OVERVIEW OF REPEAT OFFENDER
PREVENTION PROGRAM
The Legislature established the ROPP in 1994 (Chapter 730), contingent upon an appropriation of funding, as a three-year demonstration project designed to test intervention strategies for curbing recidivism among the small percentage of first-time juvenile offenders (the "8% population) identified in research conducted by Orange County as having the potential to become repeat serious offenders (Welfare and Institutions Code, Sections 743-749). In 1996, the Legislature expanded the program (Chapter 1049) to include pre-delinquent juveniles identified by the Los Angeles Multi-Agency At-Risk Youth Committee’s (MAARY-C) assessment instrument as being at risk of becoming serious offenders. The Los Angeles MAARY-C program was funded through June 30, 1999.
The main goal of the ROPP is to develop and implement a cost-effective multiagency, multidisciplinary program that targets youth displaying behavior that may lead to delinquency and recidivism. Although county programs differ based on unique needs and available local resources, each demonstration project includes a focus on both the youth and his/her family; an assessment by a multidisciplinary team; formal case management and service planning; and integrated service delivery. By law, counties must implement intervention strategies within the parameters of community protection and offender accountability.
The 1996/1997 Budget Act (Chapter 162) allocated $3.5 million
for the ROPP, and designated seven counties to receive funds: Fresno, Humboldt,
Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Mateo and Solano. The 1997/98 Budget Act
(Chapter 282) augmented funding for ROPP projects by $3.5 million and extended
the grant expiration date from June 30, 1999 to June 30, 2000. In
1998, the Legislature passed AB 2594 (Chapter 327), which made the City/County
of San Francisco eligible to receive ROPP funds and extended the grant ending
date to June 30, 2001. In addition, the 1998/99 Budget Act (Chapter 324)
appropriated an additional $4 million to the ROPP and required equitable
distribution of funds among the eight participating counties. An
additional appropriation of $9.5 million was contained in the 2000/01 State
Budget Act (Chapter 52, Statutes of 2000).
The eight demonstration projects must include a formal research component that compares juveniles
who receive enhanced probation services (treatment group) to those who receive
only traditional services (comparison group). Assignment to the two groups must
be made on a random basis. Each county must submit a final program evaluation
report to the BOC following the grant ending date and written progress reports
every six months. At a minimum, all of these reports must examine the following
four outcome variables:
Number, subject matter and disposition of subsequent petitions to declare the minor a ward of the juvenile court.
Number of days served in any local or state correctional facilities.
Number of days of school attendance during the current or most recent semester.
Minor’s grade point average for the most recently completed school semester.
Funding Distribution
: In 1996/97, BOC staff worked with participating ROPP counties to establish a formula for distributing available funds. The formula allocated maximum funding of $400,000 to each county and an additional $262,500 to Orange and Los Angeles counties to provide technical assistance to the other counties. The BOC used this same formula in distributing 1997/98 ROPP funds. However, since only Los Angeles County elected to implement the MAARY-C program, a portion of the funds originally earmarked for technical assistance to other counties was redirected to Fresno, Humboldt, San Diego, San Mateo and Solano counties. All counties submitted a revised implementation plan to the BOC documenting how they would use the additional funds. The counties directed most of their additional resources to expanding target areas and bolstering program evaluation efforts. After collaborating with Chief Probation Officers on a funding formula, the BOC distributed 1998/99 ROPP funds equitably among eligible counties. The only exception is that Orange County received a higher amount to cover the costs of developing a computer software program that will be used by all counties to report summary information to the BOC on the characteristics of the juveniles in each program, the interventions administered and the results of these interventions. The 2000-01 State Budget Act (Chapter 52, Statutes of 2000) appropriated $9.5 million for ROPP local assistance. Of this amount, $3.8 million was allocated to the existing eight ROPP counties and $5.7 million was designated to expand the ROPP, through a competitive RFP process, in new counties. Total local assistance funding for the ROPP through June 30, 2002, is $19,975,000.REPEAT OFFENDER PREVENTION PROGRAM I COUNTIES
|
REPEAT
OFFENDER PREVENTION PROGRAM |
|||||
County
|
FY 1996/97
|
FY
1997/97 Funding Level |
FY
1998/99 Funding Level |
FY
2000/01 |
Total
Funding Level |
|
Fresno |
$400,000 |
$410,605 |
$442,502 |
$442,502 |
$1,695,609 |
|
Humboldt |
$400,000 |
$408,405 |
$442,502 |
$442,502 |
$1,693,409 |
|
Los
Angeles |
$662,500 |
$645,287 |
$442,502 |
$442,502 |
$2,192,791 |
|
Orange |
$662,500 |
$667,488 |
$647,486 |
$647,486 |
$2,624,960 |
|
San
Diego |
$400,000 |
$405,205 |
$442,502 |
$442,502 |
$1,690,209 |
|
San
Francisco |
0 |
0 |
$497,502 |
$497,502 |
$995,004 |
|
San
Mateo |
$400,000 |
$406,505 |
$442,502 |
$442,502 |
$1,691,509 |
|
Solano |
$400,000 |
$406,505 |
$442,502 |
$442,502 |
$1,691,509 |
|
Total |
$3,325,000 |
$3,350,000 |
$3,800,000 |
3,800,000 |
$14,275,000 |
REPEAT OFFENDER PREVENTION PROGRAM II Counties
|
COUNTY |
GRANT FUNDS REQUESTED |
|
Kern |
$ 679,470 |
|
Kings |
$ 271,738 |
|
Monterey |
$ 781,453 |
|
San Bernardino |
$ 1,932,452 |
|
Santa Barbara |
$ 665,095 |
|
Tehama |
$ 333,281 |
|
Ventura |
$ 669,095 |
|
Yuba |
$ 367,416 |
|
Total |
$ 5,700,000 |
Total
local assistance funding for Repeat Offender Prevention Program I & II is
$19,975