Davis / 1 Senator Ward

S.R._____

A BILL
To have a required number of rehabilitation hours provided for all current incarcerates including both federal and state
prisoners and an increase in rehabilitation services funding.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Required Rehabilitation Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1)The United States prison population has grown from 300,000 in the 1970s to 2.4 million today.
2) According to the statistics from the justice department, approximately 62% of state prisoners are rearrested within
the first 23 years of their release.
3) Out of the average $45,000 California spends annually to house each of its prisoners as little as 5% goes towards
rehabilitation services and programs.
4)The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any free nation.
5) California's Expert Panel on Rehabilitation in 2007, the panel found that California spent less than $3,000 per year,
per inmate, on rehabilitation programs, and that 50 percent of all prisoners released the year before had not
participated in a single program.
6) Former prisoners account for an estimated 15 to 20 percent of all arrests among adults.
7) About 495,000 of the 750,000 prisoners who will be released in 2016 are likely to be rearrested within three years.
8) Between 15 and 20 percent of people in prison are mentally ill, according to U.S. Department of Justice estimates.
9) The cost of reincarceration versus the cost of education on a per inmate basis is about six times higher.
10) Of the incarcerated population, roughly 800,000 people will be reincarcerated within three years of release.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) Mandating a required minimum of 5 weekly hours of rehabilitation for prisoners residing in federal and state
prison. Rehabilitation shall be defined as provision of educational services, therapy sessions, and communicationbuilding skills. Specific programs shall be created by the licensed therapists to benefit the inmates. Licensed therapists
may only be hired to work within their state, and must acquire a state-approved therapy licence to practice in other
states. Programs may vary, but shall require that general educational standards are met within 95% of prison
populations within each establishment.
i) Therapists shall determine if inmates have surpassed rehabilitation requirements with an approved list of abilities
upon the enactment of this bill. The list of requirements shall be determined and approved upon the enactment of this
bill.
ii) State prisons that surpass general educational requirements in their facilities shall receive additional federal
funding to benefit facilities and staff income.
B) The Federal Bureau of Prisons shall oversee that basic rehabilitation requirements are met in federal and state
prisons. Federal and state prisons shall create confidential files of inmates disclosable to prison staff and BOP
employees.
i)Sizeable funding shall be determined by the discretion of the Federal Bureau of Prisons based on the size,
location, and population of the prison.
C) This bill shall take into January 1, 2017 upon its enactment. If funding provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
is used unethically or not for its intended purposes, funding shall be retracted possibilities of future funding for
prisons not following funding procedures will be revoked upon the discretion of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This
bill shall expire January 1, 2022.

To provide adequate rehabilitation services to prisoners would mean preparing them for life beyond prison, to
help them learn the right skills to get a job and become a functioning and participating member of society. A
rehabilitation reform would decrease the currently increasing populations, reduce the rate of recidivism and then putting
the money saved through these changes to good use. The bill needs to become law to assure prisoners there is life and
opportunity beyond jail, to keep civilians safe from future crime and to help the U.S. save money.
Prison population has been increasing for many year, due to this increase prisons are costing more and more to
run, with the cost to imprison a single inmate averaging out around $31,000 (Jacobson, The Crime Report). To improve
the rehabilitation system in america will drastically decrease both the costs and amount of returning prisoners. America's
prisons currently hold more than 2.4 million inmates, roughly one in every 100 adults. The sooner money is being
invested into preventing an inmate's return, the quicker the overpopulation of prisons can decrease. It is estimated the
states spend around $50 billion on corrections annually outpacing budget increases for nearly any other government
service including public education. These costs will only continue to grow with the increasing prison population. By
providing prisoners with the correct support, they are prepared and able to support themselves and rejoin society once
they leave prison.
Rehabilitation is the only real solution to this issue. Of the incarcerated population, roughly 800,000 people will
be reincarcerated within three years of release. This number is in addition to the new people that will be imprisoned over
the three year course. Investing money into rehabilitation services not only is proven to decrease recidivism but will in
turn save millions, even billions for the country in the future when fewer prisoners are returning once they are released
and participating in society instead. The two-thirds rearrest rate has remained virtually unchanged since the first
recidivism study was conducted more than 40 years ago.Rehabilitation helps teach prisoners how to become participating
members of society once more, to provide essential work and communication skills so they can provide for themselves
upon their release.
California's Expert Panel on Rehabilitation found that California spent less than $3,000 per year, per inmate, on
rehabilitation programs (NIJ). Entering the world with no skill or means of support means an almost guaranteed return to
incarceration. The U.S. went from spending $6 billion in prison spending in 1980 to $80 billion today (PBS).
Rehabilitation reform would lower the prison population for the country, reduce the rate of recidivism and would
reduce overall costs in society and would mean the money eventually saved could then be used for things that prevent
crime. Rehabilitation is not just about taxpayers money, it is about balancing the desperation of an ex inmate with the
safety of a civilian and making sure the system has done everything in its power to keep both the prisoners and the
civilians safe. Providing and investing in better rehabilitation ensures a better future for the next generations, and that is
why action must be taken now before the system is too impacted to be changed.