BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1239
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1239 (Solorio)
As Amended August 19, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |68-2 |(January 27, |SENATE: |30-5 |(August 23, |
| | |2010) | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to implement any funding adjustments to
inmates academic and vocational education programs, as specified.
The Senate amendments :
1)Find and declare the following:
a) Approximately 95% of inmates in the custody of CDCR will
be released and returned to their original communities.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, only 14% 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%. Translated into savings, every $1
spent on inmate education has a return of more than $2 in
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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% 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, the number of slots for academic programs has
actually decreased from 37,000 in 1998 to 27,000 in 2007
2)Eliminates the requirement that CDCR prioritize the placement of
offenders who are assessed as higher risk to re-offend and only
requires placement of inmates and parolees as they are best
suited.
3)States that CDCR shall seek to use available resources to
maximize the quality rather than the number of educational
programs for inmates and parolees who access and complete
programs.
4)Provides that the reporting requirements to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee provided in the bill will sunset on
September 1, 2015.
5)Deletes the requirement that CDCR seek to prioritize the
elimination of vacant positions over the laying off of existing
staff.
6)Makes other technical amendments and adds co-authors.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required CDCR to implement
any funding adjustments to inmates academic and vocational
education programs, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
codifies funding priorities. Report/plan to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee, $50,000 in 2010-11, up to $80,000 in 2011-12,
and up to $80,000 in 2012-13.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "According to the author,
prison education benefits public safety. Correctional researchers
and administrators have long been aware of the strong correlation
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between low education attainment and the likelihood of being
incarcerated. Recent research indicates that correctional
education programs can significantly reduce the rate of
re-offending for inmates when they are subsequently returned to
the community.
"With the implementation of AB 900 (Solorio), Chapter 7, Statutes
of 2007, the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB) was
established to provide oversight to CDCR's rehabilitation and
treatment programs generally, to inmate education programs
specifically, and to recommend changes to the Legislature and
Governor. AB 900 includes requirements to increase inmate
education participation rates, reduce teacher vacancies, and
conduct risk and needs assessments of inmates sent to prison.
However, over the last few months, CDCR has implemented severe
cuts to rehabilitation programs, mainly education programs,
including laying off approximately 700 teachers. Concerns have
arisen regarding CDCR's ability to uphold AB 900 requirements and
this bill seeks to ensure that future academic and vocational
education programs are not curtailed further at the expense of the
publics' safety."
According to information provided by the author, "As prison
population is reduced in California with the various reforms, the
CDCR budget should be reduced. However, the academic and
vocational education budgets are not separate from the CDCR
budget, and so education budgets will be reduced as well. What
this bill seeks to do is to allow the rehabilitation budget not to
be reduced as the inmate population is reduced until they are
meeting the needs of the inmates for these services. For example,
only 14% of inmates are enrolled in programs even though there is
a much greater need. In current statute, 60% of inmates who have
literacy level of less than 9th grade are supposed to be enrolled
in a program as of 1996. According to the Bureau of State Audit
Report published in September 2009, CDCR reported in February 2009
that of 133,000 inmates tested, 68,600 scored below a 9th grade
level."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744 FN: 0006557