supervisor kim: the afternoon and welcome to rules committee. my name is jane kim, i will be cheering today's rules committee meeting. i am joined by a supervisor elsbernd and scott wiener in place of supervisor farrell. the court today is miss wong. we like to thank jennifer lowe and mark bunch. >> of the items on the agenda recommended go the full board unless otherwise indicated. item #1, ordnance amending the

as minister of code to establish the commission for power, purpose, and duty to establish membership criteria. supervisor kim: the author of the legislation is here today. supervisor wiener: today, will be considering legislation to help san and cisco react to and plan for the future of criminal justice in this state, specifically around realignment. a lot of folks will see a reduction in state prison populations. that will be accomplished partly by shifting prisoners to county jail. in the future, there will be sentences that in the past would have sent prisoners to state

prison who instead will go to county jail. this will alleviate the state prison overcrowding. it also has the potential benefit, particularly in a place like san francisco, where we really have a focus on rehabilitation and trying to cut recidivism, we have a possibility of having a more effective process and having a lower recidivism rate if people were to go to state prison where there have been some other issues that we have been able to address more effectively here. this legislation will create a commission to -- comprised of the various criminal justice in stakeholders in government and the community to put together guidelines for sentencing to make sure that we are being smart about how we sentence people. and people that need to go and spend time incarcerated do so.

and those that don't need to spend time incarcerated and can be rehabilitated in other ways, we are able to do that. we want to be smart about sentencing policies and practices. first, i want to note that we are introducing amendments that i have distributed to the committee and the clerk. of like to invite lenore from the district attorney's office to come and talk about the legislation. we have other department head's here. >> thank you, supervisor wiener, my name is lenore anderson, chief of the alternative programs commission. i am here today on behalf of the district attorney to describe the recidivism reduction ordnance and what it would do. we are happy to be part of this process and we think it will be

important for a san francisco. i will take a few minutes to talk about the background that supervisor wiener talked about. i will go through the details of what the legislation does. on october 1, we had one of the biggest changes to california correction's policy in decades, and that is realignment. counties are much more responsible for a larger number of offenders that we have been previously. in terms of custody at supervision in the community, we are responsible for a huge population of people cycling in and out of the criminal justice system. the question is, and light of the new responsibility, are we engaging in practices that are the most effective and most likely to reduce recidivism of those individuals in the criminal justice system? if we don't do a close review

and make sure we are engaging in the best practices, we run the risk of having additional responsibilities that can create additional pressure on the justice system without either a reduction in crime or reduction in recidivism. we thought that this was now the perfect opportunity given that we have more responsibility at the local level to do a close analysis of the sentencing practices. that is why we put a commission together. what the commission will do is create an advisory body that will analyze a sentence in patterns and make recommendations for sentencing reforms to advance best practices and criminal justice. let me tell you who the members would be. the district attorney, the public defender, adult probation, a juvenile probation, the police department of public health, a member of a nonprofit

organization that works with victims, one that works with x offenders, and academic researcher, -- an academic researcher. the commission has a different responsibilities and i will go through those briefly. comparing those to other jurisdictions, there are best practices that we can learn from other places that might be helpful. in addition to that, we want to look at how we define recidivism locally. come up with definitions and come up with standards for the department that are responsible for reducing recidivism. once we have those standards, we would like to recommend some departments specific goals to make sure that everybody in the criminal justice family is focused on the goal of recidivism adjustment. we would like to take the time to look at state laws and make sure that there are -- it would

allow us to better implement best practices locally. the sentencing commission will look at and budgetary savings cand costs to see if we can invest further in incarceration. and finally, the commission will work with other departments to work with facilitating training for recidivism reduction. this proposal is for a three- year committee. this body would be collaborating very closely and hopefully supported the work of the standing bodies including the reentry council and the community corrections partnership. those ongoing entities that are responsible for a multi-agency coordination more broadly. that is some of what the legislation does.

