Addressing California homelessness and drug addiction

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 24th of October.

We’re so glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Up first: A ballot measure to fight crime.

California’s proponents of Proposition 36 say the measure puts teeth back into fighting crime. It would give local officials the ability to move more people into shelter and addiction treatment.

But opponents warn Prop 36 will reverse helpful criminal justice reforms while costing the state millions of dollars.

BROWN: WORLD talked with local leaders about the measure. Anna Johansen Brown is here with the story.

FRANKLIN: When I walk with deputies and social workers through our encampments, I see a lot of people who are addicted to narcotics.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: John Franklin is the mayor of Vista, a southern California city known for its avocado industry and temperate weather. But the city is also struggling to house a growing number of homeless—despite opening a new shelter in March.

FRANKLIN: We've tried to allow pets. We've tried to solve all the barriers to shelter entry, but still, the problem persists, and it's growing in the county.

Vista’s most recent official count is from January. The annual report recorded 271 residents as homeless. Of those, roughly 170 live on the streets. But despite the city’s efforts, Franklin says many homeless individuals still refuse shelter.

FRANKLIN: On a human level, I’ve gotten to know a lot of the people living on the streets, and I see the impact that, you know, drugs are having on them, depriving them the ability to say yes. We've, on a statistical average, now offered to every homeless person in VISTA to go to our shelter 20 separate times.

Proposition 36—named The Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act—adds the threat of serious jail time back into the equation. And Franklin believes that will give him a new strategy to incentivize these individuals to get treatment for the addictions preventing them from coming inside.

Proposition 36 is intended to reform another, decade-old ballot measure in the state. In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47. That measure reclassified simple drug possession and petty theft under $950 as misdemeanors instead of felonies.

And Franklin says that amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist.

FRANKLIN: If you commit a misdemeanor crime, you might be – if you're caught by law enforcement – you might be given a citation, a paper ticket for violating a misdemeanor law. If you do not voluntarily walk into a courtroom on the date and time at which you are given a court date for your arraignment, then you will never be brought to justice.

The 2014 measure aimed to reduce prison overcrowding, and it did save taxpayers nearly $1 billion in corrections expenses. But Franklin and other local officials say those savings are offset with the cycles of crime.

STEPHAN: We're kind of spinning our wheels with no real change. That is an unacceptable cost.

Summer Stephan is the district attorney for San Diego County. She argues this casual attitude toward crime and drug use has made the homelessness crisis worse.

And statistics bear that out. Homelessness has skyrocketed 51 percent in the 10 years since voters approved Proposition 47. Many of these individuals end up homeless due to drug addiction, and hard drug users often sell the proceeds of their shoplifting sprees to obtain their next high.

Proposition 36 aims to interrupt this cycle by creating what’s called a treatment-mandated felony.

STEPHAN: It still gives a first chance and a second chance to be a misdemeanor for those who steal under $950 but on the third time, then you know that you're dealing with more of a habitual repeat offender.

Prosecutors may bring a felony charge on the third shoplifting or drug possession offense. But if the individual completes a court-ordered treatment program, the court will wipe the conviction from their record and connect the individual with job training and shelter if needed.

STEPHAN: A judge tells them you have two doors. One door is treatment that will restore your life and your dignity, and the second door is jail or prison. Then in my experience, people choose treatment – not because they want it initially, but because the alternatives are clear.

On the fourth offense, a judge can opt to send the offender to state prison.

Support for Proposition 36 crosses the political aisle. A survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 7 in 10 likely voters in the state approve, including 85 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats.

BALDASSARE: It's the measure on the ballot that's getting the most interest and the most support, and people say the outcome is most important to them.

Mark Baldassare directed the survey. He noted that support may fluctuate as the election draws closer and if more well-known political figures endorse or oppose the measure.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who formerly served as California’s attorney general, hasn’t yet weighed in on Proposition 36. California Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the measure—saying it’s a step backwards—but major Democratic mayors say they support it. Those include San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

MATT MAHAN AUDIO: We have to have accountability for treatment. We have to give judges the tools they need to mandate that people get treatment.

Opponents of the measure say it threatens to undo recent prison reforms.

MATTHEWS: We all deserve safety in our lives and in our communities. The question is, how do we best achieve safety?

Will Matthews is a spokesman for Californians for Safety and Justice. He says law enforcement should do a better job enforcing laws already on the books. He also warned that enforcing Proposition 36 will cost the state millions….money that could be used to fund affordable housing, mental healthcare, and drug treatment programs that prevent crimes from being committed in the first place.

MATTHEWS: But in fact, it is an initiative that would return us to the days where we failed to achieve safety because we were overly reliant on our prisons and on incarceration.

Supporters of the changes in Proposition 36 say funding programs that people take advantage of is not good policy. Mayor Franklin sees Proposition 36 as a way to change the decision process for people on the street who face the judge.

FRANKLIN: Is jail the right place for people to wind up? Nope, it absolutely is not. That is not where we want to send people. But I need to have the option for jail on the table. If they're presented with a choice between going to jail or accepting treatment, there's still a great number of them who will, in fact, accept treatment.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown with reporting from Addie Offereins.

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