Employee rehabilitation programs

Each year, these prisons release tens of thousands of offenders into the community after serving their sentences. These programs include education and substance use disorder treatment. Rehabilitation programs are generally offered to offenders who are incarcerated in either state prison or county jail, as well as those who are supervised in the community by state parole agents or county probation officers. Below, we provide a general overview of the rehabilitation programs provided in state prisons and managed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation CDCR —the primary focus of this report.

Many California inmates reoffend after they are released from prison. The primary goal of rehabilitation programs is to reduce the level of recidivism.

Please see the nearby box for information on the different ways recidivism can be measured. Research has shown that eight factors are particularly significant in influencing future criminal activity.

For example, criminal thinking—meaning attitudes, values, or beliefs that can lead to an individual committing a criminal offense—is a significant factor. The eight different factors are summarized in Figure 1. Recidivism—the number of inmates that reoffend after release—can be measured in different ways. For example, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation CDCR currently measures recidivism based on the number of inmates who are convicted of a subsequent crime within three years of thei r release from state prison.

Alternatively, some organizations measure recidivism as the total number of offenders who return to prison. However, this calculation does not include offenders who were returned to jail. While there is no universally agreed upon method for measuring recidivism, various measures can help agencies understand the extent to which offenders remain involved with the criminal justice system following their release.

Research shows that rehabilitation programs can be designed to address these factors. If rehabilitation programs are successful at reducing recidivism, they not only can reduce crime but also can result in both direct and indirect fiscal benefits to the state. Direct fiscal benefits include reduced incarceration costs—as offenders will not return to prison—as well as reduced crime victim assistance costs.

Indirect benefits could include reduced costs for public assistance, as some offenders may receive job training that leads to employment, thereby reducing the level of public assistance needed. If rehabilitation programs are operated effectively, these benefits can exceed the costs of providing the programs and result in net fiscal benefits to the state.

Other Program Goals. In addition to reducing recidivism, rehabilitation programs can also serve other related goals, such as making it easier to safely manage the inmate population, improving overall inmate wellbeing, and improving inmate educational attainment.

These secondary goals can also result in direct and indirect fiscal benefits. As discussed in the nearby box, there are also various nonstate funded rehabilitation programs offered at prisons. These programs can be operated by CDCR employees, other governmental employees, private entities, or nonprofits. These categories are:. Programs Led by Inmates or Outside Organizations.

Inmates and outside organizations can operate rehabilitation programs with CDCR approval. Work assignments allow inmates to earn wages for jobs they perform within prisons, such as janitorial work or cooking meals.

It is funded primarily through the sale of the goods and services produced by the program. State law requires state agencies to purchase products and services offered by CalPIA whenever possible. Each year, CDCR is generally budgeted for a specific number of slots in its rehabilitation programs. Slots are generally defined as the number of inmates who could be enrolled for the full duration of the program in any given year.

The total number of inmates served in all programs over the course of the year does not match the number of slots provided for a couple reasons. First, as we discuss in greater detail later, not all rehabilitation program slots are utilized due to various factors, including a lack of teachers or programs being locked down for security concerns. Second, the same inmate can be enrolled in multiple slots at the same time, meaning the number of inmates actually served could be less than the number of slots.

In addition, it is possible that the number of inmates served in a year is greater than the number of slots. This is because some inmates leave programs before completing them. As shown in Figure 3, most of the funding for these programs is spent on academic and career technical education. Assessments Conducted to Determine Risk and Needs. At prisons with reception centers which receive inmates being admitted to CDCR inmates are evaluated to determine which prison would be most appropriate for the inmate to serve his or her sentence.

The department currently uses assessments to help determine which specific needs should be addressed and which inmates should receive priority when assigning inmates to rehabilitation programs. Specifically, CDCR uses the following two assessments:. A total of 44 p ercent of inmates met this definition as of January 31, Once the inmate is transferred from the reception center to the institution where he or she will be housed, the inmate meets with a CDCR correctional counselor to discuss the results of the risk and need assessments and whether the inmate is interested in particular rehabilitation programs.

This is because inmate participation in rehabilitation programs is generally optional with a couple of exceptions. For example, inmates with a low literacy score or inmates caught using illicit substances while in prison may be required to attend academic education or substance use disorder rehabilitation programs even if they are low risk. To make such decisions, the UCC typically considers various factors—including inmate risk, rehabilitative needs, and inmate interest.

If space is not immediately available, the inmate is placed on a waitlist. Given that many inmates have multiple needs, it is common for an inmate to be placed on multiple waitlists.

