Section 17.7 Of Preliminary Provisions From California Penal Code
17.7
. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Strategies supporting reentering offenders through practices
and programs, such as standardized risk and needs assessments,
transitional community housing, treatment, medical and mental health
services, and employment, have been demonstrated to significantly
reduce recidivism among offenders in other states.
(b) Improving outcomes among offenders reentering the community
after serving time in a correctional facility will promote public
safety and will reduce California's prison and jail populations.
(c) Establishing a California reentry program that encompasses
strategies known to reduce recidivism warrants a vigorous short-term
startup in the 2014-15 fiscal year using readily available resources
in the community, and a comprehensive long-term development plan for
future budget years designed to expand the availability, impact, and
sustainability of these strategies as further community partnerships
are identified and developed.