California's Prisoner Dilemma to Be Topic of Panel Discussion at the RAND Corporation

Under California's new Public Safety Realignment Plan, the state is shifting responsibility for low-level offenders from the state to counties, which will aid the state's efforts to abide by a U.S. Supreme Court order to reduce the prison population by 33,000.

California prisoners tend to be disproportionately sicker than the general population and, upon reentry to communities throughout the state, are likely to be medically uninsured and indigent. A RAND panel discussion will address: How will cash-strapped local governments meet the basic medical needs of this population? Will community health be at greater risk? Which communities will be most affected?

Greg Ridgeway, director of the RAND Safety and Justice Program and the RAND Center on Quality Policing

Lois Davis, RAND senior policy researcher and lead author of "Understanding the Public Health Implications of Prisoner Reentry in California"

J. Clark Kelso, receiver, California Correctional Health Care Services

R. Steven Tharratt, statewide chief medical executive, California Correctional Health Care Services

6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012.
Registration will begin at 6 p.m.

RAND Corporation
1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90407

We ask media who plan to attend to let us know in advance, via e-mail.

Lisa Sodders, RAND Office of Media Relations
(310) 393-0411 ext. 7139 — lsodders@rand.org