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Landmark Rehabilitation Reforms
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Substance abuse treatment program
Evidence-Based Rehabilitation
On May 2, 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 900, the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007. This important legislation fundamentally reforms California’s system of incarcerating and rehabilitating prisoners – to improve public safety by reducing the rates at which offenders re-victimize communities and return to prison.
The Three "R's" of CDCR's Adult Rehabilitation Reform

  • REDUCE victimization in California communities

  • REFOCUS programs through use of proven practices

  • REUNITE offenders with their community with a job and support system

Reform Progress – A Safer California through Correctional Excellence

Adult Programs has led landmark reforms to bring evidence-based programs and tools to turn prison bars into bridges of opportunity.  As of June 2009, reform measures completed include:

  • Added 2,000 substance abuse treatment slots
  • Increased education program utilization
  • Obtained additional rehabilitation services
  • Launched the California Logic Model based on eight evidence-based principles and practices shown to reduce recidivism.
  • Launched COMPAS offender risk and needs assessment instrument.
  • Developed a prison-to-employment plan
Newest Achievements:

Offender Mentor Certification Program

CDCR has launched a major innovation in criminal justice rehabilitation — certifying long-term inmates as drug and alcohol counselors to work in prison Substance Abuse Programs – at California State Prison, Solano. The first class of 50 long-term inmates, most of them “lifers,” will soon complete the Offender Mentor Certification (OMC) Program. Those who pass a national exam will be certified as alcohol and drug counselors by the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) and assist fellow inmates with recovery – a cost-effective way to deliver substance abuse treatment in our prisons.

Risk and Needs Assessments

For the first time, CDCR is using an evidence-based instrument - Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) - to assess offender needs and assign them to appropriate programs for maximum effectiveness. As of June 4, 2009, nearly 35,206 COMPAS assessments have been completed. The next step is to roll out the COMPAS instrument to all 33 prisons.

Inmates work on construction skills

Expert Panel

An Expert Panel of some of the foremost national experts on corrections reforms and the Governor’s Rehabilitation Strike Team provided guidance on the most effective practices and methods to implement reforms.

Adult Programs is leading the effort to bring this expertise, including the latest science and proven practices, to help offenders succeed, reduce prison overcrowding, lower recidivism and save taxpayer costs.

Converting California Prisons to Institutions for Change
Inmate Graduates
  • Use evidence-based programs
  • Reduce victimization
  • Prepare offenders for success
  • Strengthen public safety
  • Decrease offender re-incarceration
  • Save taxpayer costs
CDCR Lays Groundwork for California
New Start Prison To Employment Program

Holding a job is one of the best predictors of parolee success and key to reducing victimization and strengthening public safety. The link between in-prison rehabilitation programs and employment is critical.  California’s New Start prison-to-employment program is modeled after the best practices from other states. The New Start Program has several key elements:

  • Use labor market data to determine the types of jobs that will actually be available in each county;
  • Matching existing training and work opportunities in prison to jobs available in communities;
  • Providing individual documents needs to secure employment prior to release from prison (e.g., social security card, birth certification, selective service registration, etc)
  • Providing essential job prerequisites such as resumes, trade certificates, licenses, trade union members, etc; and,
  • Providing support to seek, secure and maintain employment through a collaborative partnership with the community to link offenders to jobs and a support system.

For additional information on the California New Start, see “Inmate Treatment and Prison to Employment Plan,” Legislative Report, 2008.

California Rehabilitation Oversight Board Reports CDCR Progress

The California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB) is mandated to regularly examine and report biannually to the Governor and the Legislature on rehabilitative programming provided to inmates and parolees by the CDCR.  In its most recent report (March 15, 2009), C-ROB found that:

  • CDCR achieved “a significant step in building the infrastructure to link and enable electronic transfer of assessment and classification information from reception centers to prisons and use of this information in case planning and management.”

  • “COMPAS assessments happened at a relatively good rate with 25,000 core assessments conducted at reception center intake; and 9,000 reentry assessments completed by parole staff for pre-release planning.” 

  • “The board commends the department for getting the Solano demonstration project underway.”  “Approximately 1,000 offenders were assessed to determine risk and needs,” and CDCR “added 500 new substance abuse treatment programming slots.”

  • “CDCR implemented its first gender responsive substance abuse program, the Trauma Informed Substance Abuse Treatment Program, which opened at the Leo Chesney Community Correctional Facility in Live Oak in September 2008.”

  • “The department developed a significant database with projected labor market data for each of the 58 counties in California” in order “to align vocational training to the appropriate labor markets.”

  • “The department has developed a Parole Violation Decision Making Instrument (PVDMI) and began pilot implementation at four parole units across the state….The board commends CDCR for all of the work it took to make this happen.”
Achieving lasting reform will require leadership, vision, and support from many state and local government entities.  Support from the public and elected officials will be especially crucial.

Why We Must Change

The mission of the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services is to maintain a comprehensive victim services program and establish justice practices to ensure rehabilitation to offenders—and accountability to their victims.

AB 900 moves California away from outdated, ineffective prisoner warehouses that breed more criminality to institutions that promote change and success.

  • 95 percent of California state prison inmates will be released to society.
  • CDCR's rehabilitation reforms are designed to prepare inmates for a successful reintegration into their communities in order to reduce re-victimization and recidivism.
  • Nearly 50 percent of all California prisoners released in 2006 were not assigned to any rehabilitation program or job assignment during their most recent prison sentences, according to the Expert Panel on Adult Offender and Recidivism Reduction Programming (June 2007).
  • California has among the highest recidivism rates in the nation.
  • The waste of human potential and the devastation to families will be alleviated if inmates are prepared for success upon release.
  • Overall prison population reductions due to the reforms included in AB 900 and recommendations of the Expert Panel could result in significant savings for the state.

Adult Programs

Adult Programs is at the heart of rehabilitation activity in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Its goals are to:

  • Provide effective evidence based programming to adult offenders.
  • Create strong partnerships with local government, community based providers, and the communities to which offenders return in order to provide services that are critical to offenders’ success on parole.
  • Establish and nurture collaborative partnerships linking Department facilities and communities in which they are located.

Adult Programs is comprised of the:

For additional information on Adult Programs and on California’s landmark rehabilitation reforms, see:

Reform Fact Sheets
Reform Design
Reform Reports
Legislative Reports
California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB) Reports