Evaluating Evidence-Based Initiatives to Reduce Recidivism in California: A Four-County Study

• In Event: Police, Prosecution, and Corrections: Issues in California’s Criminal Justice System

Abstract

In 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 109 and 117 to enable the state to close the revolving door of low-level inmates going in and out of state prisons. This was in response to the United States Supreme Court order for California to reduce the number of inmates in its 33 prisons to 137.5% of original design capacity. The law provides that individuals sentenced to non-serious, non-violent, or non-sex offenses will serve their sentences in county jails instead of state prisons, thereby shifting the responsibility for these offenders from the state to the different counties. The law directs the counties to use their allotted funding towards community-based programs that emphasize evidence-based practice principles in reducing recidivism. This study seeks to assess the effectiveness of theses programs in four counties in the Bay Area. With the United States Supreme Court giving California additional two years to reduce its prison population, the immediate identification of what works and what does not work in the state correctional system becomes imperative.

Author

• Monica Vedolla, Sonoma State University