July 21, 2008

Dear Chaplains:

What a time we have been having in Sacramento this year! There has been excellent cooperation from departmental personnel, but the state’s budget has every department reeling.  Along with the budget constraints, we now have a new Secretary for CDCR.  Ron Givens and I are committed to developing a good relationship with the new administration.  In the coming days, we will be meeting with new CDCR Secretary Matt Cate.  We look forward to working with him and the legacy of a highly capable team that was built by former Secretary Tilton.  At this point, we have a cautious green light from CDCR with regards to our October ’08 Training.  On July 11, we met for a curriculum development session at CDCR Adult headquarters.  That is a very good sign.

This year’s training is scheduled to return to Sutter Creek.  The Days Inn will be our host hotel.  Our dates have been changed to accommodate several of our chaplains who would not have been able to attend.  Our new dates are October 27-30.  The hotel meeting rooms have been reserved for faith group meetings prior to the 4:00pm ACCSS registration on Monday, October 27.  Please contact me if a meeting room is needed.  At this point Jewish, Catholic and Native faith groups are making plans for a Monday meeting.  We hope to see you at this October training and very important business session.

We are very pleased to announce the passing of the Senate Concurrent Resolution 92 (Perata).  Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata was very happy to author, introduce and get this passed. Many legislators from both major parties in both the Senate and the Assembly joined as co-authors.  This resolution passed with 100% bi-partisan support and no “nay” votes at any point in the process.  Ron Givens has been working on the Resolution with Senator Perata’s office all year.  When you read the text of the SCR you will understand the value of this language for all chaplains.  Our thanks go to Ron for his excellent work.  (See enclosed document.)

Over the past several months, members of the Executive Board have met (either together or separately) with legislators, Secretary Tilton, Scott Kiernan, Michael Carrington, SACIR, and other departments/officials on your behalf.  Ron has testified at Senate confirmation hearings for governor’s appointees that will affect the role of chaplains.  We are continuing to build strategic allies in the executive branch, legislature and various departments in order to keep chaplains at the forefront of the rehabilitative and re-entry care model in California.  Progress is being made. 

A few ACCSS business items:

• The process for enrollment as a new ACCSS member has changed.  What seemed like it should be a simple process of enrolling new members has turned out to be a difficult process to track down.  Chaplains who submitted applications for membership in October have been submitted three times to the State without success.  We now have new accurate information and forms for the new process!  Thank you, Ron, for your persistence in working on this.  New applicants (who have not already filled out a form) may fill out the ACCSS Membership application (see enclosure).  The form should be sent to our Treasurer (address is on the form) who will initiate payroll deduction.  If you are not sure if you are a member or not, you may check your pay stub for an ACCSS deduction.  If you are not a member of ACCSS, we encourage you to join and support our efforts of making the chaplaincy program in the State as strong as possible. 

• Resolutions and agenda items for the ACCSS General Membership Meeting:  Please send any proposals and resolution items to Ron Givens ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) no later than September 15 for the consideration by the Resolution Committee.  We will ensure that all items meet ACCSS bylaws and constitutional requirements and will place them on the meeting agenda for all to consider in advance of our voting meeting at the October training.  You will receive all submitted resolutions 30 days prior to our ACCSS business meeting.

• This is an election year for Department Vice Presidents.  ACCSS Board Members are determined as follows:  Constitutional officers include President, Secretary, Treasurer, and one Vice President from each department (Veteran’s Affairs, Mental Health, Developmental Services, CDCR Adult and CDCR Juvenile).  Elections of Vice Presidents occur in even-numbered years.  Other offices are elected in odd-numbered years.  Faith group representatives will be necessary if a group is not represented in the positions indicated above.  Please be considering who you would want to represent your department as an ACCSS Vice President.

• The new ACCSS website is scheduled to come online sometime in August.  www.accss.org A calendar of events, updated chaplain and institution directories, and a members-only forum will all be features of our new website.  Members will be able to have their own ACCSS email account.  It promises to be a great tool in communicating with one another. 

We will be in touch soon with a preliminary training agenda.  As always, we will continue working with the administrations of all our departments.  It is our goal to give to you the very best training we can possibly offer.

Please copy this letter and pass it on to all chaplains in your institution.

With many blessings to you,

Dave Skaggs

ACCSS President