Assembly BillVetoedGovernment
AB 788: Prisons: facilities for female offenders.
What AB 788 does, verified October 5, 2026
This bill aims to improve the treatment and rehabilitation of female offenders in California prisons. It would create a new division within the department of corrections and rehabilitation, responsible solely for female adult institutions and community facilities housing female offenders. The division would be headed by a director with a minimum of 5 years of experience working with female correctional populations. The bill would also establish a gender responsive strategies commission to develop partnerships with the community, treatment experts, and related agencies to improve prison practices. The department would be required to post its reform master plan, updates, and reports on its website and provide an annual report to the legislature. Additionally, the bill would require the department to contract with nationally recognized experts to analyze staffing and develop training progr…
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
✓Second ChamberComplete
5GovernorCurrent
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Vetoed by Governor. (2026-09-27)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions30 total · showing 5
| Sep. 27, 2026 | Vetoed by Governor. |
| Sep. 09, 2026 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1 p.m. |
| Aug. 30, 2026 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 6929.). |
| Aug. 30, 2026 | In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. |
| Aug. 30, 2026 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.). |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, September 3, 2026 · 2,494 words
| Enrolled September 03, 2026 |
| Passed IN Senate August 30, 2026 |
| Passed IN Assembly August 30, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate August 20, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly May 23, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 03, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 788
| Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva (Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Bonta, Elhawary, Haney, Kalra, Ortega, Pellerin, Rogers, and Schiavo) (Coauthors: Senators Arreguín, Becker, Blakespear, Durazo, Gonzalez, Limón, Pérez, Richardson, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Wahab, and Weber Pierson) |
February 18, 2025 |
An act to amend Section 12838.1 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 3430 and 5066 of, and to add Sections 3431 and 3432 to, the Penal Code, relating to prisons.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 788, Quirk-Silva. Prisons: facilities for female offenders.
Existing law creates within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, under the Undersecretary for Operations, the Division of Adult Institutions, among others, and requires each division to be headed by a director, who is appointed by the Governor, as specified. Existing law also requires the Governor to appoint 4 subordinate officers to the division, as specified. Existing law requires each subordinate officer appointed to oversee an identified category of adult institutions, one of which oversees female offender facilities.
This bill would instead require the Governor to appoint 3 subordinate officers, as specified, who would oversee an identified category of male adult institutions, and one subordinate officer, as specified, who would oversee female adult institutions. The bill would create within the department, and under the Undersecretary for Operations, the Division of Female Programs and Services. The bill would require the director of this division to be responsible solely for female adult institutions and community facilities housing female offenders. The bill would require the director to report to the undersecretary and to have a minimum of 5 years of experience serving a female correctional population in a custody setting. The bill would also require this new division to manage and provide oversight of adult female programs, including prisons, conservation camps, and parole and community programs and to develop gender-responsive, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive approaches to program and policy development.
Existing law requires the department to create a Female Offender Reform Master Plan and present it to the Legislature by a specified date. Existing law requires the department to, among other things, create policies and operational practices that are designed to ensure a safe and productive institutional environment for female offenders.
This bill would require the department to establish the Gender Responsive Strategies Commission (GRSC) to develop active partnerships and to support successful implementation of gender responsive practices and rehabilitation programs for incarcerated individuals. The bill would require the department to provide a report to the Legislature on the implementation of the plan, and update statistics contained in the plan, by March 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter. The bill would require the department to maintain the plan, including subsequent updates and reports, in consultation with the GRSC and others, as specified. The bill would also require the department to post the plan, any reports, and any updates to the plan to the department’s internet website.
This bill would require the GRSC to be composed of 19 representatives, as specified, and would require the department, by June 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to provide a written report to the Legislature on appointments to the GRSC and the department’s response and progress toward implementing the GRSC’s recommendations.
Existing law also requires the department to contract with nationally recognized gender-responsive experts in prison operational practices, staffing, classification, substance abuse, trauma treatment services, mental health services, transitional services, and community corrections to, among other things, conduct a staffing analysis of all current job classifications assigned to each prison that houses only females, as specified, and develop programs and training for department staff in correctional facilities.
This bill would require the department, through this contract, no later than March 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare and submit to the Legislature an updated staffing analysis and would require a comprehensive review of the office’s policies and practices and other aspects of women-centered corrections developed to enhance safety and rehabilitative efforts, as specified. The bill would also require the training program to include training at the academy and, for those working in a female prison, 40 hours of initial training with a curriculum specifically focused on working with the population within female institutions and an 8-hour annual training thereafter.
