Realignment Challenges in San Diego County Jails Improving Long-Term Incarceration

Exercise opportunities, facilities, and equipment at county detention facilities need significant improvement. CONTACT VISITS In San Diego County Jails, “social visits are normally non-contact, conducted through a visit window using telephone handsets”, and “inmates are allowed two 30 minute social visits per week.”7 Only Las Colinas Women’s Detention and Reentry Facility (LCDRF) offers qualifying inmates the opportunity for contact visits with children, family, and friends (although male inmates may receive court-mandated Child Protective Service contact visits with their children). Common sense would suggest that, in a majority of cases, family provides the foundation for inmates’ emotional and financial support, and this is borne out by research. More studies have focused on prisons than on jails, and there is not yet post-Realignment data for San Diego County. Nevertheless, there is clear consensus that greater family contact and support increases inmate compliance and reduces recidivism.8 For example, a major study by the Minnesota Department of Corrections concludes, “Consistent with the results from prior research…prison visitation can significantly improve the transition offenders make from the institution to the community…The results also suggest that the more sources of social support an offender has, the lower the risk of recidivism.”9 The summary of several studies reviewed in Prison Legal News states, “Studies have consistently shown that prisoners who maintain close contact with their family members while incarcerated have better post-release outcomes and lower recidivism rates.”10 There is very little research comparing non-contact and contact visits, so the added benefits of meeting face to face must be inferred from several factors. First, in the Minnesota prisons study, in which most visits were contact visits, “Any visit reduced the risk of recidivism by thirteen percent for felony reconvictions and twenty-five percent for technical violation revocations…”11 Second, in 1974 (forty years ago!) the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals stated that corrections facilities should provide “…appropriate rooms for visitation that allow ease and informality of communication in a natural environment as free from institutional or custodial attributes as possible.”12 Third, California Penal Code §6400 requires any visitation policy to “recognize and consider” these factors: 7 www.sdsheriff.net/jailinfo/visiting.html 8 http://www.vera.org/files/the-family-and-recidivism.pdf 9 http://www.doc.state.mn.us/PAGES/files/large-files/Publications/11-11MNPrisonVisitationStudy.pdf 10www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2014/apr/15/lowering-recidivism-through-family-communication/ 11 http://www.doc.state.mn.us/PAGES/files/large-files/Publications/11-11MNPrisonVisitationStudy.pdf 12 http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031448056;view=1up;seq=92 5  The value of visiting as a means to improve the safety of prisons for both staff and inmates (emphasis added)  The important role of inmate visitation in establishing and maintaining a meaningful connection with family and community  The important role of inmate visitation in preparing an inmate for successful release and rehabilitation Fourth, our state prisons have made contact visits an integral part of correctional practice for decades. Grand Jury members who toured the Donovan Correctional Facility were told that Saturday and Sunday contact visits take place in rooms large enough for several dozen prisoners and visitors each, with two staff on duty, one in the room and one at the room’s entrance. The staff member leading the tour confirmed both the challenges (e.g., intercepting contraband) and the value (e.g., giving prisoners compelling reasons for compliance in prison and hope after release) of the current visitation policy. There are, of course, obstacles to adopting the state prisons’ visitation policy in county jails. One, with the exception of the two-year-old LCDRF, no county jail is constructed to facilitate contact visits. This was mentioned repeatedly by various jail administrators and staff. Contact visitation rooms would require significant repurposing and remodeling of jail space; Sheriff’s Department unappropriated AB109 funds (approximately $25,000,000) and the Inmate Welfare Fund (approximately $15,000,000) are potential sources of project funds. Two, contact visits require a myriad of changes in Sheriff’s Department practice, such as staffing, procedure, vetting inmates for visits, and contraband searches. Three, contact visits represent a major shift in Sheriff’s Department culture. The ongoing transition, from focusing on incarceration to focusing on rehabilitation, asks the entire department, particularly the front-line jail staff, to change their thinking as well as their actions. Specifically, according to LCDRF staff, overseeing contact visits requires a somewhat different attitude and skill set than usual. Four, Grand Jury members heard more than once that “women are different from men,” implying that contact visits would be more difficult to implement and supervise for male inmates, and perhaps even less effective. These obstacles, while real (leaving number four aside), can be surmounted with effort and commitment. The Sheriff’s Department staff’s oft-stated standard of adopting evidence-based practices leads logically to the conclusion that contact visits are an essential part of jail administration. And contact visits form an essential part of the county’s responsibility for humane incarceration. FACTS AND FINDINGS Fact: Only Las Colinas Women’s Detention and Reentry Facility offers qualifying inmates the opportunity for contact visits with children, family, and friends. Fact: Upon receipt of a court order by Child Protective Services, male inmates may receive face-to-face visits with their children. Fact: The Sheriff’s Department has stated that reducing recidivism is a fundamental goal. Fact: The Sheriff’s Department has committed itself to adopting evidence-based practices in order to reduce recidivism. Fact: Corrections-based research strongly suggests that close family connection decreases recidivism. Fact: With the exception of LCDRF, no county detention facility has space devoted to contact visits. Fact: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a long-standing, successful program of contact visits for qualifying inmates. Fact: The Sheriff’s Department has responsibility for the Inmate Welfare Fund (approximately $15,000,000), which must by law be used for inmates’ benefit, and unappropriated AB109 funds (approximately $25,000,000).

