Prisoner Rehab makes a comeback

Project Proposed to Reduce Parolee Recidivism

by Martha Sadler

The state’s top prison official visited
the county this week at the request of outgoing Sheriff Jim
Anderson, to help promote a project that they hope will prepare
more felons to lead law-abiding lives after they are released back
into society. James Tilton, secretary of the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, dangled before county
supervisors the possibility of a full-immersion rehab program
backed up by a phalanx of new state parole officers. Ideally, the
state would also help fund the facility’s construction in
conjunction with a new North County jail — the jail that Anderson
talked about building throughout his recent, unsuccessful campaign
for reelection. Even though it would house state prisoners at the
end of their sentences, not people sentenced to county jail time,
the project would have the effect of reducing jail overcrowding
because convicts on their way to state prison are first housed in
the county jail. Tilton emphasized that the state prison facility
would be exclusively for convicts from Santa Barbara. Based on
other states’ experience, he estimated that such a facility would
reduce recidivism rates from 67 percent to — at best — 47 percent,
saving $7 in justice system costs for every $1 invested.

There are several hurdles to overcome before a prisoners’
rehabilitation facility becomes a reality. One is that the
legislature has yet to approve funding for any such project.