“Work Furlough” in San Diego – Can I do it instead of jail?

Inmates who are eligible for work furlough in San Diego can request to spend the remainder of their prison sentence at a work furlough facility. Work furlough allows inmates to work, or to look for work, before their sentence has ended. However, inmates have to return to the facility as soon as their workday ends.

What is San Diego’s work furlough program?

San Diego’s work furlough program allows certain inmates to spend some of their sentence in a special facility that lets them work full-time. Each county can impose its own rules and limitations on its furlough programs, so San Diego County’s may be different from programs in other areas of California.

To be eligible for San Diego’s program, inmates must be

1. on formal probation and
2. have spent at least 30 days in custody.

Certain criminal offenses make inmates ineligible for work furlough.

Eligible inmates can apply for the program. Their applications are screened by the Probation Department’s Work Furlough Oversight division. If the inmate is in custody for a felony, he or she is required to have a criminal defense attorney complete the screening form on the inmate’s behalf.

The San Diego County Probation Department can approve or deny applications for the program. The Department has the final say in who gets to participate.

If approved, the inmate will be assigned to either the:

• Work Furlough Program, if the inmate already has a job, or
• Residential Re-Entry Center, if the inmate has to look for a job, first.

Both of these programs are housed at the same location:

551 South 35th Street,

San Diego, CA 92113.

The area is called the Work Furlough and Residential Re-Entry Center Facility. It is run by a private company called CoreCivic, which contracts with the County of San Diego.

Once in the program, the inmate will have to comply with all of its rules and requirements. The most important rule is that the inmate has to return to the work furlough facility at the end of every workday.

Most participants go back and forth to work using San Diego’s public transportation system. The Facility is located close to a bus stop for Route 3, and a half-mile to a bus stop for Route 12. Some participants, though, are provided the documentation needed to drive to and from their place of work.

Not all jobs are eligible for San Diego County’s work furlough program. A workplace has to be in San Diego County. It can also be ineligible if it:

• does not allow probation officers to perform on-site or telephone checks,
• is too similar to the circumstances surrounding an inmate’s conviction, like a bank for an inmate who was convicted for check fraud,
• only pays the minimum wage,
• requires more than 72 hours of work in a week, or
• gives the inmate access to weapons or the personal information of other people.

Inmates can be self-employed in the County’s work furlough program. However, the inmate is not allowed to work at the facility. He or she must have an off-site location to work. That office must have a bathroom and a landline for a phone. The inmate must take special care to provide 1099s, documentation of work, and have all of the necessary business licenses.

Aside from work, work furlough inmates are only allowed to:

• attend religious services,
• go to school, if approved by the program and if the inmate maintains a work schedule of at least 35 hours, and
• go to court-ordered programs, like anger management classes or counseling.

Participants are not allowed to socialize, though their family and friends can visit the facility on weekends.

The goal of work furlough programs like San Diego’s is to reduce overcrowding in county jail and prisons, and to help inmates reintegrate into the community before their release.¹ The programs also let inmates financially support their families while still serving jail time and custody supervision.

Do I need to have a job to be eligible or can I still be searching?

Inmates do not need to have a job lined up to apply to participate in work furlough. In San Diego County, inmates without a job can be approved to join the Residential Re-Entry Center (RRC). There, the inmate will be given a set amount of time to find an eligible, full-time job. They are usually given 90 days to do so.

Who is ineligible for San Diego’s work furlough program?

Certain inmates are ineligible for San Diego County’s work furlough programs. Others are more likely to be denied.

Anyone who was convicted for completing or attempting certain violent or sex offenses are ineligible. This includes the following California crimes:

• assault involving intent to commit a felony (Penal Code 220 PC),
• assault on a police officer (Penal Code 241 PC),
• murder (Penal Code 187 PC),
• manslaughter (Penal Code 192 PC),
• vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Penal Code 191.5 PC),
• mayhem (Penal Code 203 PC),
• aggravated mayhem (Penal Code 205 PC),
• robbery (Penal Code 211 PC),
• grand theft with a firearm (Penal Code 487(d)(2) PC),
• arson (Penal Code 451 PC),
• kidnapping (Penal Code 207 PC),
• possession of explosives (Penal Code 18710 PC),
• rape (Penal Code 261 PC),
• sodomy (Penal Code 286 PC),
• forcible acts of penetration with a foreign object (Penal Code 289 PC),
• continuous sexual abuse of a child (Penal Code 288.5 PC),
• oral copulation with a child (Penal Code 288a PC),
• selling or furnishing drugs to a minor (Health and Safety Code 11380 HS),
• any offense that inflicts great bodily injury on someone else (Penal Code 12022.7 PC),
• any offense involving the personal use of a deadly weapon (Penal Code 12022 PC), and
• any felony that is punishable by a life or a death sentence.²

Inmates who are in prison for these convictions are barred from the work furlough program in San Diego.

Furthermore, the Work Furlough Oversight division in the San Diego County Probation Department can deny applicants for a variety of reasons related to public safety. Factors that the Department considers include:

• the severity of the offense,
• whether the inmate is on probation,
• whether the inmate has an active warrant,
• the inmate’s employment status,
• whether the inmate has a high school diploma or a GED,
• the inmate’s work experience,
• whether the inmate has any trade or vocational training,
• any significant mental health, behavioral, or medical issues,
• whether the inmate is a registered sex offender, and
• the inmate’s citizenship.³

Some of these factors can make it very unlikely for the inmate to get approved for work furlough.

What happens if I violate a term of the program?

Inmates who are approved for work furlough in San Diego County, but who then violate a term of the program can be disciplined. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department can even send the worker back to prison to serve the rest of his or her jail sentence.⁴

How is this different from work release?

San Diego’s work furlough program is different from a work-release program.

In a work furlough program, inmates return to the state facility when the workday ends. In a work-release program, the inmate is under community supervision and can go home. Because there is less confinement, work release programs are generally for lower-level offenses, like driving under the influence (DUI). Work furlough programs, including the one in San Diego, are usually for more severe offenses.

However, work furlough programs like San Diego County’s rely on dormitory-style living situations. For this reason, during the coronavirus pandemic, many judges have leaned towards house arrest and work release, rather than work furlough programs.

Additional Resources

For more in-depth information, refer to the following scholarly articles:

• Work Furlough as an Alternative to Incarceration: An Assessment of Its Effects on Recidivism and Social Cost – The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
• Evaluating Work Furlough – Federal Probation.
• Evaluating Work Furlough: A Followup – Federal Probation.
• Work Furlough and Punishment Theory – Criminology.
• Pay-to-Stay Programs in California Jails – Michigan Law Review.