A tricky-on-crime measure California voters overwhelmingly accepted final 12 months promised to usher in an “era of mass treatment” for the tens of hundreds of homeless drug customers throughout the state. However up to now within the Bay Space, Proposition 36 has solely succeeded in compelling a couple of dozen individuals into habit or psychological well being applications.
The early outcomes are calling into query whether or not the stricter drug possession penalties imposed beneath the brand new legislation will propel customers into care, and if the area’s already overburdened therapy facilities could make sufficient area for even the restricted variety of individuals agreeing to applications.
A drug person lights a pipe in San Francisco in Might of 2025. Many are within the Tenderloin District, but additionally within the SOMA and Mission districts close to downtown. (Photograph by Teun Voeten/Sipa USA through AP Pictures)
A few of these immediately concerned in finishing up Prop 36 are skeptical that the measure can comply with by way of on its pledge to deal with voters’ rising frustration over homelessness and public drug use.
“There’s simply not enough treatment capacity to accommodate the number of people referred into treatment,” stated Robb Layne, government director of the California Affiliation of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives, a gaggle advocating for habit care suppliers.
Robb Layne, government director of the California Affiliation of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives, is photographed exterior the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
“It’s kind of sad and disappointing that the governor and legislature opted not to provide the funding necessary to do what the voters want to see done,” stated Jonathan Raven, assistant chief government with the California District Attorneys Affiliation, one of many measure’s fundamental supporters.
Prop 36 empowers native prosecutors to convey felony fees in opposition to repeat petty drug and theft offenders, however drug defendants can have the costs dismissed in the event that they full a therapy program.
Santa Clara County accounted for nearly half of the brand new drug possession felonies filed within the Bay Space. In the meantime, the district attorneys’ workplaces in Alameda County and San Francisco – two locations on the coronary heart of the area’s homelessness disaster – introduced solely a handful of circumstances, highlighting the discretion prosecutors have in charging selections.
Within the Bay Space, judges have as an alternative permitted many defendants to plead to lesser fees, typically handing out comparatively brief jail sentences and permitting drug customers to go on probation somewhat than wait generally weeks in custody for a therapy mattress, prosecutors and public defenders stated.
A brand new ‘treatment-mandated felony’
Prop 36 reversed a key side of a 2014 crime reform measure that had lowered easy drug possession and low-level theft offenses to misdemeanors, which typically carry little jail time. It additionally added stricter punishments for these dealing fentanyl and different onerous medication, and for “smash-and-grab” robberies that trigger vital injury or losses.
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller speaks throughout a press convention supporting Proposition 36, in Redwood Metropolis, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. Different Bay Space officers, together with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, fourth from the left, additionally backed the legislation. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
Supporters say the stiffer penalties are wanted to fight a current surge of retail theft and reinstate a stronger incentive for drug customers on the road to simply accept therapy. Measure backers level to a steep decline in defendants selecting to enter drug courts, which most counties already use to refer individuals to therapy.
Underneath the brand new legislation, anybody convicted of no less than two prior drug possession offenses can now be charged with a “treatment-mandated felony.” The cost instructs native courts to work with habit specialists, typically in county well being companies, to evaluate and refer repeat drug offenders to therapy.
Those that decline to enter applications can resist three years in jail or jail. Nonetheless, the legislation permits prosecutors to enter plea offers with defendants and grants judges broad discretion in sentencing, together with decreasing felony fees to misdemeanors that may carry comparable penalties as earlier than Prop 36 took impact.
Native courts and district attorneys’ workplaces didn’t present full knowledge on sentencing outcomes, saying the work could be cumbersome and the state’s public data legislation doesn’t require them to take action.
Along with a restrict on beds and companies, court docket officers and measure backers stated judges’ sentencing selections play a vital position in figuring out whether or not extra drug offenders comply with therapy.
“If the sentences aren’t lengthy, or a person is allowed to serve (their sentence) in the community, then they may not be as apt to accept an intensive treatment program,” stated Sacramento County Decide Lawrence Brown. Brown is chair of the drug court docket advisory committee for the state court docket system’s policy-making arm, the California Judicial Council, which is monitoring the legislation’s implementation statewide.
