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DATE: |
December 5, 2023 |
03 |
SUBJECT
Title
ACCEPT THE FISCAL YEAR 2023-24 COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS PARTNERSHIP PLAN (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
On October 1, 2011, the State of California implemented the Public Safety Realignment Act (AB 109). This law fundamentally altered the criminal justice system by changing the definition of a felony; shifting housing for people with lower-level felony offenses from state prison to local county jails; and transferring the supervision of designated people on parole from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to local county agencies. AB 109 requires counties to develop comprehensive plans to effectively implement these modifications to the criminal justice system without compromising public safety. Today’s action requests that the Board of Supervisors (Board) accept San Diego County’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 plan, known as the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Plan.
AB 109 established the role and membership of the CCP Executive Committee, which approves a CCP Plan. In 2023, updates to the CCP Plan were provided by the District Attorney’s Office, Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), Probation Department, Public Defender, and the Sheriff’s Department. The CCP Plan reflects stakeholder and community participation gathered during two community forums and through the Engage San Diego online platform that includes feedback from community-based providers and individuals with prior justice system involvement and their families.
The updated CCP Plan shows that San Diego County’s approach to AB 109 and the broader justice system has evolved significantly in the 12 years since passage of AB 109. Additionally, the policy priorities expressed by the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors are reflected in the plan including a focus on behavioral health, housing, equity, and alternatives to incarceration. The Fiscal Year 2023-24 CCP Plan provides an updated framework for San Diego County justice partners and stakeholders to plan, monitor, and report on the San Diego County criminal justice system.
As part of a public meeting, the CCP Executive Committee voted to accept the CCP Plan on October 12, 2023. Today’s action is a request for the Board to accept the Fiscal Year 2023-24 CCP Plan.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
1. Accept the County’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 Community Corrections Partnership Plan.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
The Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Plan was developed with equity as a guiding principle to reduce disparities across the health and justice systems and ensure equitable access to quality prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services. The CCP Plan includes feedback from community stakeholders and individuals who were previously involved with the justice system. The CCP Plan includes services delivered by community members with relevant lived experiences to mentor and assist individuals to successfully transition from custody into the community.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT
The proposed action to accept the County’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Plan contributes to the County of San Diego's Sustainability Goals of engaging the community and providing just and equitable access to services and resources. The CCP Plan reflects robust community input gathered from two community forums and the Engage San Diego online platform and includes feedback from representatives of community-based organizations and individuals with lived experience in the justice system. Furthermore, the CCP Plan outlines linkages and access to treatment, behavioral health care, housing, education, employment, medical and public health care, with the goal of expanding the availability of accessible County services and community resources for justice-involved individuals. The Probation Department will continue to gather public input on future CCP Plans to meet the needs of justice-involved individuals and encourage diverse stakeholders to participate in decisions that affect their communities.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with accepting Fiscal Year 2023-24 Community Corrections Partnership Plan. There will be no change in net General Fund cost and no additional staff years.
BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT
N/A
Details
ADVISORY BOARD STATEMENT
On October 12, 2023, the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Plan was voted on and approved by the CCP Executive Committee.
BACKGROUND
California’s criminal justice system fundamentally shifted on October 1, 2011, because of the implementation of the Public Safety Realignment Act (AB 109). AB 109 was enacted to address state budget shortfalls and overcrowded conditions in the California prison system. The law fundamentally altered the criminal justice system by changing the definition of a felony; shifting housing for people with lower-level felony offenses from prison to local county jail; and transferring the supervision of designated people on parole from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to local county agencies. AB 109 and its companion bills address four areas of the criminal justice system including felony sentencing, supervision of people with felony level offenses after release from custody, alternatives to custody, and parole revocations.
The shifting of supervision and housing of people from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to San Diego County required a comprehensive plan to effectively implement these modifications to the criminal justice system without compromising public safety. The State encouraged realignment plans to maximize the investment of criminal justice resources in evidence-based correctional sanctions and programs.
The State continues to incentivize counties to submit an updated Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Plan and report on outcomes. The County updates its CCP Plan annually to expand on the progress made since the initial plan was developed in 2011, while addressing current and emerging issues and priorities.
