BSCC Sets First Regional Meeting on Prop 47

SACRAMENTO (Sept. 21, 2015) — The Board of State and Community Corrections has scheduled its first of seven regional meetings on the implementation of Proposition 47, part of a statewide tour to explain the agency’s duties and gather public input on potential funding priorities.

The meeting will be from 6-8 p.m. on October 28, 2015 at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ chambers in Oakland (1221 Oak Street). The others will be scheduled after the first of the year.

There is a high level of public interest in the voter-approved initiative that reduced from felonies to misdemeanors many non-serious, non-violent property and drug crimes.

“We are committed to considering broad input from stakeholders and the public as we develop and implement the Prop 47 grant program,” said BSCC Board Chair Linda Penner.

The Board was charged under the voter initiative with awarding grants intended to reduce recidivism using 65 percent of the funds that would be saved with the measure’s enactment. The Department of Finance is working to determine savings to the state as a result of Prop 47.

By law public agencies will be the lead agencies for Prop 47 grants. These public agencies can work in cooperation with local service providers.

Proposition 47 called for spending the savings on treatment programs. Pending legislation, if passed and signed into law, provides additional programmatic priorities for the types of recidivism-reduction services that would be funded, such as reentry housing for offenders who have served their sentences and have been released from incarceration, substance abuse treatment programs and employment-related services. A limited-term Executive Steering Committee appointed by the Board will develop grant program criteria for final Board approval. In early 2016 the BSCC will begin accepting through its website statements of interest for ESC membership, and will be looking for people who are representative of California’s diverse population who bring a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, professional expertise, life experiences and geographic representation.

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 improvements.

For more information about the BSCC’s Prop 47 responsibilities please read the FAQs here.

For more information about this release contact Ricardo Goodridge at 916-341-5160 or ricardo.goodridge@bscc.ca.gov.