BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1239|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1239
Author: Solorio (D)
Amended: 6/7/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-1, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Ashburn, Alquist, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,
Price, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 68-2, 1/27/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Corrections: academic and vocational education
programs
SOURCE : Service Employees International Union, Local
1000
DIGEST : This bill requires California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement any funding
adjustments to inmate academic and vocational education
programs in a manner consistent with specified priorities.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to
appoint a Superintendent of Correctional Education to
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oversee and administer all prison education programs. The
Superintendent of Correctional Education sets short-term
and long-term goals for inmate literacy and testing, and
prioritizes prison education programs. (Penal Code Section
2053.4.)
Existing law finds and declares that there is a correlation
between prisoner literacy and successful reintegration into
society upon release, and that it is the intent of the
Legislature in enacting "The Prisoner Literacy Act" to
raise the prisoners' functional literacy rates in order to
provide for a corresponding reduction in the recidivism
rate. (Penal Code Section 2053(a).)
Existing law requires CDCR to determine the reading level
of each prisoner upon commitment. (Penal Code Section
2053(b).)
Existing law provides that the Secretary of CDCR shall
implement in every state prison literacy programs designed
to ensure that upon parole inmates are able to achieve a
ninth-grade reading level. CDCR shall give strong
consideration to computer-assisted training and other
innovations which have proven to be effective in reducing
illiteracy of disadvantaged adults. (Penal Code Section
2053.1.)
Existing law authorizes the Secretary of CDCR to establish
and maintain classes for inmates by utilizing CDCR
personnel or by entering into an agreement with the
governing board of a school district or private school.
(Penal Code Section 2054.)
Existing law requires CDCR to regularly provide operational
and fiscal information to the Legislature to allow it to
better assess CDCR's performance in critical areas of
operations, including to both evaluate the effectiveness of
department programs and activities, as well as assess how
efficiently the department is using state resources.
(Penal Code Section 2063(a).)
This bill makes the following uncodified findings and
declarations:
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A. Approximately 95 percent of inmates in the custody of
the CDCR will be released and returned to their original
communities. According to the Legislative Analyst's
Office, only 14 percent of those released will have
received any education or vocational training while
incarcerated.
B. Lack of academic and vocational education programs
creates significant risk and safety issues in the
prisons for staff and inmates. The top five CDCR
facilities with the highest percentages of inmates in
academic programs had an average in-prison violence rate
of 4.9 incidents per 100 inmates. The bottom five
facilities with the lowest percentages of inmates in
academic programs had an average in-prison violence rate
of 8.2 incidents per 100 inmates, nearly double the
average for facilities with high percentages of inmates
in academic programs. The facilities with the highest
rates of academic programs for inmates exhibited an
average violence rate of 3.9 incidents per 100 inmates.
The average number of incidents was more than twice as
high, 8.6 incidents per 100 inmates, in CDCR facilities
with the lowest rate of academic programs for inmates.
C. Attending school behind bars reduces the likelihood of
reincarceration by 29 percent. Translated into savings,
every $1 spent on inmate education has a return of more
than $2 in reduced prison costs which can then go back
to the General Fund.
D. California has one of the lowest rates of inmate
participation in academic programs of any state.
Nineteen percent of inmates are completely illiterate
and 40 percent of inmates are functionally illiterate,
rates that far exceed the general population.
California has the dubious distinction of having one of
the highest rates of recidivism in the country.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), the
number of slots for academic programs has actually
decreased from 37,000 in 1998 to 27,000 in 2007.
This bill requires CDCR to implement any funding
adjustments to inmate academic and vocational education
programs consistent with all of the following:
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A. Prioritize the preservation of programs that are
effective at reducing recidivism based on evidence in
studies of the programs operated by the department or in
the national literature.
B. Seek to achieve savings through more efficient
operations in the delivery of these programs and shall
take into account cost avoidance for the state.
C. Seek to place inmates and parolees into programs for
which they are best suited, who demonstrate a
significant need for the services provided by a
particular program, and who have a sufficient amount of
time left to serve in prison to reasonably complete the
program or, at a minimum, make a reasonable amount of
progress so that it is possible that the program will
have an impact on their likelihood of recidivating.
D. Seek to prioritize the elimination of vacant positions
over the laying off of existing staff.
E. Seek to use available resources to maximize the quality
of educational programs for inmates and parolees who
access and complete programs.
F. Seek to maximize the use of federal or other funds to
maintain or enhance inmate and parolee programs.
