California Prison Programs and Reentry Pathways

Employment programs and prison work show promise for boosting employment after release and lowering recidivism (Hess and Turner 2021; Nur and Nguyen 2022). In their recent evaluation of Prison Industry Authority (PIA) programs in California, James Hess and Susan Turner (2021) found that individuals within the program who received career technical education, as compared to those who did not, were 15 percentage points less likely to be rearrested (35% vs. 47%) and 6 percentage points less likely to be reconvicted (15% vs. 21%) within three years.

CDCR's other employment programs have not been evaluated. The Office of Correctional Education (OCE) oversees career technical education (CTE) programs, which are independent of PIA, and a job readiness program called Transitions. The Cal-ID program, which the Office of Program Operations (OPO) oversees, also falls in this area. Additionally, in future work we will examine prison jobs or work assignments, which are administered by the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI), and described in Technical Appendix F.

Transitions

Transitions is a bespoke job readiness program designed to prepare prisoners for community reentry by teaching them how to find jobs, hold jobs, and manage their money. In modules related to finding jobs, students learn to understand their work preferences, identify employment opportunities, and effectively present themselves and their skills to potential employers. Modules related to money management focus on budgeting, saving, and understanding current credit and banking services. Participation in Transitions is limited to those close to their release dates and who have a medium-to-high employment need.

Career Technical Education

CTE programs aim to provide prisoners with training that increases their chances of securing skilled jobs that pay a living wage after prison. The department offers programs that provide imprisoned students with opportunities to earn industry-recognized certificates, which can lead to apprenticeships and entry-level positions within their field upon release. CDCR offers programs in six career sectors (building and construction trades, energy and utilities, business and finance, public service, manufacturing and product development, and transportation). Through 2019, there were no eligibility requirements for CTE enrollment.

CAL-ID

Employment and housing "are nearly impossible to obtain" without an official form of identification (NRRC 2016: 2). Assembly Bill 2308 (2014) which created the Cal-ID program, tasked CDCR and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with providing valid identification cards to "all eligible" released people. Original eligibility criteria included having had a California driver's license or ID card in the past; having a picture on file with the DMV that was taken within 10 years of release; having no outstanding fees; and being able to provide a verifiable full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and evidence of presence in the United States. Several subsequently enacted bills incrementally expanded eligibility and reduced fees associated with ID provision.

Availability of Employment Programs

Between 2015 and 2019, opportunities for prisoners to participate in employment programs expanded. However, employment programs expanded in different ways due to the nature of the programs: some became more widely available, budgeted capacity increased for some, and some expanded in both ways.

Transitions is a standalone program, which expanded when an administrative shift affected who operated the program and where it was offered. Before 2016, the Division of Rehabilitative Programs (DRP) contracted with multiple external organizations to provide the Transitions program, which was available only in select prisons. Thereafter, OCE assumed responsibility for providing the program, updated the curriculum, and began expanding to all prisons. By 2019, Transitions programs were available in all prisons. Accordingly, the budgeted capacity for Transitions programs exploded from 2,400 slots in 2014 to more than 20,000 in 2019.

The Cal-ID program is also a standalone program. Like Transitions, it was rolled out across prisons during this period. However, the Cal-ID program is not constrained by capacity because "participation" is an application process, not an instructional program.

Career technical education is an umbrella term that captures 18 instructional programs. Though some courses are widely available, others are limited to prisons with facilities to accommodate them (see Technical Appendix Figure E1). Between 2014 and 2019, the budgeted capacity for CTE programs increased 30 percent from roughly 8,500 to nearly 11,000 slots, as shown in Figure 17 (C-ROB 2015, 2019).

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