blog post Recidivism and Realignment By David Lesher Aug 26, 2014 Research fellow Ryken Grattet spoke at a Sacramento briefing about PPIC’s latest research, which looked at recidivism rates for released offenders now being supervised by county probation departments.
Report Do Local Realignment Policies Affect Recidivism in California? By Mia Bird, Ryken Grattet Aug 20, 2014 In the aftermath of California’s corrections realignment, recidivism patterns did not change dramatically among offenders released from state prison to county supervision. But early evidence suggests that offenders did better if they were released to counties that emphasized reentry services rather than traditional law enforcement.
blog post Realignment: Progress and Challenges By Magnus Lofstrom Jul 21, 2014 Now that realignment is approaching the three-year mark, has the reform delivered? In some important ways, yes, it has. But a fundamental issue remains.
blog post Big Policy Shift Leads to Small Change in Recidivism By David Lesher Jul 2, 2014 A recent briefing in Sacramento focused on PPIC’s new report on recidivism rates since public safety realignment policy began.
Report Is Public Safety Realignment Reducing Recidivism in California? By Steven Raphael, Magnus Lofstrom, Ryken Grattet Jun 27, 2014 Despite sweeping changes to the state’s corrections system, California has not seen dramatic changes in arrests or convictions of released offenders. Overall arrest rates are down. But convictions are up, likely a reflection of new prosecutorial processes. Multiple arrests are also up, possibly because released offenders are now spending more time on the streets. This research was supported with funding from the Smith Richardson Foundation.
Report Health Care for California’s Jail Population By Shannon McConville, Mia Bird Jun 18, 2014 The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has created a new opportunity for California to reach and enroll a medically vulnerable population—the jail population—in health insurance coverage. While inmates receive health care services from county jail systems while incarcerated, few have coverage after they are released from custody. Expansion of the state’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) under the ACA has extended insurance eligibility to much of the currently uninsured jail population. As a complement to the ACA, California recently signed into law Assembly Bill 720 (AB 720), which facilitates the use of jails as sites of health insurance enrollment. Increasing enrollment levels for the jail population holds the potential to reduce corrections costs, as well as improve public health and safety.
blog post California’s Jail Construction Needs By Brandon Martin May 9, 2014 The governor’s proposal to spend $500 million for local jail construction raised many questions at a hearing Thursday of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on public safety.
Report Key Factors in California’s Jail Construction Needs By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin May 7, 2014 Now that California has shifted responsibility for many criminal offenders to the counties, county jail systems face greater capacity challenges. This report highlights two important factors in addressing jail capacity constraints: aging jail facilities and long-term needs. We show that a number of facilities are old and likely in need of costly updates or replacement and that growth in the state’s population is likely to exert significant pressure on the county jail system. Our analysis suggests that a thoughtful combination of further jail construction and decreased reliance on incarceration is needed, given the magnitude of the current and future jail needs.
blog post Testimony: A Data-Driven Approach to Corrections By Mia Bird Apr 23, 2014 California has effectively created 58 county policy laboratories and with them, the opportunity to use variation in county approaches to identify best practices that can be shared throughout the state and nationwide.