In the area of contact visits, the Sheriff’s Department is not following evidence-based practices to reduce recidivism.

Funds exist that could be devoted to remodeling and staffing jail facilities to make contact visits possible. CORRECTIONS BASED ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION A recent U.S. Department of Justice-funded RAND Corporation report, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education, analyzed more than 50 research studies.13 It reached the following conclusions:  Correctional education improves inmates' chances of not returning to prison. Inmates who participate in correctional education programs had 43 percent lower risk of recidivating than those who did not  Providing correctional education can be cost-effective in reducing recidivism  Those who participated in vocational training were 28% more likely to be employed post-release than those who did not  Inmates exposed to computer-assisted instruction learned slightly more in reading and substantially more in math in the same amount of instructional time 13 www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR200/RR266/RAND_RR266.appendixF.pdf 7  Online prison education programs were found to be cost-effective, with direct costs of $1400 to $1744 per inmate, $8700 to $$9700 less than re-incarceration costs per inmate  Prison inmates have a lower level of education than the general population14 Academic Education in San Diego County jails Correctional education in county jails concentrates on helping inmates finish high school (either a diploma or HiSET [formerly GED] test preparation), taught by instructors from the Grossmont Union High School District Adult School, and computer literacy15. An inmate may receive permission to take correspondence school classes, but as of now there is almost no post-high school instruction in the jails, either with teachers on-site or with computer-aided self-instruction. According to staff, the Sheriff’s Department is in discussion with Southwestern College to offer courses at South Bay detention centers. Online education, which reduces costs and, according to RAND, may facilitate faster and better comprehension, has become commonplace in K-12 schools, and in county juvenile detention facilities (overseen by the San Diego County Department of Probation, not the Sheriff’s Department). Online education could be implemented within the adult detention facilities, yet, when asked, facility staff stated that it would be too difficult to control access to inappropriate websites, even though the necessary screening software is widely available. Computer-based offline educational programs which allow inmates to work at their own pace are also widely available. Vocational Education The overall goal of vocational training is to reduce inmates’ risk of recidivism by teaching them marketable skills they can use to find and retain employment following release from jail. Vocational and technical training programs can also reduce institutional problem behavior by replacing inmates’ idle time with constructive work. In addition, some vocational training programs can assist in the operation of prisons by having inmates assist in institutional maintenance tasks.16 In the California state prison system, the Office of Correctional Education Programs offers Career Technical Education Programs in these fields: building trade and construction, finance and business, public service, manufacturing and product development, and transportation.17 (The most commonly reported trade certifications nationally were construction, occupational safety, plumbing or electrical apprenticeships, automotive service and welding.18) These programs comply with industry recognized certification. The training lasts three to six months for basic employment skills and six to 14 http://rand.org/news/press/08/22.html 15 Funded by the Inmate Welfare Fund for $3,711,242 in 2014-2015, with $1,367,463 in contract costs and $2,343,779 for county program staff. 16 http://jrc.sagepub.com/content/37/4/347.short 17 www.cdcr.ca.gov/rehabilitation.docs/ 18 http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html 8 twenty-four months for the development of more advanced skills.19 Each of the programs is targeted to provide a “living wage.”20 At East Mesa Reentry Facility, the following vocational skills are now taught: certificate programs in food handling, industrial laundry operations, and printing press operations; non-certificate programs in bicycle repair, park landscape maintenance, and building janitorial services (these last two involve county operations outside the jails). All these programs prepare inmates only for entry-level positions which fall short of a living wage. The following table shows a sample of Spring 2016 San Diego Community College Continuing Education Division certificate programs, with the number of course hours required and projected income on completion. Programs Total Hours Hours Per Week Income Per Hour Auto Technician 920 25 for 37 weeks $20 Web Server Technology 875 25 for 36 $31 HVAC (Heating/AC) 72 7 for 11 $17 Plumbing 120 7 for 18 $14 Welding 600 25 for 24 $19 Certification in any of these fields could allow inmates the opportunity to earn a living wage on release. The courses could be offered to inmates in jail for a minimum of a year. The part-time course format would allow inmates to participate in other programs. The courses offered should be dependent on inmate interests, available teaching staff, funding and job opportunities within the community. Clearly, there are neither funds nor space for every vocational program at every jail (the Otay Mesa campus, which already houses the East Mesa Reentry Facility, appears to have the most potential for expanding education). Online education, however, requires only a small area, and could be implemented more easily. Education forms an essential part of the county’s responsibility for humane incarceration. FACTS AND FINDINGS Fact: Incarcerated men and women generally have a lower level of education than the general population. Fact: Inmates who participate in vocational training are 28% more likely to find employment after release. 19 www.cdcr.ca.gov/rehabilitation.docs/ 20 The 2016 San Diego County living wage calculation for a single adult working full-time (2080 hours per year) is $12.72/hr, and for one adult with one child, $25.43/hr (http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06073). San Diego Continuing Education Class Schedule, Spring 2016 9 Fact: Inmates who participate in correctional education programs have a 43% lower chance of returning to prison. Fact: Computer-based self-paced learning costs less than traditional instruction and may be more effective. Fact: Online education is cost-effective compared with incarceration; software that prevents access to inappropriate web sites is available and in use in county juvenile detention facilities. Fact: Grossmont Union High School District Adult School currently has the contract to teach classes in the High School Equivalency Exam and Computer Literacy. Fact: The Sheriff’s Department is in discussion with Southwestern College to offer post- high school courses at South Bay detention centers. Fact: The county jails offer the following vocational training programs, which vary by facility: food preparation, laundry, printing, sewing, janitorial, landscaping, bicycle repair.

