Intro to Financial Problems

           Financial problems can stop any person, program, or even country in its tracks.  The unavailability of funding stops the ability of that entity from accomplishing its goals.  I chose to talk about this topic because it has a drastic effect on everyone.  For students, we put our time and money into our education and expect it to pay off with a career when we graduate.  For organizations, it prevents them from being able to improve their progress and programs.  For countries, it can send them into bankruptcy and put their entire system of government at risk of deteriorating. 

            On the individual level, people are devastated by financial problems.  It causes more than just inability to pay their bills.  The people can suffer from stress, depression, anger, and a variety of other symptoms.  For students, some of us take out student loans to pay for our education and, with the rising tuition costs due to state financial problems, we are acquiring debt never seen before (Ellis 2010).  We were taught from a young age that, if  we get a college education,  there is a good paying job waiting for  us.  Many of us are being met with the harsh reality that there are extremely limited possibilities for employment, and  we are in competition with those who have been laid off and have work experience.  We graduate with large debts, no employment, and a big student loan payment.  We come to the realization that the generation who told us that a good education will get  us a good job is the same one that destroyed that way of life.

            For organizations, financial problems prevent them from growing and expanding.  They find themselves working with very limited resources trying to complete tasks that were difficult when they had twice the resources.  Many public agencies have been forced to lay off workers and have come to the realization that they must limit their services to the public.  Several law enforcement agencies will no longer respond to misdemeanor calls or assist citizens with traffic accidents (Preuitt 2010).  These organizations want to hire the graduating students but are unable to because of budgetary problems caused up the ladder from them.

            Many countries have been effected by financial problems and the ripple effects travel across all of their citizens and the world.  Some countries are going to others to ask for money to bail them out.  They go to other countries who are also having financial problems of their own, and this puts greater strain on the other country.  The mismanagement of funds by the vast systems that control the countries put us in this situation.  There were experts that saw this disaster coming, but nothing was done about it.  The U.S. has large amounts of money spent on programs that are a money pit.  Large sums of money are being embezzled and very little is done to detect this.  Companies are charging the government many fold what an item sells for to the private industry (Rosenblatt 2011).

            I chose this topic because it affects everyone’s life in one way or another.  Our leaders need to take a good look at where our money is going, why, and if it is efficient.  The realization that money is not an unlimited resource was a harsh one that almost brought the world to a standstill.  My generation will be left with damage caused by our predecessors and we must try to leave it in better shape for our successors.  I feel that this is a difficult task but is one that can be accomplished with the right people left in charge and an informed population to watch over them.    

Sources

Rosenblatt, Joel (Sept. 2011) Watson, Sandoz pay $145 million to settle drug price case.  Bloomberg Businessweek.  Accessed Sept, 29, 2011.  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-15/watson-sandoz-pay-145-million-to-settle-drug-price-case.html

Preuitt, Lori (July 2010).  Suffer These Crimes in Oakland? Don’t Call the Cops.  NBC Bay Area.  Accessed online. http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Suffer-These-Crimes-in-Oakland-Dont-Call-the-Cops-98266509.html

Ellis, Blake (Oct. 2010).  College Grads: $24,000 in debt.  CNN Money. Accessed Sept. 29, 2011.  http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/22/pf/college/student_loan_debt/index.htm

CDC… has anybody seen the R?

           The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is an important part of the judicial system.  It is where convicted persons serve  their sentence and have their behavior corrected.  It has evolved from a storage house for people unwanted in our society into a professional system that is meant to rehabilitate inmates readying them to re-enter society.  We hope that their newly learned skills allow them to work, cope with problems, and avoid committing anymore crimes. 

            The CDCR has developed programs that work with the inmates to correct their poor behavior (Rehabilitation).  There are programs that allow the inmates to have sessions with psychiatrists who try to help the inmate learn to control their behavior and understand their triggers.  Another program that exists helps to teach inmates job skills allowing them to have a career when they leave prison.  Other programs help the inmates  further their education or obtain their GEDs while incarcerated.

            These programs have slowly diminished over time leaving the CDCR missing its R.  Funding has become more difficult to find for these programs in the ever increasing prison population.  Laws such as three strikes have contributed to the overcrowded prisons in California.  More inmates requires more spending on Corrections Officers, meals, medications, and other expenses.  The suffering economy and the poor budgeting skills of the California Government have caused the prison system to cut its rehabilitation programs, so it can fund the parts of the prisons that it needs to, in order to follow the laws. 

            This failure of the system has allowed for a downward spiral of the CDCR.  The prisoners are being released without job skills or coping skills necessary to succeed in society.  They find themselves exiting prison into a society with a high unemployment rate and have a hard time finding work.  They commit another crime because they are unable to properly blend back into society and find themselves back in prison.  Their sentences are longer which costs the state more money and makes the financial situation even worse.

            The national average sixty-seven percent recidivism rate means that what we are doing isn’t working.  What is next to improve this situation, is we need to look at the money that we are spending to keep these inmates locked away from society and think of better ways to spend it.  If the rehabilitation programs that we were using were not providing results, then we need to look at new ones.  One good example of why rehabilitation is an important tool is in the Chicago Justice System.  They have a boot camp for offenders where the inmates not only serve out their sentence, but they are taught discipline and green job skills.  They are taking a new rising job market and training their inmates to be ready to enter as skilled employees.  The recidivism rate of those that attend the camp is thirty percent compared the national average (NY Times 2011).  This is just one of several examples of rehabilitation programs that have a lower reoffending rate.  Although the statistics of the programs may be slightly skewed because they normally do not accept the more serious offenders, they still have a higher success rate than simple incarceration.  Another example of a way that we can better spend our money  is found in this short clip from the movie “Waiting for Superman”.

            The prison system is not a broken system but it is in need of change.  Heraclitus of Ephesus said, “The only constant in life is change”.  Change can bring about good and bad things but it is necessary to adapt.  A company would not stay in business long if it was producing products that failed and were sent back for repairs sixty seven percent of the time.  The prison system is not responsible for rehabilitating ever person that enters, but it is in everyone’s best interest if they are given the chance to try.      

Sources:

Terry, Don. (Sept. 17, 2011). An Urban Garden Prepares Inmates for Green-Collar Jobs NY Times online. Accessed Sept 20, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/an-urban-garden-prepares-inmates-for-green-collar-jobs.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&sq=recidivism&st=cse&scp=3

Guggenheim, Davis.  (2010).  Waiting for Superman.  Documentary.  Accessed Sept. 19, 2011.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1VX1apvagA