Bill To Move Convicts into Prisons Closer To Their Children Under Age 18 Signed By Gov. Newsom

A bill to have the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) place most incarcerated parents and legal guardians of a child under the age of 18 in the correctional facility closest to the child’s home was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom during the weekend.

Assembly Bill 1226, authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), would specifically require the Secretary of the CDCR to place a parent, guardian, or relative caregiver of a child under the age of 18 in the correctional institution or facility that is located nearest to the primary place of residence of the person’s child. AB 1226, also known as the “Keep Families Close bill” will require that the placement be suitable and appropriate, will facilitate increased contact between the person and their child, and will require the consent of the incarcerated parent. Incarcerated individuals will also be allowed to request a review of their new prison assignment when changing locations, with those already in prison before AB 1226 comes into effect can request a prison transfer to the closest one to their children.

However, AB 1226 also comes with many restrictions, most notably, those with violent and sex related offenses that prohibit child visitation will not be allowed to request prison changes.

Assemblyman Haney authored the bill because of the long distances that children face when away from parents and caregivers in prison. According to the CDCR, only 25% of incarcerated people in California state prisons are placed in institutions less than 100 miles from home. Visitation is also lower when the prison is further away, with 50% of people placed less than 50 miles away from home receiving frequent family visitation, but only 15% of people placed 500 miles away receiving visitors, with many in the latter often having visitors pay for expensive trips to visit them.

In addition, Haney also noted that those under 18 benefit from seeing a parent close by, with many who don’t often see them falling to behavioral and emotional development problems.

“We know that having a relationship with parents is crucial for a child’s behavioral and emotional development and being able to see them on a regular basis–even just during visits–can make a huge difference in a young child’s life,” Haney said in a statement earlier this year.

Passed by both houses, signed by the Governor

Opponents to the bill, which included many in law enforcement, noted that AB 1226 would only complicate the already stressed prison placement system within the CDCR, with many recent prison closures, by the state only furthering the turmoil.

“AB 1226 ignores so much,” Jose Longo, a former prison guard and current prison consultant, told the Globe on Tuesday. “Many prisons are in more rural areas, so we’re going to be seeing a very big influx here. San Quentin, the California Institute for Men and others near big urban areas are going to see a lot of requests, while others will see far fewer. And then what? Do you move around those who don’t fall under this but want to remain close just because they don’t have family? It’s a mess. Especially with many prisons closing and the options of where to put them dwindling as a result. This wasn’t thought through.”

“Also remember that these are criminals. They made the decisions to land in prison, including what it would do to their family. Do this, and you take away some accountability. Maybe the victims should have a say too, if you want to make this fair.”

Despite opposition, the bill easily made it through the Assembly and Senate this year. First brought up in February, the bill made it through multiple committees, was passed by the Assembly in May and the Senate last month. While some lawmakers raised questions on how exactly the transfers would impact prison populations, many were ultimately won over by AB 1226’s focus on benefitting the children rather than the person in jail, as well as the financial and time costs it places on the family of those visiting. This led to Governor Newsom signing the bill into law over the weekend, one of 35 ultimately approved in a somewhat early bill signing spurt.

“The long distances place a burden on families who do not have the financial means or the time to travel across the state for family visits,” said Haney in a press release during the weekend. “We know that having a relationship with parents is crucial for a child’s behavioral and emotional development. Being able to see them on a regular basis, even just during visits, can make a huge difference in a child’s life.”

Longo added that “Well it has been signed now. The CDCR really needs to keep an eye on how the prison population shifts to avoid overcrowding and to make sure that all prisons have a steady population. This bill will make it harder, but we should have a clearer picture of how that will be working sometime next year.

AB 1226 is to take effect on January 1, 2024.