BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1089
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Date of Hearing: July 8, 1997
Counsel: Jerome McGuire
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
SB 1089 (Lockyer) - As Amended: July 2, 1997
2/3 vote. Urgency
SUMMARY : Expands prison drug treatment programs and modifies the
current California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) commitment
statutes. Specifically, this bill :
1) States legislative findings that substance abuse is a root
cause of crime, but that effective drug treatment with the
therapeutic community model can greatly reduce crime and
recidivism.
2) Requires the Department of Corrections (CDC) to do the
following:
a) Expand by 4,000 the number of beds authorized in prisons
and community correctional facilities before January 1,
2002, and at least 1,000 beds by July 1, 2001, for drug
treatment based on the therapeutic community model.
b) Establish certification criteria for secure public or
private substance abuse treatment facilities, as specified.
3) Allows the CDC to do the following:
a) Use treatment protocols other than the therapeutic
community if they are shown to be effective.
b) Allows CDC to seek or accept a bid from a single bidder, as
an exemption to the prohibition in the Public Contract
Code, for the first 1,600 treatment beds.
4) Requires CDC to screen inmates for substance abuse treatment
pursuant to specified factors, including appropriate custody
and classification levels, prior drug program participation,
but no violent crimes nor sex crimes against children.
5) Requires CDC to establish criteria for certification of secure
private or public community correctional facilities; and
requires CDC to contract with such a facility for at least
1,000 beds by July 1, 2001.
6) Provides that a community correctional facility may not exceed
the inmate's maximum sentence, and provides for up to
six-months' aftercare as a condition of parole.
7) Provides that CDC shall report to the Joint Committee on
Prison Construction and Operations, as specified, on the
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operation of the new
programs.
8) Requires CDC to provide training and technical assistance to
institution, parole and provider staff, and further requires
that provider treatment staff shall be certified, consistent
with standards for addiction counselors developed by the
University of California.
9) Changes the existing Narcotic Addicts Commitment and Treatment
program in the Welfare and Institutions Code, as specified,
including:
a) A judge in a superior court may , rather than shall , suspend
a prison commitment of an addict.
b) Directs the court to consider factors similar to those in
the new substance abuse programs.
c) Allows the court to place addicts in the treatment programs
created by this bill, not only the California
Rehabilitation Center (CRC).
10) Requires the CDC to expand the number of beds in the CRC civil
addict intensive substance abuse treatment program by an
additional 3,000 beds by January 1, 2002, and requires CDC to
evaluate and report on the CRC programs, as specified.
EXISTING LAW :
1) Provides that the CDC Director is vested with the supervision,
management and control of state prisons, and is responsible
for the care, custody, treatment, training, discipline and
employment of persons confined in those prisons. The Director
may prescribe rules and regulations for the administration of
the prisons. (Penal Code Sections 5054 and 5058.)
2) Provides that any person who is convicted of an offense
punishable by state imprisonment may be diverted to a
diagnostic facility of the CDC for examination and treatment
of addiction as part of his or her sentence. Similarly, the
law requires the court to order the examination for treatment
of any convicted defendant, or individual whose probation has
been revoked, if it appears that he or she is or may become
addicted to narcotics, for purposes of determining the
propriety of commitment to the CRC. (Welfare and Institutions
Code Section 3051; Penal Code Section 1203.03.)
3) Includes the Substance Abuse Community Correctional Treatment
Act, which is intended to establish substance abuse community
correctional centers and programs to be operated locally in
order to implement state-of-the-art rehabilitation programs
commensurate with public safety considerations. (Penal Code
Sections 6240-6247.)
COMMENTS :
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1) Author's Statement . "By the year 2003, the state prison
system will be housing over 210,000 inmates. If it's business as
usual, taxpayers will spend an extra $2.5 billion to build 6 new
prisons and almost $1 billion more for annual operating costs.
"Together with Senator Rainey, we have a package of
legislation before you that offers a rational alternative that
saves taxpayer dollars and protects public safety.
"Effective drug treatment is a key element in our prison
reform strategy. The research shows that 77% of males and 83%
of females in state prison had a history of substance abuse.
Getting them off drugs means less crime and less spending of
prisons. Only 16% of the treated inmates returned to prison
for new crimes they committed; the no treatment control group
had a return rate of 65%.
