The Governor’s Budget includes funding to support the various programs within the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, Department of Justice, Office of Criminal Justice Planning, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, Office of the Inspector General, Citizens Option for Public Safety and the California Highway Patrol. Funding for these programs will grow to approximately $7.3 billion and reflects a 2.6 percent increase over the revised 1999-00 Budget. The level of funding proposed for each of these agencies is shown in Figure CLE-1. Highlights of the more notable funding changes included in the Budget for these programs are further described below.
Youth and Adult
Correctional Agency
The Secretary for the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency is responsible for providing day-to-day policy direction and broad administrative guidance to the departments that deliver youth and adult detention services including the Department of Corrections, Board of Prison Terms, Department of the Youth Authority, Youthful Offender Parole Board, and the Board of Corrections. The Secretary also provides oversight for the Narcotic Addict Evaluation Authority and the Commission on Correctional Peace Officers Standards and Training. Funding for these programs will total approximately $5.4 billion in 2000-01. This amount reflects a 1.8 percent increase over the revised 1999-00 Budget.
Department of Corrections
The Department of Corrections (CDC) is responsible for the incarceration of convicted felons and the supervision of these felons after their release on parole. The CDC is responsible for providing safe and secure detention facilities and providing necessary support services to inmates, including food, clothing, academic and vocational training, and health care.
The CDC’s inmate population is projected to increase from 164,288 on June 30, 2000, to 166,521 by June 30, 2001, an increase of 2,233 inmates, or 1.4 percent. These projections represent a slight reduction from the Department’s fall population projections, and are a recognition of recent trends that reflect a leveling off or possible decline in population growth. The parole population is projected to increase from 116,908 on June 30, 2000, to 119,602 by June 30, 2001, an increase of 2,694 parolees, or 2.3 percent (see Figure CLE-2). The Governor’s Budget proposes $4.4 billion and 45,516 personnel years for state operations and local assistance programs to accommodate these populations. This is an increase of $128.2 million and 338 personnel years over the revised 1999-00 Budget. In 2000-01, incarceration and parole services will be provided through 33 institutions, 11 reception centers, 38 camps, and 16 community correctional facilities.
California has an incarceration rate of 464 inmates per 100,000 population, compared to a nationwide rate of 446 inmates per 100,000, ranking it tenth among the 50 states, and second among the ten most populous states (see Figure CLE-3). Adequate funding for state prison operations ensures the safety of not only the public, but also the officers who supervise confined criminals.
Urinalysis Testing—An increase of $1.5 million and 26 personnel years is included to establish a random urinalysis testing program for all inmates confined in the state prison system.
Substance Abuse Treatment Program Expansion—The Budget proposes $12.3 million General Fund and 23 personnel years for implementation of a 1,500 bed therapeutic community substance abuse treatment program expansion in the budget year, including community based residential aftercare treatment for 50 percent of the program graduates. This is in addition to a 1,500 bed therapeutic community substance abuse treatment program expansion that will begin in the latter part of 1999-00 utilizing partial year funding provided in the 1999 Budget Act. The Budget proposes an augmentation of $15.9 million General Fund and $500,000 in Federal Byrne Block Grant reimbursements and 23 personnel years to provide funding for the full-year cost of this 1,500 bed program expansion.
Youthful Offender Program—Augmentations of $785,000 and nine personnel years for 1999-00, and $1.2 million and 21 personnel years for 2000-01 are included to provide separate housing and programs for 116 inmates under 18 years of age.
Drug Reduction Strategy—The Budget proposes $404,000 from the General Fund, $500,000 in federal funds, and 14 personnel years to continue the Drug Reduction Strategy Program through 2000-01. This Program, which began in 1998-99, is a pilot program designed to address the problem of illegal drug use, possession, manufacturing, and trafficking within the California state prison system.
Transitional Case Management Program—A $750,000 augmentation and two personnel years are included to expand this Program, which provides specialized services to inmates and parolees who have been diagnosed as having Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), from the current level of 130 program participants to 260 participants.
Second Striker Task Force—The Budget proposes $10.4 million and 134 personnel years to provide increased supervision of parolees who have two serious or violent felony convictions. This augmentation, which adds 105 parole agents, will enhance public safety by almost doubling the supervision of these parolees by lowering the parolee to parole agent ratio from 70:1 to 40:1.
Parolee-At-Large Apprehension Plan—$2.0 million and 25 personnel years, including 23 parole agents, are proposed to intensify efforts to apprehend serious and violent parolees who have failed to maintain the required contact with their parole agents.
Increased Mentally Ill Parolee Supervision—$1.9 million and 24 personnel years, including 22 parole agents, are included to provide increased supervision of mentally ill parolees and to assist them in obtaining community-based services to facilitate their successful reintegration into the community.
