Reform California's Punitive System and Empower a Rehabilitative One

If your car mechanic tells you there is a 40% chance of your car breaking down again right after they fixed it, you would call that a bad mechanic. Well, that mechanic is just like the California incarceration system. Getting out of jail only to come back has to be one of its most unproductive qualities. This is called recidivism: the tendency for someone to reoffend and reenter the incarceration system. Historically, California has had one of the highest mass incarceration and recidivism rates in the nation, at over 50%. However, under Governor Gavin Newsom, the recidivism rate has gone down to 40%. Although it is an optimistic statistic, how can we lower it further? The answer is easier than people think: it is simple to turn our punitive incarceration system into a rehabilitative one by expanding and uplifting our reentry programs. 

One of the biggest drivers of recidivism is the jail-to-homelessness pipeline. Without housing or financial stability, 70% of homeless individuals in California often end up in the incarceration system several times. Our system today lacks the resources to help unhoused individuals, pushing them into vulnerable positions. Indeed, homeless individuals are forced into a position where they rely on low-level crimes such as loitering and petty theft for survival, which leads them back to jail. When we look at this from a broader perspective, these people are essentially punished for being poor — a position that the system puts them in.

Many people view jail as an abhorrent place that should be avoided. However, this perspective is not shared by homeless individuals. For some, going to jail means a roof over their head and a bed to sleep on. In comparison to hostility on the streets, where they are vulnerable to assault and danger, jail is safe. So what does this mean? This means that unhoused individuals will sometimes deliberately commit low-level crimes so they can spend a night in jail. This system is so absurdly screwed up; in what society is being a criminal better than being poor? 

California’s incarceration system, including the county jails that are under it, needs some serious changes. This can start with what happens during the incarceration duration. Prisons and jail centers throughout California need to expand their reentry services and programs. This means expanding the already existing, but underfunded, education and employment programs within the incarceration system. With education and employment training, studies have found that people are significantly less likely to recidivate and more likely to successfully enter society. 

Furthermore, the incarceration system needs to look into adding more and expanding current cognitive behavioral therapy. A significant portion of California’s inmate population suffers from behavioral health disorders and/or substance abuse. When individuals are released without these issues addressed, they often relapse almost immediately. California needs to have continuity of care. Not only should individuals receive treatment during their incarceration, but there should also be a follow up after. This type of care includes ensuring that they pick up their necessary medication prescribed for their behavioral disorder. This is critical to the successful reentry of individuals. In fact, this kind of “warm handoff” is not thought of enough. In 1999, there was a man named Timothy Wakefield. After being released, there was no “warm handoff” and no case manager to ensure he picked up his release medication for his Organic Delusional Disorder. Eleven days later, he suffered from a violent outburst as a result of his untreated mental disorder, and consequently re-entered prison. Wakefield’s recidivism could have been avoided. It is vital that these inmates  receive the necessary health care and psychiatric treatment for their own welfare and for the safety of the community. 

One of the largest implications of recidivism, as mentioned earlier, is homelessness. Would it matter if prisons implement behavioral health or education programs if individuals just leave to go back to the streets again? This is an important quality to consider. Once again, with no housing, financial stability, assistance, people will often fall back into the same cycle. This is why the justice system should invest in a “warm handoff” reentry where individuals are provided with both continuity of care and immediate housing. 

However, something people do not consider enough is time. Oftentimes, the government tries to get away with the bare minimum. They offer homeless individuals temporary housing for a few days before kicking them out, as if they have already given enough grace. The government does not take into consideration how long the reentry process should be for individuals to be successfully integrated back into society. A few days of housing is not enough for them to get everything figured out. A few weeks of continued assistance after release is not enough. While reentry programs exist in California and have contributed to the shrinking recidivism rate, they simply are not doing enough — and can, quite frankly, do more.