CONTACT: Michele Kane (916) 358-1802- wk (916) 462-0731- cell
Offenders Compensate Crime Victims
More Than $32,000 from “Joint Venture Program” Dispersed to Local Charities
San Quentin State Prison- This morning at San Quentin State Prison, two Bay Area charities received checks for a total of $32,350.91 from the Joint Venture Program (JVP), a division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that is managed by California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA).
More than $16,000 was donated to Sunny Hills Services Children’s Center, a child welfare organization based in Marin County that is dedicated to protecting and serving at-risk children. An equal amount was gifted to Community Violence Solutions, a Bay Area organization that provides support services to victims of sexual assault.
“The Joint Venture Program mandates that offenders pay 20 percent of their wages to victims of crime,” said San Quentin Warden Kevin Chappell. “The program provides offenders with training and hands-on job experience, and offers workers opportunities to obtain meaningful employment upon parole.”
The offenders worked in a medical product packaging facility at San Quentin operated by Labcon, a medical supplies manufacturing company founded in Marin County. Labcon became a part of the Joint Venture Program in 1993 and currently employs 18 offenders.
The Joint Venture Program was established in 1990 upon the passage of Proposition 139, the Prison Inmate Labor Initiative, as a rehabilitative endeavor providing opportunities for inmates to gain valuable work experience and job skills training. Under program guidelines, inmates are paid a comparable wage that is subject to deductions for Federal, State, and local taxes.
CALPIA is a self-financed state entity that provides training and productive work assignments for approximately 7,000 offenders in California. CALPIA receives all of its revenue from the sale of the products it manufactures. The recidivism rate among CALPIA’s programs is 26-38 percent lower than the general prison population, a success attributed to the job skills and industry certifications obtained by participating in the program.
