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May 21, 2002 - Reducing losses due to rural crimes poses a significant challenge to policymakers and criminal justice officials. The Rural Crime Prevention program has had mixed results. Should the Legislature decide to reauthorize the program, we recommend steps to more effectively target it, and to improve data collection.
May 15, 2002 - Much of the data being reported to the Legislature and the public regarding crimes on school campuses is of questionable use for the development of effective policies for crime prevention and thus is not serving the legislative intent behind the school crime reporting system. We recommend budget bill language to correct this problem.
February 20, 2002 - The California Department of Corrections has had several consecutive years of budget deficiencies. Although some significant efforts have been made to control spending, there continue to be ongoing budget problems that will likely result in significant General Fund deficiencies in the current and budget years.
February 20, 2002 - We recommend the enactment of legislation to adjust the Youth Authority's sliding scale fees annually to account for the effects of inflation. We estimate that this would generate $9 million in savings in 2002-03.
February 20, 2002 - The decline in the female inmate population provides the state the opportunity to close one of the women's prisons. We recommend that the California Department of Corrections report at budget hearings on the feasibility, costs, and benefits of closing the Northern California Women's Facility.
December 14, 2000 - We outline the implementation issues and challenges with regard to Proposition 36, the "Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000." We also make several recommendations. In our view, planning must begin now in order to ensure the effective implementation of the measure.
August 24, 2000 - The rising costs of operating the criminal justice system have prompted policymakers to consider directing resources toward crime prevention programs. We identify several problems with the state's existing crime prevention programs and recommend several actions the Legislature can take to increase the effectiveness of state crime prevention spending.
February 17, 2000 - The state's prisons now hold far more mentally ill offenders than its state mental hospitals. Additionally, an increasing number of inmates with severe mental disorders are being released to the community to an inadequate patchwork of supervision, treatment services, and assistance. We discuss several initiatives in the Governor's budget plan aimed at keeping the mentally ill out of the criminal justice system and suggest a more comprehensive approach for addressing these complex problems.
October 23, 1999 - (1) Although the growth in the prison population has slowed in recent years, the second- and third-strike population continues to grow substantially. This growth will have implications for the costs, operation, and security needs of the prison system. (2) Strong current revenue trends suggest that revenues in 1999-00 will exceed the budget estimate, potentially by a substantial margin.. (Cal Update)
February 16, 1999 - Youth Authority Fees Charged to Counties