Have you ever thought about what happens to parolees once released from prison? Do you ever wonder if parolees can be rehabilitated? According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), research indicates that the prevalence of substance use disorders among those jail detainees with severe mental disorders have a seventy-two percent rate of co-occurring disorder. Of the 2.3 million individuals serving time in our federal and state prisons, and millions of people cycling through local jails every year, fifty percent have substance abuse issues and sixteen percent have mental health issues. Ninety-five percent of all offenders incarcerated today will eventually be released and will return to communities. What does this mean to me as a citizen?
For the past three years, Human Potential Consultants, LLC has been the only company out of Riverside County to provide Day Reporting Services (DRC) for Riverside County parole. The DRC is a program contracted through the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to provide services to assist parolees with transitioning back into society after release from prison and to promote public safety. The DRC for this fiscal year has served 568 parolees. Of those 568, 118 gained employment, 121 entered GED or Post Secondary Education, obtained residential stability, and successfully discharged parole; leaving 188 currently enrolled and a success rate of over 85 percent.
What if a program like DRC was eliminated? Currently, funding for the DRC is looking at being cut out of the state budget this June 30, 2011, which means the parolees receiving housing through DRC will be homeless and future parolees will be released straight into our communities without positive intervention and behavior modification services. What is CDCR without the R? The services offered at the DRC are a tremendous benefit for the community they serve and immediate action is needed by the community.
The DRC provides no cost services to parolees such as case management as well as offer classes that are mandated by parole for parolees to complete. These classes include:
- substance abuse education
- relapse prevention
- cognitive behavior therapy
- domestic violence
- anger management
- life skills
- coping skills
- victim empathy
- parenting and other classes
The DRC educates parolees how to change their thinking, encourages family reunification and accountability and taking responsibility for their behaviors, provides support and encouragement to parolees to make better positive choices and works with parolees to build up abilities and preparedness for employment. It’s about teaching and supporting human beings who have made poor choices in their past, who have paid their debt to society and who are in need of programs that will work on their level of education, skills, cognitive abilities. The DRC also assists with developing these areas of their lives into positive change and strengths by providing no cost housing, food, transportation, resources, and job readiness training to the parolees. Employment is the backbone of parolee success coinciding with behavior modification.
Please help keep the DRC active by writing to your local and state agencies (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html) and supporting programs that provide positive intervention to promote public safety. Direct correspondence can be made to: (http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php). Thank you.
Human Potential Consultants, LLC.
Day Reporting Center – Riverside www.hpcemployment.org
14315 Corporate Way #A-B
Moreno Valley, CA 90253
Tel: 951-653-1166
Fax: 951-653-1164