This Special Review examines CDCR’s implementation of regulations governing placement of incarcerated people in restricted housing units within its prisons. We reviewed both historical California regulations on segregated housing confinement and regulations that became effective on November 1, 2023, that were intended to reform segregated housing confinement and implement restricted housing units. We assessed the department’s compliance with regulations and policies governing the placement and retention of incarcerated people in restricted housing, the living conditions within those units, and the effects of regulations and policies concerning violence against staff and the incarcerated population.

This report contains our assessment of the medical care provided to incarcerated people at Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran from July 2025 through January 5, 2026. We rated the case review component of the overall health care quality inadequate and the compliance component of the overall health care quality inadequate.

In this audit, we reviewed the department’s All-Hazards Emergency Operations Plan, as well as the 2024 site-specific emergency operations plans for 30 of the department’s prisons, assessing the department’s ability to evacuate prisons threatened by wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. We also completed an in-depth review of the preparedness of three prisons located in different parts of the state, reviewing their methods for assessing their individual risks for wildfires, floods, and earthquakes, their documented mitigation plans, and whether they revised and improved their policies in response to threats posed by natural disasters.

This report summarizes the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s performance in conducting internal investigations and handling employee discipline cases we monitored and closed from July 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024. Of the 212 cases we monitored and closed in this time period, we rated 44 cases sufficient, 92 sufficient with recommendations, and 76 cases insufficient.

This report summarizes the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s performance in conducting internal investigations and handling employee discipline cases we monitored and closed from July 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024. Of the 212 cases we monitored and closed in this time period, we rated 44 cases sufficient, 92 sufficient with recommendations, and 76 cases insufficient.