Agenda

Return

C. 50

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Robin Lipetzky, Public Defender
Date:	December 5, 2017

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Grant Award from the California Endowment Supporting Clean Slate Outreach

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 12/05/2017

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Donna Broussard 925-335-8065

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: December 5, 2017
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Defender, or designee, to apply and accept a grant in the amount of $12,500 from The California Endowment (TCE) for Clean Slate Outreach.

FISCAL IMPACT:

$12,500. This grant will fund the salary for one part-time (1) temporary clerk, for a nine-month period beginning in January of 2018. There is no requirement for matching funds by the County, and these grants will not increase Net County Cost.

BACKGROUND:

Clean Slate referrals have increased drastically since the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014 and again with the passage of Prop 64 in 2016. As a result of our extensive community outreach, countywide Clean Slate events, and partnership with community-based organizations, the number of requests we receive for both Clean Slate and Prop 47 assistance continue to be high. Our program's success expanding our community outreach and in obtaining Clean Slate relief for our clients has helped facilitate their successful re-entry into the community and has helped clients overcome barriers to employment, housing, public benefits, and more.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

Conducting extensive Clean Slate outreach is also critical in order to reach those non-citizens eligible or Clean Slate relief. For those who are not citizens even seemingly minor criminal convictions can have disastrous immigration consequences, including immigration detention and deportation These concerns are not limited to undocumented immigrant - any non-citizen can be at risk of deportation due to criminal system contact even longtime Lawful Permanent Residents

Fortunately, in California there are many statutory or constitutional vehicles by which an individual with prior criminal contact or convictions can petition the state court to provide post conviction relief, including new statutory remedies recently enacted for the purpose of providing additional due process protections to immigrants. There are remedies that affect an individual's actual and/or maximum sentence but do not actually eliminate the conviction for immigration purpose, such as felony reduction to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47 or through Penal Code section 17(b) and expungement dismissal under Penal ode section 1203.4. There are also remedies that eliminate or vacate a prior conviction because they are based on ground of legal invalidity. For these newly enacted Clean Slate remedies for immigrants, outreach and education to the community regarding the expanded types of remedies available is critical.

To relieve the immigration consequences of criminal conviction and to protect immigrants at risk of deportation, the Office of the Public Defender will provide outreach and Clean Slate legal services that will eliminate or mitigate the adverse immigration consequences that continue to tear apart immigrant families in Contra Costa County.

The goal of his grant is to staff community outreach events that provide Clean Slate services to immigrants ad to connect eligible individuals with access to new post-conviction relief remedies in order t expand clean slate legal services for immigrants in Contra Costa County. This will enable the Clean Slate team in the Public Defender's Office to deploy new immigration Clean Slate remedies to provide critical-conviction relief o immigrants.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If this grant is not authorized or accepted the Office of the Public Defender will not be able to effectively offer comprehensive and holistic Clean Slate services to immigrants eligible for services in Contra Costa County.

CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:

Authorization and acceptance of this grant will give children who have non-citizen parents with prior criminal contacts the chance at family stability through access to post-conviction relief remedies which can eliminate the disastrous consequences of a parent's deportation on a child's development.