Corrections: Placement of incarcerated persons.

Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to conduct assessments and examinations of all inmates who are newly committed to a state prison that include investigation of all pertinent circumstances of the person's life, including, but not limited to, data regarding the inmate's history of substance abuse, medical and mental health, education, family background, criminal activity, and social functioning. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to assign a prisoner to the institution of the appropriate security level and gender population nearest the prisoner's home, unless other classification factors make such a placement unreasonable. This bill, for an incarcerated person with a parent and child relationship with a child under 18 years of age, as specified, or who is a guardian or relative caregiver of a child, as defined, would require the secretary to place the person in the correctional institution or facility that is located nearest to the primary place of residence of the person's child, provided that the placement would be suitable and appropriate, would facilitate increased contact between the person and their child, and the incarcerated parent gives their consent to the placement. The bill would authorize the department to reevaluate an incarcerated person's placement to determine whether existing orders should be modified, including whether the person's child has moved to a place significantly nearer to an otherwise suitable and appropriate institution. The bill would allow an incarcerated person to request a review of their housing assignment when there is a change in the primary place of residence of the person's child upon which the person's housing assignment was based.