Sade Elhawary

Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to prescribe rules and adopt regulations for the administration of the prisons and administration of the parole of specified persons. Existing law provides that in general, these regulations shall be adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, but exempts from that requirement regulations relating to pilot programs that are legislatively authorized or mandated, or departmentally authorized, as specified. Existing law requires a regulation adopted under that exemption to be repealed by operation of law, 2 years after the commencement of the pilot program being implemented unless the regulation is adopted, amended, or repealed pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

Existing law requires the department to automatically grant a youth offender a lower security level than the level that corresponds with that individual's classification score or placement in a facility that permits increased access to programs, except as specified.

Under the authority of those provisions, the department established the Youth Offender Program Camp Pilot Program, with the purpose of the program being to encourage youth offenders to commit to positive change and self-improvement with the goal of being law-abiding members of society upon release and to provide youth the opportunity to receive wildland firefighting training.

This bill would require the secretary to make permanent the Youth Offender Program Camp Pilot Program, and authorize the secretary to expand the program to include some or all of California Conservation Camps.