This bill requires that no later than September 1 of each
year, CDCR report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
a detailed plan as to how it is meeting the requirements
imposed on CDCR by Sections 2054.2 and 2062 to increase
participation and completion rates for academic and
vocational education programs, as determined by the
assessments performed pursuant to Section 3020. This
report shall include, but not be limited to, information on
the success of participants at achieving a literacy level,
as specified, a high school diploma or equivalent, or a
particular job skill. This provision will become
inoperative on September 1, 2015.
Prior Legislation
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ABX4 1 (Evans), passed with a vote of 27-13, on July 23,
2009, Chapter 1, Statutes of 2009-10 Fourth Extraordinary
Session.
AB 900 (Solorio), passed with a vote of 27-10, on April 26,
2007, Chapter 7, Statutes of 2007.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee anaylsis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Codifies funding priorities $0 $0 $0
General
Report/plan to JLBC $30 $50 $50
General
This bill codifies the funding adjustment priorities for
CDCR's academic and vocational programs detailed in the
2008-09 Budget. SB 18 x3 (Ducheny), Chapter 28, Statutes
of 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session, the prison reform
budget trailer bill, drastically cut academic and
vocational programs within CDCR, and provides that the
reductions be implemented consistent with specified
priorities similar to those in this bill. This bill places
its directives for spending priorities into the Penal Code
and these will therefore become permanent policy directives
beyond the current fiscal year. The priorities affect the
spending of existing funds, and are flexible; many require
the department to "seek to prioritize" certain programs and
values with no clear indication of the tangible impact of
the requirement.
This bill diverges from the Budget bill priority language
in requiring CDCR prioritize spending on rehabilitation
programs in favor of quality over quantity. This
represents a shift from the language of last year's budget
bill (which specified that the department would "seek to
use available resources to maximize the number of inmates
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and parolees who have access to and complete programs) and
the Department's attempts to maximize the number of inmates
who receive at least some programming.
The primary cost of this bill comes from the requirement on
CDCR to report to the JLBC a detailed plan as to how it is
meeting the requirements imposed on the department by
Sections 2054.2 and 2062 to increase participation and
completion rates for academic and vocational education
programs, as determined by the assessments performed
pursuant to Section 3020. AB 1502 specifies that the annual
report shall include, but not be limited to, information on
the success of participants at achieving a literacy level
as specified in Section 2053.1, a high school diploma or
equivalent, or a particular job skill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/16/10)
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
California Communities United Institute
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
Senate Bill 18 x3 (Ducheny), Chapter 28, Statutes of
2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session), the prison reform
budget bill, drastically cut academic and education
vocational programs within CDCR by more than in half of its
operating budget. This significant cut sliced a $428
million program budget to $178 million - resulting in an
overall reduction of $250 million. Teachers were
significantly impacted. Nearly 700 teachers received
layoff notices and entire programs were eliminated.
According to a 2004 study conducted by the University of
California, Los Angeles School of Public Policy and Social
Research titled Correctional Education as a Crime Control
Program , once correctional education participants are
released, they are about 10 to 20 percent less likely to
re-offend than the average released prisoner.
Additionally, correctional education may actually create
long-run net cost savings. Inmates who participate in
education programs are less likely to return to prison.
For each re-incarceration prevented by education, the state
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saves approximately $50,000, which is the average yearly
cost per prison inmate according to CDCR. One million
dollars invested in education would prevent 26
re-incarcerations, for net future savings of $600,000.
Cutting academic and vocational educational programs within
the state's prison system is likely to have long-term
negative consequences and have a greater impact on General
Fund obligations.
According to a 2008 report by the LAO titled From
Cellblocks to Classrooms: Reforming Inmate Education To
Improve Public Safety , academic and vocational programs can
significantly reduce the likelihood that offenders will
commit new offenses and return to prison. The report also
provided recommendations to the Legislature to take several
steps to improve adult prison education programs in the
near term. In particular, the LAO recommended that the
state fund these programs based on attendance rather than
enrollment, develop incentives for inmate participation in
programs, and develop routine case management and program
evaluation systems. These recommendations would better
leverage the state's existing investment in prison
education programs to increase the number of inmates who
participate as well as improve the quality of the programs
provided.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, John A. Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NOES: Harkey, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Carter, Emmerson, Hall, Knight, V.
Manuel Perez, Silva, Torlakson, Bass
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RJG:do 8/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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