Executive Summary
In‑Prison Rehabilitation Programs Intended to Reduce Recidivism. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) offers inmates various rehabilitation programs while they are in prison, including education and substance use disorder treatment programs. The primary goal of these programs is to reduce recidivism—the number of inmates who reoffend after they are released from prison.
Key Principles for Rehabilitation Programs to Reduce Recidivism. Research shows that a rehabilitation program generally is effective at reducing recidivism if it possesses three key principles. First, the program should be “evidence based”—meaning it is modeled after a program shown to reduce recidivism and actually operates in the same manner as the proven program. Second, the program should be evaluated for cost‑effectiveness. Third, the program should focus on the highest‑risk and highest‑need inmates, as this has the greatest potential to reduce recidivism.
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CDCR In‑Prison Rehabilitation Programs Have Several Shortcomings. Based on our review of CDCR’s in‑prison rehabilitation programs, we conclude that they have several shortcomings. This is because CDCR (1) often falls short in adhering to the above three key principles for reducing recidivism, (2) does not effectively use all of its rehabilitation program slots despite waitlists for such programs, and (3) has a flawed approach to measuring program performance, which makes it difficult to determine whether existing program resources are being used effectively.
LAO Recommendations. In order to address the above shortcomings, we recommend several steps to improve CDCR’s in‑prison rehabilitation programs. Specifically, we recommend the Legislature:
- Require Programs Be Evidence Based. We recommend directing CDCR to provide a report detailing whether each rehabilitation program is research based. The Legislature could make the provision of this information a condition for receiving ongoing state funding for the program. Programs should also be regularly evaluated to ensure they are implemented in the same manner as the modeled program. These steps would help ensure that the programs have the potential to reduce recidivism.
- Measure Actual Cost‑Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Programs. We recommend having independent researchers evaluate the cost‑effectiveness of rehabilitation programs. Such an evaluation could track the programs that inmates participate in and whether inmates that complete these programs are less likely to recidivate.
- More Effectively Target Programs to Highest‑Risk and Highest‑Need Inmates. We recommend establishing a review committee to select the assessment tools most effective at determining which inmates are the highest‑risk to recidivate and have the highest‑need for rehabilitation programs to address those needs. We also recommend that the Legislature direct CDCR to prioritize the enrollment of its highest‑risk and highest‑need inmates in its programs.
- Improve Efficient Use of Existing Rehabilitation Resources. We recommend that the Legislature direct CDCR to conduct an assessment of all existing CDCR facilities to determine the level of resources required to meet all the rehabilitative needs for the highest‑risk and highest‑need offenders. We also recommend the Legislature consider incorporating actual inmate attendance into rehabilitation program funding decisions in order to help limit the number of program slots that are not used efficiently.
- Improve Performance Measures to Conduct Regular Oversight. We recommend directing CDCR to improve its rehabilitation program performance measures in order to enable regular program oversight, such as by requiring the reporting of certain performance measures—including the percentage of inmates with unmet needs nearing release.
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