Governors Briefs: San Quentin to be Transformed Into Rehab and Education Facility and Proposal to Modernize California’s Behavioral Health System

SAN QUENTIN — Gov. Gavin Newsom, alongside state legislators, survivors of crime and victim advocates, and civil rights leaders, March 17, announced that San Quentin State Prison — the oldest and most notorious prison in California and home to the largest “death row” in the United States — will be transformed from a maximum-security prison into a one-of-a-kind facility focused on improving public safety through rehabilitation and education. The prison, which will be renamed “San Quentin Rehabilitation Center,” will be transformed in part under the direction of an advisory group composed of state and world-renowned rehabilitation and public safety experts. The historic effort at San Quentin, never pursued at this scale in the United States, will serve as a nationwide evidence-backed model to advance a more effective justice system that builds safer communities. 

“San Quentin has long challenged the status quo: In the 1940s, the warden closed the dungeons once ubiquitous to incarceration, and launched educational and vocational programs in their place,” said Advisory Group co-chair and San Quentin Warden Ron Broomfield. “Today, we again challenge the status quo as we reimagine San Quentin and create an environment where people are empowered to discover their full potential while pursuing educational and vocational opportunities that will prepare them for a successful future — and make our communities safer.” 

The Governor’s 2023-24 budget proposal allocates $20 million to begin the reimagining and repurposing of the facility. The transformation will be led in part by an advisory group composed of criminal justice, rehabilitation and public safety experts from around the state, nation, and world, as well as representatives of crime victims and survivors, formerly incarcerated individuals, staff, key state-level stakeholders, advocates, and volunteers. Both the existing condemned row housing unit, which is being shut down — and those housed there safely moved to other prisons to serve their sentences — and a prison industry authority warehouse will be transformed into a center for innovation focused on education, rehabilitation, and breaking cycles of crime.

Gov. Newsom Proposes Modernization of California’s Behavioral Health System, More Mental Health Housing

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. Gavin Newsom, in partnership with Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), March 19 proposed the next step to modernize how California treats mental illness, substance use disorders and homelessness.

An initiative would go on the 2024 ballot that would:

1. Authorize a general obligation bond to: A: Build thousands of new community behavioral health beds in state-of-the-art residential settings to house Californians with mental illness and substance use disorders, which could serve over 10,000 people every year in residential-style settings that have on-site services – not in institutions of the past, but locations where people can truly heal. B: Provide more funding specifically for housing for homeless veterans.
2. Amend the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), leading to at least $1 billion every year in local assistance for housing and residential services for people experiencing mental illness and substance use disorders, and allowing MHSA funds to serve people with substance use disorders.
3. Include new accountability and oversight measures for counties to improve performance.

The MHSA was originally passed 20 years ago; it is now time to refresh it so it can better meet the challenges California now faces. Key changes that the Governor is proposing include: creating a permanent source of housing funding of $1 billion a year in local assistance funds to serve people with acute behavioral health issues, focusing on Full Service Partnerships for the most seriously ill; and allowing MHSA to be used for people with substance use disorders alone.

The Administration will collaborate with legislative leaders in this space including Senator Eggman and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), as well as with the California State Association of Counties, other critical local government stakeholders, community-based service organizations, advocates, and people with lived experience as bill language is developed.