California prison officials began touting a new public safety reform in January that would encourage inmates to complete a rehabilitation course and earn six weeks per year off a sentence.

Inside Folsom State Prison, though, inmates and instructors leading such courses are skeptical it will work.

In reality, they say, budget cuts approved by legislators last year, needed to cope with an unprecedented fiscal crisis, are devastating programs that are the basis for the new credit and for helping inmates stay straight once free...

CDCR stands for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but after $250 million in cuts to the rehabilitation programs, some believe it should just be called CDC.

Douglas Jockinsen, a correctional facility teacher who could be laid off March 1 said, "There is no 'R' in CDCR. And the programs that are left are a shadow of their former selves. They are the only programs that have shown to cut recidivism, people coming back to prison."

CDCR's Web site says "Inmates who learn to read and write and those who gain a skill are far more likely to succeed upon release. Those who do not are more likely to re-offend and end up back in prison."

With the hundreds of teacher cuts, CDCR will also have a new model when it comes to education — model they admit is not ideal….

In a brightly colored classroom in an otherwise dismal place, Stanley Durden studies intently at a desk.

Durden, 51, says he wants to gain what he missed outside San Quentin State Prison - an education.

"I won't learn anything by sitting in the cell or watching TV. I prefer to have school," said Durden, who has served 10 years of a 25-to-life prison sentence for repeated burglary and robbery convictions. He wants to earn his GED…

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Mark Faucette, vice president of the Amity Foundation, a nonprofit substance-abuse-treatment provider, will be at Donovan State Prison in Otay Mesa, saying goodbye to the roughly 500 inmates currently enrolled in Amity's Right Turn program. The highly regarded program, held up as a national model for effective prisoner rehabilitation, is being closed down, a casualty of state budget cuts.

Last week, Elias Contreras, the prison's associate warden, told a KPBS reporter that Right Turn would be replaced with a 90-day detox program. That's actually not the case: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson Peggy Bengs confirmed for CityBeat on Tuesday that Donovan is one of eight prisons statewide that won't provide any sort of professional in-custody substance-abuse treatment. Rather, those facilities will rely entirely on outside volunteers from programs like Narcotics Anonymous and inmates who've been trained as substance-abuse counselors…

A newly released report from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) shows a substantial reduction in recidivism for offenders completing in-prison substance abuse programs followed by community-based substance abuse treatment.

"Effective treatment for alcohol and drug addiction is crucial for successful reintegration into the community when inmates are released," said Matthew Cate, CDCR Secretary. "Our emphasis on encouraging inmates who complete substance abuse programs in prison to continue in community aftercare treatment has proven to be successful," he said.

"During this time of fiscal crisis and significant budget reductions, our department remains focused on core substance abuse programs that reduce recidivism," said Elizabeth Siggins, Acting Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Programs….

…"Guys who get out, for the first 24 hours, what they want to do is take their money, get high, get a woman and they're back in jail in no time," Alexander said. "So getting prison out of the mind is getting to a place where you know what you need to do, the types of steps you need to do to be like us."

Alexander says veteran inmates who master the three-year program serve as mentors to help newcomers deal with their emotions. Those who do get out receive post-prison support so they continue treatment.

But the program that once put Donovan on the map in California's prison system is going away. It is one of the casualties as the department of corrections slashes $280 million in rehab programs.

Inmate Oscar Mayorca says these programs are the only things making a difference in the lives of prisoners…