“Catch-and-Release” System Criticized
for Lack of Rehabilitation, Reentry Programs

By Victor Merina

With some Californians alarmed over the planned early release of thousands of nonviolent inmates, the former head of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said she is more troubled by the routine release of violent inmates who lack the educational and job skills to safely – and successfully – reenter the everyday world.

Among 10,000 inmates released each month are many who have committed serious crimes and who have not been involved in any treatment regimen or other programs in prison to improve their success upon parole, said former prison director Jeanne Woodford, now chief adult probation officer for the City and County of San Francisco.

Because of the lack of meaningful rehabilitation programs, Woodford said, some describe the criminal justice process as a “catch-and-release” system.

Those being set free, Woodford said, “are not educated. Many are mentally ill, and many more have health care issues that will not be addressed upon parole.” Further, she said, “few have the education or job skills to be successful. They return to fragile communities and families that are often re-victimized.”

Woodford’s comments came Wednesday as she addressed the second-day audience at a conference organized by USC Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism (IJJ) entitled, “A 21st Century Criminal Justice System for Los Angeles: A Look at the Present, a Model for the Future and a Blueprint for Media Coverage.”

In a sweeping look at the local and state criminal justice system, the attendees on Wednesday heard from representatives from the Sheriff’s Department, the County Probation Department, the Public Defender’s office, community organizations and former State Senator and Assemblyman Tom Hayden, as well as a statewide corrections official.

David De Luz, a corrections department chief regional liaison official, said he works with various agencies and organizations on the reentry issue and 20 grant programs or pilot projects, including a half-dozen in Los Angeles, are planned or under way.

De Luz agreed with Woodford that the hurdles to fix a criminal justice system with a 70 percent recidivism rate have been both political and financial. “There is an issue of politics and money,” said De Luz. “One of the big issues is that we haven’t been able to carve out the money to do these kinds of pilot projects.”

When De Luz said his department is spending as much as $52 million for reentry programs, IJJ Senior Fellow Joe Domanick, who was moderating the discussion, questioned whether such an expenditure was sufficient, given the importance of reentry when compared to the department’s $10 billion annual budget.

“Very shortly the state of California will be spending more on its correction system, that is, its prison and parole system, than its spending on higher education,” said Domanick, “and we still have a 70 percent recidivism rate.”

With the state facing a $14.5 billion budget deficit over the next 18 months, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced plans earlier this month to release more than 22,000 nonviolent offenders as much as 20 months early over the next year and a half.

Woodford, who was appointed by Schwarznegger to head California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said she received calls from people worried about the early release. But she dismissed those concerns. She said the state had to come to terms with “the cost of our ineffective criminal justice policies,” which has proved expensive in fiscal terms – with the corrections department estimating the annual cost of housing an inmate at almost $44,000 a year – and in social costs to families, neighborhoods and communities.

Meanwhile, she said the lack of adequate reentry services to help inmates cope with housing, jobs, substance abuse and community issues has jeopardized their chances of staying out of prison.

Vivian Brown, the president and chief executive officer of Prototypes, a nonprofit organization that provides health, mental health and social services, echoed Woodford’s description of a criminal justice system that has failed both inmates trying to regain their footing in the community and their families, who must cope with a sometimes-unsettling reunion.

“I think the system is broken,” Brown said. “There are good people working in the criminal justice system, but the system needs to be changed and transformed.”

California has the largest prison system in the country with more than 300,000 inmates and parolees. Many of those in prison are parole violators, said Woodford, who added that six out of 10 state prisoners are parole violators serving an average of 4.5 months.
But many among the 10,000 inmates who leave the prison monthly after finishing their sentences – including violent offenders – will depart with little, if any, involvement in reentry services.

To help turn things around, Woodford recommended reforming prison sentences so that they are based on the identified needs of inmates. Violent offenders should be required to participate in treatment and other programs to change their behavior and improve outcomes, she said. Woodford also recommended parole reform with the focus on those offenders who are a danger to others, and she underscored the need for reentry councils and roundtables that will bring together workers in the criminal justice system, inmates, their families and other stakeholders.

In a panel aimed at breaking down “criminal justice silos,” speakers pushed for interagency task forces to delve into the reentry problem and called for increased cooperation among those involved in the justice system.

Earlier, Michael P. Judge, Los Angeles County’s chief public defender, won praise for encouraging his staff to go beyond conventional duties and consider innovative approaches in promoting reentry services.

“When people get out, they’re not prepared to cope and since that hasn’t worked,” Judge said, “it’s time to start turning that ship around and start embracing the idea of equipping these people to succeed when they get out. The earlier the intervention is, the better.”

Judge cited the successful launching of the Second Chance Women’s Reentry Court, the first of its kind in Los Angeles. The pilot program is designed as an alternative to sending woman on probation back to prison for violating parole or committing a new crime. The goal is to divert women to programs with comprehensive counseling, job training and education services.

The pilot program received state funding after it was proposed by an inter-agency group that had conferred regularly in meetings facilitated by Domanick at Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism offices.

Kimberly Wong, legislative and policy advisor to the Public Defender in Los Angeles County, was among individuals in various agencies who put together the Reentry Court program.

“I think that everybody that’s here today really is looking at ways that we at the local level can implement specific policies to make a difference in the lives of individuals who come into contact with us in the criminal justice system,” Wong said, particularly those who “are at risk and who need treatment and intervention.”

From the audience, there was one questioner who urged panelists, especially those with their fingers on the purse strings, not to forget about nonprofit organizations that provide reentry services.

Winnie Wechsler, California regional director for Phoenix House, said her organization in the San Fernando Valley provides residential treatment for youths. Like many similar groups, she said, her organization is underfunded, and she asked panelists to look beyond the dollar signs and determine how wisely the money is spent.

“There is a whole process that also needs to be discussed aside from just authorizing funds,” said Wechsler. She added that officials should find ways to implement programs “in a logical way so that nonprofit providers who are committed to helping provide part of the solution can do so.”

The conference, which concludes Thursday, is funded in part by a grant from The California Wellness Foundation.

Merina, the author of this article, is a senior fellow for USC Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism.