Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Sacramento Bee: (opinion-editorial) Restructuring Corrections Saves State $

Viewpoints: Restructuring corrections would save state money

Published: Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 15A
The inspector general of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department recently released a report on the impact of the proposed "realignment" of state correctional services, and the need to fully reform our prison system.

Over the last several years, the two of us have been part of a larger group of concerned citizens who have lobbied to no avail for serious changes in the leadership and the mission of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. We have been stalled and rebuffed at virtually every turn while the corrections department's budget grew and problems in our communities continued to mount.

CDCR allows inmates to be paroled back to their communities totally unprepared. The parolees have no marketable job skills, they often still have drug and alcohol problems, they still need help with anger and frustration management, and once home, they quickly return to the only life they know – crime. We have to break this cycle before it breaks us.

We don't believe that a simple realignment of parole services by placing these responsibilities on the backs of the counties is either fair or realistic. We have to return law-abiding potential taxpayers to our counties, not continuing tax users – it just makes sense.

In response to the emergence of the realignment issue and its potential impact on our area, the inspector general, Lee Dean, has produced an excellent blueprint for the overhaul of CDCR. We had considerable input into this document, have reviewed it and fully support its conclusions. We must do the following:

• Overhaul CDCR and the entire parole system. Cost savings from just the parole changes should reach more than $500 million a year. Part of these savings could be passed on to California's already strapped counties.

• Train inmates in a livable wage job skill, starting while they are still "inside," and finishing when they're "outside."

• Use simple vocational training modules that can easily be replicated across all of California's counties.

• Downsize CDCR substantially, modify its mission and replace its top management – continuing with the same managers risks a continuation in the same direction. Unfortunately we now have neither the time nor the money to do this.

We plan to present this plan to both the Legislature and local officials for their endorsement. Gov. Jerry Brown asked for suggestions, and while the governor should be commended for his efforts to try to resolve our budget shortfall, now is the time to restructure this department and save California a massive amount of tax money as the plan is implemented.

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