Enrolled  June 25, 2021
Passed  IN  Senate  June 24, 2021
Passed  IN  Assembly  April 29, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 644


Introduced by Assembly Member Waldron

February 12, 2021


An act to amend Section 3000.02 of the Penal Code, relating to parole.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 644, Waldron. California MAT Re-Entry Incentive Program.
Existing law makes specified persons subject to parole supervision by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, including a person who has been released from a state prison after conviction for a serious or violent felony or a crime for which the person is classified as a high-risk sex offender, and specifies the length of time the person is required to be supervised on parole. Existing law, contingent upon the appropriation of specified federal grant funds to the State Department of Health Care Services, establishes the California MAT Re-Entry Incentive Program, which makes a person released from prison on parole, with specified exceptions, eligible for a 30-day reduction in the period of parole for every six months of treatment, up to a maximum 90-day reduction. To receive the reduction to the period of parole, existing law requires that the parolee successfully participate in a substance abuse treatment program that employs a multifaceted approach to treatment, including medically assisted therapy (MAT), as specified, and to have been enrolled in, or successfully participated in, an institutional substance abuse program.
This bill would, instead of requiring the person to have participated in an institutional substance abuse program, require the person to have been enrolled in, or successfully participated in, a post-release substance abuse program.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 3000.02 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

3000.02.
 (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the California MAT Re-Entry Incentive Program.
(b) A person shall be eligible for a 30-day reduction to the period of parole for every six months of treatment that is not ordered by the court, up to a maximum 90-day reduction, if the person meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The person has been released from state prison and is subject to the jurisdiction of, and parole supervision by, the department pursuant to Section 3000.08.
(2) The person has been enrolled in, or successfully participated in, a post-release substance abuse program.
(3) The person successfully participates in a substance abuse treatment program that employs a multifaceted approach to treatment, including the use of United States Food and Drug Administration approved medically assisted therapy (MAT), and, whenever possible, is provided through a program licensed or certified by the State Department of Health Care Services, including federally qualified health centers (FQHS), community clinics, and Native American Health Centers.
(c) The sentence reduction shall be contingent upon successful participation in treatment, as determined by the treatment provider.
(d) This section shall not apply to inmates that are any of the following:
(1) Sentenced for an offense specified in paragraph (3), (4), (5), (6), (11), or (18) of subdivision (c) of Section 667.5.
(2) Convicted of an offense for which the inmate has received a life sentence pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 209, with the intent to commit a specified sex offense, or Section 667.51 , 667.61, or 667.71.
(3) Convicted of, and required to register as a sex offender for the commission of, an offense specified in Section 261, 262, 264.1, 286, or 287, paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 288, Section 288.5 or 289, or former Section 288a, in which one or more of the victims of the offense was a child under 14 years of age.
(e) (1) Operation of this section is contingent upon the appropriation to the State Department of Health Care Services of funds received pursuant to a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) opioid use disorder or substance use disorder grant. To the extent consistent with the terms of the grant, the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) of the grant funds appropriated for these purposes shall be allocated to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for use in implementing this section.
(2) The department shall collect data and analyze utilization and program outcomes and shall provide that information in the report required pursuant to Section 2694.5.