SACRAMENTO (Nov. 19, 2020) – The Board of State and Community Corrections today approved millions of dollars in grant programs, including ones for indigent defense, reentry, health and safety issues associated with commercial cannabis, and federal coronavirus relief funds.

The Board approved the release of Request for Proposals for the Adult Reentry Grant, the Prop 64 Public Health and Safety Grant, and a federal Title II grant to identify a contractor to create a data dashboard that can identify effective interventions and strategies for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. The Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program (CESF) allows counties to apply for funds for pandemic response relief.

Links to information about all available grants is available at www.bscc.ca.gov

The Adult Reentry Grant, now in its third round of funding, provides $37 million for community-based organizations to deliver services to people formerly incarcerated in state prison. Of the total available, half is earmarked for programs that provide rental assistance, and the other half is to help with a “warm handoff” from prison in the form of reentry support services and case management.

BSCC staff, with input from the public, made only slight technical changes to the original Adult Reentry Grant RFP in order to expedite the release of this new round of warm handoff funding to the field. At the August meeting the Board allocated $17.5 million for rental assistance.

The Prop 64 grant, funded with taxes levied on commercial cannabis sales, is to assist communities that allow cultivation and sales to mitigate public health and public safety impacts that might occur. A previous round of funding had more strict eligibility criteria, requiring local governments applying for the funds to allow both indoor and outdoor cultivation. Now applicants must allow one or the other or both types of cultivation, along with sales.

The Prop 64 grant funds are to assist with law enforcement, fire protection, environmental issues and public health and safety issues that could arise from the cultivation and sale of cannabis.

The Title II Request for Proposals was developed by the State Advisory Group of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Reducing Racial and ethnic Disparity Subcommittee Working Group. The successful data contractor will review factors that contribute to uneven treatment in the juvenile justice system and develop a framework for determining appropriate interventions.

The $41.7 million CESF fund available to county governments allows projects and purchases that include, but are not limited to, overtime, personal protective equipment, hiring, supplies such as gloves, masks and sanitizer, travel expenses and training. Counties must pass through at least 20 percent of the CESF funding to community-based organizations impacted by coronavirus and providing services in the county.

The Board, in consultation with the Office of the State Public Defender, also allocated $9.8 million to 19 counties to address staffing, training, and case management needs of public defender offices.  As part of the 2020 Budget Act, the Legislature allocated this funding to improve county indigent defense services.

For more information about these grants please email Deputy Director Ricardo Goodridge at Ricardo.Goodridge@bscc.ca.gov

 

###