"Over 70 percent of the state's prisoners have a history of
substance abuse. The failure to provide effective drug treatment
while inmates are in prison jeopardizes public safety when they
are released and increases recidivism. Research has proven
that intensive drug treatment programs can reduce recidivism by
more than 50%. By investing additional resources to expand
existing programs that work, recidivism can be reduced. This
could avoid the need for 8,000 beds by the year 2002-2003. The
Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that this investment will
save $280 million in one time prison construction costs and $90
million in annual operating costs.
"There is overwhelming evidence that drug treatment works. We
need to do more. Currently, we have 400 slots for in-prison
therapeutic drug treatment programs proven to be effective.
With the opening of the California Substance Abuse Treatment
Facility at Corcoran II prison, we will have about 2,000
slots. Even with that increase, we are still only meeting
about 2% of the need - 98% of the inmates who need drug
treatment aren't getting it.
"AB 1089 would phase in 8,000 new drug treatment slots over
the next five years. This investment will save $280 million
in one-time prison construction costs and $490 million in
annual operating costs. California has a large number of
therapeutic community programs and can easily meet the
challenge of this expansion."
2) Cost of and Funding for the Bill . According to the author's
office, the cost of the programs called for in this bill is
$10 million. As part of its deliberation on the 1997-1998
budget, the Budget Conference Committee has approved $10
million for the implementation of the bill.
3) Explanation of Therapeutic Community Treatment Programs . Most
simply described, the therapeutic community treatment model
involves peer education and peer pressure by fellow addicts
and trained counselors so that addicts re-learn their approach
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to every-day problems. The emphasis is on socialization, as
opposed to a medical approach. Addicts learn together how to
survive and prosper without drugs. One of the best known
programs is the New York-based Phoenix House, which has 2,000
patients in 16 residential facilities in New York, California
and New Jersey, and 700 inmate/patients in New York. Delancey
Street, in San Francisco, is another successful
community-based treatment facility.
a) Total Immersion - Peer and Staff Resocialization . In a
typical therapeutic community program, drug abusers/addicts
are completely immersed in a comprehensive 18- to 24-month
regimen, built around the philosophy that the addict, not
the drug, is the primary problem. Drug abuse is a symptom
of underlying personal and psychological problems. The
therapeutic community treatment strategy aims to transform
the addicts destructive patterns of thinking and behavior.
In contrast, psychiatric models hold that addiction is a
discrete "disease," apart from related
emotional/personality problems. In
other words, the medical model may only reach the symptoms, not
the root cause, of drug abuse.
b) Therapeutic Community . The community, not simply an
individual therapist or doctor, treats the addict. Peers and
staff members, many of whom may be graduates of the program,
serve as role models and advisers. Each member reinforces the
rules and goals of the community. Each member of the
community must work, learning responsibility, discipline and
the ability to accept supervision and authority. These skills
are essential in the workplace. Residents earn awards and
benefits - including increased responsibility and some
independence - with progress through the program. Failure to
meet rules and expectations will result in the least desired
chores and assignments.
c) Outcome and Data . After some time in the program, a
resident will generally realize that being an addict provided
an identity and structure to his or her life. Work and family
cannot compete with the world of addiction. If he or she is
successful in the program, he or she learns to build a new
life. The program is difficult, as many addicts cannot
imagine coping in life without drugs. However, those who
successfully complete an 18- or 24-month program have an
excellent chance to remain drug and prison free thereafter.
Among graduates of Phoenix House, 90% are still working and
law abiding, and 70% are completely drug free seven years
after treatment. The Los Angeles Times , April 25, 1997; The
June 12, 1996, "Report to the Prison Reform Conference
Committee", City Journal , Summer 1995; and interviews with
Mimi Silbert, Executive Director, Delancey Street.)
4) Legislative Analysts Office's (LAO) Analysis of the Current
Civil Addict Program (CRC) . The LAO's 1997-1998 Budget Report
analysis of the CDC civil addict program (D79-87) is
summarized: The program provides drug treatment to convicted
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defendants who are civilly committed to a CDC facility,
usually CRC. Such commitments are made when the judge has
suspended criminal proceedings after determining that the
defendant is an addict or in imminent danger of becoming an
addict. Certain defendants are excluded from consideration.