Academic education in county jails is geared to completion of high school, with almost no opportunity for post-high school coursework.

Vocational education in county jails is not geared to preparing inmates for living wage employment. STRATEGIC PLANNING Within months of the passage of AB109, the San Diego Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Executive Committee22 issued the Public Safety Realignment & Post- Release Community Supervision Preliminary 2011 Implementation Plan. It lists these Realignment Goals:  Efficiently use jail capacity  Incorporate reentry principles into in-custody programming  Incorporate evidence-based practices into supervision and case management of post release offenders; encourage the use of evidence-based practices in sentencing for felony offenders23 22 Members included the County Probation Officer, the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, the District Attorney, the Public Defender, the Sheriff, the Director of the Health and Human Services Agency, and the Chief of the Oceanside Police Department. 23p. 8. http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/probation/docs/CCP- SanDiegoPublicSafetyImplementationPlan.pdf.9.16.11.pdf 10 Sheriff’s staff has often referred to the 2011 Implementation Plan as their blueprint for dealing with Realignment. The CCP document, however, focuses on overarching principles rather than specific operational issues for individual departments. The County Probation Department, for example, produced its own strategic planning document quickly enough for it to be included in the Preliminary 2011 Implementation Plan.24 To date, the Sheriff’s Department has not constructed its own plan to give direction to its responsibilities. Such a plan could unify the Sheriff’s Department’s response to AB109. Further, it would help the Sheriff’s Department, in collaboration with the CCP, prioritize the county’s time, effort, and funds; incorporate evidence-based practices; and provide a solid foundation for the next several years of Realignment. FACTS AND FINDINGS Fact: In the past five years, to meet Realignment goals, the Sheriff’s Department has made significant efforts, including repurposing the East Mesa Reentry Facility, strengthening its Reentry Services Division, and collaborating within the CCP. Fact: The Sheriff’s Department has not created a Strategic Plan to implement AB109.

The Sheriff’s Department needs a document addressing Realignment in an integrated way that would coordinate custody, reentry, longer-term sentences and other issues.