BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A
2013-2014 Regular Session B
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AB 1019 (Ammiano) 9
As Amended May 6, 2013
Hearing date: June 11, 2013
Penal Code
SM:mc
PRISON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
HISTORY
Source: SEIU Local 1000
Prior Legislation: SB 1121 (Hancock) - Chapter 761, Statutes of
2012
Support: California Attorneys for Criminal Justice; California
Correctional Peace Officer Association; California
Public Defenders Association; Drug Policy Alliance;
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; American
Civil Liberties Union
Opposition:Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 75 - Noes 0
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD THE SUPERINTENDENT OF CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION AT THE
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION BE REQUIRED
TO ESTABLISH PRIORITIES FOR CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS AS
WELL AS THE CURRENT ACADEMIC PROGRAMS, AS SPECIFIED?
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SHOULD A CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM ESTABLISHED AT THE
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION BE REQUIRED
TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT SPECIFIED FACTORS REGARDING WHETHER THE PROGRAM
WILL LEAD TO EMPLOYMENT IN OCCUPATIONS WITH A LIVABLE WAGE?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to (1) approve uncodified intent
language regarding career technical education programs at the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; (2) add career
technical education programs to those programs for which the
Superintendent of Correctional Education at the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is required to set
both short-term and long-term goals for inmate testing and
require the Superintendent to establish priorities for career
technical education programs as well as the current academic
programs; and (3) require that a career technical education
program established at the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation take into account specified factors regarding
whether the program will lead to employment in occupations with
a livable wage.
Current law requires the Secretary of California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to appoint a
Superintendent of Correctional Education, who shall oversee and
administer all prison education programs. (Penal Code �
2053.4.)
Current law requires the Superintendent of Correctional
Education to set both short- and long-term goals for inmate
literacy and testing and vocational education programs and to
establish priorities for prison academic and vocational
education programs. (Penal Code � 2053.4.)
This bill includes the following uncodified intent language,
"Given that, as of June 2012, 60.8 percent of state prison
inmates have a medium to high need for academic or career
technical programs, and it has been shown that career technical
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education programs are both effective at reducing recidivism and
cost effective to the state, it is the intent of the Legislature
in enacting this act that the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation shall, within its existing resources, set both
short- and long-term goals for career technical education
programs."
This bill would amend current law to add career technical
education programs to those programs for which the
Superintendent of Correctional Education at CDCR is required to
set both short-term and long-term goals for inmate testing and
would require the Superintendent to establish priorities for
career technical education programs as well as the current
academic programs.
This bill would require that, based upon the goals and
priorities of CDCR, a career technical education program
established, given the department's goals and priorities, shall
take into account all of the following factors:
whether the program aligns with the workforce needs of
high-demand sectors of the state and regional economies;
whether there is an active job market for the skills
being developed where the inmate will likely be released;
whether the program increases the number of inmates who
obtain a marketable and industry or apprenticeship board
recognized certification, credential, or degree;
whether there are formal or informal networks in the
field that support finding employment upon release from
prison; and
whether the program will lead to employment in
occupations with a livable wage.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation
relating to conditions of confinement. On May 23, 2011, the
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United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two
years from the date of its ruling, subject to the right of the
state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances.
Beginning in early 2007, Senate leadership initiated a policy to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate the
prison overcrowding crisis through new or expanded felony
prosecutions. Under the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which
stands for "Receivership/ Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the
Committee held measures which created a new felony, expanded the
scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increased
the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate
the prison overcrowding crisis. Under these principles, ROCA
was applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary
to ensure that the Legislature did not erode progress towards
reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation which would
increase the prison population. ROCA necessitated many hard and
difficult decisions for the Committee.
In January of 2013, just over a year after the enactment of the
historic Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, the State of
California filed court documents seeking to vacate or modify the
federal court order issued by the Three-Judge Court three years
earlier to reduce the state's prison population to 137.5 percent
of design capacity. The State submitted in part that the, ". .
