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SB-804 California Conservation Corps: forestry training center: formerly incarcerated individuals: reporting.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 09/07/2021 09:00 PM
SB804:v94#DOCUMENT

Enrolled  September 07, 2021
Passed  IN  Senate  June 02, 2021
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 02, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  May 20, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  April 21, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  April 19, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  April 05, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 804

Introduced by Senator Glazer
(Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Becker, Caballero, Hueso, McGuire, Skinner, and Wiener)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bauer-Kahan, Levine, Mathis, Mullin, Quirk, Seyarto, and Wicks)

February 19, 2021

An act to amend Section 14424 of, and to add Section 14415.7 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to resource conservation.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 804, Glazer. California Conservation Corps: forestry training center: formerly incarcerated individuals: reporting.
Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law authorizes the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish the Education and Employment Reentry Program within the corps to develop, partner with, and create opportunities for certain forestry corps program objectives, collaborate with the Employment Development Department to provide access to workforce services, collaborate with nongovernmental organizations dedicated to providing access to counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational opportunities, and employ collaborations and partnerships available to the corps, as specified.
This bill would require the director, upon appropriation and on or before December 31, 2023, upon appropriation and on or before December 31, 2023, in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to establish a forestry training center in northern California to provide enhanced training, education, work experience, and job readiness for entry-level forestry and vegetation management jobs. The bill would require the training center to include counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational services and authorize the training center to provide training modules on specified activities. The bill would require the director to enroll at the training center formerly incarcerated individuals and to prioritize enrollment for those formerly incarcerated individuals who have either successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew and were recommended by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as provided, or successfully served on a hand crew at the county level and were recommended for participation by county probation and county fire departments. The bill would provide that successful completion of a training program at the training center constitutes qualifying experience for an entry-level forestry or vegetation management position at a state agency.
Existing law requires the corps to report by December 31 of each year the total number of corpsmembers in the cohort who permanently separated from the corps, as provided. Existing law requires the report to include specified information.
This bill would require the report, commencing December 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, to contain specified information regarding formerly incarcerated individuals enrolled in corps programs or centers, as provided.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for northern California.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 14415.7 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

14415.7.
 (a) (1) Upon appropriation, on or before December 31, 2023, the director, in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, shall establish a forestry training center in northern California to provide enhanced training, education, work experience, and job readiness for entry-level forestry and vegetation management jobs.
(2) The training center shall focus on forestry, consistent with this chapter, and include counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational services as identified in subdivision (c) of Section 14415.4.
(3) The training center may include training modules on the activities identified in Section 14415.3.
(b) The director shall enroll at the training center formerly incarcerated individuals and prioritize enrollment for those formerly incarcerated individuals who have done either of the following:
(1) Successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew and were recommended by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may designate a person from the respective department to make this recommendation.
(2) Successfully served on a hand crew at the county level and were recommended for participation by county probation and county fire departments.
(c) The director may enroll corpsmembers and local community conservation corpsmembers at the training center if funding and resources allow.
(d) Successful completion of a training program at the training center shall constitute qualifying experience for an entry-level forestry or vegetation management position at a state agency.

SEC. 2.

 Section 14424 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

14424.
 (a) Commencing January 1, 2020, the corps shall report by December 31 of each year the total number of corpsmembers in the cohort who permanently separated from the corps during the state fiscal year that ended 18 months before the date the report is due.
(b) To the extent feasible, the report shall include the number of corpsmembers in the cohort who did any of the following in the 12-month period following final separation from the corps:
(1) Enrolled in an adult school or other precollegiate-level program.
(2) Enrolled in an apprenticeship or other vocational education program.
(3) Enrolled in postsecondary education.
(4) Were employed during the second and fourth quarters.
(5) Were simultaneously employed and enrolled in a secondary, postsecondary, or apprenticeship or other vocational education program.
(6) Obtained employment in jobs that they received specialized training to perform while they were enrolled in the corps.
(c) To assess longer-term outcomes for corpsmembers, the report shall also include the number of corpsmembers in the cohort who received any of the following either while serving in the corps or in the 12-month period following final separation from the corps:
(1) A high school diploma or its recognized equivalent.
(2) An industry-recognized credential.
(3) An associate or bachelor’s degree.
(d) To assess the performance of variations in the delivery of the corps’ programs, the corps shall disaggregate the data reported pursuant to this section into the following subgroups of corpsmembers:
(1) Partial-year corpsmembers, who enrolled in the corps for a period of more than 60 days but less than one year.
(2) Full-year corpsmembers, who enrolled in the corps for a period of one year or more.
(3) Residential center corpsmembers, who resided in a residential center for the majority of the time they were enrolled in the corps.
(4) Nonresidential center corpsmembers, who reported to a nonresidential center for the majority of the time they were enrolled in the corps.
(e) The corps shall provide the report to the chairpersons and vice chairpersons of the budget committees in both houses of the Legislature, as well as the relevant budget subcommittees and policy committees in both houses of the Legislature that have subject matter jurisdiction over the corps.
(f) Commencing December 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, the corps shall include, in the report required pursuant to this section, a reporting of the information required in subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, where appropriate, as that information relates to formerly incarcerated individuals enrolled in corps programs or centers established to serve formerly incarcerated individuals, including, but not limited to, the Education and Employment Reentry Program established pursuant to Section 14415.1, the Ventura Training Center, the forestry training center established pursuant to Section 14415.7, and any other centers or programs created by the corps to exclusively serve formerly incarcerated individuals.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique ecological needs of northern California in reducing the impact of wildfires in the region.