Honest Understanding of the California Model

There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding the “California Model” of prison management. Much of this misunderstanding is due to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) being dishonest about the California Model. This article is an attempt to explain what the California Model is and what the prison management model is based on.

Many people have become influenced by the Norway Model of prison management. California lawmakers, CDCR, and the California correctional officer’s union (CCPOA) were among those people persuaded by Norway’s low prison population, low recidivism, and low prison violence. California legislators, CDCR, and CCPOA representatives traveled to Norway to tour Halden and Bastøy prisons. These prisons focus on normalization and rehabilitation and allow many freedoms for the incarcerated population. It is important to note, Halden and Bastøy prisons are just two of Norway’s 43 prisons.

It is true Norway is one of the best examples of rehabilitative prison systems. What is lost on many people is how different Norway’s criminal justice system works when compared to the United States. The longest sentence allowed in a Norwegian prison is 21 years. The correctional officers in Norway prisons must complete a two-year program in correctional studies, after which the must complete one year of on-the-job training before becoming certified as an officer. Training involves written work in ethics, law, criminology, reintegration, and social work. Most importantly, most new prisoners in Norway start in high security prisons with limited movement, belongings, and freedoms. Norwegian prisoners can earn the right to move to lower security prisons, gain more freedoms, and personal belongings and possibly end up in the now famous Halden or Bastøy prisons.

California is vastly different from Norway. Most low-level felons do not even get to a CDCR prison, laws have been enacted where most non-violent California felons stay in county jails and never get sent to a prison. California correctional officers only receive 13-weeks of academy training with almost no focus on criminology or social work. There is an apprenticeship program officially for CDCR officers, but this program is just on paper, there is no actual field training or apprenticeship involved. Where the Norway Model allows for accountability a prisoner’s actions, CDCR does little to hold its prisoners accountable.

After the tours of Halden and Bastøy, many California legislators were fully swayed to commit CDCR to develop a Norway Model pilot program. The correctional officer’s union was fully supportive of the Norway Model and so was many in CDCR’s executive positions. Legislature approved AB-2730 to introduce the Norway Model to CDCR; however, Governor Newsom vetoed the bill in September 2022. After vetoing the Norway Model, Newsom directed CDCR staff to come up with something focused on rehabilitation, this was to be known as the “California Model.”

The California Model of prison management was born with little science or historical context. CDCR staff were directed to implement a model, focused on rehabilitation, with more freedoms for inmates and more leisure activities. Soon, new definitions were introduced for the California Model to include “dynamic security, normalization, peer mentorship, and becoming a trauma-informed organization.” There was little understanding of these buzzwords, but CDCR executives and managers went to work giving more freedom and leisure activities to the incarcerated population. Also, many managers were directing staff to have informal conversations with the inmates, also to have positive relationships with the incarcerated population. Wardens and Captains went to work setting up concerts and field games for the inmates, thinking this would please CDCR executives.

Not surprisingly, due to the lack of specific direction, many CDCR managers quickly started holding inmates less accountable for their actions. Prisons started giving inmates more freedom of movement. With the lack of any California Model written policy, most CDCR managers jumped through hoops trying to make their facility more California Model’ish using whatever they thought the California Model was supposed to be. Staff attacks increased, despite a reduction in the prison population.

To CDCR’s credit, many executives realized the officers were becoming negative towards the California Model. A new lie was formed with “the California Model was always about staff” and many Wardens were told to remind staff of the benefits of the California Model. Another lie, started in 2024 was from the CDCR Secretary, “The California Model does not give up on Corrections 101.” The lie regarding the California Model being about staff was easy to cover up. The lie about corrections 101 was a little more difficult as the Secretary had to ask CDCR management in an email “What is corrections 101 anyway?” Now staff are required to attend training where they are told lies about the California Model not giving up on safety and lies about the California Model being about staff.

The California Model has no science behind it. The California Model was not created with criminology in mind. The California Model was not created with the intent of keeping staff safe. Most importantly, the California Model is not based on the Norway Model. The California Model is a nothing burger when it comes to policy, there are no CDCR policies on how to run a California Model program. What the California Model has been so far is a complicated mess which has led to the increase in staff attacks.