Oakland Nonprofit Urges No Vote on Proposition 36 to Protect Rehabilitation Funding

Oakland’s first trauma recovery center is urging the public to vote no on Proposition 36, a ballot measure that would slash millions in funding for rehabilitation centers and other treatment programs.

Proposition 36 would also toughen penalties and lengthen prison sentences for some low-level theft and drug possession crimes — reclassifying these misdemeanors as felonies if the measure is passed.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), a nonprofit funded by Proposition 47 grants, provides vital community services such as clinical psychology treatment and connections to employment and housing opportunities. That funding would be largely wiped out if voters approved Proposition 36.

“If Prop. 36 passes, it will impact all of the Prop. 47 funded programs that are in place to help individuals get their lives back,” said Donald Frazier, the founder and CEO of BOSS.

Proposition 47 allowed for the reclassification of felonies like theft and drug possession to misdemeanors and required that state funds be allocated to public agencies specializing in mental health, substance abuse, and other treatment programs – virtually reversive to the tenets of Proposition 36.

Frazier said that stripping programs like BOSS of its funding and instead reallocating those funds to incarceration centers would only perpetuate cycles of violent crime.

He stressed that rehabilitation services benefit more than just victims — many of the nonprofit’s patients are also formerly incarcerated individuals.

“The taxpayers have to make a decision,” he said. “Do we want to continue funding incarceration and not funding services for people with the understanding that people will be released and be back in the community?”

Through grants from the California Victims Compensation Board and Proposition 47, BOSS provides a range of services, including licensed clinicians and psychiatrists, housing and employment opportunities and other support to help victims recover.

At its ribbon-cutting ceremony, several staffers, ACLU representatives and victim advocates stressed the importance of funding for centers like BOSS.

Latosha Spruell, a coordinator for Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, spoke at the BOSS ceremony on Wednesday. She lost several family members and friends to violence and drug-related crimes.

“Prop. 36 undermines the core principles of restorative justice. It perpetuates a system that focuses solely on punishment rather than rehabilitation and healing for both victims and offenders,” Spruell said.

“I believe in a justice system that does more than punish — it should heal entire communities. Accountability must be paired with restoration and support,” she continued.

Philippe Kelly, a formerly incarcerated organizer for human rights, said that centers like BOSS are more effective in addressing the effects of violent crime than the criminal justice system is.

“We know the solutions that keep our people safe. Prop. 36 will not do that. Having recovery centers like this is what’s going to help our people,” Kelly said. “These are the folks who know what it means to overcome, but they also know what it means to keep us safe.”

If passed, Proposition 36 would direct millions of taxpayer dollars into prison costs over the next decade — a cycle BOSS staffers described as “the revolving door of locking people up and releasing them without rehabilitation.”

Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, said that the measure would create “the worst outcomes” yet for East Oakland and other communities deeply impacted by violent crime.

“We have issues in our community that require a different response. You cannot use a screwdriver when you need a hammer,” Hollins said. “So while we have a bunch of hammers driving around our communities, there are some screws that need to be put in place.”