On its website, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) touted that the state’s recidivism rate went down. That fact is true, but not a reason to cheer. The percentage by which the recidivism rate dropped was a paltry 1. 6 % in four years. With a state recidivism rate of 67.5 %, and the rate for San Francisco erupting to 78.3 %, California assigns the blame to prosecutors who decide who will go back to prison, and to the prisons themselves, where overcrowding is so bad that lawsuits have been filed.
The revolving door between prison and the community will have to be enlarged considerably if something is not done to correct the egregious recidivism rate in the state. The CDCR report pointed out that gender, age and category of crime have a role in determining who stays out, and who goes back in. The CDCR found that 18-19 year-old men where most likely to return to prison for crimes such as motor vehicle theft and not reporting to their parole officers. Forty-seven percent of all those sent back to prison in California are convicted of violating parole.
The CDCR report put to rest the misconception that those who committed a serious crime were more likely to commit another serious crime after reentry and be sent back to prison. Instead, a review of data revealed that there is not a correlation between the severity of a former crime and recidivism. The CDCR knows what will work to try to reduce the recidivism rate, but is limited by what can be done because lawmakers are demanding that the corrections budget be slashed. Vocational and other educational courses, transitional housing, as well as family visiting and substance abuse programs have fallen by the wayside due to budget constraints.
The CDCR plans to issue more reports in the future. In the meantime it found a wealth of information to be distributed and digested. Including:
Most of the inmates who return home and commit a new crime do so within six months of their parole. Twenty-five percent more return to prison within a year.
The older a formerly incarcerated person is the less likely he or she will return to prison after release. A startling 74.3 % of 18-19 years olds are back in prison within three years, compared to only 48.3 % percent of those in the over 60 age group.
A hefty 77 % return to prison on new motor vehicle theft charges, followed by 75.9 % for escaping or absconding (not reporting to a parole officer), and 75.3 % for receiving stolen property.
Recidivism rates jump with each new incarceration. First time offenders have a 51.1 % recidivism rate, while the rate for those who have been incarcerated 15 or more times soars to 86.3 %.
The recidivism rate for men is 68.6 percent , for women it is 58 %.
First-time offenders who are Native American, African-American and white have the highest recidivism rates.
Of the total amount of people on parole, sex offenders make up 6.5 % of that number. Five percent of sex offenders who are paroled will go back to prison on a new sex charge. 8.6 % will be sent back for a new crime other than a sex offense, and 86 % will be re-incarcerated for a parole violation.
The CDCR knows there are major problems within the criminal justice system, but until changes can be implemented the recidivism rate will either go up, or trickle down incrementally slow. Hadar Avirim, who writes the blog California Correctional Crisis, was quoted in a KALW News piece as stating, “It is telling that statistics haven’t changed significantly over time, despite increased punitive measures. Clearly, what we are doing under the title of ‘corrections and rehabilitation’ does not correct or rehabilitate.”
See full report Click here to go to website
Sources: KALW News and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
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