Reducing Mentally Ill Parolee Recidivism—Through redirection of $6.0 million in current year funding, an additional 63 personnel years is included to enhance the current Parole Outpatient Program for parolees diagnosed as mentally ill. This redirection is continued in 2000-01.
Delano II Field and Headquarters Staffing—An increase of $1.4 million and 22 personnel years is proposed for field and headquarters staff to plan, design, construct, and activate the California State Prison, Kern County at Delano II.
Correctional Sergeant Staffing—To address a rising number of violent incidents in Security Housing Units at California State Prison-Corcoran and Pelican Bay State Prison, the Budget includes augmentations of $1.6 million and 25 personnel years for 1999-00, and $2.3 million and 37 personnel years for 2000-01. These increases will provide additional supervisorial presence in critical areas of these prisons. By providing needed supervision, these additional positions will increase the security of the facilities as well as the safety of employees and inmates.
Psychological Evaluations—To enable the Department to better assess the psychological fitness of correctional officer candidates, an augmentation of $1.0 million is proposed to include an interview as part of the psychological evaluation of each candidate. The interview would complement the standard written psychological examination that is currently administered to all correctional officer candidates.
Discrimination Complaint Unit Staffing—The Budget proposes $1.5 million and 21 personnel years to centralize discrimination complaint investigation workload, improving the effectiveness of employment discrimination complaint investigations.
Correctional Officer and Medical Technical Assistant Recruitment—Augmentations of $512,000 and three personnel years for 1999-00 and $1.5 million and ten personnel years in 2000-01 are proposed to enhance the recruitment effort for Correctional Officers and Medical Technical Assistants needed to reduce departmental vacancies and increase the employee applicant pool.
Inmate Mental Health Services—To comply with provisions of a court order in the Coleman lawsuit, the Budget includes $10.0 million and 143 personnel years for 1999-00 and $18.8 million and 271 personnel years for 2000-01. This funding will provide additional clinical, custody, and support staff to provide mental health services for inmates in administrative segregation. Funding is also included for recruitment and retention of mental health clinicians to ensure the Department can reduce vacancies in specified mental health classifications.
Contract Medical and Utilization Management—The Budget includes $6.9 million and eight personnel years for 2000-01 to implement a centralized utilization management function and provide additional funding for contracted medical services. The utilization management staff will provide centralized oversight of field operations to ensure the delivery of appropriate health care delivery while controlling unnecessary costs.
Medical and Psychiatric Supplies—The Budget provides $2.4 million in 1999-00 and $6.5 million in 2000-01 for increased costs of medical and psychiatric supplies. The proposed funding level provides a five percent increase each year above prior year actual per capita costs. The CDC is also considering utilization and cost control measures to ensure that appropriate health care is provided to inmates at lowest cost.
Inmate Medical Services—An augmentation of $1.1 million and 16 personnel years for 1999-00 and $6.4 million and 96 personnel years for 2000-01 is included to improve the quality of health care at the women’s facilities and assess the quality of health care at all institutions. The Budget provides additional staff to implement health care improvements at the California Institution for Women, Central California Women’s Facility, Valley State Prison for Women, Northern California Women’s Facility, and the California Rehabilitation Center. The funding will also provide staff to assess the quality of care at all institutions by implementing quality assessment teams and monitoring inmate medical appeals.
Capital Outlay—The Budget proposes $117.1 million for 15 new projects and 25 continuing projects related to various security and infrastructure needs. For additional details, see the Capital Outlay Section.
Fiscal and Operational Review—The CDC faces serious operational issues as it provides public protection, inmate care, a safe working environment for staff, and fiscal accountability. The Administration is reviewing the overall fiscal and operational situation of the Department to assure that it runs safe and secure prisons and parole programs in a fiscally sound manner. This will include a review of a draft proposal regarding headquarters operations of the Department. Any recommendations resulting from this review will be proposed to the Legislature in the spring.
Incarceration of
Undocumented Felons
An estimated 13.5 percent of inmates in state prison in 2000-01 are expected to be undocumented immigrants, requiring a commensurate share of state prison operating and capital costs. In 1999-00, the CDC expects to expend approximately $548.0 million for incarceration and parole supervision of this population. In 2000-01, the CDC costs are estimated to grow to $551.0 million, an increase of 0.6 percent. In addition, the Department of the Youth Authority expects to expend approximately $21.0 million in both 1999-00 and 2000-01, resulting in a total state cost of $569.0 million in 1999-00 and $572.0 million in 2000-01, an overall increase of 0.5 percent between the two years.
For 2000-01, it is estimated that the State of California will receive approximately $178.0 million in federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) funding. At this level of funding, the State will be reimbursed for only 31 percent of the costs associated with the incarceration, parole supervision, and related debt service associated with the undocumented felon population, with $394.0 million in costs in excess of the level of federal reimbursements.
