SB 38 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Second Chance Program.

Summary

Existing law establishes the Second Chance Program to support mental health treatment, substance use treatment, and diversion programs for persons in the criminal justice system with an emphasis on programs that reduce recidivism of persons convicted of less serious crimes and persons who have substance use and mental health problems. Existing law requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to administer a grant program to carry out the purposes of the Second Chance Program. Existing law requires the grant program to, among other things, restrict eligibility to proposals that offer mental health services, substance use disorder treatment services, misdemeanor diversion programs, or a combination thereof. Existing law also establishes the Second Chance Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, which is administered by the board. Existing law, the Treatment-Mandated Felony Act, makes it a crime for a person, who has 2 or more prior convictions for a felony or misdemeanor violation of specified controlled substances crimes, to possess a hard drug, as defined, unless it has been prescribed by a doctor, among others. Under existing law, a defendant who has been charged with this crime can elect treatment, in lieu of a jail or prison sentence or probation, by pleading guilty or no contest and admitting the alleged prior convictions, waiving time for sentencing and the pronouncement of judgment, and agreeing to participate in, and complete, a detailed treatment program developed by a drug addiction expert and approved by the court. This bill would require the Second Chance grant program to authorize eligibility for proposals that offer mental health or behavioral health services and drug court or collaborative court programs, including the treatment program under the Treatment-Mandated Felony Act. By expanding the purpose of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 3, 2024 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/05/25 - Amended Senate → 04/09/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Apr 9, 2025

MODERATE

SB 38 was revised to remove a technical amendment to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act naming provision, broaden grant eligibility language from 'restrict' to 'authorize,' explicitly prohibit the Board of State and Community Corrections from mandating specific percentage allocations in grants, narrow tax credit references, and confirm the bill makes an appropriation. The most significant policy shift is moving from a restrictive framing of what the Second Chance Program can fund to an authorizing one, giving the board more flexibility in awarding grants.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed by removing the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act amendment, but the Second Chance Program's operational scope broadened: eligibility language shifted from restrictive to authorizing, and the board is now explicitly barred from imposing percentage allocation requirements on grants.

SCOPE

Removed the amendment to Section 5000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which had made technical changes to the naming of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. The bill no longer touches mental health civil commitment law.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed grant eligibility language in Penal Code Section 6046.3 from 'restrict eligibility to' to 'authorize eligibility for' in two subsections, shifting the program from a restrictive model (only these categories may be funded) to an authorizing model (these categories are permitted but not exclusive).

REQUIREMENT

Added explicit language to Penal Code Section 6046(c) stating the grant program 'is intended to support locally responsive and collaborative approaches and shall not require specific percentage allocations in applying for, or awarding, the grant.' This prohibits the board from mandating fixed funding splits among program categories.

FISCAL

The appropriation status changed from 'no' to 'yes,' confirming the bill makes an appropriation by expanding a continuously appropriated fund. The fiscal committee designation also changed from 'no' to 'yes.'

TECHNICAL

Narrowed the tax credit reference in the list of leverageable funding sources from 'Sections 12209, 17053.57, and 23657' to only 'Section 12209' of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

Changed gendered pronoun 'his or her their' to simply 'their' in one provision regarding criminal history.

12/03/24 - Introduced → 02/05/25 - Amended Senate · 7 edits · Feb 5, 2025

MODERATE

SB 38 was dramatically expanded from a purely technical fix (correcting duplicate words in the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act name) into a substantive policy bill that broadens the Second Chance Program to include drug court and collaborative court programs, adds housing assistance as a fundable service, and establishes detailed grant prioritization criteria. The amendment also changes the vote requirement from majority to two-thirds and converts the bill into one making an appropriation by expanding the purpose of a continuously appropriated fund.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded dramatically from a single technical correction to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act name into a comprehensive overhaul of the Second Chance Program grant structure under Penal Code Sections 6046 and 6046.3, adding drug courts, collaborative courts, housing assistance, and detailed prioritization criteria for recidivism reduction grants.

SCOPE

The bill now amends Sections 6046 and 6046.3 of the Penal Code in addition to the original Section 5000 Welfare and Institutions Code technical fix, expanding it from a naming correction into a full policy bill on the Second Chance Program.

ELIGIBILITY

Grant eligibility language changed from 'restrict eligibility' to 'authorize eligibility,' broadening what types of proposals can qualify. New eligible program types include behavioral health services, drug court or collaborative court programs, and treatment programs under the Treatment-Mandated Felony Act (Section 11395 Health and Safety Code).

REQUIREMENT

Requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to form an executive steering committee with balanced membership from state/local government, community-based providers, and the formerly incarcerated community. The committee must make recommendations on proposal design, efficacy, viability, and scoring criteria.

Prohibits the grant program from specifying percentage allocations in applying for or awarding grants, giving local communities more flexibility in how they use funds.

Prohibits proposals from using Second Chance Fund money to supplant (replace) existing program funding, requiring that grants expand capacity rather than shift existing resources.

FISCAL

Establishes detailed prioritization criteria for grants, including leveraging other funding sources (Drug Medi-Cal, Mental Health Services Act, Byrne JAG, HUD Emergency Solutions Grants, VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families, Social Innovation Funds), providing housing-related assistance (up to 24 months rental assistance, security deposits, utility payments, credit repair), and community-based supportive services like job training and civil legal services.

ENFORCEMENT

Vote requirement changed from simple majority to two-thirds. Appropriation status changed from 'no' to 'yes' because expanding the purpose of a continuously appropriated fund constitutes an appropriation. Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes.'

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

upper

Apr 9, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 708.) (April 8).

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

Feb 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Dec 3, 2024

Introduced

Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors