ON FORD STREET in Ukiah stands a two-story gray building with the word “office” displayed on its exterior. The building is simple and unassuming, without a clear indication of its role in the lives of countless Mendocino County residents. Yet for many individuals, this place is far from ordinary. It’s the headquarters of the Ford Street Project, where people begin their journey toward recovery.
The Ford Street Project’s mission is to assist locals struggling with substance abuse issues and homelessness. Several of these individuals are transitioning from spending time in the Mendocino County Jail or living on the streets and are looking for a safe place to rebuild their lives.
“When you’re in a treatment program, there’s a lot of self-reflection. Addiction comes with shame, and it can come with negative feelings and regret,” said Jacqueline Woodson, executive director of the Ford Street Project. “We try to get our treatment facility to not be like jail, and we try to create a place of interest and a new chance. You just don’t have that feeling when you’re in jail.”
But with the passage of Proposition 36 in this month’s election, there could be a significant increase in the number of people struggling with addiction in the county jail.
Prop. 36 will increase the punishment for specific drug and theft crimes, reversing the outcomes of the passage of Prop. 47 in 2014 which reduced the punishment of these crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. The key purpose of Prop. 47 was to reduce incarceration rates in response to California’s growing prison population, which increased due to the War on Drugs policies created in the 1970s and 1980s. Prop. 36 is a direct reaction to this more lenient legislation passed just ten years ago.
Prop. 36 states that individuals who possess illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine, and have two or more prior convictions for certain drug crimes, could be charged with a “treatment-mandated felony” instead of a misdemeanor. Under this stipulation, individuals who are charged and choose rehabilitation would enter a treatment program supervised by an addiction specialist and overseen by the court. Those who successfully complete the program would have their charges dismissed, while those who decline to participate could face a prison sentence of up to three years.
Prop. 36 also mandates that courts warn people that they could be charged with murder if they sell or give illegal drugs that kill someone. This is a warning that would be given to those convicted of selling or providing these drugs in the past.
“When you’re in a treatment program, there’s a lot of self-reflection. Addiction comes with shame, and it can come with negative feelings and regret. We try to get our treatment facility to not be like jail, and we try to create a place of interest and a new chance. You just don’t have that feeling when you’re in jail.” Jacqueline Woodson, Ford Street Project
The new legislation will also increase the punishment for certain theft crimes. Currently, the theft of items worth less than $950 is considered a misdemeanor, but under Prop. 36, this crime will be considered a felony if the individual has two or more previous convictions for similar crimes. The punishment can be up to three years in county jail or state prison.
In Mendocino County, where places like the Ford Street Project and other treatment centers are often at or near capacity, there is no clear indication from the state where these centers will get their funding to support the increase of individuals sent to them. Prop. 36 does not describe how it will fund the treatment programs it refers to or where incarcerated people will go if there isn’t an empty space for them at local treatment centers.
“With harsher penalties, it is likely that prisons and our local jail will become more crowded,” said Ukiah City Councilmember Susan Sher in an interview. “Prop. 36 also did not provide funding for the treatment mandated felonies it included, so we don’t know how that will be paid for.”
Proposition 1, a $6.4 billion bond approved by voters earlier this year to support outpatient and residential treatment services, has become a funding solution that supporters of Prop. 36 have pointed to while creating the plan for Prop. 36. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who vehemently opposed Prop. 36 since its initial creation, called it a “lazy response” to tackling increased retail theft and drug crimes.
A mandate for change
Despite these concerns, there has been overwhelming support for Prop. 36 throughout Mendocino County and the rest of the state. Early election results show that the proposition passed with 68.9% of the state voting in favor so far. In Mendocino County, there was also landslide support with 62% of voters opting to pass the legislation.
Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall stated that Prop. 36 is the best way to create consequences for people who are involved in theft or are using and/or selling illegal drugs.
“We don’t get to say, we have a lot of people in jail, so we are going to stop investigating crimes, and stop sentencing people for the crimes they are committing,” Kendall emphasized. “If you suddenly stop working toward public safety, it’s going to come back to bite us all.”
Kendall pointed out that the Mendocino County Jail is currently operating at two-thirds capacity. However, with Measure B funding allocated to finish a behavioral health unit by January 2026, Kendall isn’t so concerned about an increase in the jail population.
“This will increase jail populations but there is a sweet spot where public safety is taken care of and jail populations sit at an acceptable level,” Kendall said. He noted that without strict consequences, he doesn’t believe people will stop using or selling illegal drugs. “You’ve got to have the carrot and the stick or people are not going to jump into a lot of work to get over their addictions. Unless they’ve got something that says, ‘let’s face it.’”
According to Mendocino County Public Health, drug overdose deaths doubled among Mendocino County residents between 2017 and 2023. The department also reports that opioids are involved in about 65% of all drug overdoses in the county, with 80% of overdose deaths from fentanyl, an 8% increase from 2017.
Kendall said that serving as both the sheriff and coroner for Mendocino County, he’s familiar with the increase in drug overdoses and the rate of fatality.
“In Mendocino County, in 2022, I had 69 accidental deaths. Those accidental deaths included car crashes and smoke inhalation from a fire,” Kendall said. “Out of those 69 accidental deaths, about 48 of those were overdoses. At some point in time, we’ve got to say enough is enough.”
At the Ford Street Project, Woodson is hopeful that more people in Mendocino County will receive treatment. However, she is skeptical that Prop. 36 will provide enough resources to meet the needs of all those required to seek help.
“I think we might know how to do this locally, but I don’t think we have the capacity in California for all of the people who need all of the help, it’s a mismatch,” Woodson said. “The initialization period could be challenging, but it could be possible.”
Change won’t happen quickly
Woodson added that while she believes Prop. 1 funds could offer a realistic solution, she doesn’t expect any new treatment programs to emerge in the county anytime soon.
“I think Prop. 1 is an answer to the issue that we haven’t kept up with the need and we don’t have enough facilities to provide the services required. California is trying to play catch-up,” she said. “But when you look at how far behind rural Northern California is, it’s hard for me to imagine that any of this will happen in one year.”
Despite Woodson’s concerns, she expressed a strong desire to see people receive the help they need no matter where the funding comes from.
Alternative funding sources could include requesting more resources from the state, though this seems unlikely given Gov. Newsom’s strong disapproval of the proposition. Other options discussed by Prop. 36 supporters include using funds from the Behavioral Health Services Act (formerly the Mental Health Services Act) or the state’s Community Corrections Partnership.
According to the California Legislature’s Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor, Prop. 36 could increase state criminal justice costs by tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. It could also have a similar impact locally, raising criminal justice costs by tens of millions of dollars each year.
“Our hospital systems are trying to do what they can. They are all trying to add additional services as best they can, but it’s a significant shortfall in terms of the workers and the facilities to provide them,” Woodson noted. “If you look at the number of people that overdose and die, (Mendocino County is) a place in real crisis. The priority of trying to get to those folks’ solutions and help is critical in my mind.”
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.