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Open dialogue among community members is an important part of successful advocacy. Take Action California believes that the more information and discussion we have about what's important to us, the more empowered we all are to make change.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Senate Dems push for spending on mentally ill criminals

As budget negotiations reach their final weeks in the state Capitol, state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg is pressing for more spending to treat mental illness among inmates and people being released from prison, arguing that the proposals will reduce prison crowding and promote public safety.

The proposals by Senate Democrats to spend $132 million on reducing recidivism among mentally ill offenders are based on suggestions by professors at Stanford Law School, who studied the proliferation of mental illness within California’s prison population. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed $91 million in spending.
The Senate Democrats’ package comes as lawmakers respond to Friday’s rampage near UC Santa Barbara in which a disturbed student killed six people and injured 13 in a spree of stabbing and shooting.
“These proposals finalized earlier this month are now cast under a different light than any of us had originally planned,” Steinberg said during a news conference Wednesday. “It’s a cruel and of course sad coincidence that the significance of one proposal – to improve training among front line law enforcement to recognize the warning signs of mental illness – was illustrated by a gun rampage in Santa Barbara County.
The proposals from Senate Democrats include:
• $12 million to train law enforcement officers and $24 million to train prison employees in dealing with people who are mentally ill
• $25 million to expand re-entry programs for mentally ill offenders
• $20 million to help parolees by providing case managers to make sure they get treatment for mental health issues and substance abuse
• $20 million to expand so-called mental health courts that manage offenders who are mentally ill or addicted to drugs
• $50 million to re-establish a grant program for counties offering substance abuse treatment, job training or other programs to help mentally ill offenders after they’re released from prison.

via: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/28/6440139/senate-dems-push-for-spending.html#mi_rss=State%20Politics




Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/28/6440139/senate-dems-push-for-spending.html#mi_rss=State%20Politics#storylink=cpy

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

California Senate passes bill to ban sterilizing prison inmates

California jails and prisons would be forbidden from sterilizing inmates for the purpose of birth control under a bill the state Senate passed Tuesday.
Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, wrote Senate Bill 1135 after theCenter for Investigative Reporting found that over a five-year period, doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates without required state approvals. Former inmates and their advocates said that prison officials coerced women into consenting to the procedures if the officials thought they were likely to return to prison.
"This measure is absolutely necessary to make sure sterilizations are not performed in a coercive prison environment," Jackson told senators Tuesday.
The bill spells out limited circumstances in which prisons would be allowed to sterilize an inmate, such as if it is necessary to save her life. It passed the Senate with unanimous support and now heads to the Assembly for consideration.
PHOTO: Former Valley State Prison for Women inmate Kimberly Jeffrey with her son Noel, 3, shown in June 2013. During her imprisonment in 2010, Jeffrey says a doctor pressured her to agree to be sterilized, but she refused. Noah Berger/ For The Center for Investigative Reporting
via: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/27/3947170/capitol-alert-california-senate.html

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/27/3947170/capitol-alert-california-senate.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/27/3947170/capitol-alert-california-senate.html#storylink=cpinmate, such as if it is necessary to save her life. It passed the Senate with unanimous support and now heads to the Assembly for consideration.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/27/3947170/capitol-alert-california-senate.html#story

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Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/27/3947170/capitol-alert-california-senate.html#storylink=cpy




Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/05/27/3947170/capitol-alert-california-senate.html#storylink=cpy

Monday, May 19, 2014

Last Day to Register to Vote!

Today is the last day to register vote before the June Primary Election! You can register by visiting your local county registrars office or register online here. 

If you are already registered please encourage your friends and family to register!

You can vote early, vote by mail, or vote on election day... but however you vote, remember that your voice matters!


To view this years candidates click here

Friday, May 16, 2014

AM Alert: Health and human services budget committee discusses May Revision

Legislators are usually back in their districts on a Friday, but with Gov. Jerry Brown presenting hisrevised budget proposal this week, there's enough to discuss to keep some of them in town today. The Assembly Budget Committee's Subcommittee on Health and Human Services meets in Room 4202 of the Capitol at 9 a.m.

