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#47 Report Post
Old 10-07-2009, 01:40 PM
ilbegone ilbegone is offline
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Here is an editorial by the Press Enterprise. This is slightly off topic because it doesn't specifically mention drop outs or "Latino", whether the Latino is Mexican or American born, and however slight or great there is a cultural difference between those with different nationality of childhood and youth.
I include this because it talks about programs and budget cutting in overcrowded prisons, similar to the rhetoric coming out of overcrowded schools, the fact that Latinos are the least likely to finish high school, and drop outs are more inclined towards criminal activity.
Quote:
The Press-Enterprise
Prison miscue
Budgetary savings should not come at the expense of coherent corrections strategy. The state's efforts to trim corrections spending target the programs that stand the best chance of easing crowding in state prisons. The state should focus on cutting the number of ex-cons who reoffend, not continue setting muddled policy that perpetuates prison crowding.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced last month that it would trim $250 million from education, job training, counseling and other programs for adult prisoners. The cuts represent more than a third of the budget for such programs.
The move is part of the state's effort to pare $1.2 billion from the $10 billion the state spent on corrections last fiscal year. But trimming programs that help inmates avoid returning to prison is a bizarre strategy for a state that needs to reduce its inmate population. California will never fix its prisons by sacrificing long-term reforms for short-term savings.
The state's prisons are crowded to nearly double their intended capacity, and a panel of federal judges has ordered the state to shrink the inmate population by more than 40,000 in the next two years. The state has about 148,000 prisoners in 33 prisons, plus another 17,000 in camps and other facilities. Trimming the number of inmates would also cut corrections costs, which have more than doubled over the past decade.
A big part of the reason for the crowded conditions in prison is the dismal fact that two-thirds of California parolees end up back behind bars within three years. The causes for that record are complex, but a key factor is that many inmates lack education and job skills and struggle with addictions or mental health ills.
A prison system that makes little attempt to address those issues, and simply releases inmates with $200 and no prospects, can expect those people to return to incarceration. A variety of official reports on prisons over the past decade have highlighted the need for programs that can help inmates avoid trouble upon release.
Corrections officials plan to cope with the budget cuts by directing the remaining funding to the most effective programs. That would be a sensible strategy, if the department knew which programs met that benchmark. The state auditor reported last month that corrections spent $208 million on prison education in 2008-09, but had no way to tell if the courses were doing any good.
And the cuts work at cross-purposes with spending reductions approved by the Legislature last month. The legislative plan would save money by shortening prisoners' sentences if they finish education, drug treatment and other programs -- just as corrections officials slash those services.
Comprehensive reforms could save money and convince federal judges the state can responsibly oversee prisons. But that approach requires a consistent plan for change, not a bunch of conflicting ideas thrown together to relieve a budget meltdown.
This editorial by the Press Enterprise does not indicate endorsement of or affiliation to any organization or cause.
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