Criminal
Jun. 15, 2006
San Diego Models a Plan for Parolees
SAN DIEGO - Hoping to end the return to prison by paroled nonviolent felons, San Diego County officials announced Tuesday a program to steer former inmates away from a life of crime.
Daily Journal Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO - Hoping to end the return to prison by paroled nonviolent felons, San Diego County officials announced Tuesday a program to steer former inmates away from a life of crime.
Under the program, the first of its kind in California, felons will receive education, vocational training and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse for up to 18 months after being paroled, officials said.
Senate Bill 618, passed last year, authorized the program, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the measure in October. Two more counties, not yet chosen, are expected to begin their own programs within a year.
Supervisor Greg Cox predicted the San Diego County program would become a model "not only for California, but for the nation."
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis began planning the multi-agency program almost as soon as she took office four years ago. Under the new law, the county's presiding judge, public defender, chief probation officer, sheriff and district attorney, with the help of 13 working groups, developed the program.
Vaughn L. Jeffery, chief of administrative services for the district attorney, said Donovan State Prison south of San Diego alone releases from 190 to 225 parolees a month into San Diego County. A total for parolees to San Diego County from all of the state's 32 prisons is not available, he said.
Within three years, 60 percent of those parolees are back in prison, Jeffery said. That is one of the highest rates of recidivism in the nation.
Cox said most of the state's 165,000 prisoners don't participate in prison-based education and treatment programs. According to a legislative analysis, only 25 percent of prisoners participate in educational or vocational programs.
But under the county's new program, a local assessment of the inmates needs and risks will be made after arrest and used to guide the prisoners' training after conviction. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is authorized, but not required, to fund assessments.
Once paroled, training and treatment will continue with the aid of community organizations and religious groups.
Cox said participation in the program will not reduce inmates' sentences or time on parole.
"They will serve each and every day of their sentence," the supervisor said.
Jeffery said the San Diego County program, approved Tuesday by unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors, will be taking in parolees at the rate of five a week by Oct. 1. In another two years, the program will be able to take 100 percent of parolees into the program, he said.
State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, wrote SB 618. California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the California District Attorneys Association and San Diego County supported the bill.
Cox said he hopes additional counties will be authorized to begin similar programs once San Diego County's effectiveness in reducing the number of repeat offenders is demonstrated.
Contact Claude Walbert at claude_walbert@dailyjournal.com.
David Houstonn
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