California prison officials began touting a new public safety reform in January that would encourage inmates to complete a rehabilitation course and earn six weeks per year off a sentence. Inside Folsom State Prison, though, inmates and instructors leading such courses are skeptical it will work, the Sacramento Bee reports. In reality, they say, budget cuts approved by legislators last year to cope with an unprecedented fiscal crisis are devastating programs that are the basis for the new credit and for helping inmates stay straight once free.
The state corrrections department is slashing $250 million – almost 45 percent – of the $560 million it was to spend on rehabilitation this fiscal year. That means a 30 percent trim in high school equivalency and other literacy and vocational courses – 800 out of 1,500 instructors have been let go – and a 40 percent cut in substance-abuse programs. "I just hope someone up there has a brain and can see what the impact of this will be," said Folsom State Prison school Principal Jean Bracy. As rehab opportunities dry up, more inmates are expected to go free earlier. Lawmakers, in another cost-saving move, approved allowing certain nonviolent prisoners "day for a day" credits off sentences just for being "discipline-free."
Posted by Pray4Peace
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 08:16
False economy and faulty logic were used to cut funding for rehab, drug, and education programs at the Donovan state prison in spite of those programs being proven to reduce the recidivism rate from 70% to 21%. The programs cost far less than the $50,000 per inmate per year as incarceration does.
Even more imporant than wasting the tax dollars we pay, without the proven programs there will be more new crime and more new victims.
Schools are accountable for student outcomes. Toyota is accountable for its cars. Why aren’t criminal justice and prisons accountable for inmate outcomes? Of course there should be allowances for those who must never be released and mentally ill and others who will not become model citizens. California having the highest recidivism rate in the nation means something is not working.
We should evaluate indivuals for sentencing and release. Continually expanding prisons and sending people to for-profit prisons is not economically sustainable. For-profit prisons have the bottom line, not rehab as their focus.
The criminal justice and incarceration systems are failing. We need real reforms rather than releasing people early without rehab and some support.