Author: Locked In

Introduced By: Locked In

An ACT: To Amend 5075.6 (a) and California State Board Specifications (9743)

To: To have the 63 incumbent Deputy Commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearing replaced with Mental Health Professionals.

PURPOSE:

To improve Board Hearings, reduce recidivism and have commissioners with experience and educational background that reflect the California Department of Corrections policies on rehabilitation. 

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Definitions

Board of Parole Hearings (BPH): The BPH conducts parole suitability hearings and nonviolent offender parole reviews for the adult inmates under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 

Deputy Commissioners: Under the general direction of the BPH, to sit as a member of a panel conducting term fixing, parole consideration and parole revocation hearings for the felons committed to the custody of the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation to make decisions in cases heard. Deputy Commissioners are civil servants who have years of experience working in corrections, law enforcement and the legal field. 

Mental Health Professional: A mental health professional is a health care provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual’s mental health or to treat mental disorder.

Section 2:

(1) (5075.6 (a)) currently reads, Commissioners and deputy commissioners hearing matters concerning adults under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall have a broad background in criminal justice and an ability for appraisal of adult offenders, the crimes for which those persons are committed, and the evaluation of an individual’s progress toward reformation. Insofar as practicable, commissioners and deputy commissioners shall have a varied interest in adult correction work, public safety, and shall have experience or education in the fields of corrections, sociology, law, law enforcement, medicine, mental health, or education. 

(This section is amended to read as such)

Chief hearing officers (Commissioners) shall have a broad background in Criminal Justice. Deputy Commissioners shall have a broad background in the Mental Health field. Hearing matters concerning adults under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Commissioners must appraise adult offenders, the crimes for which these persons are committed and the evaluation of an individual’s progress toward reformation. Insofar as practicable, Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners shall have a varied interest in adult correction work, public safety, law, law enforcement, medicine, mental health, or education. 

(2) (9743) currently reads, calhr.ca.gov/state-hr-professionals/Pages/9743.aspx 

(This section to redefine and exclude minimum qualifications I, II, III, and IV. 

Add qualification V to read as such)

V: Deputy Commissioners must have a minimum of 8 years of educational background in the Behavioral Social Science and/or Psychology field, with completed internship experience for certification or licensure requirements, including, but not limited to, educational, vocational, mental health, medical, substance abuse, psychotherapeutic counseling, and sex offender treatment programs. Education may be substituted for up to two years of the required education experience on a year-for-year basis (i.e. Associates Degree plus 6 years of experience, or Bachelor’s Degree plus 4 years of experience, or Master’s Degree plus 2 years of experience). Must have experience in administrative type duties with major responsibility for policy formulation or procedure development. All required experience must be within the last 10 years in a Mental Health, Wellness, or Rehabilitation facility. 

JUSTIFICATION:

The Bureau of Justice’s statistics state that 1 in 5 prison inmates have some form of cognitive impairment. The most commonly reported impairments were with learning. A parole hearing moves quickly with several abstract complicated questions asked in an unforgiving matter. Years of early drug use, traumas and other abuses, which the vast majority of inmates have experienced, can affect their ability to retain or recite information which can jeopardize an inmate’s possibility of being found suitable for parole. Currently under the Board of Parole Hearings (PC 5075.6 (b)) commissioners undergo only 40 hours a year of training related to the aforementioned (see https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&division=&title=7.&part=3.&chapter=3.&article= Under PC 5075.1 (b) and (c) commissioners responsibilities are to conduct hearings for mentally disordered and sexually violent inmates. Deputy Commissioners lack the proper training to determine an individual’s mental capabilities. Forty hours of training in mental health a year adds up to pseudo-psychology creating more harm than good. A lack of insight is one of the most common reasons cited supporting the Boards denial of parole. Since the assertion of lack of insight can be subjective is it in the best interest of fair and impartiality to have both commissioners of a parole hearing with identical backgrounds in law enforcement, corrections, or law? Sixteen out of the seventeen current commissioners have a law or law enforcement background (see https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/bph/commissioners/ Currently there is no mandatory requirement for commissioners to have experience in the mental health field to qualify for a seat on the Board of Parole Hearings. The Department of Corrections general fund allocated 161.9 million to implement an integrated substance use disorder treatment program for all CDCR institutions. Custody has no authority over mental health when it came to the decision process on which inmates qualify for the program. The reason for this is simple, even though custody intentions may be righteous, the reality is a person or person’s mental health is not their specialty. Inmates that go before the BPH receive a Comprehensive Risk Assessment (CRA) to assess an inmates potential for future violence and protective factors that could minimize his or her risk if released to the community. The commissioners are under no obligation to follow any information given on the CRA. Inmates can receive a low risk assessment for violence and commissioners can ignore the assessment and find the inmate a threat, thus overriding the trained Cognitive Psychologist. From 2014-2020 CDCR spent over 1 billion dollars on mental health and rehabilitation programs, taking a progressive lead to reduce recidivism. It’s time for the BPH to enact the CDCR mental health spending changes by having it reflected in their commissioners. 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

The impact on the state budget would be zero with trained mental health professionals as Deputy Commissioners. 

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2020-21/pdf/BudgetSummary/PublicSafety.pdf​ 

https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/ccjbh/wp-content/uploads/sites/172/2020/01/CCJBH-2020-21-Proposed-Budget-Snapshot-FINAL.pdf