Amongst these swept up by the brand new legislation is Craig McClarnon, who’s dealing with a drug possession felony after an officer discovered a half-ounce of methamphetamines throughout a search of the van he was residing out of within the metropolis of Santa Clara, in line with a police report.
McClarnon, 42, first started utilizing medication as a youngster rising up in a troublesome neighborhood in Santa Clara. He’s agreed to enter therapy, hoping to get clear and construct a brand new life collectively together with his girlfriend, Rebekah Jessen, whom he met by way of a good friend a couple of years in the past when he was off the streets and dealing for a neighborhood homeless outreach group.
“I don’t talk to her for weeks or months at a time on the street,” McClarnon stated. “She’s still with me no matter what.”
Craig McClarnon, together with his girlfriend, Rebekah Jessen, in round 2023, throughout a interval when he was off the road and never utilizing medication. (Photograph courtesy of Rebekah Jessen)
However with so few habit beds accessible, McClarnon has been caught behind bars for weeks, regardless of agreeing to therapy. He’s amongst about 200 different inmates booked on varied fees and in addition ready for a slot in a residential drug or psychological well being program.
For now, McClarnon, who can be dealing with a felony vandalism cost for allegedly damaging a fence whereas trespassing at an deserted constructing, stated he has no plans to ask a decide for probation or search a faster launch.
However his persistence is waning. If the wait proves for much longer, he stated he might contemplate declining therapy and as an alternative serve out a full sentence.
“If I just sit for months, then I’m going back to the streets,” he stated.
An awesome mandate
Formally titled the Homelessness, Drug Dependancy, and Theft Discount Act, Prop 36 displays a rising demand for extra forceful responses to rising homelessness and open-air drug use in practically each nook of the state. The measure gained practically 70% of the vote and carried every of California’s 58 counties.
A pedestrian walks previous a homeless encampment alongside forty seventh Avenue close to San Leandro Avenue on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. The town’s homeless inhabitants rose 9% final 12 months. (Aric Crabb/Bay Space Information Group)
California Governor Gavin Newsom indicators laws establishing CARE Courtroom on Sept. 14, 2022, at Momentum for Well being Crossroads Residential Village in San Jose, Calif. The brand new civil court docket goals to compel homeless individuals and others into psychological well being and habit therapy. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
California has some 187,000 homeless residents, a greater than 60% improve over the previous decade, in line with the latest estimate. Roughly two in three stay in encampments, tents or autos, whereas the remaining keep in shelters.
To date, Prop 36 hasn’t put a significant dent in homelessness. And its sluggish begin is elevating doubt amongst court docket officers, well being companies and habit suppliers that the legislation can succeed with out extra funding in therapy, in addition to the court docket and administrative companies to assist individuals safe it.
Whereas the state is now distributing billions of {dollars} in voter-approved bond cash to doubtlessly add hundreds of therapy beds within the coming years and handle a longstanding scarcity, Prop 36 itself got here with none devoted funding.
Many native officers and measure backers keep it’s not practically sufficient.
“This budget deal forces counties to implement Prop 36 for pennies on the dollar,” the California State Affiliation of Counties stated in a press release. “Californians deserve better.”
‘Maybe that misdemeanor is the best thing for you?’
After greater than a decade of utilizing meth and bouncing between county jails, group properties and the road, McClarnon, a wiry redhead with a close-cropped buzz reduce, stated he’s prepared to show his life round for good.
McClarnon stated he’s tried habit applications earlier than, which helped him keep clear for stretches, however they by no means fairly caught.
“When you’re around people, like-minded people, you achieve more,” he defined throughout a acquire name from county jail. “If I’m around people in the streets, unfortunately, I turn to what most people on the streets do.”
McClarnon, nevertheless, is an outlier in his need to return to therapy. In Santa Clara County, greater than 270 individuals had been charged with drug possession felonies beneath Prop 36 in the course of the legislation’s first six months. However simply 24 had agreed to enter therapy as of July.
