NORCO, Calif. (AP) β A pilot program is providing to bring state-funded arts behind bars in the California prison system for the first time in years.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shifted $2.5 million to fund arts programs in more than a dozen prisons statewide for two years as part of a renewed emphasis on rehabilitation programs.
A 2011 law shifted responsibility for lower-level felons to county jails to reduce severe overcrowding in prisons.
As part of the overhaul, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has emphasized rehabilitation to reduce the re-offense rate for prisoners being released on parole.
A state prison study in the 1980s — when California had arts programs in its prisons — found a 27 percent reduction in re-offense rates for parolees who had participated in the arts behind bars.
