SACRAMENTO - If Wednesday’s hearing of the Little Hoover Commission was a hot bed of disagreement in which agencies threatened with consolidation or closure expressed their ire, Thursday’s occasionally looked like a group hug with Roderick Hickman, secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency in the middle.
The hearing Thursday focused on the reorganization of YACA – an agency that has been the target of repeated negative headlines and legislative inquiries. Hickman, a veteran of the correctional system was appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger to give the agency a top to bottom cleaning.
The 13-member Little Hoover Commission is making recommendations based on the governor’s recent California Performance Review report. Hickman presented a plan that would restructure the agency, change the way that it does business and even change its name to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Hickman told the panel that reorganization will be founded on three principles: consolidation; elevation of rehabilitation services to be on par with “custodial” functions; and a proactive approach that has been lacking in the past. “I believe there is truly an opportunity to be on the cusp of what I believe is monumental reform,” he told the commission.
He said that chronic problems such as the state’s high recidivism rate, prisoner abuse, and the influence of unions on management processes are among the issues that will be addressed.
Hickman, whose rapport with the commission was obvious, quickly admitted that YACA is in desperate need of fixing. “The system is overworked, overburdened and improperly managed,” he said.
California’s prison population has vastly increased over the past 20 years. According to Hickman, there were 57,000 inmates in state prisons in 1985. By 2004 that number had grown to 172,000. Throughout those years, there was no strategic plan for how to handle such growth and prisons became stove-piped fiefdoms controlled by powerful wardens.
Hickman said his plan will change that environment by instituting accountability and performance measures. He said the department is poised to form 50 to 100 implementation teams to carry out the new strategic plan. He added that the agency will also dramatically improve its use of information technology to streamline management and make information sharing possible.
Asked by commissioners how the department plans to implement change when the governor’s proposed budget contains a $95 million cut for corrections, Hickman said the job will still get done. “In difficult fiscal times we have to make difficult decisions,” he said. “It is a hard pill to swallow.” He added that some resources may be redirected and he anticipates savings from consolidation of certain functions.
The commission was largely impressed with Hickman’s presentation and called it professional and thorough. However, a series of witnesses introduced a number of problems they say the plan may not address.
That the California Youth Authority remains in the Corrections realm was the topic of long debate. Many witnesses – and some commissioners – felt the “punishing” focus of the department is inappropriate for young offenders. They suggested the youth authority be moved to a more suitable agency – where rehabilitation and education are the focus.
Hancock said his department had been looking at other states for alternatives for incarcerated youth. Many people who attended the day-long hearing had come to express their concerns over the CYA’s history of allegations of abuse and the suicide of young offenders while in the agency’s care.
The restructuring effort will bring together some organizations that have previously had adversarial relationships. “We are going to be the leader of a collaborative,” Hancock said.
“My job as secretary is to bring people to the table,” he said, adding that people might not like what’s served “but are welcome to have a conversation over dinner.”