PEN §17.7: The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) Strategies supporting reentering offenders through practices and programs, such as standardized risk and needs assessments, transitional community

The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) Strategies supporting reentering offenders through practices and programs, such as standardized risk and needs assessments, transitional community housing, treatment, medical and mental health services, and employment, have been demonstrated to significantly reduce recidivism among offenders in other states. (b) Improving outcomes among offenders reentering the community after serving time in a correctional facility will promote public safety and will reduce California’s prison and jail populations. (c) Establishing a California reentry program that encompasses strategies known to reduce recidivism warrants a vigorous short-term startup in the 2014–15 fiscal year using readily available resources in the community, and a comprehensive long-term development plan for future budget years designed to expand the availability, impact, and sustainability of these strategies as further community partnerships are identified and developed.