Today, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) sat on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee’s oversight hearing today to hold the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) and Liberty Healthcare accountable for serious failures in California’s Sexually Violent Predator Conditional Release Program (SVP CONREP). Click here for a video recording of Leader Jones' questioning and here for the full hearing.
During the hearing, Leader Jones questioned Liberty Healthcare's track record of lying:
"Liberty Healthcare is lying to our constituents, they're lying to the homeowners, they're lying to the communities. They're misleading to secure these [SVP] placements...What are you doing to correct it or prevent it from happening anymore?"
Leader Jones pressed Liberty Healthcare to justify sharply rising costs and poor outcomes. Since 2018, DSH’s annual payments to Liberty have grown by 77% — from $5.3 million to $9.4 million — averaging roughly $495,000 per SVP participant.
“For that price tag, the failure rate is simply unacceptable,” continued Leader Jones, pointing to data from the audit results showing that 36% of conditionally released SVPs either reoffend or return to state hospitals.
Today’s hearing examined the results of an audit Leader Jones secured in 2023, which revealed major flaws in how the state releases SVPs into the community. The audit, released in October 2024, found that DSH:
Lacks consistent oversight of Liberty Healthcare
Has no clear process to inform treatment decisions and mitigate risks to the public, and
Fails to evaluate whether its placements truly protect public safety.
"East Coast-based Liberty Healthcare sneaks into unsuspecting communities across California and employs a disturbing placement strategy: secretly releasing dangerous SVPs and rapists into residential neighborhoods," said Leader Jones. “Today, we questioned their methods, excuses, and waste of taxpayer dollars, further exposing why this dangerous predator release program must be overhauled."
During the hearing, Leader Jones directly questioned: Stephanie Clendenin, Director of the Department of State Hospitals; Chris Edens, Chief Deputy Director, Program Services, Department of State Hospitals; and Kenneth Carabello, Senior Vice President, Liberty Healthcare.
One of the State Auditor’s key recommendations directed DSH to conduct a feasibility study on establishing state-run transitional housing for SVPs, a best practice used successfully in multiple other states. Yet, DSH has refused to do the study.
“DSH’s refusal to follow this common-sense recommendation shows exactly why we need SB 380,” said Leader Jones. “Our bill requires them to finally do what they should have done from the start: study the use of secure, state-run transitional housing so SVPs aren’t dumped into unsuspecting neighborhoods, putting families at risk.
“This idea isn’t new: former California Governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian ordered SVPs to be housed in trailers at state correctional facilities. There is no reason why DSH won’t research alternative options for these predators,” concluded Leader Jones.
SB 380, authored by Leader Jones, will help fix these failures by requiring DSH to conduct the feasibility study on state-run transitional housing and make protecting communities the top priority. The bill is gaining momentum as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion by Supervisor Kathryn Barger to officially endorse the measure. Earlier this month, the bill unanimously passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee; it is now pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.