The federal authorization for the SCAAP expires at the end of the current federal fiscal year. The Administration will be actively seeking reauthorization of this program at a significantly higher funding level that reflects full reimbursement of California’s costs.
Department of the Youth Authority
The Department of the Youth Authority protects the public from criminal activity of youthful offenders by housing wards committed to the department by juvenile courts. In order to help these youthful offenders become productive California citizens, the Youth Authority provides education, training, and treatment services to the wards.
The Department projects an institution population of 7,430 youthful offenders by June 30, 2000, which is an increase of 75 from the level anticipated in the 1999 Budget Act. The 2000-01 year-end institution population is expected to decrease by 10 wards, resulting in a June 30, 2001, population of 7,420.
The Youth Authority operates 11 institutions, including 2 reception center/clinics, 6 conservation camps (2 of which are institution-based camps), and 2 institution-to-parole transition programs (1 of which is a drug treatment program). The total Youth Authority design capacity is 6,750 beds, which includes the institutions and camps along with contracted beds.
The Youth Authority supervises parolees through 16 offices located throughout the State. The Parole population is projected to be 5,135 by June 30, 2000, and to increase by 20 cases, to 5,155 by June 30, 2001.
Expanded Peace Officer Academy—The Budget includes $2.1 million and nine personnel years to expand the current Basic Academy from five to ten weeks. In light of the Youth Authority’s increasingly violent ward population, this expansion will ensure that graduates of the academy are proficient in the related knowledge, skills and abilities that are required for safe performance of their duties in Youth Authority institutions. The expanded academy will provide an enhanced focus on counseling, population management, as well as field experience.
Security Improvements—Funding is provided in the Budget to implement security enhancements in 2000-01 to ensure the security and safety of Youth Authority institutions and facilities as follows:
Expansion of the Internal Audits Unit—The Budget includes $614,000 and four personnel years to augment the existing staffing to enhance internal oversight within the department. While the programs and activities within the Youth Authority have grown over the past ten years, the resources committed for internal audits have remained constant. This augmentation provides staffing to conduct assessments of the Department’s internal accounting and administrative control systems.
Ombudsperson Program—$184,000 and two personnel years is included to establish an Ombudsperson program to investigate complaints, issue reports regarding the complaints, and make recommendations for resolving issues. Ombudsperson staff report to the Director and are independent from the institutions. This program will provide the Department with additional resources for identification and resolution of internal problems.
Commission on Correctional Peace
Officers
Standards and Training
The Commission on Correctional Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (CPOST) is responsible for the development, approval, and monitoring of selection and training standards for California’s correctional peace officers. The Budget proposes $2.3 million and 19 personnel years for the CPOST.
The Budget includes an additional $1.7 million and 16 personnel years to develop standards for correctional peace officer training curriculum as required by Chapter 762, Statutes of 1998.
Department of Justice
The Attorney General serves as the State’s primary legal representative and chief law enforcement officer, and is responsible for ensuring that California’s laws are uniformly enforced.
For 2000-01, the Governor’s Budget proposes $532.4 million and 5,339 personnel years for the Department of Justice, including $131.3 million for Law Enforcement programs, $223.8 million for Legal Service programs, $141.5 million for the Criminal Justice Information Services program, $7.0 million for the Gambling Control Division, and $8.0 million for the Firearms Division. The following major budget adjustments are proposed for the 2000-01 fiscal year:
DNA Data Bank—The Budget adds $5.5 million and 26 personnel years to expand the crime solving capabilities of the DNA Data Bank by ensuring the elimination of the existing backlog of DNA specimens and enhancing the laboratory’s ability to analyze and solve cases. This proposal also includes funding for additional training, DNA research, and equipment.
Enforcement at Gun Shows—The Budget provides an increase of $1.0 million and eight personnel years to crack down on the sales of illegal firearms at gun shows throughout the State.
Enforcement of Environmental Laws—The Budget proposes an increase of $823,000 and eight personnel years to address workload related to the Attorney General’s enforcement of environmental laws and Proposition 65, The Safe Drinking Water and Toxics Enforcement Act of 1986.
High Technology Crime Program—The Budget adds $793,000 and seven personnel years to provide a state-level presence on regional High Technology Crime Task Forces and ongoing support of the Department’s High Technology Crime Database.
False Claims Workload—The Budget proposes an additional $6.0 million from the False Claims Act Fund and 31 personnel years for investigations and prosecutions of false claims cases.