. population in the State's 33 prisons has been reduced by over
24,000 inmates since October 2011 when public safety realignment
went into effect, by more than 36,000 inmates compared to the
2008 population . . . , and by nearly 42,000 inmates since 2006
. . . ." Plaintiffs, who opposed the state's motion, argue in
part that, "California prisons, which currently average 150% of
capacity, and reach as high as 185% of capacity at one prison,
continue to deliver health care that is constitutionally
deficient." In an order dated January 29, 2013, the federal
court granted the state a six-month extension to achieve the
137.5 % prisoner population cap by December 31st of this year.
In an order dated April 11, 2013, the Three-Judge Court denied
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the state's motions, and ordered the state of California to
"immediately take all steps necessary to comply with this
Court's . . . Order . . . requiring defendants to reduce overall
prison population to 137.5% design capacity by December 31,
2013."
The ongoing litigation indicates that prison capacity and
related issues concerning conditions of confinement remain
unresolved. However, in light of the real gains in reducing the
prison population that have been made, although even greater
reductions are required by the court, the Committee will review
each ROCA bill with more flexible consideration. The following
questions will inform this consideration:
whether a measure erodes realignment;
whether a measure addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
whether a bill corrects a constitutional infirmity or
legislative drafting error;
whether a measure proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy; and
whether a bill addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy.
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COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
Current law, penal code section 2053.4, tasks the
Superintendent of Correctional Education to only set
goals and priorities for literacy and testing
programs. Goals and priorities are not required in
law to be set for Career Technical Education (CTE)
programs; yet, they are integral to the new emphasis
on rehabilitation. This bill would require that as
the superintendent sets goals for academic programs,
to set goals for CTE programs.
The purpose of this legislation is to in the law,
recognize that CDCR emphasize vocational as well as
academic education. Career technical or vocational
education has been shown to reduce recidivism. A
study published by the Washington State Institute for
Public Policy on a variety of programs found that one
of the most successful in reducing recidivism was
career technical education, reducing recidivism by 9
percent and resulted in a net savings per participant
of $13,700 annually. Creating goals and priorities for
CTE will allow the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation and the Legislature to have some basis
for evaluating the success or failure of these CTE
programs.
2. Background
Existing law requires that the Superintendent of Correctional
Education to set goals and priorities for literacy and testing
programs but does not set the same requirement for the goals and
priorities for Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. This
bill would add CTE programs to those programs for which the
Superintendent of Correctional Education at CDCR is required to
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set both short-term and long-term goals for inmate testing and
would require the Superintendent to establish priorities for
career technical education programs as well as the current
academic programs. This bill would also require that, based
upon the goals and priorities of CDCR, a career technical
education program established, take into account several factors
regarding whether there is an active job market for the skills
being developed where the inmate will likely be released and
whether the program will lead to employment in occupations with
a livable wage.
3. Effectiveness of CTE Programs
As argued by the proponents of this bill, CTE programs in
prisons reduce recidivism rates and have been found to be cost
effective. As the author states, the Washington State Institute
for Public Policy found that CTE programs reduced recidivism by
9% and resulted in a net savings per participant of $13,700
annually.
4. Effectiveness of the Prison Educational System as Implemented
A 2008 report of the Legislative Analyst's Office stated:
Our analysis indicates that the current set of CDCR
education programs reach only a small segment of the
inmate population who could benefit from them. The
CDCR now enrolls about 54,000 inmates in education
programs for a system with 173,000 inmates, and barely
one-half of those-27,000 inmates-are in the core
traditional academic and vocational training programs
(including those operated by PIA) most likely to
improve the educational attainment of inmates and thus
their employability upon their release on parole to
the community. (Legislative Analyst's Office, From
Cellblocks to Classrooms: Reforming Education to
Improve Public Safety (February 2008) p. 11.)
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CDCR, however, states that the decline of state prison inmate
populations due to criminal justice realignment "has provided
the opportunity to increase access and improve its
rehabilitative programs, which will significantly lower
California's recidivism rate." (CDCR, The Future of California
Corrections (2012) In-Prison Rehabilitative Programs, p. 21.)
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