In January, 1997, CDC held 2,600 civil addicts.
The LAO had, four years ago, recommended that the CRC and
related programs be abandoned, as success rates were low and
the program was unfocused. Drug abuse and trafficking were
serious problems at CRC. Sixty-three percent of the people
released from CRC were returned to prison.
Reforms have since been implemented at CRC such that LAO does
not currently recommend its abolition. The current recidivism
rate is about 50%. It is important to note, however, that CRC
has slowly begun the use of the therapeutic community model.
The LAO appears to attribute much of the CRC improvement to
the use of the therapeutic community program.
The LAO analysis notes that commitments to CRC are down
sharply since 1994. The Three Strikes Law, which prohibits
commitments to CRC for defendants subject to the law, and
denial of conduct credits for those committed to CRC may be
largely responsible for the decline in CRC population. (With
the denial of credits, fewer defendants are requesting or
urging the court to commit them to CRC.)
5) LAO Recommends Increased Prison and Prison/Alternative Drug
Treatment .
The LAO is concerned that the decrease in the number of
defendants committed to CRC will result in more recidivism by
inmates whose criminality stems largely from drug use. The
state would then bear the direct costs of crime and the
indirect costs of prosecution and incarceration.
The LAO also noted that CDC has opened a therapeutic community
treatment program at Corcoran State Prison. LAO recommends
that the effectiveness of the Corcoran program be closely
studied. Overall, LAO strongly recommends that drug treatment
programs be expanded.
6) Cross-Reference in this Bill to SB 295 - Proposed New Penal
Code Section 19.3 . This bill contains restrictions on the
transfer of inmates to the public or private substance abuse
treatment programs which the CDC will designate in the bill.
For example, no person who has ever been convicted of a
violent felony may be transferred to those programs. Nor may
the person have been convicted of "any felony listed in
subdivision (e) of Section 19.3" of the Penal Code .
Currently, there is no such section of the Penal Code.
However, SB 295 (Rainey and Lockyer), which is viewed by the
authors as paired with this bill, does propose a new Penal
Code Section 19.3. SB 295 is set for hearing in this
committee today.
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At some point, it may be appropriate to either add the
identical proposed new Penal Code Section 19.3 to this bill or
to make the bills contingent upon each other. That amendment
may not be necessary at this time, although it would appear
that anyone reading this bill may otherwise be confused by the
cross-reference to Penal Code Section 19.3.
7) Additional Related Legislation . AB 875 (Takasugi) currently
in the Senate Appropriations Committee modifies the community
correctional center statutes and adds new authorization for the
CDC Director to "contract for the establishment and operation of
community correctional facilities that offer programs for the
treatment of addiction to alcohol or controlled substances based
on the therapeutic community model, only if the cost per inmate of
operating the facilities will be less than the cost per inmate of
incarcerating inmates in a state correctional facility."
8) Opposition . The Department of Corrections is opposed to
Senate Bill 1089, requiring a rapid expansion of substance abuse
treatment programs for state prison inmates. The therapeutic
community model of substance abuse treatment is currently provided
in three small-scale programs. Evaluations of these limited
programs have shown that when coupled with community-based
aftercare upon parole, the parole revocation rates of program
participants are strikingly low when compared to other parolees.
A major expansion (1,500 beds) of the programs will occur shortly
as the Department activates the California Substance Abuse
Treatment Facility at Corcoran in September, 1997.
"SB 1089 requires the Department to expand the therapeutic
community substance abuse treatment program by an additional 8,000
beds during the next five fiscal years. While the Department's
commitment to provide effective substance abuse treatment programs
is evident by the impending activation at Corcoran, it would not
be programmatically or fiscally prudent to rapidly expand this
program prior to an evaluation to ensure
that the treatment model, when operated in this larger scale,
continues to result in lower parole revocation rates."
REGISTERED SUPPORT/OPPOSITION :
Support
California Alliance for the Mentally Ill
California Healthcare Association
California Therapeutic Communities, Inc.
California Peace Officers Association
California Police Chiefs Association
San Bernardino County Sheriff
Alameda County Sheriff
Opposition
Department of Corrections
SB 1089
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Analysis prepared by : Jerome McGuire / apubs / (916) 445-3268