we appreciate the opportunity to work on this with you, supervisor wiener, and we hope this is something the city decides to do. supervisor wiener: we have a few department heads here today, and therefore i bring them up, i want to know that a lot of times the city is criticized for having too many task forces or commissions. this is a task force that has a sunset, it will automatically sunset. in terms of cost, because these are people that will be doing this, this work will be happening regardless. do we do it in a disorganized way or do we bring everyone together to do it together? the staff time will be expended regardless and we want to do it in the right way. i will ask the chief from the juvenile probation and then

followed by the public defender. >> good afternoon, supervisors. san francisco's realignment efforts should include adjustments to the existing policies, practices, and pathways leading to a correctional facilities with the same energy and purpose that we are now faced with. for those individuals that are now placed on our doorsteps. the reform initiative is closely aligned with the juvenile justice system that is in many instances a petrie dish for criminal justice. for that reason, i as te chief of theeh -- as the chief of the juvenile probation department, participating in this process in offering my full support. supervisor wiener: thank you, chief. now from adult probation.

>> thank you, supervisors. i support the establishment of the san francisco sentencing commission to encourage the development of criminal justice sentencing strategies to reduce recidivism -- reduce recidivism and input practices. the importance of sentencing practices cannot be overstated. we have been engaged in implementing evidence from the california risk assessment by the project through the administrative office of the court. santa it is is one of the four pilot counties that has greeted evidence-based sentencing, and it is just the next logical step to those efforts. i applaud the district attorney's efforts here and hope that many improvements that we make here can also be looked at as pilots for statewide

implementation. as the architect, the chief architect of the realignment plan for this year for 2011 with the very important partner agencies, there is clearly a recognition that while it is a great step in the right direction, without a true change is that we are going to continue -- without true changes, we are going to continue in a very inefficient manner. if we divert them through strategies, we can have a better return on our investment with the public, the taxpayer dollars, and the human element. and we can break that cycle of incarceration after spending more than 30 years in the state prison system. there are generations of families that end up in the criminal justice system and come out, and unless we stop that, we

will not break the cycle. i would also like to speak to the reentry council that i serve as co-tier and the community corrections partnership at the executive committee. there are special duties and powers as enumerated by the san francisco administrative code. the executive community corrections partnership has a specific power as stated and authorized in the state penal code. i appreciate the work that went into the drafting of this ordinance and emphasize the importance of section h. the sentencing commission shall work in collaboration with the reentry council and the community of corrections partnership. these partnerships are key to make sure that each body is fulfilling their specific role. and to make sure there is not a

redundant effort, i want to ensure that these efforts, while corrugated, should remain very distinct so that to implement and oversee realignment shall not be in conflict with the proposed sentencing commission. as those authorized duties are defined by statute. supervisor kim: i had a question. i support local incarceration and custody, but as we increase the number of folks that need revision through multiple services, would there be a correctional alternative and with the group of current service providers have the resources to take an increase an individual's? >> i think we will see an increase in the number of providers. with a realignment, i am already seeing a very significant shortage in transitional

emergency housing with outpatient services, but i also know there are a number of providers that build up to capacity needs. that really is going to determine and tell us what is out there. i believe there is a willingness and a strong desire on the non- profit part to be able to provide the capacity that we are looking for. they just need to know what it is. supervisor kim: i know we will have some funding, but will there be additional funding from other sources? will it be enough to cover the increased population? >> what i do know is that adult probation continues to apply for grants. we have been successful because of the city's leadership role and so on. because of our evidence-based

probation and compliance with 678 and our success, i will receive a grant of $834,000. i am committed that every penny of that will go to services. that is a new, a brand new funding source that we have not had. i have also applied for a second chance grant for $1.4 million. that is for additional substance abuse treatment. i intend, continuing to be very aggressive in my pursuit of those grant type dollars, i have successfully achieved four grants related to gender response of programs and services, family probation services. i believe the resources are out there, but we have to be innovative with to rio approach and the models that we approach so that we continued to -- with who we approach and the models

that we approach so that we continue to get outside funding. supervisor kim: there is a concern about transitional housing, because nonprofits look for potential group housing. they will live primarily in certain neighborhoods that have a higher density of sro buildings that are currently rent-controlled. there might be some competition. one concern be in competition with low-income residents that will be competing with sro hotel rooms and the concern that there will be density with look of distribution throughout the city for some of the group housing -- alternative sentencing. has there been any thought about that? >> there has, but i have been briefed by eds. -- by it. our goal is not to create density of population because i

