be between nine and thirteen members to ensure that the groups are adequately representative but not too unwieldy to schedule meetings and accomplish work.

The Board has the discretion to determine the composition and size of ESCs on a case-by-case basis. The individual program or statute may specify areas of expertise to be included on an ESC, or the Board may identify areas of expertise based on the specific requirements of a program, project or statute.

ESCs currently seeking membership are listed in the column on the right side of this page. Please look for the deadline by which to express interest in serving on a particular ESC. Your request to serve will be forwarded to the ESC Chair for consideration.

Please send an email expressing interest in serving on a particular ESC to the contact person for the ESC in which you are interested. To send a letter of interest by mail please write to the listed contact person c/o Board of State and Community Corrections, 2590 Venture Oaks Way, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA, 95833.

Scoring Panels

Scoring Panels complete the reading and rating of proposals and develop scoring recommendations for the Board. A Scoring Panel does not develop the Request for Proposals. Requirements to participate on a Scoring Panel are the same as for ESCs.

For more information about ESCs in general please contact Tracie Cone or write to the BSCC at the address below.