Report 2010-118 Recommendations and Responses in 2013-041

Report 2010-118: California Prison Industry Authority: It Can More Effectively Meet Its Goals of Maximizing Inmate Employment, Reducing Recidivism, and Remaining Self-Sufficient

Department Number of Years Reported As Not Fully Implemented Total Recommendations to Department Not Implemented After One Year Not Implemented as of 2012-041 Response Not Implemented as of Most Recent Response
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 2 3 3 3 1
California Prison Industry Authority 2 9 3 3 0

Recommendation To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

To improve the reliability of employment data contained in CalParole, Corrections should ensure that parole agents correctly follow procedures related to populating the data fields of and maintaining CalParole.

Response

On October 10, 2013, DAPO issued Policy 13-11, The Division of Adult Parole Operations Parole Data Nexus Policy (Attachment 3). The policy provides staff with procedures for use of the Parole Data Nexus (PDN), including the PPI, which is the data analysis component of the PDN. The policy directs DAPO Parole Supervisors and Managers to utilize the PPI data analysis tools to identify data trends and identify any discrepancies found in the CalParole data. Discrepancies in the CalParole data will be directly addressed with the staff responsible.

Recommendation To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

Supervisors of parole agents should conduct periodic reviews of parolee files to verify whether employment fields are completed appropriately and whether employment is documented adequately.

Response

On October 10, 2013, DAPO also issued Policy 13-12, Updating and Maintenance of Parolee Information in the CalParole Database (Attachment 4). The policy directs staff to ensure the accuracy of data entered into CalParole and places the responsibility for monitoring the integrity of the data on the Unit Supervisors through use of the PDN/PPI data analysis tools. The policy further details the procedures relative to data entry requirements for the employment fields to ensure appropriate data is captured. Emphasis again is placed on ensuring accuracy of the data in the CalParole database.

Recommendation To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

As Corrections prepares to move CalParole data into the Strategic Offender Management System (SOMS), it should modify existing employment-related fields and add to SOMS new fields that are currently not available in CalParole so that Corrections can minimize the opportunity for erroneous data entries and make employment data more reliable.

Response

In September 2013, OBIS was officially retired subsequent to the SOMS deployment.

An extensive training effort for all DAPO peace officer staff was initiated in May 2013, and completed in June 2013; and intensive sentence calculation training for all Case Records staff was completed in July 2013.

The SOMS external movements provisioning was deployed to all assigned support staff, Parole Agent (PA) II (Supervisors), PA IIIs, and Parole Administrators; therefore, DAPO staff now utilize SOMS for all data entries related to external movements, and re-calculation of sentence data for dead time loss and revocation.

The SOMS project is currently in the conceptual design phase, identifying whether the key data elements are contained in SOMS for initiating the process of terminating the CalParole database system, and migrating all of the data and functionality from CalParole into SOMS. Contracts have been negotiated and are in place for the SOMS integrator to complete the necessary modifications to SOMS, to include the enhancements to the employment data fields, with the anticipation that all CalParole functions will be fully integrated and functional within SOMS by December 31, 2014.

Recommendation To: Prison Industry Authority

To ensure that it has a uniform set of inmate assignment standards, CALPIA should continue its efforts to issue regulations and complete the amendment of Corrections' operations manual. It should then work with Corrections to implement the changes to the inmate assignment criteria and the assignment process when the regulations take effect.

Response

In April 2013, the CALPIA Inmate work/Training and Education Regulations submitted to OAL were approved and can be referenced in 15 CCR 8004, 8006, 8007, and 8008. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has implemented the policy and it is contained in their operating manual section 51121.1.

Recommendation To: Prison Industry Authority

CALPIA should maintain the source documentation used in calculating the savings it brings to the State as well as ensure that an adequate secondary review of its calculation occurs.

Response

CALPIA has an ISO approved work instruction used in calculating the savings it brings to the State of California. The document received an interagency review before it was finalized and is now referenced in our Quality Management System as document EXE-W001. Pursuant to ISO procedures, the calculation contained in this document is checked by CALPIA's external auditor.

Recommendation To: Prison Industry Authority

It should also qualify its savings by stating that employment at CALPIA enterprises may be just one of several factors that contribute to the lower recidivism of its inmates.

Response

On page 5 of its Fiscal Year 2011-12 Report to the Legislature published on February 1, 2013, under the heading, CALPIA Reduces Recidivism, Saves Money, and Increases Public and Prison Safety, CALPIA wrote, "Although there may be other relevant factors that contribute to lowering recidivism, CALPIA participants are significantly more likely to become productive citizens ..."

Current Status of Recommendations

All Recommendations in 2013-041