5225 Corrections and Rehabilitation
Major Program Changes
  • Adult Inmate and Parolee Population-The average daily inmate population is projected to decrease from 168,628 in 2009-10 to 168,461 in 2010-11, a decrease of 167 inmates, or 0.1 percent. The decrease in the adult inmate population is primarily due to a decrease in new admissions from the court. The average daily parolee population is projected to decrease from 118,371 in 2009-10 to 118,342 in 2010-11, a decrease of 29 parolees, or 0.03 percent. The slight decrease in the adult parole population is primarily due to a decrease in the number of discharges from prison onto parole. The fiscal impact of the change in population in 2009-10 is an increase of $13 million General Fund and an increase of $13,000 other funds. In 2010-11 the fiscal impact is an increase of $176.2 million General Fund and a decrease of $170,000 other funds.

  • Juvenile Institution and Parolee Population-The average daily ward population is projected to decrease by 13 in 2009-10 and 11 in 2010-11 primarily due to fewer juvenile court first admissions. The average daily juvenile parole population is projected to decrease by 20 in 2009-10 and 299 in 2010-11 primarily due to fewer releases to parole. The fiscal impact of the changes in population, the closure of the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility, and the use of new staffing ratios prescribed in the Business Model is an increase of $205,000 General Fund and a decrease of $2.2 million Proposition 98 General Fund in 2009-10 and a decrease of $16.2 million General Fund and a decrease of $4.8 million Proposition 98 General Fund in 2010-11.

  • Revised Savings Estimates-An increase of $613.1 million in 2009-10 and $359.2 million General Fund in 2010 11 to reflect revised savings estimates associated with prison reforms assumed in the 2009 Budget Act. The Administration proposed reforms that would have achieved an estimated $1.18 billion in savings. The savings were included in the Budget Act, but not all of the statutory changes necessary to achieve those savings were subsequently enacted by the Legislature. In addition, the legislation that was enacted was passed later in the year than the savings estimates had assumed. The delay in passage of the legislation resulted in the loss of $119.7 million in 2009-10, while another $265 million for 2009-10 and $130.8 million in 2010-11 were lost because some proposals that were implemented will not achieve the full amount of estimated savings. The remainder of the savings loss, $228.4 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11, is due to the lack of statutory changes that would have been necessary for their implementation.

  • Jail Time Instead of Prison for Specified Felonies-A decrease of $291.6 million related to proposed statutory changes that would modify sentencing for specified nonserious, nonviolent, non-sex offenses, including but not limited to drug possession, drug possession for sale, grand theft, and auto theft, to make them year and a day felonies punishable by imprisonment in local jails only.

  • Juvenile Offender Population Reform-The Budget includes a decrease of $41.3 million General Fund and $6.7 million Proposition 98 General Fund related to proposed statutory changes to reduce the juvenile offender population by restricting the age of jurisdiction to 21, transferring eligible offenders to adult institutions, and limiting time adds.

  • Receiver Contract Medical -The Budget proposes an increase of $407.9 million in 2009-10 and $208.9 million in 2010-11 to account for contract medical expenditures. Contract medical costs include contracted physician services provided within the institution, specialty care provided outside the institution, community hospital services, nursing and pharmacy registry usage, private ambulance transportation, and laboratory and x-ray services.

  • Receiver Turnaround Plan-The Budget proposes an increase of $111.2 million in 2009-10 and $323.3 million in 2010-11 for resources to implement various portions of the Receiver's court approved Turnaround Plan. These projects include activities intended to remediate deficiencies in the medical program by providing additional nursing resources, improving the medical programs information technology infrastructure and establishing basic medical records system.

  • Mental Health Staffing Ratios-The Budget includes an increase of $9.8 million in 2010-11 for additional staff for the mental health services program based on the revised staffing model.

  • Reduce Funding for Medical Services Program-A decrease of $811 million General Fund to the Receiver's Medical Services Program budget to reduce per-inmate medical costs to a level comparable to other correctional health care programs. Currently, New York spends approximately $5,757 per inmate on health care, Pennsylvania approximately $4,418, and Florida approximately $4,720. This reduction will bring California's per inmate medical costs in line with New York's costs and can be achieved without adversely impacting inmate care through a combination of measures including: reducing inmate over-utilization of the medical services program, reducing clinician salaries, reducing unnecessary referrals to outside providers and clinical specialists, increasing the utilization of telemedicine, reducing the ratio of clinical staff to inmates to levels comparable to other states, and reevaluating the classifications that provide medical services. Furthermore, other states have implemented more efficient correctional health care models that have enabled them to maintain lower costs than California. For example, Pennsylvania contracts for medical, psychiatric and pharmacy services, but utilizes civil servants for nursing, psychology and administrative services. Texas has a major contract with the University of Texas Medical Branch, Oregon utilizes state employees for practitioners but contracts with a third-party administrator, whereas Indiana contracts for all inmate medical services. The state will explore these and other alternative models as a means to provide appropriate inmate medical care in the most cost effective manner possible.