In 2008, GEO Reentry was selected by the Napa County Board of Supervisors to open and operate a number of innovative programs designed to reduce recidivism, address prison overcrowding and empower inmates to obtain gainful employment upon their release. Those programs include Day Reporting Centers, behavioral treatment programs, in-jail employment programs and more.
Those programs have seen significant success, and in 2010, the county won a Merit award from the California State Association of Counties for its innovative approach to reducing recidivism. Since implementing these programs, the county has seen an overall drop in its Adult Probation Department’s caseload as well.
Thanks to its previous successes, Napa County officials were poised to meet the challenges of state prison realignment head-on. Those challenges, brought about by the passage of Assembly Bills 109 and 117, which shifted the responsibility of caring for many inmates from the state to counties, included managing a much larger number of inmates. Since realignment went into effect in 2011, the county has implemented numerous alternatives to incarceration to creatively manage the challenges of realignment.
Those programs include a pre-trial release program; a deferred entry of judgment program, in which sentencing for certain misdemeanors is delayed until an individual goes through a rehabilitation program; and expanded mental health offerings.
Napa county officials have, since selecting GEO Reentry to operate a number of innovative alternatives to incarceration programs, continued to make creative and effective choices in managing its inmate population. Those decisions continue to prove effective and model-worthy; it will be exciting to watch Napa deliver thoughtful solutions with out-of-the-box thinking as the county moves forward.