Receive presentation and consider a position on AB 1928 (McCarty). (No general fund impact) (Perez/Tengolics)

Receive presentation and consider a position on AB 1928 (McCarty).

In 2021, on a 3-1-1 vote, the Board adopted a support in principle position on AB 1542 (McCarty) which would have allowed Yolo County to establish a pilot program for the purposes of establishing a secured drug treatment facility where felony offenders could be sentenced and treated for substance use disorders rather than serving a jail or prison sentence. Ultimately, the bill was vetoed by the Governor, citing concerns over coerced treatment. 

In 2022, Assemblymember McCarty introduced substantially similar legislation, AB 1928 (bill language and most recent bill analysis has been attached as Atts. A and B, respectively) which is currently waiting to be heard on the Assembly Appropriations Committee following being voted out of Assembly policy committees. The bill would expand the pilot to include San Joaquin, Santa Clara, and Yolo counties and would also provide opioid settlement funds to backstop treatment costs in the event costs were not Medi-Cal reimbursable. Given the Board's prior position on the substantially similar AB 1542, staff referred this bill to the Legislative Subcommittee for consideration while noting that the Health and Human Services Agency was not of the opinion that alternative sentencing options provided by the bill were necessary due to the recent approval of the Crisis Now program, a 24/7 crisis & access line, mobile crisis team, and crisis receiving/sobering center.  The Subcommittee unanimously supported the bill and staff drafted and sent a letter of support (Att. C).

Subsequently, a Board member requested this bill be reconsidered by the full Board, as allowed by the Board Governance Manual, due to the two bills not being identical, the recent approval of the Crisis Now program in September, 2021 (Att. E), and the Governor's recent Care Court proposal which would allow for court-ordered care for individuals suffering from mental illness and/or substance use disorders (Att. D). This item was originally heard by the Board on March 22, however, the Board requested staff bring back the item and include a panel presentation on various aspects of the bill and drug treatment in Yolo County. Today's panel includes the District Attorney's Office, the bill sponsor; the Health and Human Services Agency which will discuss existing and forthcoming drug treatment programs in Yolo County (Crisis Now, Care Court, etc); Tyler Rinde with the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives which opposes the bill; and Dan Walker, who has personal drug treatment experience and now works with many treatment providers in Yolo County.

Health and Human Services Agency, District Attorney