By Suzanne Potter Reporter/Producer, California News Service, a bureau of Public News Service.
Programs intended to reduce the chances that someone will end up back behind bars are working, according to a new analysis of California state data.
A new report finds that people who participated in a social program funded by Proposition 47 had a recidivism rate of 15.3%. That compares with 35% to 45% for people traditionally incarcerated by the State Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
The California Board of State and Community Corrections produced the report. Linda Penner is the board chair.
“These results indicate that Prop 47 is delivering the results voters wanted: safer communities where individuals who commit low-level crimes are directed to housing, employment, mental-health and substance-use services instead of prison,” she said.
Proposition 47 passed in 2014. It raised the threshold for a theft to qualify as a felony. That change lowered the number of people getting jail time. It has saved the state $800 million in incarceration costs. Those savings were reinvested in social programs that help people with crime-related offenses get back on their feet.
SHIELDS For Families Inc. South Los Angeles
SHIELDS For Families Inc. is a nonprofit social services organization in South Los Angeles. Saun Hough, the vocational services administrator, applauds the focus on crime prevention.
“… attacking some of the root causes of crime… keep people from feeling like they have no other choice but to go back to crime or to commit crime…” Hough explained.
Also, the analysis found that 60% of people experiencing homelessness who make it through one of the social programs end up finding a stable place to live.
