THE SAN DIEGO. Reentry Roundtable. Recommendations to Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment

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1 THE SAN DIEGO Reentry Roundtable Recommendations to Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment

2 Introduction By December 2013, according to a federal three-judge panel, California s state prisons were still unacceptably overcrowded, at 145% of design capacity. (The court s order is to reduce prison overcrowding to 137.5% of capacity.) Two years after the enactment of Criminal Justice Realignment the largest change to California s criminal justice system in at least three decades the state needs to make still further changes if it is going to successfully reduce the prison population to a level that would satisfy the federal court. Governor Brown has committed, in 2014 and 2015, to examine in detail California s criminal justice system, including the current sentencing structure. 1 In October 2013, Assembly Speaker John Pérez announced the creation of the Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment, saying it would guide the Assembly s efforts to work with the Governor in finding solutions to the state s longtime criminal justice and prison challenges. 2 With three (of 13) committee members from the San Diego region, we are proud of the leadership taken by our state representatives: Assembly Members Shirley Weber, Rocky Chávez, and Marie Waldron. This whitepaper is the product of the San Diego Reentry Roundtable, a committed alliance of advocates, practitioners, formerly incarcerated individuals, and policy makers who meet regularly to address the complex issues of reentry in San Diego County. The purpose of this paper is to support the Select Committee in taking prudent, evidence-based, and cost-effective measures to address the state s correctional challenges while protecting our communities, reducing recidivism, and supporting reentry. Barriers to Successful Reentry We can dramatically improve the rates of successful reentry by making available a host of support services at critical steps before and after an inmate s release from incarceration. This whitepaper does not attempt to be comprehensive. Rather, it focuses on a few major reentry challenges currently facing recently released inmates, reentry services providers, and law enforcement agencies in San Diego County. We urge local agencies and our state representatives to do what they can to mitigate these barriers and enhance reentry success in our region. Disincentive to accept community supervision Criminal Justice Realignment expanded options for offenders to be placed under community supervision at the county level. One is a new sentencing option. Individuals sentenced pursuant to Penal Code 1170(h) can be sentenced to a split sentence. That is, they may be sentenced to serve part of their term in county jail and the remainder of their term under supervision in the 1 SB 649 (Leno) Veto Message, October 12, Available online at 2 Speaker Pérez s press release announcing the committee, October 9, P a g e

3 community. This period of supervision is called mandatory supervision. The other option is a new custody alternative. Criminal Justice Realignment expanded jail administrators authority to place inmates into home detention, residential drug treatment or other forms of alternative custody. Unfortunately, current law discourages offenders from agreeing to a split sentence or to alternative custody. Inmates in detention receive good time and work time credits for every day they serve. These credits are not currently available for those being supervised in the community. The result is that defendants who agree to a split sentence or alternative custody are still under community supervision when defendants who rejected those options are released from jail with no supervision. About 23% of realignment sentences in San Diego County are split. The Reentry Roundtable strongly supports the expanded use of split sentences and alternative custody, because a period of community supervision can provide a critical bridge and access to supports for an individual s successful reentry. Services are more readily available in the community than they are behind bars. It would be beneficial to public safety and to reentry success if appropriate offenders (as determined by a validated risk assessment) could be placed into community services while under supervision, rather than remain behind bars until they are released without the benefit of a smooth handover to community reentry support. Lack of prescription medication at release California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation policy is to provide each inmate with 30 days worth of prescription medication at release. Based on the experience of several service providers, this policy is inconsistently followed. San Diego County Sheriff s Department policy is to release jail inmates with a prescription for 10 days worth of medication. This policy is challenging in that it requires offenders to identify which pharmacy they have been directed to, find their way to that pharmacy, and then face alone any potential challenges (such as a prescription not actually having been called in). Offenders released to community supervision are at an advantage, because a Probation Officer will be able to navigate the process and ensure that an offender receives his medication in a timely manner. However, inmates released without supervision have fewer resources on which to draw. If they are lucky, someone from Project In-Reach or another reentry provider may be able to provide assistance. Too often, individuals are not able to retrieve their medication and any health gains made while incarcerated are lost. The incarcerated population has many more physical, mental and behavioral health challenges than does the population at large. The continuity of offenders care is in the best interests of the entire community and can help reduce costs and quick returns to jail and the emergency room. Ensuring that inmates are released from jail with medication is a critical piece though only a piece of achieving meaningful continuity of care for some of our most vulnerable community members. 2 P a g e

