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Board refers study on reentry resource center at Elmwood, asks for budget workshop report
Summary
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously asked county staff to prepare options and cost estimates for a reentry resource center at the Elmwood correctional facility and report back during the FY 2025–26 budget workshops.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to refer a report to administration on options to implement an on‑site reentry resource center at the Elmwood correctional facility and asked staff to return with cost and operational details for the county’s FY 2025–26 budget workshops.
The referral, moved by President Cindy Chavez Lee and seconded by Supervisor David Young, directs county administration to explore models for staff and space on or adjacent to the Elmwood campus that would provide immediate, day‑of release supports — including transportation, housing referrals, behavioral‑health linkages and other wraparound services — to people leaving custody.
Board members and dozens of community speakers said that timely handoffs from custody to community services reduce chances of relapse, homelessness and re‑arrest. Several speakers with lived experience and reentry providers described gaps when people are released outside business hours or without transport and urged immediate, on‑campus options. Retired judges and public‑safety practitioners told the board they regularly see people ordered released who cannot access services and therefore remain detained or cycle back into the system.
County staff said some reentry services already operate at Elmwood — including presentations, resource tables and limited evening outreach — but that current hours and capacity do not cover late‑night releases and do not provide a centralized, consistently staffed space for day‑of linkage. The county’s Office of Diversion & Reentry (ODR) and custody health officials told the board they would fold the referral into planned Elmwood facility work and coordinate with ongoing jail transformation efforts.
The board asked administration to return with options during the budget workshop timeline and for a report that addresses: service hours (including options for evening coverage), staffing and cost estimates, how to leverage existing providers and community navigators, protocols for warm handoffs from custody teams, and engagement with people with lived experience to shape program design.
Action and next steps: the board’s referral passed unanimously. Staff said they will incorporate the reentry center options into the facility transformation work already scheduled for an April update and will provide costed options in time for the May budget workshops.