Local Planning - Community Corrections Partnership (CCP)
Public Safety Realignment expanded the duties of the CCP, which provides a structure for county departments to collaborate on criminal justice policies and improvements and to determine service needs and priorities collectively for clients reentering the community from jail and prison. Realignment statutes created a CCP Executive Committee composed of:
• Chief Probation Officer (Chair of the CCP)
• Presiding Judge of the Superior Court
• District Attorney
• Public Defender
• Sheriff
• Police Chief
• Director of HHSA
The role of the CCP Executive Committee is to approve and present to the Board of Supervisors a CCP Plan that describes the services and programs implemented to meet the goals of AB 109.
In developing the CCP Plan for FY 2023-24, representatives from the CCP Executive Committee provided their respective agency updates. Community input was gathered through two community forums held in September 2023, with one forum hosted online in the evening and one held in-person at the Community Support Office in North Park. Approximately 60 participants attended the forums including community members with lived experience, their families, staff from community-based organizations who provide client services, and other stakeholders. During the community forums, participants provided feedback on a range of topics related to behavioral health care, employment, housing, reentry services, diversion, lived experience expertise, and outcomes.
An online site was launched on the Engage San Diego platform that included a variety of materials on the CCP Plan with links to resources on related topics. Since the launch of the platform, there were approximately 80 visits to the site, including 45 participants who visited at least one page and 31 informed participants who viewed multiple project pages and downloaded documents. Updates to the Engage San Diego CCP landing page continued throughout the project.
Community Corrections Partnership Plan
The CCP Plan describes system-wide goals that guide the programs and services provided to individuals impacted by AB 109 and the broader justice-system population. The three overarching goals of the CCP Plan are to: (1) Enhance prevention, diversion, and alternatives to custody; reserve jail for individuals posing a serious risk to public safety or sentenced for serious crimes; (2) Enhance reentry interventions through transition from custody to the community; and (3) Provide evidence-based supervision and intervention services to reduce recidivism.
The programs and services outlined in the CCP Plan address issues such as linkages and access to treatment, behavioral health care, housing, education, employment, medical and public health care, etc. The FY 2023-24 CCP Plan aligns programs and services with the corresponding goals and objectives to identify the strategies being implemented to achieve the goals and to identify gaps in services.
In developing the FY 2023-24 CCP Plan, agencies consulted with the County’s Office of Evaluation, Performance and Analytics (OEPA) who collaborated in the development of logic models for each goal. The logic models demonstrate how the programs and services have their intended effects through outputs and outcomes.
The logic models include information on which programs and services map to various points in the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM), which provides a framework for understanding how people move through and interact with the criminal justice system. The SIM identifies six criminal justice intercepts where interventions can be implemented to prevent further justice system involvement.
The CCP Plan describes over 50 outputs and 20 outcomes for FY 2022-23 associated with each of the goals and objectives. The plan is organized to show the alignment between the goals, objectives, programs/services and outputs/outcomes to provide an overview of how the system is progressing on each goal. Outputs provide the numerical counts of program activities such as the number of clients served, the number of services provided such as assessments completed, applications received, referrals to services, housing provided, staff trained, grants awarded, etc. The outcome measures describe changes to the population served and/or program impacts such diversion, reduced justice system involvement, jail days saved, recidivism rates, etc.
By statute, the County’s CCP Executive Committee is required to recommend the CCP Plan to the County Board of Supervisors, and the plan is “deemed accepted” unless rejected by a four-fifths vote of the Board of Supervisors, in which case the plan returns to the CCP for further consideration.
The CCP Executive Committee voted to approve the CCP Plan on October 12, 2023.
Today’s request is for the Board of Supervisors to accept the FY 2023-24 CCP Plan. If the plan is accepted by the Board of Supervisors, it will be submitted to the Board of State and Community Corrections by December 15, 2023. The Board of State and Community Corrections summarizes information submitted by counties in a report to the State Legislature regarding the implementation of realignment.
LINKAGE TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO STRATEGIC PLAN
Today’s proposed action supports the Justice Initiative of the County of San Diego’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan by promoting the implementation of a service delivery system that promotes safety by ensuring a fair and equitable justice system in the defense and prosecution of crimes and contributing to a system of restorative justice.
Respectfully submitted,
HELEN N. ROBBINS-MEYER
Interim Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT(S)
Attachment A - FY 2023-24 Community Corrections Partnership Plan