Senate Bill S5040

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5040

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to amending the term
residential treatment facility; and to repeal subdivision 10 of section
73 of the correction law relating thereto

 
PURPOSE:

To stop the practice of having people paroled to a unit inside a correc-
tional facility.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the definition of "residential treatment facility".

Section 2 repeals Correction Law § 73(10). Section 3 sets forth the
effective date.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

Residential treatment facilities were originally intended to house
incarcerated people who are parole-eligible or who were close to release
who might need treatment-based housing while they transitioned to commu-
nity supervision in their home communities. The residential treatment
units are in prisons, but people were expected to hold outside jobs or
participate in training or educational programs, and report back to the
prison on nights and weekends.

Instead of operating as a supportive release or near-release unit, DOCCS
has been using the residential treatment facility at Fishkill as a place
to hold individuals in prison well past their scheduled release date due
to difficulty in finding housing in their home communities. Such indi-
viduals are not leaving the prison to go into the community to work, but
are simply being warehoused in prison conditions. This bill would end
this practice. People who have been released by the parole board should
not be held in prison, but should go out into the community to continue
their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. DOCCS must help
these people find housing and get them out of prison rather than holding
them until their maximum expiration dates. If the state needs more
supportive housing, parole should develop that outside of the prison
system where it can truly meet the needs of parolees.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.4333 of 2023-2024; Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;

S.47018 of 201-22: Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;

S.7918 of 2020: New Bill, Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take place on the 30th day after it shall have become a
Law.