Safety Net Access and Reintegration: Evidence from California’s Felony Drug Ban Repeal

• In Event: Bolstering the Safety Net at a Critical Moment: Policy and Programmatic Approaches to Successful Reentry

Abstract

Following release from correctional facilities, formerly incarcerated individuals encounter a complex web of pervasive and systemic barriers that severely impede their ability to achieve successful and stable community reintegration. A significant component of these historical barriers was the statutory prohibition on accessing core components of the social safety net. This study evaluates the consequences of California’s 2015 legislative action that repealed lifetime bans on receiving public assistance—specifically the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, known as CalFresh in California) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, known as CalWORKs)—for individuals with prior felony drug convictions. This policy was explicitly designed as a mechanism to strengthen the social safety net and provide a foundation for economic stability for this vulnerable population navigating the critical reentry period.

Our analysis utilizes a comprehensive, linked administrative dataset that merges detailed records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) with benefit application and receipt data from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), covering an extensive period from 2011 to 2020. This rich, longitudinal data allows for a robust assessment of outcomes both before and after the policy change. To isolate the causal effect of the policy repeal, we employ a difference-in-differences (DiD) research design. This methodology compares changes in outcomes over time for the treatment group—individuals convicted of drug felonies who were newly made eligible for benefits by the 2015 repeal—with changes in outcomes for a carefully selected comparison group—individuals convicted of non-drug felonies who were continuously eligible for SNAP and TANF throughout the study period.
Our research is structured to address two primary, interconnected policy questions:

1) Did the repeal of the lifetime ban lead to a measurable and statistically significant increase in benefit take-up and enrollment among the formerly incarcerated population with felony drug convictions?
2) Did enhanced access to these fundamental social safety net resources subsequently influence future contact with the criminal justice system, specifically affecting rates of re-arrest, re-conviction, and reincarceration (recidivism)?

The analytical approach proceeds in two stages. We first estimate a reduced form model, which measures the direct effect of the policy change (the ban repeal) on both overall benefit take-up and various measures of recidivism. Second, to move beyond the direct policy effect and estimate the treatment-on-the-treated effect—the causal impact of benefit receipt itself—we utilize the policy change as a powerful instrumental variable (IV) for benefit receipt. This IV approach allows us to estimate the causal effect of receiving safety net benefits on subsequent recidivism outcomes, overcoming potential endogeneity concerns inherent in simple observational comparisons.

Preliminary empirical findings indicate a strong first-stage effect, demonstrating that the legislative ban repeal significantly increased benefit enrollment among the newly eligible formerly incarcerated population. The final discussion will address implications for policy and practice. Ultimately, this research evaluates whether restoring access to the social safety net is an effective, evidence-based mechanism for facilitating successful reintegration and for reducing the risk of reincarceration during the challenging and high-risk period of reentry.

Authors

• Johanna Lacoe, University of California, Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Huizhi Gong, University of California, Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Co-Author