Summary

Across California, policymakers and voters are realizing that to nurture safe communities we need to invest in evidence-based interventions that prevent crime.Research shows that the correlation between crime rates and the number of people who are incarcerated is weak, and using incarceration to deter crime has diminishing returns. When people are exposed to jail and prison, it only increases recidivism — meaning more crime and then more imprisonment. Further, incarceration and hyper-criminalization have negative impacts on individual and community well-being.As this has become more and more evident, California voters and policymakers are reducing reliance on harsh punishment — including rolling back the Three Strikes law and approving Proposition 47 in 2014 and Propositions 57 and 64 in 2016 — and shifting more dollars and authority to California counties.

This report highlights Riverside County’s spending on community safety and presents cost-effective alternatives that promote health and safety.

We describe evidence-based practices that help people who are either involved in or at risk of being involved in the criminal justice system stay out.

• Some programs are embedded in the criminal justice system but subcontracted to behavioral health agencies or community-based organizations.
• Some programs operate outside of the criminal justice system.
• Some interventions are one specific part of a more complex program. We shed light on how Riverside County officials are spending funds for the populations at risk of criminal justice involvement.
• Riverside County has implemented some innovative programs through the Behavioral Health and Substance Use Treatment program at Riverside University Health Services, through community organization partners, and through probation and the sheriff’s department.
• At the same time, the County has chosen to build a new jail in Indio, and the largest part of the AB109 budget, at least, continues to be for the sheriff’s department, i.e., incarceration.
• Riverside County residents have signaled, by their voting on ballot initiatives, that they support a change in thinking regarding support for expansion of treatment and services over arrest and incarceration. Elected officials’ budget choices should better align with their constituents.

The County can adopt fair, humane, just, and effective ways to help people stay out of the criminal justice system by focusing on public health principles of harm reduction and preventive interventions. These programs and interventions already exist and are evidence based, and some are already being implemented in Riverside County.

As we continue our work toward a transformative vision of health equity and racial justice, we also continue to shift and evolve our own frameworks, language, and vision — especially with respect to our Health Instead of Punishment work. Because we know that to transform public health, we must be in a continuous process of transformation ourselves. Part of that process means reflecting on past work, and acknowledging shifts in our learning and language. Learn more about the evolution of our analysis and our current framework and thinking here.This resource is representative of an earlier stage in our journey. The research, data, and learnings here hold strong, but the report may include past frameworks, specifically regarding racial justice and the criminal legal system.View our latest work and framing here.