The 2010-2011 Ventura County Grand Jury is pleased to announce the public release of a report entitled: Under-Enrollment in Proposition 36

SUMMARY
In November of 2000, California voters approved Proposition 36 (Prop 36), the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA). Ten years later, counties receive no State of California (State) money to support Prop 36. The 2010-2011 Ventura County Grand Jury (Grand Jury) noted a decline in Prop 36 enrollment and elected to look at what factors, in addition to the lack of funding, contribute to the lower enrollment.

Ventura County (County) agencies are conflicted about the efficacy of Prop 36. Contributing factors to the purported failure of Prop 36 are: a high rate of repeat offenders; offenders with severe addictions; offenders with concurrent mental health issues or non-drug-related criminal charges; long waiting lists for fewer affordable treatment programs; and a shift of program fees from the County to the offenders.

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted a comprehensive study on Prop 36, including the empirical measurement of how success is defined and who defines it. There are many factors which impede success in the Prop 36 program, the most significant being a lack of funding. Without funding, offenders who could benefit most from substance abuse treatment will continue to fill our jails and prisons.

The Grand Jury recommends that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors (BOS) continue to assist the Ventura County Probation Agency (VCPA) and the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department (VCBHD) in finding alternative sources of funding to better accomplish the statutory mandates intended under Prop 36. The BOS should ensure that adequate personnel are designated to be responsible for tracking offenders from the Prop 36 Courtroom, through the treatment process, and back to the Prop 36 Judge, in order to determine rehabilitative outcomes. The BOS should ensure that some kind of statistical process be put in place to calculate success, recidivism, and failure rates of the County’s Prop 36 program.

Go to the Grand Jury website to review the entire report: http://grandjury.countyofventura.org