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/05/am-alert-health-and-human-services-budget-committee-discusses-may-revision.html#storylink=cpy

Whether Brown has restored enough of the recession-era spending cuts to health programs and social services is one of the biggest points of contention surrounding the budget. With the first surplus in years, liberal lawmakers and advocacy groups have pushed the governor to spend the additional billions rather than socking them away in a proposed rainy-day fund. In-home caregivers have been especially vocal in pushing back against Brown's budget, which would limit the number of hours they can work.

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/05/am-alert-health-and-human-services-budget-committee-discusses-may-revision.html#storylink=cpy

Thursday, May 15, 2014

SB 391 Advances Further Than Any Other CA Housing Trust Fund Bill

From Campaign Co-Chairs Shamus Roller and Ray Pearl

On behalf of SB 391's co-sponsors -- Housing California and the California Housing Consortium -- we would like to congratulate all of you on an amazing job advocating for homes and jobs for Californians. To date, the California Homes and Jobs Act (SB 391) has advanced further than any bill to fund the state housing trust fund since the trust fund was permanently established in 1988. 

Given the recent suspension of three Senators who voted yes on SB 391 (and whose votes would be needed again to approve amendments made in the Assembly), SB 391 is unlikely to advance this year in its current form. 

While this news is disappointing, we remain strongly positioned to build upon our successes from this year and come back to win an ongoing source of state investment in homes and jobs. Even if we are successful with some of the exciting proposals currently in the Legislature (see below), California needs a statewide, flexible source of funding like SB 391 would provide.      

Video Message to SB 391 Supporters from Senator Mark DeSaulnier
The author of SB 391, Senator Mark DeSaulnier, recorded this special message for all of you who dedicated time and energy to this important campaign, reinforcing that you've done a fantastic job and our work is not over.

Click here to watch Senator DeSaulnier's video.

Monday, May 12, 2014

MAY 14TH STATEWIDE DAY OF ACTION

MAY 14TH STATEWIDE DAY OF ACTION

Press Conference and Rally about the Governor's May Revise Budget to highlight the need to invest in Californians and eradicate poverty!

When: Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Where: Rosa Parks State Building
464 West 4th Street, San Bernardino
Time: 12:00 noon


Monday, May 5, 2014

April Action Days

My name is Amanda and I am a product of Time for Change Foundation where I have also become a leader in my community. I recently had the opportunity to attend April Action Days in Sacramento with other organizations like California Partnership and Hunger Action L.A.  to raise our voices about bills that affect low-income communities and women's economic security.

Senate Bill 935, authored by Senator Mark Leno, which would increase the minimum wage to $13 by 2016 really resonates with me because  I am a recovering addict who comes from a life of dysfunction and chaos and now I have a job and the opportunity to bring my daughter home with me; raising the minimum wage would reunite me with my daughter and help us to live a better life. 

I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to visit the capitol, it was actually my first time being involved in something like this and it was so empowering not only to be a part of it, but to know that my voice really does matter. I never knew that I could be a part of something much bigger than myself. I became a part of the process in determining society’s future.



Time for Change Foundation Leaders from left:
Crystal, Jeannine, Cecilia, Amanda
My name is Crystal and my experience at the State Capitol was exhilarating! I felt so empowered as a constituent. Seeing other people like me using their time to speak on behalf of their families and communities gives me hope that more will find the courage to raise our voices and remind our representatives that we are the ones who put them there. 

I went to advocate for SB 1029, authored by Senator Loni Hancock, which would lift the lifetime ban on CalWORKS and CalFresh for people that have been convicted of any offense classified as a felony that has an element the posession, use or distribution of a controlled substance.

Being a part of Time for Change Foundation's transitional housing program I have met many women that are out of prison or jail and ready to move forward with their lives but continue to hit this brick wall. 

Removing the lifetime ban would help women like myself give our children the opportunity to thrive and have successful lives.  