4 Lack of picture identification at release For years in California, individuals leaving prison have not had picture identification. IDs that enter state prison with inmates are surrendered to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and are not returned at release. In December 2013, the CDCR embarked on a new Cal ID project, which intends to assist eligible inmates in obtaining state-issued identification cards to satisfy federal requirements for employment documentation. 3 The CDCR expects to expand the program from one Reentry Hub in 2013 to 13 Reentry Hubs by the end of In the meantime, individuals leaving a state prison will continue to rely on their supervising (either State Parole or County Probation) officer to assist with obtaining picture IDs. Individuals being released from county jail will be returned any ID they had at booking, unless they voluntarily signed off to have a friend or loved one pick up their belongings. Nonetheless, a significant number of individuals leave jail with no ID, typically because they did not have ID at booking or because they authorized someone to receive their property and that individual subsequently is unable or unwilling to return it. The California Department of Motor Vehicles provides reduced cost IDs for individuals who are accompanied to the DMV by a Probation Officer or other approved program staff. However, this process is time-consuming and costly. The Reentry Roundtable has identified several services and processes that require picture ID, including accessing medical care, obtaining some prescription medication, obtaining a reducedfare Compass Card for transit access, enrolling in CalFresh, using hotel vouchers, enrolling in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, and obtaining a birth certificate. Without picture ID, individuals leaving jail or prison struggle to access even basic services. Lack of reentry planning for 1170(h) offenders sentenced to county jail As noted above, most individuals sentenced pursuant to Penal Code 1170(h) are sentenced to straight jail time. Only about 23% are sentenced to a split sentence, which requires them to serve a portion of their term under supervision in the community (called mandatory supervision). There are currently very limited supports provided to these non-supervised 1170(h) offenders after their release from jail. The Reentry Roundtable strongly supports improved pre-release reentry planning for all offenders. Released, unsupervised 1170(h) offenders are the most challenging population for whom to provide reentry services. In addition to boosting the proportion of split sentences (so that more offenders are under supervision), counties need options and support for providing reentry planning and services for this unsupervised population. 3 The Future of California Corrections: A Blueprint to Save Billions of Dollars, End Federal Court Oversight, and Improve the Prison System, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Available at: 4 Governor s Budget Summary , California Department of Finance,. Available at: 3 P a g e

5 Recommendations The San Diego Reentry Roundtable has advised various reentry projects in San Diego, including the Urban Institute s Reentry Mapping Network site and assisting the San Diego District Attorney s office in the development and implementation of California Senate Bill 618 (SB 618), a landmark pilot project that began the reentry process before the defendant was sentenced. The Reentry Roundtable whose mission is to promote the safe and successful return of offenders to our community offers these several recommendations to the Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment as it grapples with the enormous task of relieving prison overcrowding while protecting community safety. The key recommendations are as follows: Enhance incentives to increase split sentencing and alternative custody. Require that inmates leaving jails and prisons are provided with appropriate prescription medication. Expand number of inmates leaving local jails and state prisons with government-issued picture ID. Support reentry planning and services for individuals sentenced pursuant to Penal Code 1170(h) who are not under supervision post-release. Conclusion It is in the spirit of cooperation and concern that we offer our recommendations and continuing commitment to support evidence-based practices that decrease the prison population without sacrificing public safety. We believe communities that are proactive in this matter will be better prepared to safely manage the local affects of any further correctional policy change at the state level. 4 P a g e