Priority is also generally given to inmates who will be released from prison earlier than others regardless of risk. CDCR is responsible for implementing and overseeing rehabilitation programs. The board does this by regularly collecting data, visiting programs, and making recommendations to address issues it identifies. These key principles are summarized in Figure 5 and discussed in more detail below. To be evidenced based, a program must be both of the following:.

It then estimated the potential fiscal benefits to state and local governments in Washington State if the programs were implemented with fidelity in Washington. WSIPP determined that certain programs such as SUDT had a significant amount of research showing that, if implemented with fidelity, they could potentially reduce recidivism enough to generate net fiscal benefits. However, the magnitude of such net savings would differ depending on various factors such as 1 h ow certain costs differ in California compared to Washington such as the cost of operating the prisons and rehabilitation programs and 2 t he extent to which California was implementing CTE programs with fidelity such as whether inmates receive industry certification upon completion of the program.

While being evidence based increases the likelihood that a rehabilitation program will reduce recidivism, the program itself still needs to be directly evaluated. Such an evaluation is necessary to determine 1 t he actual effect that the program has on recidivism and 2 i f the effect is significant enough to justify its continuation. Such a program evaluation is critical for two reasons. It is also important that the risk and need assessments used to classify inmates be validated whenever there is a significant change in the inmate population because the assessments were typically created using population information from prior years.

Validation is a process in which the assessment is tested to ensure that it is correctly classifying inmates. It is possible that assessments designed for inmate populations from prior years may no longer accurately categorize the current population. This is because CDCR 1 o ften falls short in adhering to the key principles for reducing recidivism, 2 d oes not effectively use all of its rehabilitation program slots, and 3 h as a flawed approach to measuring program performance.

Figure 7 p rovides a summary of our findings, which we discuss in more detail below. This suggests that these programs could potentially be successful at reducing recidivism in California as well. Without such an assessment, it is difficult to ensure that the programs are operating in a manner that maximizes a reduction in recidivism. For example, it is unclear whether the anger management programs are consistently employing the treatment techniques found to be effective elsewhere.

This raises questions about how effective the current programs are at reducing recidivism. This study found that inmates who participated in the CTE programs were around 3 p ercentage points less likely to recidivate than those who did not.

However, the assessment assumes that the CDCR programs will have the same effect on recidivism as the programs implemented elsewhere. Please see the nearby box for a more detailed description of the Results First Initiative and the limitations of its evaluation. The Results First Initiative will compare the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation CDCR rehabilitation programs—beginning with its substance use disorder programs—against an inventory of programs that have been evaluated elsewhere and shown to reduce recidivism.

It is currently unclear whether the risk and need assessments used by CDCR accurately classify its current inmate population. This means both assessments currently being used do not take into account the significant changes in the inmate population that have occurred in recent years—such as the r ealignment, which shifted responsibility for tens of thousands of lower level offenders to county jail and probation departments.

Moreover, CDCR does not currently have a policy requiring these assessments to be regularly revalidated to account for significant changes in the inmate population that may occur in the future. Some of the major changes include:. As mentioned previously, many inmates are on waitlists for rehabilitation programs.

Despite this, not all programs are fully enrolled—meaning many slots are vacant because CDCR has not assigned an inmate to fill them. Moreover, even in cases where inmates are enrolled in programs, they often do not attend classes every day the program is offered. For example, some prisons reported difficulty recruiting and retaining sufficient teachers for some programs. If inmates are not able to regularly attend their rehabilitation programs, they are less likely to be released with all their rehabilitative needs met, which makes them more likely to recidivate.

Lack of Sufficient Performance Metrics. Currently, the department collects some rehabilitation statistics—such as the number of hours offenders attend programs and the number of offenders who achieve certain educational benchmarks. Such metrics could help illustrate 1 h ow effectively the department uses state resources, 2 w hether inmates complete programs consistent with their needs, and 3 w hether the department should change how it operates its programs.

Misleading Metrics. In addition, some existing performance measures are misleading. We note that rehabilitation programs vary in length, such as from three months for some CBT programs to over a year for some CTE programs. Based on our review of the programs, as well as the key principles identified in existing research as being important to reducing recidivism, we identified several shortcomings with the programs.

Our specific recommendations are summarized in Figure 9 and discussed in greater detail below. The Legislature could eliminate funding for a program if CDCR is unable to show that program is research based within a specified timeframe. This would give CDCR time to identify or complete the necessary evaluations. As discussed previously, to be evidenced based, a program must be implemented with fidelity in addition to being researched based. This may offer unique challenges for the RC, which at times may differ from the rehabilitation process as utilized in other public or private settings.

