"Right now, unfortunately, about 70% of people who commit crimes and go to jail, when they're released, they eventually commit another crime," said Das Williams, Santa Barbara County 1st District Supervisor.
That's why Williams says the County Board of Supervisors adopted the new Public Safety Realignment Plan, dedicating larger amounts of funding to areas that will have the most impact on reducing recidivism.
"We want to be able to make sure that people can leave jail, and with the mental health and lack of addiction tools, to not get back into a life of crime," Williams said.
Out of 33 programs, some of the areas receiving the most funding are community supervision and case management at $3.5 million, re-entry services and treatment at $2.5 million, and $2.79 million for jail custody, up from $375,000 annually in previous years.
"When we're reducing recidivism, we are preventing crime and we are also saving money because people don't end up back in jail," Williams explained.
Many programs will get one-time allocations to launch new initiatives over the next three years. The new realignment plan is overseen by the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP), a collaborative of representatives from public safety and behavioral health agencies throughout the county.
To view the full Public Safety Realignment Plan, visit https://www.countyofsb.org/4222/Fiscal-Year-2024-through-2026-Realignmen
