$6M Grant Aims To Reduce Recidivism In Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Santa Cruz County will use a $6-million grant to expand substance use disorder and mental health treatment options, neighborhood courts, and early interventions to reduce recidivism in the county, officials said Monday.

Recidivism, the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend, was addressed statewide in 2014 when voters approved Proposition 47: The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. The proposition implemented changes to felony sentencing laws, including reclassifying certain property crimes and low-level drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.

The year after the ballot measure passed, a report by the Justice Advocacy Project at Stanford University found that Prop 47 had reduced California's prison population by 13,000 and that it would save the state an estimated $150 million in 2015.

The savings that resulted from the new law are deposited into a statewide "Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund," which is distributed to local jurisdictions through a competitive grant process.

Santa Cruz County previously won a grant from the fund and used the money to launch the Neighborhood Courts pilot project and implement other diversions for low-level, non-violent offenders.

The county achieved successful preliminary results, with an 11.84-percent recidivism rate for participants who completed program requirements, an 18.10-percent recidivism rate for participants who exited prior to program completion, and a 23.94-percent recidivism rate for participants who received one-time intervention services.

Recidivism rates for inmates in California have averaged around 50 percent over the past decade, according to a 2019 report by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

This second grant awarded to the county will be primarily used to expand the Coordinated Access for Empowering Success program to reach 300 more individuals in the county and further reduce rates of recidivism.

The program will be led by the Santa Cruz County Probation Department and include involvement from the newly formed Public Defender's Office, the District Attorney's Office, Santa Cruz Superior Courts and County Behavioral Health.

"The grant will allow Santa Cruz County to help fulfill voters' mandate to reduce reliance on the criminal justice system to address individuals with substance use disorder or behavioral health issues," County Probation Chief Fernando Giraldo said. "We will expand our early intervention and diversion efforts so that we can address underlying issues and reduce recidivism."

Seventy-two percent of the grant will be allocated to community-based organizations that support the Coordinated Access for Empowering Success program, while the remaining funds will be used to deliver services to individuals early in the justice process, including a new early defense program overseen by the Public Defender's Office.

Results from programs sustained and implemented with grant money will be independently evaluated.

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