This experience has taught me that we can change the laws and injustices that our communities face on a daily basis, but only if we stand up and use the strength of our voices. Together we can!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

State begins early releases of nonviolent prisoners

SACRAMENTO — The state is releasing some low-level, nonviolent prisoners early as Gov. Jerry Brown complies with a federal court order to reduce crowding in its lockups — a turning point in the governor's efforts to resolve the issue.

Inmates serving time for certain nonviolent crimes are being discharged days or weeks before they were scheduled to go free, a move that Brown had long resisted but proposed in January and was subsequently ordered by judges to carry out.

Eventually, such prisoners, who are earning time off their sentences with good behavior or rehabilitation efforts, will be able to leave months or even years earlier.

Prison workers, inmates' lawyers and county probation officials said the releases began two weeks ago. Since then, San Bernardino County probation officers said, the number of felons arriving from prison has increased more than two dozen a week, or 30%.

L.A. County Deputy Probation Chief Reaver Bingham said he did not know how many prisoners had been released early to his jurisdiction.

Corrections officials confirmed that some inmates are being released "slightly earlier" but would not say how many or discuss the criteria used to determine who is eligible.

Officials are still working on the terms of other planned steps to reduce crowding, including making more inmates eligible for medical parole and a new release program for those older than 60.

In addition, some second-time offenders who have served half their sentences under the state's three-strikes law could be eligible to leave.

Brown's administration has estimated that 780 inmates could be released under those programs.

Sentence reductions were among the changes Brown offered to make as he sought two more years to reduce prison crowding to a level the judges deem safe. He wants to meet the jurists' targets mostly by placing more felons in privately owned prisons and other facilities.

In February, the judges granted Brown's request and ordered him to "immediately implement" the early releases and add parole options for prisoners who are frail, elderly or serving extended sentences for specific kinds of nonviolent crimes.

Analysts in Brown's administration initially estimated that about 1,400 prisoners would be freed early over two years by being allowed to shave off as much as a third of their sentences with good behavior.

From prison, they follow the normal path to either state parole or county supervision, depending on the crimes they committed.

"Our first 'Whew!' moment was when we realized it was not anybody we wouldn't [be getting] already," said Karen Pank, a lobbyist for California's 58 county probation departments.

More than 17,000 prisoners overall are potentially eligible for reduced sentences, according to the administration's analysis.

Pank said the administration was negotiating with counties over whether to pay them additional money to supervise those who are sent to probation early.

Eligibility rules for the court-ordered parole programs have not been made public. A Board of Parole Hearings meeting on the matter was held last week behind closed doors, according to an agenda posted online by the board.

Ordinarily, such major changes to the state's criminal justice system would be debated before the Legislature, but the federal judges have set aside those requirements.

"We don't have many options to weigh in on the consequences of what is being put in place," Pank said.

If California misses any of the court's interim deadlines for easing crowding, a court-appointed officer has authority to order additional releases.

State lawyers said in an April 15 court filing that officials have already met the court's June 30 benchmark, its first since the judges gave Brown extra time.

The judges set a limit on the inmate population of 143% of the prisons' capacity; the state's attorneys said the latest population was 141%.

Lawyers for prisoners argued in a court motion last week that the state was counting empty beds in a medical prison in calculating its capacity to house inmates, permitting other prisons to remain crowded. The corrections department contends the medical space should be included.

The latest prison population reports from the government show a women's prison in Chowchilla is at 183% of its capacity. Corrections officials have confirmed an inmate lawyer's report that as many as eight women at a time share dorm rooms that have a single toilet, sink and shower.

"There is one person on top of another.... It is a pressure cooker simmering," said attorney Rebekah Evenson of the Prison Law Office, which represents inmates in class-action litigation over prison conditions.

Corrections spokeswoman Krissi Khokhobashvili said crowding in women's prisons will ease when a private lockup in McFarland opens to take 520 female inmates.

In a conference call Tuesday with financial analysts, executives of the company that owns the McFarland facility said it would not be ready to take the first 260 women until the fall.
They said state officials had not yet requested the remaining 260 beds.



http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-ff-prison-release-20140430,0,122976.story#ixzz30UUQewyl