Courtroom officers within the county and elsewhere within the state stated defendants typically flip down therapy as a result of they don’t wish to look ahead to a mattress, or just want to put the case behind them as shortly as doable.
It’s not unusual for defendants to attend greater than a month for a residential facility, officers stated. Some are allowed to attend out of custody, sometimes relying on whether or not they have extra fees or current bench warrants for lacking court docket dates. Judges generally maintain defendants in custody if they’ve nowhere else to attend however the streets.
In Santa Clara County, there are 187 habit beds for sufferers who can’t afford therapy on their very own. Many of the beds are managed by personal corporations and nonprofits, which obtain state funding that may very well be in danger if extra money is spent locking individuals up beneath Prop 36.
Michael Ybarra in a neighborhood room on the Muriel Wright Restoration Heart in San Jose on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. “It’s a great option, and it’s unfortunate there’s not enough programs,” stated Dr. Michael Ybarra, a program director on the heart. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
“Santa Clara County has probably one of the best services available,” stated Michael Ybarra, a program director with the Muriel Wright Residential Facility in San Jose. “It’s just that we have too many people here needing that treatment.”
However not everybody charged beneath the legislation requires a mattress, and a few defendants could be referred to outpatient therapy, which, like residential care, can embrace group courses, remedy, assist discovering a job or housing, and doubtlessly medicine.
Another excuse Prop 36 defendants could also be reluctant to enter therapy is that they need to first plead responsible or no contest to the felony cost, which may solely be wiped away after finishing a program.
Meaning in the event that they fail to conform, they might face jail time and a felony on their data. And in the event that they’re convicted of a subsequent treatment-mandated felony, it might result in a stricter sentence, together with time in state jail.
It poses an actual dilemma for individuals who need therapy however fear they could wrestle to finish a program.
“Do you want to flunk out with that felony, or do you decide that you’re not ready, and maybe that misdemeanor is the best thing for you?” stated Gabriella Olivarez, a division director with Santa Clara County’s behavioral well being division.
However pleading to a lesser cost nonetheless carries danger. Violating probation may imply jail time, which may make it that a lot more durable to flee the cycle of homelessness and habit, public defenders stated.
“It really flies in the face of taking a harm reduction approach to drug and alcohol treatment,” stated Ellen McDonnell, the lead public defender in Contra Costa County, the place prosecutors have filed no less than 30 treatment-mandated felonies, none of which had led to therapy as of final month.
Charging selections range broadly by county
In Southern California, some county officers have pushed a lot more durable to make use of Prop 36 to get individuals into therapy.
San Diego County prosecutors, for example, have introduced greater than 900 felony drug possession circumstances. Nonetheless, solely round 140 drug customers had consented to therapy beneath the brand new legislation as of July.
As of final month, about 130 defendants there had determined to enter a program, in line with Veronica Kelley, director of the county’s OC Well being Care Company. Of that whole, solely round half had been lively in a program, she stated.
A part of the explanation why defendants who agreed to therapy aren’t receiving care is a scarcity of beds and restricted workers to evaluate them for a program, Kelley stated. Others who’re presupposed to be in therapy should not as a result of they’ve new bench warrants or felony fees, or have didn’t adjust to a program.
Kelley stated these outcomes mirror the way it can take some drug customers a number of makes an attempt to attain restoration, acknowledging the reservations some behavioral well being professionals have in regards to the effectiveness of court-ordered therapy.
“As a clinician, I understand that the research is pretty clear about what might be considered coercive treatment,” she stated. “Also, as a clinician, any chance someone has for just a small taste of recovery is a win.”
A resident’s garments dangle from the door of his room on the Muriel Wright Restoration Heart in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. The Muriel Wright Restoration Heart is a residential therapy facility accepting sufferers referred by way of Prop 36 in Santa Clara County. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Regardless of these issues, prosecutors in Santa Clara and Orange counties stated they’ve chosen to implement Prop 36 to hold out the desire of the voters.
“We’re hoping that by bringing these charges, it will signal to the court and the treatment providers how seriously we want to get people into treatment,” stated Angel, with the Santa Clara County District Lawyer’s Workplace.
