SACRAMENTO — President Steve Jackson of the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) expressed serious concern today over the state budget’s failure to fund critical components of Proposition 36, while simultaneously cutting existing probation resources that support community safety.

“Let’s just talk about what the real facts are: the key to Prop 36’s success is supervision and accountability. This budget cuts funding of our existing probation resources while expecting probation to take on more responsibility. The result will be a further strain on public safety and treatment success drops. We urge state leaders to do what the voters have asked for,” Jackson said.   

Although the budget includes one-time funds for Prop 36-related services, it does not allocate funding for the local supervision and accountability systems necessary to ensure long-term rehabilitation and reduced recidivism. Probation departments—already working under strained resources—are being asked to manage an increase in felony cases stemming from Prop 36 without the tools and staffing needed to do so effectively.

The budget also includes mid-year and ongoing cuts to pretrial services and SB 678 performance-based probation funding, reducing the state’s ability to ensure individuals receive the structure, monitoring, and rehabilitative support proven to improve outcomes and reduce incarceration.