(a) (1) The department shall establish the California Reentry and Enrichment (CARE) Grant program to provide grants to community based organizations (CBOs) that provide rehabilitative services to incarcerated individuals.

(2) Grants shall be awarded by the steering committee established pursuant to subdivision (b) based on the following criteria:

(A) The steering committee shall prioritize the continuation, expansion, or replication of rehabilitative programs that have previously demonstrated success with incarcerated individuals within a correctional environment. This subparagraph does not disqualify a relatively new CBO that has programming that shows promise from applying for, or receiving, a grant.

(B) Grants shall be awarded to fund programs that provide insight-oriented restorative justice and offender accountability programs that can demonstrate that the approach has produced, or will produce, positive outcomes in department facilities, including, but not limited to:

(i) Increasing empathy and mindfulness.

(ii) Increasing resilience and reducing the impacts of stress and trauma.

(iii) Reducing violence in the form of physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility.

(iv) Successfully addressing and treating the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

(v) Victim impacts and understanding.

(C) To the extent that the information is available, applicants shall provide evaluations and surveys, including qualitative and quantitative information, from current and former program participants and any program evaluation data conducted by an outside research organization.

(b) The department shall establish a CARE Grant program steering committee, which shall establish grant criteria, select grant recipients, and determine grant amounts and the number of grants. Members of the steering committee shall be chosen as a result of consultation with the Senate and Assembly, as follows:

(1) One member shall be an educator or trainer in the field of criminal justice, with specific knowledge and experience working with adult offenders.

(2) One member shall be a researcher with specific expertise evaluating the effectiveness of rehabilitative treatment for adult offenders.

(3) Two members shall be representatives for community based organizations with experience working with the department on CBO-led programs. The CBO representative is ineligible to apply for a grant and shall not receive any compensation from another nonprofit/CBO that receives a CARE grant.

(4) Two members shall have firsthand knowledge of rehabilitative CBO- or department-led programming through active participation and completion of courses within the preceding five years. These members are ineligible to apply for a grant and shall not receive any compensation from another nonprofit or CBO that receives a CARE grant.

(5) Two members shall be representatives of the Division of Rehabilitative Programs within the department who have had experience working directly with CBO programs.

(6) One member shall be a representative from the Division of Adult Institutions to provide insight and knowledge of the most effective CBO programs.

(7) One member shall be from the Office of the Inspector General who is familiar with the work and objectives of the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board.

(c) Prior to the release of the grant application, the department shall survey all adult prisons to determine which are able to support new programs provided by the grantees. A list of prisons that are able to add additional programs shall be clearly listed in the request for applications. All prisons that agree to accept additional programs, agree to facilitate and support the grantee organizations in the provision of those programs. Once grant applications are selected by the committee, should a prison determine that the specific programs cannot safely or adequately be provided in their particular prison, the Division of Adult Institutions, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall provide detailed information, in writing, to the steering committee on the specific reasons for being unable to offer the program.

(d) To the extent amendments are made to a contract, after the contract is awarded, that result in a significant change in the level of service provided by a grantee, the department shall submit the contract amendment to the steering committee for approval prior to executing the amendment.

(e) Each member of the steering committee shall receive one hundred dollars ($100) for each day in which that committee member is engaged in the performance of official duties. The performance of official duties includes all meetings, reviewing draft application and scoring documents, reading and evaluating grant applications, and any prison visits agreed to by the committee to review grantee programs. Total compensation shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) per committee member, per year. A government employee who is participating in the committee as part of their job and is continuing to receive their regular salary is not eligible for compensation. In addition to the compensation, all members of the committee shall be reimbursed for necessary traveling and other expenses incurred in the performance of official duties. Any costs pursuant to this subdivision will be paid from CARE grant funding appropriated in the annual Budget Act.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 80, Sec. 14. (AB 145) Effective July 16, 2021.)