And though the legislation has confirmed sluggish in getting individuals into applications, some Prop 36 defendants are nonetheless receiving therapy by different means, whether or not by way of separate felony or misdemeanor fees, the phrases of their probation or in jail or jail, Angel stated.
In Alameda and San Francisco counties, in the meantime, prosecutors have introduced nearly no drug possession fees beneath Prop 36. Alameda filed six felony circumstances in the course of the legislation’s first six months, whereas San Francisco introduced only one.
The rationale for the shortage of fees in San Francisco and Alameda County might lie with the lately recalled district attorneys in each jurisdictions, stated Raven, with the state district attorneys affiliation.
Now-ousted progressives Chesa Boudin in San Francisco and Pamela Value in Alameda County selected to not prioritize prosecuting misdemeanor drug possession throughout their time in workplace, Raven stated, which means there’s now much less alternative for prosecutors to stack the required prior convictions to cost felonies beneath Prop 36.
Charging knowledge obtained by this new group by way of a public data request signifies that Value introduced lots of of drug possession misdemeanors in 2024, although it was unclear how most of the fees resulted in convictions.
“If you look again in the next few years with the two new DAs, you will see a different story and you’ll see many more of these treatment-mandated felonies filed,” Raven stated.
New Alameda County District Lawyer Ursula Jones Dickson appears on earlier than being sworn in by former Alameda County Decide Charles Smiley on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. Jones Dickson changed Pamela Value, who was recalled final November. (Ray Chavez/Bay Space Information Group)
‘I see that you’re right here for us individuals’
As Santa Clara County strikes ahead with Prop 36, it’s utilizing its drug court docket system, among the many first within the nation, to attach defendants with care.
Superior Courtroom Decide Erica Yew, who presides over the county’s drug courts, stated that, in contrast to most judges in conventional felony proceedings, her purpose is to actively help defendants in finishing therapy applications – typically giving them second probabilities in the event that they relapse, a standard a part of restoration.
Decide Erica Yew, heart, presides over hearings in Santa Clara County’s drug court docket on the Household Justice Heart Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Space Information Group)
Her courtroom gives care packages with snacks and overdose reversal medicine, and even a play space with toys for defendants’ kids throughout hearings.
“The more frequently you bring people to court, the longer they’ll stay in treatment and the more likely they’ll have a recovery that lasts,” Yew stated.
Decide Erica Yew with a set of toys, diapers, clothes and meals accessible in Santa Clara County’s drug court docket on the Household Justice Heart Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Space Information Group)
Narcan is accessible together with snacks, toiletries, toys, and garments in Santa Clara County’s drug court docket on the Household Justice Heart Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Space Information Group)
However not each county has the identical degree of assets. Beginning in 2011, the state started redirecting funding from native drug courts to behavioral well being companies. That compelled some counties to cut back their drug courts, presenting one other problem for phasing in Prop 36.
Final month, McClarnon arrived at Yew’s court docket in a inexperienced jail uniform and handcuffs, together with a few dozen different defendants in custody.
Yew requested him how he was feeling and thanked him for coming to court docket that day, earlier than he agreed to join the wait listing for a therapy mattress.
“I see that you’re here for us people,” McClarnon instructed her.
But when McClarnon makes it off the waitlist and ultimately completes a program, he worries about what is going to come subsequent.
After ending one program a couple of years in the past, he landed an house and a development job, however misplaced each after his mom died and he turned overwhelmed with grief. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than he started utilizing medication once more repeatedly and ended up again on the road.
County officers say they work with defendants in court-ordered therapy applications to assist them into transitional housing as soon as they go away a residential facility after which ultimately discover a lasting dwelling.
For McClarnon, succeeding in restoration might rely as a lot on discovering and preserving low-income housing in one of many state’s costliest rental markets because it does on stepping into therapy.
“If I go back to the streets,” he stated, “I already know what it is.”
This text was produced as a mission for the USC Annenberg Heart for Well being Journalism’s 2025 California Well being Fairness Fellowship.
