Proposition 47 was a voter-approved initiative on the November 2014 ballot that reduced from felonies to misdemeanors specified low-level drug and property crimes. Each year, the state savings generated by the implementation of Proposition 47 are deposited into the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund. Sixty-five percent of these savings are set aside annually for the BSCC to administer a competitive grant program.  

Proposition 47 requires that these funds be awarded to public agencies to provide mental health services, substance use disorder treatment and/or diversion programs for those in the criminal justice system. Additional legislation (AB 1056, Chap. 438, Stats. of 2015) requires that the grants be awarded competitively, specifies that funds may serve both adults and juveniles and allows funds to be used for housing-related assistance and other community-based supportive services, including job skills training, case management or civil legal services.   
  
The Public Defender is applying for this grant cycle of funds with the Health, Housing and Homeless Department to provide approximately $6,000,000 for a Holistic Intervention Partnership (HIP). HIP will improve individual outcomes and reduce criminal legal involvement for 900 indigent Contra Costa residents with mental illness and/or substance dependence who have been arrested (whether cite-released or detained in custody) for misdemeanors or “wobblers.” HIP will provide immediate legal representation, civil legal advocacy, and coordinated, community-based, client-specific services, including dedicated funds to preserve or provide housing for the estimated 35% of clients who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness at intake.  
  
To inform the development of this application, the County Administrator’s Office (CAO) implemented a participatory, county-wide process to develop an inclusive needs-analysis and identify collective local priorities. The CAO publicly noticed and convened three public meetings, using an Explore/Design/Refine framework; to ensure transparency and shared learning, each meeting included a recap of prior discussions, illuminated ideas and questions developed outside the meetings, and reported new information emerging from continuing research. To gather additional information relevant to the larger meetings, organizational stakeholders also conducted six small-group exploratory meetings to discuss options and identify collective priorities. More than 40 people representing a wide array of constituencies and interests engaged in this process, including representatives of elected officials, public agencies (Sheriff’s Office, Housing/Homeless, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Forensic Mental Health, Office of Reentry and Justice); nonprofit organizations with relevant expertise; community-driven advocacy groups (including the Racial Justice Coalition, the Safe Return Project, and the AB109 Community Advisory Board); seasoned restorative justice practitioners and behavioral health clinicians; and justice-involved people and their family members. These weeks of work culminated in a final meeting to confirm HIP as the applicant project.  
  
In order to meet the grant application deadline, the Public Defender submitted this grant application on May 2, 2022, and is requesting the Board to ratify the application of this grant. Grant awards will be made by BSCC in the July 2022.