Prison Reform and Rehabilitation
A Seismic Shift in California Corrections
The historic prison agreement struck on April 25, 2007 by legislative leaders and Governor Schwarzenegger completes a major effort to reform California's prison system. This agreement represents a seismic shift in California's corrections system, moving away from a model of massive, remotely-located prisoner warehouses that breed more crime to smaller facilities with improved rehabilitation and community reentry programs designed to reduce crime and enhance public safety. It provides for the first and largest prison capital outlay program in decades.
Assembly Bill 900, also known as the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger May 3, 2007, and provides $7.7 billion to add 53,000 prison and jail beds in two phases and fundamentally shift how the CDCR approaches rehabilitation for California's prisoners. The effort now is to provide beds for treatment and rehabilitation, while at the same time, reducing the overcrowding that has made it difficult for the department to offer services because dayrooms and gyms are overflowing inmates.
- Assembly Bill 900 (pdf version)
- Background Information
- Secure Community Reentry Facilities
- In-fill Construction
- Strike Teams
- Expert Panel
- California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB)
- Notice of Public Hearings
- Prison Reform and Rehabilitation - Recent News
- Local Jail Funding - Corrections Standards Authority
- Housing Inmates Out of State
- In-Prison Rehabilitation Programs
- Innovative Santa Barbara Secure Reentry Program Video
Related Resources
- CDCR Progress and Accomplishments
- Governor Uses Executive Authority to Relieve Prison Overcrowding, Proclaims Emergency to Allow Inmate Transfer
- CDCR Releases Statewide RFI For Reentry Facilities
- Comprehensive Inmate Population, Rehabilitation and Housing Management Plan
- 2006 Special Session Reform Proposals
- Timeline on Activities Related To Prison Reform
- Prison Reform and Rehabilitation Media
- Prison Reform Archives
- Governor's Prison Reform Page