Prop 47 ESC Will Meet June 23-24; Regional Public Input Meeting Also Set

SACRAMENTO (May 11, 2016) – The Board of State and Community Corrections will hold the first meetings of its Proposition 47 Executive Steering Committee on June 23 and 24.

The meetings will coincide with a June 23 regional meeting that will allow the public to give ESC members input about grant-spending priorities. The BSCC already has held five regional meetings to help the agency understand the complex needs of offenders who leave incarceration dealing with substance-use disorder, mental illness, unemployment, homelessness or other challenges.

The ESC is co-chaired by BSCC Board Members Scott Budnick and Leticia Perez, and members represent diverse government and non-govermental organizations and subject-matter experts in reentry issues. Several ESC members are formerly incarcerated.

At the first two meetings BSCC staff will brief members about the initiative and related legislation that governs how the state savings must be spent. Experts will discuss best practices and current trends in the areas already identified as funding priorities.

All meetings are open to the public and will take place at the BSCC office, 2590 Venture Oaks Way, Sacramento CA.

At subsequent meetings the limited-term ESC will develop the grant program criteria for final Board approval. It will also rate the proposals and make award recommendations to the Board. The awards are expected to be made in Spring 2017.

The voter-approved initiative reduced penalties for some low-level crimes and directed that 65 percent of the annual state savings from reduced incarceration rates be distributed by the BSCC to programs that reduce recidivism, especially substance-use disorder and mental health treatment. Assembly Bill 1056 provides additional programmatic priorities that may ber included in Prop 47-funded recidivism-reduction programs, such as reentry housing assistance for offenders who have served their sentences and have been released from incarceration, and employment-related services such as job skills training.

The ESC will meet June 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on June 24. The regional meeting will be held June 23 from 6-8 p.m.

The BSCC 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, sets standards for the training of local corrections officers and the operations of local corrections facilities, and administers the current lease-revenue bond process for local jail facility improvements.