A first-of-its-kind jobs program in California prisons saves money and cuts recidivism, a recent report concludes.
The program provides inmates the opportunity to acquire trade skills and develop good work habits under the supervision of journeyman professionals that “increase the likelihood of finding future employment and staying out of prison,” according to the report by the California Prison Industry Authority.
Launched in 2006, the program is called Career Technical Education. It was designed to perform various activities such as renovations of state-owned assets, including parks and prisons.
The program was “the first of its kind in the nation to partner an offender rehabilitation program with trade unions to meet the rehabilitative needs of offenders,” says the report.
It includes a commercial diving program at California Institution for Men, a carpentry program at California Institution for Women, and the Modular Building enterprise at Folsom State Prison. Funding shortages caused the closure of four programs across the state. None involved San Quentin.
At its peak in fiscal year 2009-10, the program included 258 prisoners. Currently, 115 prisoners participate.
The report illustrates a three year recidivism rate of 11.76 percent for fiscal year 2007-08 for inmates with at least six months of participation in the program. The overall three-year recidivism rate for the same period was more than 65 percent.
The program’s low recidivism rate provides “substantial and ongoing savings to both state and local government,” the report concludes. The savings, totaling over $10 million, come in the form of Recidivism Cost Avoidance, which includes the costs incurred from avoided arrests, judicial proceedings, and incarceration among CTE program participants.
Program costs include participant pay, instructor pay, project facilitation expense, and union association fees for the first year upon release. According to the report, these expenses have totaled more than $8 million since the program began, resulting in a net savings of $1.7 million or an average of about $500,000 per year.
Since the start of the program, the state has reimbursed CALPIA for the program. However, over the last three years, the amount reimbursed has declined and the program is now in danger of being cut or eliminated altogether, the report warns.
More information about CalPIA can be found at www.calpia.ca.gov.
