$6 million grant aims to reduce recidivism in Placer County

Proposition 47 helps fund grants

AUBURN, Calif. – Placer County’s Probation and Health and Human Services departments were recently awarded a $6 million, three-year grant to expand a successful community-based program for young adults involved in the criminal justice system, the California Board of State and Community Corrections recently announced.

The grant funds are sourced from state savings from the enactment of Proposition 47, which passed in 2014 and allowed some nonviolent felonies to be reduced to misdemeanors.

The new grant will build upon the success of a $1 million grant awarded to Placer County in 2017 by the BSCC to develop the Assertive Community Treatment Team, or ACTion Team.

The ACTion Team currently provides early intervention and treatment services for young adults ages 18-32 involved in the criminal justice system who are at high risk of reoffending. With the new funding, the ACTion Team will expand to serve all ages – including juveniles – and bring in additional staff to deliver culturally-relevant, strengths-based, individual and family-driven services.

“Receiving this new grant is another signal that this program is working. We are helping change lives, reducing victimization in our community and breaking the cycle of criminality.”

Chief Probation Officer Marshall Hopper.

The ACTion Team is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of probation officers, mental health and substance use treatment staff, and peer and family advocates that coordinate services and helps participants create a customized long-term plan with goals and related supports. The program is a collaborative effort of Placer County’s Probation Department; Health and Human Services; and local service provider Granite Wellness Centers (formerly Community Recovery Resources) with support from other local organizations.

“This program has been the result of collaboration between government agencies and Granite Wellness Centers,” said Health and Human Services Director Jeff Brown. “Working together we’re able to surround each client with the supports they need to succeed.”