AB 109 and its Impact on Prison Overcrowding and Recidivism: A Policy Analysis

California experienced escalating issues with prison overcrowding from the late 1970s to 2010, as the prison population skyrocketed to unprecedented highs. This article will discuss the problem of prison overcrowding, and one recent policy intervention implemented to decrease overcrowding and offender recidivism rates, the Public Safety Realignment Act (AB 109). After providing background on the Public Safety Realignment Act, this article will analyze the effectiveness of the policy and make recommendations

Mental Health Care in California: Painting a Picture

Nearly 1 in 6 California adults has a mental health need, and approximately 1 in 20 suffers from a serious mental illness that makes it difficult to carry out major life activities. the rate among children is even higher: 1 in 13 suffers from a mental illness that limits participation in daily activities. In mental health care, counties play a large role in financing and care delivery, and outpatient settings for care dominate. However, less is known about the mental health system -- from prevalence of individual disorders to statewide costs of care to quality of care delivery -- than about the medical system. this report uses the most recent data available -- from 2009 and 2010."Mental Health Care in California: Painting a Picture" provides an overview of mental health in California: disease prevalence, suicide rates, the state's care delivery system, supply and use of treatment providers, and access to care. the report also highlights available quality data and the most recent data on national mental health care spendin

Engagement Amid Austerity: A Bipartisan Approach to Reorienting the International Affairs Budget

Examines trends that influence U.S. foreign aid and proposes reforms to better target economic and security assistance, transition ownership of PEPFAR to host countries, overhaul food aid, and establish an international affairs realignment commission

Degrees of Freedom: Expanding College Opportunities - for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Californians

This report begins with a background on the higher education and criminal justice systems in California. This background section highlights the vocabulary and common pathways for each system, and provides a primer on California community colleges. Part II explains why California needs this initiative. Part III presents the landscape of existing college programs dedicated to criminal justice-involved populations in the community and in jails and prisons. This landscape identifies promising strategies and sites of innovation across the state, as well as current challenges to sustaining and expanding these programs. Part IV lays out concrete recommendations California should take to realize the vision of expanding high-quality college opportunities for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. It includes guidelines for developing high-quality, sustainable programs, building and strengthening partnerships, and shaping the policy landscape, both by using existing opportunities and by advocating for specific legislative and policy changes. Profiles of current college students and graduates with criminal records divide the sections and offer first-hand accounts of the joys and challenges of a college experience

Economic Development Assistance for Communities Affected by Employment Changes Due to Military Base Closures (BRAC)

[Excerpt] This report is intended to discuss the geographic impact of base closures and realignments; provide an analysis of federal economic assistance programs for communities and individuals affected by military base closures and realignments (BRAC); and analyze possible policy issues for Congress. Unlike previous rounds, the 2005 BRAC round is focused on creating the infrastructure needed to support a transformed, expeditionary armed force—concentrated more on shifting forces and installation assets to promote the centralization of units in places from which they can be deployed rapidly. Thus, the 2005 BRAC round is characterized much more by realignment than closure. In 20 communities, an estimated increase of 170,000 workers is expected. In addition, estimated construction costs are anticipated to increase by 80% from $17 billion to$32 billion. These communities identified transportation, schools and affordable housing as their top infrastructure challenges. Some communities, however, will be affected by job losses, and job creation and unemployment were cited as key concerns. Economic development programs for communities affected by BRAC include the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA); the Economic Development Administration (EDA); the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program; Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) under the Small Business Administration (SBA); and programs such as the Homeowner’s Assistance Program (HAP), the Defense Access Road (DAR) program, Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds, and Economic Development Conveyances (EDCs). Understanding the process to access funding under these programs is important for communities impacted by job losses and those affected by growth. EDA, for example, allocates funding to groups of counties organized as Economic Development Districts (EDDs), based on a plan known as a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and communities affected by BRAC must contact an EDA regional office and EDD to understand if competitive grant funding may be available. In contrast, CDBG allocates funding to one of over 1,100 entitlement communities based on a formula and on a plan known as the Consolidated Plan; BRAC funding is available primarily to help the homeless population near a base. The local communities must establish a Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) to access assistance. The LRA serves as the primary link between the Department of Defense, the current installation, the local community, and the Federal and State agencies responsible for all BRAC matters. In the 111th Congress, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5) provided $555 million for the Homeowner’s Assistance Fund under the Housing Improvement Program (HAP), for military personnel affected by the 2005 BRAC round. P.L. 111-117 provided an additional$323 million for the HAP program. ARRA also provided $10 billion for Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds for areas designated as economically distressed under previous BRAC round closures. The 112th Congress may consider amendments to federal economic development programs to assist communities affected by the 2005 BRAC. This report will be updated as events warrant

