The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Upon release from custody, offenders who are incarcerated for felony or misdemeanor convictions generally return to their communities of last residence.

(b) Providing released offenders with transitional housing services in tandem with support services that include, but are not limited to, employment counseling, job training, continuing education, psychological counseling, and substance abuse treatment may help these individuals transition into productive roles in their communities and reduce the fiscal and operational strain of recidivism on state and local law enforcement agencies and the courts.

(c) Research has found that transitional housing, and related support services, can be effective when provided to ex-offenders in community-based settings that reflect the environments in which they will permanently reside.

(d) For a variety of reasons, local agencies charged with land use decisions may be reluctant to approve facilities that provide released offenders with community-based services similar to those described in subdivision (b).

(e) It is in the state’s interest to increase the supply of transitional housing for ex-offenders. The provision of state grants to cities, counties, and cities and counties that agree to approve facilities that provide released offenders with community-based services can provide incentives to increase the number of those facilities, while also providing additional resources to those communities.

(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 32, Sec. 65. (SB 837) Effective June 27, 2016.)