AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2022
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2022
california legislature—20 21–22 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2220
Introduced by Assembly Member Muratsuchi
February 15, 2022
An act to add and repeal Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 5475) to of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to courts, and making an appropriation therefor. legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2220, as amended, Muratsuchi. Homeless Courts Pilot Program.
Existing law governs the jurisdiction of various criminal actions and criminal proceedings. Existing la w also pro vides v arious di version programs, including programs for defendants with cognitive disabilities and programs for defendants who were, or currently are, members of the United States military.
This bill w ould create the Homeless Courts Pilot Program, which would remain in effect until January 1, 2027, to be administered by the Judicial Council for the purpose of pro viding comprehensi ve community-based services to achieve stabilization for, and address the specific legal needs of, chronically homeless individuals. individuals who are involved with the criminal justice system. The bill would require programs seeking grant funds to pro vide any a number of specified services or program components, including, b ut not limited to, a diversion program enabling participating defendants to have infractions, misdemeanor, or felon y char ges dismissed upon completion of a program, pr ovision of supportive housing , as defined, during the
97 duration of the program, and a dedicated county representative to assist defendants with housing needs. The bill would require an applicant for grant funding under the program to submit a plan for a ne w homeless court program or expansion of an existing homeless court program, and would require an y funding a warded to an applicant to be used in accordance with that plan. The bill w ould also require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2026, to submit a report to the Legislature describing e valuating the programs funded and the success and challenges of those programs. programs, along with recommendations for improving the programs. The bill would require the Judicial Council to establish performance-based outcome measures for each participating homeless court. court, including , among other things, information relating to the demo graphics of pr ogram participants, housing placements for all participants, and successful substance use disorder treatment rates. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount from the General Fund for the purpose of pro viding grants under administering this program.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 5475) is line 2 added to Part 1 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, line 3 to read:
line 4
line 5 Chapter 5.5. Homeless Courts Pilot Program
line 6
line 7 5475. The Homeless Courts Pilot Program is hereby established line 8 and shall be administered by the Judicial Council as a grant pilot line 9 program for eligible applicants to pro vide comprehensi ve line 10 community-based services to achieve stabilization for, and address line 11 the specific le gal needs of, chronically homeless indi viduals. line 12 individuals involved with the criminal justice system. line 13 5478. (a) The council shall a ward grants on a competiti ve line 14 basis to applicants that provide, or seek to pro vide, will provide line 15 support and services to defendants char ged with infractions, line 16 misdemeanors, or felonies who are experiencing homelessness. line 17 (b) The council shall develop guidelines to administer the grant line 18 program and award grants to programs that provide, or seek to will 97 — 2 — AB 2220
line 1 provide, at a minimum, an y all of the follo wing program line 2 components:
line 3 (1) A diversion program enabling participating defendants to line 4 have their infraction, misdemeanor , or felony charges dismissed line 5 upon completion of the program.
line 6 (2) Provision of a public defender for the entire duration of the line 7 program.
line 8 (2)
line 9 (3) Regular court appearances enabling participating defendants line 10 to w ork with and ha ve access to all service pro viders in one line 11 location. The program and services shall be in a location that is line 12 readily accessible to indi viduals e xperiencing homelessness. line 13 participating defendants.
line 14 (4) Provision of supportive housing , as defined in Section line 15 50675.14 of the Health and Safety Code , to the participating line 16 defendant during the entire program.
line 17 (3)
line 18 (5) A county representative to assist a defendant with long-term line 19 housing goals and processes, identifying long-term mental health line 20 and substance ab use concerns, and answer an y questions and line 21 facilitate any necessary conversations between a housing agency line 22 and the defendant to enable the defendant to be successfully line 23 housed. housed after participation in the program. line 24 (4)
line 25 (6) Mental health services, including mental health evaluations line 26 by county behavioral health departments and referrals to full service line 27 partnership programs. programs, as needed.
line 28 (5)
line 29 (7) Substance abuse and alcohol detoxification and treatment line 30 referral services or a partnership with f acilities that will admit line 31 low-income or Medi-Cal participants for treatment. treatment, as line 32 needed.
line 33 (6)
line 34 (8) Criminal record clearing services through partnerships with line 35 a public defender’s office, legal aid, or other city or county services line 36 for criminal history record clearing and infraction citation clearing. line 37 (7) Security services appro ved by the county sherif f’s line 38 department.
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line 1 (8) Facilities with adequate internet capacity in order to permit line 2 remote appearances through the use of remote technology with line 3 any participating party that cannot attend in person. line 4 (9) Additional e vidence-based components identified by the line 5 Judicial Council that are consistent with this section. line 6 (c) The council In awarding the gr ants, the J udicial Council line 7 shall give preference to programs that provide, or plan to provide, line 8 will provide the following services:
line 9 (1) Weekly A minimum of weekly follow-up with mental health line 10 and substance abuse counseling services in between court dates. line 11 (2) Job training or placement services.
line 12 (3) Court conditional releases from custody into residential line 13 narcotic and drug abuse programs, as defined in Section 11842 of line 14 the Health and Safety Code.
line 15 (4) Participation of a licensed medical practitioner to prescribe line 16 and administer medication for program participants related to line 17 substance abuse recovery or mental health treatment. treatment, line 18 if agreed to by the defendant.
line 19 (d) An applicant for funding pursuant to this chapter shall submit line 20 an application designed by the Judicial Council. The application line 21 shall include a plan for the creation of a ne w homeless court or line 22 expansion of an existing homeless court program. The application line 23 shall clearly detail the initiati ve for which funding is sought, the line 24 associated staffing acti vities, programs, and services to be line 25 delivered, and how the grant program will cover those costs. Any line 26 funding awarded to an applicant shall be used in accordance with line 27 the approved plan.
line 28 5480. (a) The Judicial Council shall establish line 29 performance-based outcome measures appropriate for each line 30 participating homeless court. P articipating court that, at a line 31 minimum, shall include all of the following information:
line 32 (1) Demographics of all homeless court program participants. line 33 (2) Services provided.
line 34 (3) Services ordered, but not provided.
line 35 (4) Housing placements of all program participants. line 36 (5) Permanent housing success for program participants. line 37 (6) Continued treatment beyond the diversion program. line 38 (7) Successful substance use disorder treatment rates. line 39 (8) Detentions or conservator ship pur suant to line 40 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 97 — 4 — AB 2220
line 1 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) during line 2 and following the diversion program.
line 3 (9) Additional criminal justice involvement during and following line 4 the diversion program.
line 5 (10) Deaths during and following the diversion program. line 6 (11) A subjective survey of the individuals served. line 7 (b) Participating courts shall provide the required data, including line 8 individual offender level data, on a quarterly basis to the Judicial line 9 Council.
line 10 (b)
line 11 (c) On or before July 1, 2026, the council Judicial Council shall line 12 compile a report describing the data r eported in subdivision (a) line 13 and shall prepare a full evaluation of each of the programs funded line 14 pursuant to this chapter and the success and challenges of those line 15 programs in addressing the needs of chronically homeless line 16 individuals. individuals, along with recommendations for improving line 17 the programs. The report shall be submitted to the Le gislature line 18 pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code. line 19 5483. The sum of _____ dollars ($____) is hereby appropriated line 20 from the General Fund to the Judicial Council for the purpose of line 21 administering the Homeless Courts Pilot Program pursuant to this line 22 chapter.
line 23 5485. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, line 24 2027, and as of that date is repealed.
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