No New Jail in Alameda County

Dear Alameda County Officials

I am writing to oppose the $61.6 million construction project at Santa Rita Jail. I demand that you reject Alameda County’s SB 863 $54 million grant from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) and invest $7.3 million, Alameda County’s 10% county match, in alternatives to incarceration that keep our families together and our communities safe.

While Alameda County ranks as the 17th largest county in the nation, Santa Rita Jail ranks as the 5th largest jail facility in the nation, with three housing units sitting empty. As crime rates and the jail population steadily decreases, Sheriff Ahern is leasing dozens of empty jail beds to Monterey and San Mateo counties in order to generate funds, thus turning the imprisonment of majority Black, Latino/a, poor, and homeless Californians into a profit.

Approximately 78% of people locked up in Alameda County have not yet been convicted of a crime and are only there because they cannot afford bail or have violated their probation terms. In addition, roughly 20-25% of the jail population have some form of documented mental illness, according to the Sheriff's jail construction proposal. Furthermore, future budget allocations for funding additional mental health services in Santa Rita that would cost an additional $4.6 million in staffing costs, according to the sheriff’s proposal, have not been discussed. T here are currently only 11 mental health clinicians serving about 2,900 prisoners, with no long term strategy as to how this project will improve the continuum of mental health care in Alameda County.

The $7.3 million in matching contributions that the county would have to spend on jail construction, not to mention the ongoing operations and staffing costs, would be better spent on community based treatment options, such as longterm supportive housing for people with mental illness, supporting community based mental health centers, and the implementation of robust diversion programs solutions that mental health advocates say would meaningfully improve public health and safety.

At least 85% of people imprisoned in Santa Rita qualify for MediCal and Medicaid, but mental health and substance use treatment services provided in jails are much more expensive for counties since people automatically lose health insurance coverage when they enter a jail. Thus, nearly all of the cost of medical, mental health, and substance use treatment in a jail is assumed by the County. By contrast, with recent changes in federal law, Counties can now get a substantial portion of the cost of in community mental health and substance treatment covered by the federal and state governments. Not only are in jail services more expensive than community based services, they are essentially ineffective because jails exacerbate mental health issues. Jails are by design dehumanizing, isolating, and violent places that traumatize and terrorize individuals. Constructing a new unit does not fix these problems they simply paint over them.

Lastly, poor people should not have to go to jail to receive essential services. The decision to fund this construction project violates the intent of the Alameda County Reentry Strategic Plan, endorsed by the Board of Supervisors, which has a goal of treating people as much as possible in the community. One of the guiding principles of the plan is to: “Encourage systems change and improved coordination, communication, and collaboration for systems integration, in order to provide better services to individuals and/or reduce recidivism, which is critical to the sustained success of the reentry population.”

People around the nation are coming to understand more deeply the consequences of mass incarceration that have led to collateral damage for individuals, families, and whole communities. Alameda County officials need to realize that an overinvestment in incarceration relative to the underinvestment in other systems such as education, healthcare, and housing has destructive consequences. Now is the time for you and other county supervisors to step up and affirmatively invest in programs and solutions that support our communities. I urge you to reevaluate your decision and make sure the county does not waste resources on this jail construction project.