Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Additional Licensing Exemptions Could Expand the Pool of Providers. CDCR could benefit from recruiting from a wider pool of applicants, particularly those from out of state that already hold licenses in their respective states.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Feb 23, 2026 - This unnecessarily limits the pool of potential applicants to people living or willing to relocate to California. If the state and court allowed tele ‑mental health providers to work outside of California, it could likely attract a much larger pool of qualified providers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - In addition, many prisons are in rural areas of the state with relatively small pools of individuals who are qualified to teach postsecondary courses. In particular, college administrators indicate they would offer more STEM courses but are limited due to lack of available faculty to teach those subjects.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913