Existing law requires the secretary of the department to expand the existing prison ombudsperson program to ensure the comprehensive deployment of ombudspersons throughout the state prison system with specific focus on the maximum security institutions.
This bill would instead require the Undersecretary for Operations to perform this duty and would require the undersecretary to appoint an ombudsperson solely assigned to adult female institutions.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 12838.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:12838.1.
(a) There is hereby created within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, under the Undersecretary for Administration, the following divisions:(1) The Division of Enterprise Information Services, the Division of Facility Planning, Construction, and Management, and the Division of Administrative Services. Each division shall be headed by a director, who shall be appointed by the Governor, upon recommendation of the secretary, subject to Senate confirmation, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
(2) The Division of Correctional Policy Research and Internal Oversight. This division shall be headed by a director, who shall be appointed by the Governor, upon recommendation of the secretary, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
(b) There is hereby created in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, under the Undersecretary for Health Care Services, the Division of Health Care Operations and the Division of Health Care Policy and Administration. Each division shall be headed by a director, who shall be appointed by the Governor, upon recommendation of the secretary, subject to Senate confirmation, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
(c) (1) There is hereby created within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, under the Undersecretary for Operations, the Division of Adult Institutions, the Division of Adult Parole Operations, the Division of Female Programs and Services, and the Division of Rehabilitative Programs. Each division shall be headed by a director, who shall be appointed by the Governor, upon recommendation of the secretary, subject to Senate confirmation, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
(2) The Director for Female Programs and Services shall be responsible solely for female adult institutions and community facilities housing female offenders. The director shall report to the undersecretary and shall and have a minimum of five years of experience serving a female correctional population in a custody setting. This position shall have policy- and fiscal-level responsibility and decisionmaking authority and shall utilize existing departmental functions for services to avoid duplication of functions and responsibilities.
(d) (1) The Governor shall, upon recommendation of the secretary, appoint three subordinate officers, subject to Senate confirmation, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. Each subordinate officer appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall oversee an identified category of male adult institutions.
(2) The Governor shall, upon recommendation of the secretary, appoint one subordinate officer, subject to Senate confirmation, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The subordinate officer appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall oversee female adult institutions.
(e) (1) Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, whenever the term “Chief Deputy Secretary for Adult Operations” appears in any statute, regulation, or contract, it shall be construed to refer to the Director of the Division of Adult Institutions.
(2) Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, whenever the term “Chief Deputy Secretary for Adult Programs” appears in any statute, regulation, or contract, it shall be construed to refer to the Director of the Division of Rehabilitative Programs.
SEC. 2.
Section 3430 of the Penal Code is amended to read:3430.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall do all of the following:(a) (1) Create a Female Offender Reform Master Plan, and shall present this plan to the Legislature by March 1, 2008.
(2) No later than March 1, 2027, and every three years thereafter, prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the implementation of the plan described in paragraph (1), including updated statistics contained in the plan. These reports shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) Maintain the plan, including all subsequent updates and reports, in consultation with the Gender Responsive Strategies Commission and with nationally recognized experts in gender responsive prison operational practices, staffing, classification, substance abuse, trauma treatment services, mental health services, transitional services, community corrections, legal advocacy, and incarceration reform.
(4) Post the plan, any reports, and any updates to the plan to the department’s internet website.
(b) Create policies, programs, and operational practices that are designed to ensure a safe and productive institutional environment for female offenders.
(c) Contract with nationally recognized gender-responsive experts in prison operational practices staffing, classification, substance abuse, trauma treatment services, mental health services, transitional services, and community corrections to do all of the following:
(1) (A) Conduct a staffing analysis of all current job classifications assigned to each prison that houses females. The department shall provide a plan to the Legislature by March 1, 2009, that incorporates those recommendations and details the changes that are needed to address any identified unmet needs of female inmates.
(B) No later than March 1, 2027, and every three years thereafter, the department shall prepare and submit to the Legislature the updated staffing analysis described in subparagraph (A). These reports shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) Develop programs and training for department staff in correctional facilities to include training at the academy and, for those working in a female prison, 40 hours of initial training with a curriculum specifically focused on working with the population within female institutions and an 8-hour annual training thereafter.
