Number of Paroled Felons
Number of Criminal Offenders in County
Number of Persons On State Parole
Illiteracy Rates Among Population
Economic Conditions of Ex-Offenders
Poverty
Education
Unemployment
Under-Employment
Health Condition of Ex-Offenders
Mental Illness
Substance Abuse
High-Risk For AIDS
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1984 1985
1986
1,630 1,849 2,307
1988
6,697
90% are below poverty level
60% are illiterate
20% are mentally ill
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1988 1989
1990
856 965 1,049
1989 1992
7,200 20,090
1,200
40%
80 + % substance abuse
arrest charges.
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- According to the Department of corrections and the
California Board of Prison Terms, 65% people in California jails are ethnic minorities.
- Prior to incarceration and upon release, the majority of
offenders are unemployed.
- The majority of ex-offenders come from dysfunctional
families and were abused and neglected as children. Many are from families where the cycle
of poverty-crime-incarceration is inter-generational and they are now repeating this cycle
with their own children.
- Ex-offenders are usually the last to be provide services.
People are released from prison without any financial support, typically directly onto the
streets. Many ex-prisoners became homeless. The fact that nearly 70% of people released
from jails and prisons are returned to custody in less than one-year underscores the
difficulties that ex-offenders have in being reintegrated into society.
- Ex-offenders and their families tend to be ostracized by
their own extended families, friends, neighbors, even churches, They bear a social stigma
that is difficult to overcome.
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