The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Such a report could help inform legislative decision-making on how such workload could be supported in the future. Use Framework to Inform Future Actions. The Legislature could use the DOJ framework to inform its future actions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - For example, in court documents, CDCR estimated that the staff fill rate for ICF and APP beds in June would have been 98  percent for psychiatrists (instead of 81  percent), 73  percent for psychologists (instead of 52  percent), 105  percent for social workers (instead of 82  percent), and 127  percent for recreational therapists (instead of 101  percent) had all 249  inpatient beds been deactivated that month.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 23, 2026 - The Governor proposes $91  million General Fund in 2026 ‑27 and ongoing to pay for the compensable leave cashed out by separating employees. CDCR reports that from 2020 ‑21 to 2024 ‑25, it paid about $130  million annually on average in these payments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care [Publication Details]

Feb 23, 2026 - For over three decades, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has faced litigation for providing unconstitutional levels of prison mental health care, in part due to chronic vacancies among mental health staff.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - In combination, as shown in Figure  3 , it makes it likely that at least $21  billion could be needed to complete the list of 80 projects. These costs will likely continue to increase over time due to inflation and various other factors.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113