believe we will create a true reentry model. we have to integrate with the general population and i am specifically opposed to bringing numbers down to the traditional sro housing, the tenderloin, like that. i am trying to create capacity in non-traditional areas. that is a priority for me. there are other areas, treasure island, other places already designated for that function. we will continue to approach both, and also the moviehsa -- through the hsa, there is a temporary subsidy grants. we would not specifically dictate where the housing would be at, we would give subsidies that would further the spread of the population. supervisor kim: we appreciate that. it is not that we got any, where

we don't -- that we don't want any parolees coming into the neighborhood, they will absorb some of the population. but there is concern that they will only come to these three communities. supervisor wiener: thank you, chief. we will now herar formrom mr. adachi. >> i am here to express my support for the sentencing commission. there are three things that i think his commission will be capable of. we will be able to take a big picture view of sentencing. my department handles 25,000 cases a year, and on top of that you have cases handled by the private bar and by retaining counsel. we would be able to get a big picture view, for the very first

time, of what is happening in a wide variety of cases. secondly, we will be able to look at the consistency or inconsistency of those cases. while sentencing is an individualized past, every cases like a snowflake, every time you have ranges, where certain patterns should exist. we will look it goes to see where the variations are, what the discrepancies are, what the disparities are. we will look at racial disparities, and come, poverty disparities, and see if there is any discernible pattern -- income, poverty disparities, and see if there is any discernible pattern to those. third, because we have limited resources, as the new sherriff

comes in, we are looking at jail space. if we are looking at jail space that is inefficient, we will look at those categories of crimes that are resulting in incarceration to be able to focus the limited resources we have on those crimes sentences that are deserving of a jail sentence as opposed to those that are not. unfortunately, the review will be limited to how the law and sentences are applied. we will not be able to make substantial changes in those sentences. it takes us to a larger issue of sentencing reform, which is what we need. it is not something effectually hear in the city and county. supervisor wiener: thank you very much. >> thank you. supervisor wiener: ok, we will

now open it up for public comment. we have cards -- do we have cards? if anyone wants to make public comment and has not filled out -- >> one question, i don't know if it is for lenore or supervisor wiener. it must be someone with sentencing experience? sometimes i find out that what we create specific guidelines, we find ourselves holding the bag. are you confident that we are not getting too narrow here? should we have a broader language? if you are comfortable, i can be. supervisor wiener: i will say that it is a pretty broad category in terms of participating in the sentencing process. there are an awful lot of people. >> thank you. yeah, i think we would be able

to have quite a few names that will fit into that category. supervisor wiener: any other questions? supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. i have been trying my best to keep abreast of this situation, but i have been busy lately. i am not a member of rules committee. as an outgoing supervisor and as the incoming chair of - -sheriff -- sheriff, i am interested on anything that tackles recidivism. on behalf of myself and members of the d.a.'s office, we started the council together. i welcome the next step that focuses on those strategies.

when we first looked at the legislation, it dawned on me. it felt that the question that was being prompted was that, in lieu of custody budget, budget that is under the custody that is under the realm of the share eriff, would that be potentially shifting away from the department of the sheriff? as it relates to the funding of rehabilitative and service type programs. as someone who is running the department, it is a chorus of concern for me that it not be the singular -- a cause of concern for me that it not be the singular reason. i am left as the section as a result of money being shifted

for other departments of that reentry is being redistributed in capacity. what occurred to me is that in this idea, the sentencing commission makes complete sense. in terms of the money pie, as the money is distributed, quite frankly, i don't know if there is full recognition of what the sheriff's department does as was mentioned in this piece of legislation. for 30 years, the department has been conducting electronic monitoring. and has been conducting alternative sentencing programs. in the draft that i saw, it essentially generalized that this was new to the city and county of san francisco. it is not new and has been happening for quite some time. because of realignment, it has enhanced our discretion authority for using alternative sentencing in a way that did not

exist before. that, i think, is important to note. second, the police department, i don't see anywhere in the discussion here in regard to -- we put $480 million into the police department with the current budget. for every four people that they are rest -- arrest, and that the district attorney prosecutes, three are repeat offenders. are we looking at ways to how effectively distribute money? the police department's budget should be in consideration in this equation right now, too. i don't think this is entirely well thought through if it is strictly from a district attorney's office to the sheriff's department unless we are looking at all members of the criminal justice sy a