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For Immediate Release
Contact: Gordon Hinkle / Oscar Hidalgo
(916) 445-4950

September 18, 2009

California to Submit Population Management Plan that Prioritizes Public Safety and Relieves overcrowding

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Comprehensive Plan Proposes Long-Term Reforms

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today will file a comprehensive plan with the federal three judge panel that reforms the prison system over several years and eventually could exceed the panel’s order to bring the operational capacity to 137.5 percent of combined design capacity of the state’s 33 prisons.

The plan combines previous reform efforts done administratively by CDCR and the implementation of recently passed legislation, with construction of prison beds, and significant expansion of out-of-state transfers.

Reforms and construction plans already adopted will result in a reduction of the crowding rate from the current 190 percent to155 percent over the next three years and 148 percent over six years. Furthermore, CDCR will continue to seek additional prison reforms through the legislature which could drop the crowding rate to132 percent over that six year period, exceeding the panel’s order.

“This is a sound plan that addresses this very serious problem in a smart and fiscally responsible manner that makes public safety a priority,” said CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate. “We cannot anticipate the court’s reaction, but this plan represents a reasonable and good-faith effort to reduce overcrowding in the safest possible manner.”

In addition to lowering its capacity through reforms and construction, the state is committed to building beds to serve the medical and mental health population, which will further improve health care delivery that already has been significantly improved.  More than 5,800 beds are being built specifically for healthcare with 3,700 beds already constructed.

Today’s court filing does not derail the Department’s appeal of the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. CDCR filed its appeal earlier this month and will submit a jurisdictional statement to the U.S. Supreme Court by early November.

The following are reforms that have either been implemented since December 2008 or that will be implemented due to recently passed legislation. These reforms include:

• Implemented the Parole Violation Decision Making Instrument Statewide.  Using scientific research to get smart on crime, improve parole supervision and reduce the churn of unnecessary incarceration; 

• Discharged Deported Parolees.  Eliminated the wasteful and costly supervision for more than 12,000 offenders who should be prosecuted by federal, not state, authorities if they illegally return. CDCR estimates an annual reduction in population of 271;
• Parole Reform.  Senate Bill xxx 18 creates summary parole that will reduce the churn and provide for better, targeted parole supervision of our most dangerous offenders by reducing parolee to agent case ratios from 70 to one to 45 to one. The measure is expected to reduce the prison population by 4,556;
• Enhanced Credit Earning.Senate Bill xxx 18 provides a number of credit-earning enhancement that will encourage the completion of rehabilitative programs. This measure is expected to reduce the population by 4,180 when fully implemented;
• Community Corrections.SB xxx 18provides for robust probation funding and thereby avoiding prison sentences for low-level offenders. This is expected to reduce population by 1,915 when fully implemented;
• Parole Reentry Courts.  SB xxx 18 will provide intensive monitoring for parole violators in the community rather than returning them to prison. Population reduction – 435 when fully implemented;
• Placed Additional Inmates Out-Of-State.  Total inmates out of state currently stand at approximately 8,000; 
• Fixed AB 900.  Recent legislation enables bonds to be sold so that funding and construction can start.  Prevailed in litigation that tried to stall construction. 

In addition to these reforms, the department’s plan to the court will include the following measures which it can implement administratively:

Administrative Changes

• Expand the existing out-of-state transfers by 2,500 inmates from the current 8,000 inmates already housed outside California;
• Convert three existing Community Correctional Facilities (CCF) to house either female inmates or higher level male inmates. This will reduce crowding by 800 inmates;
• Utilize authority to commute sentences of certain inmates eligible for deportation by the federal government. This will reduce the population by 600 annually;
• Increase use of GPS monitoring as an alternative to parole revocation and incarceration. This will reduce the population by 1,000 in the coming year.

The department’s plan also utilized new construction and/or renovation of existing facilities to meet the court’s demands. These include:

Infill Construction and Facility Conversions

• Build 930 beds at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano;
• Build 930 reception center beds at a to be determined existing site in Southern California;
• Build 1,896 beds at Wasco State Prison in Wasco;
• Convert Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino to house 1,800 adult males;
• Convert the former El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility in Paso Robles to provide 899 adult inmate beds;
• Convert a former juvenile facility in Northern California to supply about 1,133 beds. CDCR is working with the Receiver’s Office to identify the appropriate site.

Healthcare Projects

The following healthcare projects will be established though renovation and expansion of existing sites. They include:

• Establishing a Northern Consolidated Care Facility in Northern California to be selected among several sites. This facility would provide about 1,702 beds serving high acuity medical and mental health patients requiring specialized services;
• Renovating the existing infirmary at San Quentin State Prison to provide 41 medical and mental health beds, including a mental health crisis bed;
• Building a 50-bed mental health crisis facility at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo;
• Building additional treatment and office space to treat an additional 150 patients at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster;
• Building a 64-bed intermediate care facility to serve mental health patients at the California Medical Facility (CMF)  in Vacaville;
• Building office and treatment space at CMF to serve 658 Enhanced Outpatient Program patients;
• Building office and treatment space at California State Prison, Sacramento in Represa to serve 192 Enhanced Outpatient Program patients;
• Building 1,152 beds in the new Condemned Inmate Complex at San Quentin;
• Adding office and treatment space to serve 96 inmates at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad;
• Renovating existing housing at a yet-to-be determined existing site in Southern California to provide a 20-bed Psychiatric Unit;
• Adding office and treatment space to serve 99 Enhanced Outpatient Program patients at California State Prison, Corcoran;
• Adding a 50-bed crisis facility in Southern California,  at an existing site; and
• Building a new 45-bed intermediate care facility at existing Southern California site to serve mental health patients.

Reentry Projects

Pursuant to Assembly Bill 900, signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2007, CDCR will pursue the construction of 500-bed reentry facilities to house inmates who are within six to 12 months of being released. To date, 11 counties have agreed to locate a reentry facility to serve its county’s population. The first reentry facilities are being planned in Kern, Madera, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo and San Bernardino counties.

Additional Legislative Reforms

Although the reforms passed recently by the legislature are meaningful, more reforms will be sought. The following changes cannot be done administratively, and absent court waivers, require changes in the legislature. Combined, these legislative reforms below would reduce inmate population by 12,500. CDCR will seek the following legislative reforms:

• Eliminate the existing clause to end the out-of-state transfer program in 2011. In addition to increasing out-of-state capacity by 2,500 beds, the department believes this could increase out-of-state capacity by an additional 5,000 beds;
• Increase the property crimes threshold of grand theft to $950. Recent passage of SB 18 increased the dollar threshold for property crimes but left the grand theft threshold unchanged. If successful, this would reduce population by 2,700 in Fiscal Year 10/11;
• Establish alternative custody options for lower-risk offenders to serve the last 12-months of their sentence under house arrest with GPS monitoring. If approved, this would reduce the population by 2,400 in FY 10/11 and twice that the following year;
• Create a permanent, independent sentencing commission that would set sentencing guidelines annually;
• Accelerate AB 900 construction efforts. If approved by the legislature, CDCR will be able to expedite construction of new capacity, including new healthcare facilities.

The department will file its plan with the court late Friday evening, prior to the midnight deadline. The final filing documents will be available on the department’s web site at www.cdcr.ca.gov once it is officially filed with the court.