Funding to Implement Various Firearms Legislation—The Budget adds $1.9 million from the Dealer Record of Sale Account, $355,000 from the Firearm Safety Account, and 21 personnel years to implement a variety of firearms legislation including:
Office of Criminal Justice Planning
The mission of the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) is to reduce crime and delinquency and its adverse effects upon the victims of crime in California. The OCJP provides financial and technical assistance to state and local criminal justice and victim service agencies and community-based organizations. The Budget proposes $317.8 million and 163 personnel years to continue efforts to enhance victim services programs, improve the criminal justice system, and reduce crime in California.
Technology Grants for Local Law Enforcement—The Budget includes $100.0 million from the General Fund for one-time competitive grants to local law enforcement agencies. Of these funds, $75.0 million will be provided to local law enforcement for high-technology equipment, and $25.0 million will be provided to local law enforcement for school safety, juvenile crime, and anti-gang efforts. The availability of these additional resources will enable local law enforcement agencies to use COPS funding to hire sworn peace officers.
Citizens’ Option for Public Safety
The Administration proposes to extend the Citizens’ Option for Public Safety (COPS) program for five years. Additionally, the Governor’s Budget includes $121.3 million for the COPS program to provide for minimum grants of $100,000 to eligible frontline law enforcement agencies. These two changes will encourage the use of COPS funds for their intended purpose—the hiring of sworn peace officers.
Office of the
Inspector General
The Office of the Inspector General is responsible for reviewing departmental policy and procedures for conducting audits of investigatory practices as well as conducting other management and investigatory audits of the boards and departments within the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency. The 2000-01 Budget proposes $10.2 million and 104 personnel years for the Office. Highlights include:
Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training
The Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) is responsible for raising the level of competence of law enforcement officers in California by establishing minimum standards, improving management practices, and providing financial assistance to local agencies relating to the training of their law enforcement officers. The Governor’s Budget proposes $73.5 million from the Peace Officers Training Fund and 132 personnel years to support these program objectives.
Law Enforcement Training Programs Augmentation—The Budget provides an increase of $12.0 million to establish five new Regional Skills Training Centers throughout California in order to expand the availability of training, testing, and requalification of skills for peace officers. This funding will also provide increased reimbursements to local law enforcement agencies for peace officer training.
Training Course Audit Program—The Budget includes $346,000 and four positions to develop an audit program to ensure the quality and effectiveness of POST-certified training courses.
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol (CHP)—the largest highway patrol in the United States—is recognized for leadership on public safety issues. For fiscal year 2000-01, the Governor’s Budget proposes $930 million and 10,059 personnel years for the CHP’s support. The majority of the CHP’s funding is from the Motor Vehicle Account.
The CHP protects motorists and ensures the safe and efficient flow of traffic on California’s highway system. Major priorities are enforcing traffic laws, relieving traffic congestion, eliminating driving under the influence, promoting seat belt use, regulating commercial vehicles for safety, reducing vehicle theft, ensuring safe transport of hazardous materials, and preventing the flow of drugs through California. More than 98,000 miles of California’s local streets, roads, and state highways—nearly two-thirds of all roads in the state—are within the CHP’s jurisdiction.
Traffic congestion pilot—The Budget includes $1.7 million and 15 personnel years for two teams of motorcycle officers to focus on traffic congestion relief during peak periods. The teams will use motorcycles instead of sedans to reach traffic impediments quickly and remove them to keep traffic moving. The CHP will conduct this 2-year pilot in its Golden Gate and Southern Divisions.
Farm labor vehicle safety inspections—Pursuant to Chapter 557, Statutes of 1999, the Budget provides $1.8 million for ten farm labor safety inspectors to inspect vehicles licensed to carry farm workers to and from work sites. The inspectors will ensure that the vehicles have appropriate seating and safety equipment to reduce the number of farm labor vehicle collisions, injuries, and fatalities.
Automobile insurance fraud prosecution—The Budget includes $1.7 million for ten additional officers who will work with the Department of Insurance and district attorneys to investigate and prosecute organized fraud involving automobile insurance.
Public Safety Radio System (PRISM) Pilot—The CHP’s budget includes $672,000 for the first year of a two-year design phase followed by a three-year pilot replacement of radio equipment for all state public safety agencies in the Sacramento area. Full funding is dependent on receipt of substantial federal financial participation. The CHP has the most pressing needs of all the participating agencies because its existing low-band, analog equipment is no longer manufactured and will be increasingly difficult to maintain. PRISM proposes a change to digital equipment using higher frequency bands accessible by many state and local law enforcement and fire agencies. The State will integrate the microwave relay trunks currently owned by each separate department into one shared system. This ability to talk more easily across jurisdictional lines will help in disaster response and for joint operations such as highway chases. Digital equipment is now the standard for law enforcement nationwide and offers opportunities to increase public safety computer use in the field. More information on this pilot program is included in the Public Safety and General Government sections.
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