California’s realignment plan has caused a 23 percent increase in Los Angeles’ jail population, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The plan shifts some newly convicted offenders to county jails, instead of state prisons. It is also intended to reduce recidivism by changing the state parole system and local probation programs.
The state prison population has dropped by nearly 25,000 because of realignment, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. Part of realignment’s intent is to persuade counties to use and expand evidence-based alternatives to incarceration, the report says.
However, the plan has created an additional burden on county officials – dealing with a flood of detainees with a history of mental illness, the Times says.
Officials are using LA county’s realignment funding to implement mental health and re-entry programs, the Times reported. Implementing realignment gives county officials more time to help inmates with mental issues and gain stability in the community once released, mental health providers say.
“It used to be that we saw people short term,” said Francesca Anello, overseer of the county Mental Health Department. “So it was difficult to get them hooked up in the community if they’re going in and out so quickly. And so we’d miss an opportunity sometimes to work with them long-term,” said Anello in the Times report.
Realignment is motivating social service agencies to work with local law enforcement in innovative ways, the Times reported.
