In summary California lacks a comprehensive strategy to assist prisoners released during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving them and their communities vulnerable. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently vetoed Senate Bill 369 , which would have created a commission to study prisoner reentry amid COVID-19. The bill could have addressed the urgent need to determine how to promote successful reentry during a public health emergency accompanied by a weak labor market.
Currently, California lacks a comprehensive strategy to assist prisoners released during the pandemic , leaving them and their communities vulnerable to these unprecedented challenges. As the authors of a recent book on prisoner reentry, we understand the challenges formerly incarcerated people face and can recommend policies to help them succeed. We studied 1,300 young men released from prison in Michigan, tracing their trajectories into adulthood over 10 years by examining their housing, employment, education, social support and criminal justice outcomes.
Like those leaving California prisons today, these young men faced high unemployment rates and overwhelmed social services. The push to facilitate prisoners’ reentry comes at a crucial time in California. The prison population has fallen by more than 21,000 inmates since March. Continued overcrowding in 21 of 36 […]
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