Brave New Model for Inside/Outside Success?
At present, inmates released from California state prisons get $300 “gate” money, out of which they must buy their bus ticket home, and somehow exist until they can find employment. Not suprisingly, most don't succeed. Parole policy experts have long said that the lack of reentry programs, combined with the dearth of rehab programs inside prison, has much to do with the state’s stratospheric recidivism rate. This October, however, California aims to launch an ambitious pilot reentry program that features intensive case management inside prison that continues as inmates transition into the community. If successful the San Diego County-based model is likely to be replicated in other areas of the state. ED MENDEL for the San Diego Union