SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will be awarding a fifth round of grants meant to enhance innovative programs in California state prisons.
“Rehabilitative programs have proven to help decrease recidivism and increase the safety of our prisons and the public,” CDCR Acting Secretary Ralph Diaz said. “We aim to continue to develop these innovative programs in order to provide offenders with skills and tools necessary to successfully return home.”
The Innovative Grant Program is intended for rehabilitative programs that have demonstrated success and focus on offender responsibility and restorative justice principles.
In previous years, funds were awarded only to organizations already providing programs in CDCR institutions. Eligibility is now open to nonprofits that provide programs in any adult correctional institution setting. This includes state and federal prisons and county jails. In addition, programs previously funded through the IGP can now reapply for funds to continue to cultivate rehabilitative efforts within institutions.
IGP began in 2015, when CDCR awarded $2.5 million in one-year grants to expand existing programs to new institutions. Now in its fifth cycle, CDCR will award a total of $12 million in grants over the course of three years. The funding comes directly from the Inmate Welfare Fund, a trust where all proceeds from institutional canteen and hobby shop sales are deposited and spent for the benefit of inmates, including on education and welfare.
Every grantee is required to do a pre- and post-program assessment using operational measures that will be determined by the CDCR Division of Rehabilitative Programs, based on the program’s intent and scope. Measures may include incident reduction, attendance, participant progress and increased interest in participation.
The due date for applications is 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 29, 2018.
For more information about IGP, please visit https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/rehabilitation/grants/
For more information about the application process, please visit innovativegrants@cdcr.ca.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 28, 2018
Contact: OPEC (916) 445-4950
###