(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Conserving or developing natural resources and enhancing and maintaining environmentally important lands and waters is essential for protecting the state’s environment, bolstering its economy, and providing safe and resilient communities for Californians to live in.

(2) The California Conservation Camp program operated jointly by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection provides work crews of incarcerated individuals to assist in all types of emergencies in support of the work of our frontline personnel during wildfires, floods, search and rescue, and earthquakes. When not assisting in emergencies, the crews participate in conservation and community service work projects for state, federal, and local government agencies.

(3) The corps is the oldest and largest state conservation corps in the nation that puts youth and the environment together to benefit both, tasking young people to protect and restore California’s environment, respond to disasters, and become stronger workers, citizens, and individuals through their service.

(4) The corps offers a unique opportunity to form strategic partnerships to provide valuable job opportunities in resource conservation, resource management, fuels and vegetation management, and emergency incident mitigation for formerly incarcerated individuals who successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew.

(5) Building on their valuable experience in the California Conservation Camp program, a segment of former California Conservation Camp program participants may be available to support the federal, state, and local governments, local publicly owned electric utilities and electrical corporations, fire safe councils, and private landowners in helping California meet its aggressive goals to do all of the following:

(A) Proactively restore forest health to reduce greenhouse gases.

(B) Protect source watersheds from which the state’s water supply originates.

(C) Promote the long-term storage of carbon in forest trees and soils.

(D) Minimize the loss of forest carbon from large, intense wildfires.

(E) Further the goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).

(6) Research demonstrates that formerly incarcerated individuals who have low performance, involvement, and satisfaction with school or work are more likely to recidivate than individuals who do not exhibit these characteristics. Research also shows that rehabilitation programs, including substance use disorder treatment and employment preparation, can be designed to address specific criminal risk factors.

(7) While participating in the corps, corpsmembers are offered life skills training, training in environmental awareness and civic responsibility, as well as reentry and counseling services, and gain access to high school courses through the corps’ existing contracts and cooperation with high schools and community colleges.

(8) Drawing upon the expertise of the corps, collaborations and partnerships with workforce development programs and local and state agencies can be established to provide valuable job opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, consistent with the expertise of the corps to increase awareness of and improve our natural resources, instill basic skills and a healthy work ethic, build character, self-esteem, and self-discipline, establish a workforce with a strong sense of civic responsibility, and blend academic and growth opportunities in order to develop productive citizens who can make substantial contributions as California workers and citizens.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to serve the interests of all Californians by providing hope and opportunity for formerly incarcerated individuals by offering additional pathways to employment with a living wage in jobs that move the state forward on critical resource management objectives while providing those individuals the opportunity to make a difference for themselves and for the people of California.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 587, Sec. 1. (AB 1668) Effective January 1, 2020.)