COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Human Services Agency

DATE:

January 16, 2002

BOARD MEETING DATE:

February 5, 2002

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Maureen D. Borland, Director, Human Service Agency
Yvonne Frazier, Alcohol and Drug Services Administrator

SUBJECT:

Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 Plan

Recommendation

Adopt a resolution:

1.

Approving the revised San Mateo County Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA) Plan; and

2.

Delegating approval authority for future revisions to the San Mateo County SACPA Plan to the Director of the Human Services Agency. Delegation of approval authority shall remain in full force and effect until June 30, 2006.

Background

In November 2000, California voters passed Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA). SACPA mandates that any person convicted of a nonviolent drug possession offense, or any probationer or parolee who is determined to have committed a nonviolent drug possession offense or violated any other drug-related condition of their sentence, shall be diverted from incarceration to licensed or certified community-based treatment programs.

On February 6, 2001, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution agreeing to comply with the provisions of SACPA and accepting FY2000-2001 funding. The Human Services Agency, through its Alcohol and Drug Services unit, was identified as the lead agency and a County trust fund was established for funds received pursuant to the SACPA

The Proposition 36 Oversight Committee developed the SACPA Plan, a requirement of the SACPA, in collaboration with several County agencies, stakeholders and with input from community parties. The Board of Supervisors approved the San Mateo County SACPA Plan on June 19, 2001. State regulations provide that the Board of Supervisors has the option of approving the County's SACPA Plan or delegating approval authority to the lead agency.

Discussion

The SACPA Plan includes information regarding service coordination efforts, services to be created, drug testing, assessment placement and referrals, fiscal and capacity planning, client projections and the planned use of FY2000-2001 rollover of excess funds. Alcohol and Drug Treatment services to eligible SACPA offenders went into effect on July 1, 2001 in accordance with SACPA requirements.

Use of SACPA funds for drug testing is specifically prohibited by the legislation. However, Senate Bill 223 (Burton) Chapter 721, Statutes of 2001, providing funds for drug testing of clients under SACPA of 2000, was signed into law by Governor Gray Davis on October 11, 2001. This new law provides funding in the amount of $155,379 to San Mateo County for the period October 11, 2001 through June 30, 2002. The State requires a revised SACPA Plan requesting funds under the Substance Abuse Treatment and Testing Accountability (SATTA) Program and providing information regarding the use of drug testing as a treatment tool.

Fiscal Impact

The total new funding under the SATTA Program is $155,379. These funds are from the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant Award for federal fiscal year 2001 for drug testing costs related to implementation of SACPA. There is no impact on Net County Cost associated with this funding.