AB 788 aims to reinstate and strengthen gender‑responsive services for incarcerated women in state prisons

Assemblymember Quirk‑Silva presented AB 788 as a Women’s Caucus priority to restore and strengthen gender‑responsive, trauma‑informed rehabilitation services for women incarcerated in California state prisons.

Testimony from Wendy Still, the former associate director of CDCR's Female Offender Programs and Services and architect of the original Female Offender Master Plan, described the earlier master plan as research‑based and developed with broad stakeholder input. Still told the committee the plan initially led to programmatic, staffing and cultural changes inside CDCR, including gender‑responsive programming and staff training, but that those improvements have deteriorated over time.

Witnesses and backers, including Board of Equalization member Sally Lieber and former CDCR leaders, urged statutory action to restore dedicated leadership and oversight, codify the master plan updates, reestablish a Gender‑Responsive Strategies Commission, and provide reporting and accountability to prevent backsliding. Speakers described ongoing harms inside women's facilities, including sexual misconduct complaints, extreme heat conditions and use‑of‑force incidents, and argued that the state needs mandated structure and oversight to ensure consistent rehabilitation and safer conditions.

No opposition witnesses appeared in the hearing room. Committee members expressed broad support: one senator described the bill as “a really important bill,” and the author requested a “nay” vote in committee only as a procedural request until quorum was established; later the committee recorded AB 788 as passed to appropriations on a unanimous vote.

Ending: Backers said AB 788 would restore statutory emphasis, staffing, and independent oversight for female offender programming; supporters asked the legislature to prevent erosion of gains previously achieved through the master plan.