However, while programmatic procedures may vary among delivery systems and organizations, the goals of vocational rehabilitation remain consistent across all practice settings: promotion of quality rehabilitation and return to work.

An injured Federal worker has a statutory obligation to cooperate with rehabilitation and placement efforts. Sanctions may be imposed upon those who obstruct or do not cooperate with this process. While the RC's counseling interventions must take into account the IW's interests as an important factor in the planning and decision making process, personal desire to pursue a particular training or occupation may not be outweighed by program requirements.

The RC is expected to deliver rehabilitation services in that manner. OWCP expects expeditious handling of cases assigned at every stage of the rehabilitation process. There may be cases that the RC feels would benefit from ongoing rehabilitation services; however, from a program standpoint, the case may need to be moved on to the next stage of the process or closed.

It is expected that the RC will support the decisions of the program and provide assistance with transitioning the case to the next phase. An RC may not use any Government affiliation for personal gain or for that of others, or use that affiliation in any manner to endorse a product service or enterprise. The mission of the OWCP is to protect the interests of workers who are injured or become ill on the job, their families and their employers by making timely, appropriate and accurate decisions on claims, providing prompt payment of benefits and helping IWs return to gainful employment as early as is feasible.

The OWCP administers four major disability compensation programs which provide wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation services and other benefits to certain workers or their dependents who have experienced a work-related injury or illness. The four programs administered by OWCP include the following:. The focus of this handbook is solely the Federal Employees' Compensation Program.

However, it should be noted that the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program does have a nurse program and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Program has a vocational rehabilitation program. The FECA provides workers' compensation coverage to nearly three million Federal and postal workers around the world for employment-related injuries and occupational diseases.

It covers all civilian Federal employees except for non-appropriated fund employees. Temporary employees are covered on the same basis as permanent employees.

Benefits include wage replacement, payment for medical care, and where necessary, medical and vocational rehabilitation assistance in returning to work. All FECA benefits are paid from the Employees' Compensation Fund, and then charged back to the Federal employing agencies through the budget process in a subsequent year.

Jurisdiction and Office Structure. There are 12 District Offices, each headed by a District Director, who is responsible for overseeing claims administration. District Office Staff. Supervisory Claims Examiners are responsible for the operation of individual claims units. Senior Claims Examiners and Claims Examiners CE are responsible for the adjudication, payment and management of claims. Case Adjudication. The FECA is not an insurance program or medical plan, but a Federal law that provides benefits and compensation for injured Federal employees during their recovery from a work-related incident.

The procedures related to claims adjudication and case management are specific to the implementation of the FECA and may vary from the management of private sector cases. Such condition must be caused by external force, including stress or strain, which is identifiable as to time and place of occurrence and member or function of the body affected. See 20 C. Burden of Proof. The OWCP will help the IW meet this responsibility by requesting evidence needed to establish these elements if such information is not included with the original submittal.

Each claim for traumatic injury or occupational disease must meet five requirements before OWCP can accept the claim. These requirements, which the employee must establish to meet his or her burden of proof, are as follows:. IWs remain in receipt of program benefits during the disability management phase of the injury, which includes nurse intervention and vocational rehabilitation.

The FECA is a complex mutli-faceted law. Exclusive Remedy. A Federal employee covered under the statute is not entitled to sue the United States or recover tort damages for such injury under any other law.

Proceedings under the FECA are non- adversarial. Medical Services. No limit is imposed on the total amount of medical expenses or the length of time for which they are paid as long as the charges represent the reasonable and customary fees for the services involved and the need for the treatment can be shown.

Most medical expenses are paid under a fee schedule. The provider must meet the definition of "physician" under the FECA which includes certain services provided by chiropractors and clinical psychologists and must not have been excluded from payment under the program.

Physicians employed by, or under contract to, the employing agency EA may examine the IW at the EA's facility, however, the IW's choice of physician must be honored and treatment by the IW's physician must not be delayed for the purpose of obtaining an EA directed medical examination.

Under 5 U. A statement signed by the claimant is required to establish the representative's appointment or subsequent dismissal and there can only be one authorized representative at any given time. Restoration Rights with the Federal Government. Section of the FECA provides civil service restoration rights to Federal employees who have recovered either fully or partially from an employment-related injury or illness, and who can perform the duties of their original job or its equivalent.

The EA must restore a permanent employee i.