Economic Development Assistance for Communities Affected by Employment Changes Due to Military Base Closures

Under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, military facilities were closed and realigned in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995. A fifth BRAC round was authorized in late 2005 and must be completed by September 15, 2011. Under the BRAC process: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) prepares a list of military bases to be realigned or closed; (2) an independent BRAC Commission reviews the list, makes changes and sends a revised list to the President; (3) the President approves and transmits the list to Congress; and (4) the BRAC recommendations are implemented, unless a joint resolution is passed in Congress disapproving the recommendations for closures and realignments. The 2005 BRAC round includes the closure or realignment of 837 facilities and involves an additional 160 facilities that will gain missions or resources, for a total of 997 changes nationwide. Most of these changes are on a smaller scale, each involving fewer than 300 direct job losses or gains, including military, civilian, and contractor jobs. Unlike previous rounds, the 2005 BRAC round is focused on creating the infrastructure needed to support a transformed, expeditionary armed force — concentrated more on shifting forces and installation assets to promote the centralization of units in places from which they can be deployed rapidly. Thus, the 2005 BRAC round is characterized much more by realignment than closure. In 20 communities, an estimated increase of 170,000 workers is expected. Important policy issues before Congress include (1) the impact of military base closures and expansions on local employment; (2) the possible elimination of the of the BRAC Commission and the resulting impact on federal economic and community development programs — such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) — that currently provide a preference for communities affected by BRAC; (3) the adequacy and flat level of funding for federal assistance programs while anticipating an 80% increase from $17 billion to$32 billion in construction costs; (4) housing for military staff amidst the mortgage crisis; (5) funding for communities experiencing growth through the defense access road program; (6) delays in environmental cleanup that may cause difficulties in the economic redevelopment of military facilities; and (7) redevelopment of military bases as refineries to promote economic growth. In the 110th Congress, Title I of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 6599) and Title I of the parallel Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5658), would allocate funding for BRAC-related activities for road construction, military facilities, and housing assistance. This report is intended to discuss the geographic impact of base closures and realignments; summarize federal economic assistance programs for communities and individuals affected by BRAC; and highlight issues for Congress. The report will be updated as events warrant

Legislative Organization and Administrative Redundancy

Congress regularly enacts legislation providing for redundant administrative programs. For example, there are more than 100 federal programs for surface transportation, 82 programs to ensure teacher quality, 80 programs to promote domestic economic development, and 47 programs to provide employment and job-training services. Recent high-profile legislation–-such as the financial-industry reform measure and the health-care reform measure–-add new programs without repealing existing ones directed at the same policy goals. Prior academic analyses generally have not considered why Congress pursues redundancy. This article addresses that question through both theoretical and institutional analysis. The article first constructs an organizational theory that attributes redundancy in administrative programs to the congressional committee system. Specifically, the article demonstrates that two critical components of the existing committee system-–fragmented jurisdictions and parliamentary prerogatives–-systematically bias legislative outcomes in favor of redundancy. Building on leading theoretical accounts of congressional committees from political science, the article then presents a novel cost-benefit analysis of this tendency toward redundancy. It shows that redundancy allows legislators to increase distributive favors for constituents and interest groups but that redundancy is also linked to the desirable pursuit of informational efficiency. Thus, the institutional structures facilitating redundancy have mixed effects. Consequently, the article describes and analyzes specific institutional reforms that trade off the distributive costs and the informational benefits associated with redundancy. One approach would subject more legislative decisions to external advisory processes such as that used to close unneeded military facilities. A second and more promising approach would preserve existing committee jurisdictions but would scale back committees’ parliamentary prerogatives, thereby encouraging redundancy in program design but discouraging redundancy in program implementation

Challenges Facing Military Organizational Cultural Reform: A study of the 2004 Air Force Materiel Command Reorganization

The purpose of this research was to measure the success of the Product Center (PC) portion of the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) reorganization initiated in 2004. The purpose of this study is threefold, 1) to determine if the 2004 AFMC Product Center reorganization has met General Martin\u27s four intended objectives, (2) the reorganizations effects on AFMC employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment and (3) to gather some general opinions about the reorganization overall. The literature review consisted of a detailed look at the history of AFMC, areas of organizational culture, and gathering detailed information regarding the 2004 reorganization itself. This research measured the success of the PC portion of the reorganization to date; assistance was solicited and provided from HQ AFMC/A8M in development of the survey instrument for such measurement. Upon completion of development, electronic dissemination of the survey instrument was utilized to send it to the three AFMC PCs. Survey results were summarized and the overall conclusion reached that the AFMC PC reorganization initiated in 2004 has had little or no impact to date based on the opinions of PC employees who responded to the survey. Recommendations for further research avenues are also discussed