Report 2018-113 Recommendations

To ensure that Corrections has reliable tools for assessing the needs of its inmate population, it should validate COMPAS and CSRA by January 2020 and revalidate all of its assessment tools at least every five years.

To ensure that Corrections is able to discover and prioritize the most effective CBT rehabilitation curricula, it should begin using its ability to record the individual CBT curricula inmates receive, and then use this information in an analysis of its rehabilitation programs in 2020.

To ensure that its CBT classes are effective at reducing recidivism, Corrections should amend its CBT contracts to require vendors to teach only evidence-based curricula as designated by Pew and should provide adequate oversight, including implementing UC Irvine's contract compliance recommendations, to ensure that its vendors adhere to this standard by January 2020.

To ensure that inmates with the highest risks and needs are wait listed, prioritized, and assigned appropriately, Corrections should require correctional counselors to place inmates onto waiting lists once they have five years or less on their sentences.

To ensure that inmates with the highest risks and needs are wait listed, prioritized, and assigned appropriately, Corrections should update its waiting list system to prioritize inmates with rehabilitative needs and risks in its target population.

To ensure that inmates with the highest risks and needs are wait listed, prioritized, and assigned appropriately, Corrections should assign inmates to rehabilitation programs in accordance with its policies.

To ensure that it can meet the rehabilitation needs of its inmates, Corrections should develop and begin implementing plans to meet its staffing-level goals for rehabilitative programming by January 2020 and should implement a process to continuously update and monitor these goals.

To increase the space available for rehabilitation programs, by January 2020 Corrections should analyze and report on its current infrastructure capacity compared to its needs for the programs. The report should include the current space available and the square footage needed. If the report indicates that additional space is necessary, Corrections should work with the Legislature to address those needs.

To improve the inmate enrollment rates in CalPIA's vocational education programs, CalPIA and Corrections should require a CalPIA representative to attend all classification committee meetings at all nine prisons where CalPIA offers vocational education. Corrections should also ensure that it enrolls eligible inmates in CalPIA's vocational programs before filling spots in its own vocational programs. In addition, if the CalPIA recidivism study indicates that CalPIA's vocational programs are better at reducing recidivism than Corrections' vocational programs, CalPIA should request funding from the Legislature to expand its vocational training program.

To ensure that Corrections effectively and efficiently allocates resources and reduces recidivism, it should partner with a research organization to conduct a systematic evaluation during fiscal year 2020-21 to determine whether its rehabilitation programs are reducing recidivism and if they are cost-effective. In addition, the external researcher should provide input on the development of performance targets, including recidivism reduction. Depending upon the results of the analysis, Corrections should then eliminate or modify programs that prove ineffective.

To ensure that Corrections effectively and efficiently allocates resources and reduces recidivism, it should partner with an external researcher during fiscal year 2020-21 to help it quantify the effect volunteer programs have on inmate outcomes and consider expanding those programs if they prove effective or ceasing them if they are not effective.

To ensure that Corrections effectively and efficiently allocates resources and reduces recidivism, it should collaborate with C-ROB during fiscal year 2019-20 to establish annual targets for reducing recidivism and determining the cost-effectiveness of the programs. Corrections should also request federal grants tied to setting targets for recidivism reduction.

To ensure that it has reliable tools to measure program fidelity in its CBT programs, Corrections should implement UC Irvine's recommendation by June 2019.

To ensure that its vocational training programs are effectively preparing inmates for the workforce upon their release and reducing recidivism, Corrections should collaborate with EDD to track the employment and the industry of employment for former inmates by January 2020.

To ensure that Corrections' rehabilitation programs reduce recidivism, the Legislature should require Corrections to establish performance targets, including ones for reducing recidivism and determining the programs' cost-effectiveness.

To ensure that Corrections' rehabilitation programs reduce recidivism, the Legislature should require Corrections to do the following:

- Partner with external researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of its rehabilitation programs and implement the three-year plan described below.

Year One: Fiscal Year 2019-20

Corrections drafts scope of work, selects an external researcher to conduct the analysis, defines what data elements the researchers may require, and creates targets.

Year Two: Fiscal Year 2020-21

External researcher conducts recidivism analysis and Corrections develops and begins implementing a corrective action plan.

Year Three: Fiscal Year 2021-22

Corrections modifies as necessary and continues implementing its corrective action plan. It also reports to the Legislature and creates new targets and policies given the results of the recidivism analysis. Depending upon the results of the analysis, Corrections eliminates or modifies programs that prove ineffective.

To ensure that Corrections' rehabilitation programs reduce recidivism, the Legislature should require Corrections to issue an annual report beginning in fiscal year 2021-22 that shows the percentage reduction in recidivism that can be attributed to the rehabilitation programs.

To ensure that Corrections and its external researcher conduct a comprehensive analysis of the rehabilitation programs' effect on recidivism, the Legislature should provide authority and funding for C-ROB to monitor the contracting process and provide progress updates to the Legislature in its annual report.

To ensure that Corrections remains on track to complete its analysis and develop performance targets, the Legislature should require C-ROB to monitor Corrections' progress in developing appropriate recidivism targets and meeting those targets, and to provide annual updates on Corrections' progress in implementing the three-year plan.

To ensure that Corrections and EDD can collaborate effectively to track whether inmates that received vocational training found work in a related field after release, the Legislature should amend state law to explicitly allow Corrections to provide inmates' Social Security numbers to EDD.

To improve the inmate enrollment rates in CalPIA's vocational education programs, CalPIA and Corrections should require a CalPIA representative to attend all classification committee meetings at all nine prisons where CalPIA offers vocational education. Corrections should also ensure that it enrolls eligible inmates in CalPIA's vocational programs before filling spots in its own vocational programs. In addition, if the CalPIA recidivism study indicates that CalPIA's vocational programs are better at reducing recidivism than Corrections' vocational programs, CalPIA should request funding from the Legislature to expand its vocational training program.

To ensure that Corrections is taking steps to reduce recidivism, C-ROB should monitor whether Corrections is developing appropriate recidivism targets and, in its annual report, should evaluate Corrections' progress toward meeting those targets.