PPIC: Fewer people leaving California prisons took part in programs after the pandemic

Fewer people leaving California prisons took part in education, employment and behavioral health programs after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted prison operations, according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California announced Oct. 15.

Sixty-one percent of people released in 2023 participated in any program, compared with 68% in 2019, found the report by PPIC's Heather Harris, Brandon Martin and Luciana Susanto. The drop came even as the prison population shrank and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation added more than 20,000 behavioral health program slots during the pandemic, the authors wrote.

When the pandemic hit, CDCR paused some programs and modified others, and both assessments to determine program need and classroom instruction stopped, according to PPIC's policy brief. From 2020 through 2023, about 5,000 fewer people per year were released than in 2019 or earlier, and those released had spent less time in prison because of delayed admissions and early releases.

Time in prison mattered more than lockdowns and modified programs, the researchers found. Participation for people serving less than a year fell 9 percentage points during the pandemic, while it rose 25 points for those who spent more than three years in prison. More than 80% of participants in closed-enrollment behavioral health and employment programs started more than six months after intake and more than six months before release, leaving little time for people on short stays.

Time in a single facility also mattered. During the pandemic, 16% of people who spent less than three months in a facility participated in any program, compared with 45% of those who spent three to six months and 65% of those who spent six to nine months, the brief said.

Low enrollment in education and Career Technical Education courses tracked with staff vacancies, which doubled over four years to 24% at the beginning of 2023, PPIC said. The share of people taking CTE rose 5 percentage points as more took computer technology courses, while participation in life-skills courses fell to 6% from 14%. Enrollment in substance use disorder programs rebounded in 2021 and stayed above pre-pandemic levels; about one in five people released before and during the pandemic received that treatment in prison.

The authors recommend that CDCR return to high assessment rates, explore collecting more information about people before they enter prison, speed placement into behavioral health and employment programs and identify effective shorter-term programs. If some programs could use open admissions like education courses, spaces could be reserved for people on short stays, they wrote.

Harris will present the findings and take questions at an online PPIC event on Tuesday, Nov. 10, the institute said.

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