Institutional and community corrections: Smart Justice Student Program.

Existing law, until January 1, 2022, establishes the Social Innovation Financing Program, and requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to administer the program. Existing law, among other things, authorizes the board, upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature for deposit into the Recidivism Reduction Fund, to award grants in amounts of not less than $500,000 and not more than $2,000,000 to each of 3 counties, selected as specified, for the purpose of entering into a pay for success or social innovation financing contract, pursuant to which private investors agree to provide financing to service providers to achieve social outcomes agreed upon in advance and the government agency that is a party to the contractual agreement agrees to pay a return on the investment to the investors if successful programmatic outcomes are achieved by the service provider. This bill would, instead, establish, until January 1, 2025, the Smart Justice Student Program that would require the Board of State and Community Corrections to solicit proposals for postsecondary education programs among the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to receive funding, with the intent of directly serving individuals who are or have been incarcerated, or are currently on parole, probation, or other form of supervised release. The bill would allow these institutions to subcontract with service providers to meet the nonacademic needs of these students. The bill would allow the board, upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature, to award grants in an amount of $125,000 to $500,000 to educational institutions to fund programs that provide services to these students and would require a grantee to provide matching funds, as specified. The bill would limit the total amount of grants awarded to $25,000,000. The bill would require each educational institution receiving an award to report to the board on the status of the program and would require the board to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature annually.