(3) Perform a comprehensive review of office’s policies and practices and other aspects of women-centered corrections developed to enhance safety and rehabilitative efforts. This review should engage collaboratively with internal experts, community-based organizations, medical and mental health experts, labor, incarceration reform advocates, and national consultants on best practices to improve all aspects of operational practice and treatment, with an emphasis on sexual safety and gender-responsive, trauma-informed principles.
(d) Create a gender-responsive female classification system.
(e) Create a gender-responsive staffing pattern for female institutions and community-based offender beds.
(f) Create a needs-based case and risk management tool designed specifically for female offenders. This tool shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment upon intake, and annually thereafter, that gauges an inmate’s educational and vocational needs, including reading, writing, communication, and arithmetic skills, health care needs, mental health needs, substance abuse needs, and trauma-treatment needs. The initial assessment shall include projections for academic, vocational, health care, mental health, substance abuse, and trauma-treatment needs, and shall be used to determine appropriate programming and as a measure of progress in subsequent assessments of development.
(g) Design and implement evidence-based gender specific rehabilitative programs, including “wraparound” educational, health care, mental health, vocational, substance abuse, and trauma treatment programs that are designed to reduce female offender recidivism. These programs shall include, but not be limited to, educational programs that include academic preparation in the areas of verbal communication skills, reading, writing, arithmetic, and the acquisition of high school diplomas and GEDs, and vocational preparation, including counseling and training in marketable skills, and job placement information.
(h) Build and strengthen systems of family support and family involvement during the period of the female’s incarceration.
(i) Establish a family service coordinator at each prison that houses only females.
SEC. 3.
Section 3431 is added to the Penal Code, immediately following Section 3430, to read:3431.
(a) The Division of Female Programs and Services shall do both of the following:(1) Manage and provide oversight of adult female programs, including prisons, conservation camps, and parole and community programs.
(2) Develop gender-responsive, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive approaches to program and policy development that will improve recidivism outcomes for the adult incarcerated and paroled female offenders under the supervision of the department.
(b) The office shall be headed by a person who has relevant professional experience in planning and implementing recidivism reduction programs and services that are gender responsive and trauma informed.
SEC. 4.
Section 3432 is added to the Penal Code, immediately following Section 3431, to read:3432.
(a) The department shall establish the Gender Responsive Strategies Commission (GRSC) to develop active partnerships and to support successful implementation of gender responsive practices and rehabilitation programs for incarcerated individuals within their custody or released to community supervision.(b) The GRSC shall be composed of 19 representatives. The membership of the GRSC shall be comprised of as follows:
(1) Two representatives of community-based organizations whose primary mission has been providing rehabilitative services to women who are incarcerated or on parole.
(2) One published expert researcher with a research focus on women in a correctional setting and rehabilitative programs.
(3) One published expert with a focus on community reentry.
(4) One expert in treatment of substance use disorders.
(5) One expert in women’s health care.
(6) One expert in trauma treatment.
(7) Two experts on implementation of gender responsive and trauma-informed policies.
(8) One expert in the implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 ((commencing with Section 30301) of Title 34 of the United States Code).
(9) Two legal advocates.
(10) Two legislative representatives with one representing the Assembly and the other representing the Senate.
(11) One union representative.
(12) Two formerly incarcerated women.
(13) Two incarceration reform advocates.
(c) Each member of the GRSC shall serve a two-year term. Applications shall be accepted by the department for the membership positions, except for the legislative and union representatives. Each legislative body shall determine a legislative representative, and the union representative shall be determined by the California Correctional Peace Officers’ Association. The GRSC shall develop formal recommendations and submit them to the Director for Female Programs and Services for implementation consideration.
(d) The department shall publish on its internet website the membership of the GRSC and minutes of the GRSC meetings.
(e) (1) By June 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department shall provide a written report to the Legislature on appointments to the GRSC and the department’s response and progress toward implementing GRSC’s recommendations.
(2) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 5.
Section 5066 of the Penal Code is amended to read:5066.
The Undersecretary for Operations shall expand the existing prison ombudsperson program to ensure the comprehensive deployment of ombudspersons throughout the state prison system with specific focus on the maximum security institutions. The Undersecretary for Operations shall appoint an ombudsperson solely assigned to adult female institutions.Text of AB 788 as enrolled, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions