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Automated Restricted
Housing Record

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in recent years has

began to focus more on rehabilitation, and re-entry in an effort to lower recidivism. Time outside & education while in prison correlate highest with individuals staying out of prison when released. Most inmates were given more time outside and more access to education, but restricted housing units work differently as inmates need to be isolated from others.

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Every interaction with an inmate in an RHU must be recorded. The 114-A was paper form used to track any and all interactions or movements, and the process was riddled with issues. My team and I tackled this and other challenges along side officers, seargents, and policy makers from across the state.

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Our team used a standard CDCR (progressive web app) template based on the PrimeVue front-end component library to build out the responsive application. This allowed for little customization of the UI. Tanzu Labs also pair programs and teaches internal devs, PMs, desigers & stakeholders how to design, build, & manage software as we go.

What is an RHU?
Restricted Housing Units are for offenders that continue to commit crimes inside the prison. This used to be called solitary
confinement.
My Role
Lead UX Design
2023 - 2024
Unique Challenge
Remote research was not an option, so all research was in person, at RHU's all over the state. Some units required defensive vests to be worn at all times.
Outcome
94% time reduction for Custody Officers and 93% timr reduction for Seargents. Offenders getting 4-5x more time outside. Over 4000 users!

Big Problems

Rehabilitation

Data supports that offender behaviour & mood improves when they spend more time outside but transporting these offenders can be dangerous and takes time.

Time spent on required tasks

Everything an inmate does when in an RHU is offered by custody officers and that offering and response has to be recorded. This takes a ton of time and is situation dependent.

Overtime & Auditing

Recorded Offerings were being done by hand, led to overtime, and were impossible to audit. A team of 12 analysts could spend a month auditing 1 restricted housing unit.

Specific Problems

Policy Update

Policy makers were disconnected from the experince of Custody Officers and Seargents. Suggested policies were initially unrealistic.

Compliance

Being out of compliance with policy means lawsuits. CDCR wanted to make sure it was clear they were in compliance regardless of the policy.

Custody Officers

The officers with the best handwriting were locked into this role. The 114-A required overtime which did not always get approved. Stricter recording rules from policy would not be followed as officers struggle to keep up with regular tasks.

Seargents

Seargents running these units would dedicate an entire day of their week towards putting the 114-A report together for their unit.

Audits

Regular Audits for each RHU are required, expensive, take forever and do not have clear results due to paper forms being illegible.

Process Overview

The most unique parts of this project were the research & testing environment, working with policy makers, and optimizing reports per each type of RHU unit for auditors.

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Discovery & Framing

- UX / user research
- Problem prioritization & feasibility
- Policy Collaboration
- 2x2 Prioritization

Prototyping & Testing

- Design Studio Sketches
- Bulk actions for activities & appointments
- Comments for unique situations
- Testing was a mix of digital and paper based due to restricted environments.

Pushing to Prod & Beyond

- 1 month pilot at CSP Sac
- 2-3 month adoption time at other institutions
- Automated Unit Summary Reports
- Other data, reporting & audits
- Tablet adoption where connection allows.

Solutions

Expert-led solutions for complex challenges. Trusted by top brands to deliver clarity, impact, and measurable value.

Recording Everything

Screenshot below. Meals have to be offered and recorded 3 times a day, and commented on if refused. The design is responsive and institutions with wifi access the app via tablets instead of the installed desktop stations.

Stakeholder Influence
CDCR is learning to more about the ROI of UCD. A template and varied team meant some UI tasks were difficult and de-prioritized.
Limits on UI
Colors, headers, spacing and icon sizing were all deemed too expensive to be adjusted next to the immediate and massive savings in time for all users.
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Prototype

This is a limited prototype to give a basic idea of the app. Re-created using Figma Make.

Prototype

Check out the following pages. Inmate Details, Comments, Breakfast, & Yard

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Impact

97%

reduction in RHU based lawsuits against the state

94%

reduction in time spent recording RHU activities

5x

time outside for inmates

User Quotes

The 114-A process is easy as hell, I actually have time to eat lunch now and I don't stay late anymore finishing it up.

Custody Officer
San Quentin

My life is 90% better than it was because of this app and these reports. Everything is here, and I don’t have to track people down because I can’t read their writing. My weekly audit takes me 30 minutes instead of all day.

Seargent
CSP Sacramento

Officers love it, and it is only getting easier for them. This used to take 2 guys all day. Now it takes one about 15 minutes!

Seargent
Pelican Bay

This process used to take weeks. Now it takes us a few hours. We can trust the data coming in to us.

Auditor
HQ Sacramento

Lessons Learned

This appliation is a great example of how technoology can help make government processes more efficient and open the way for a more human experince through technology. Without the ARHR app, the officers in these units would have never had the time to carry out new policies that benefit inmates, the state, CDCR and taxpayers.

Major Challenges

  1. Research environment was hostile. More time preparation & education would have been helpful. All other team members only did 1 onsite. There were riots, fires and lockdowns during research trips.
  2. Working with policy makers who are completely seperated from the day to day workings of an RHU takes patience, time & communication. Custody Officers had an initially negative view of us, given our association with policy and auditers.
  3. Sites lacked infrastructure to build a tablet solution & having an additional desktop PC installed in a secure unit was difficult as well. Massive orgs like this tend to be resistant to change.

Sometimes, building great software requires a team to fill in the gaps of whatever needs to be done. The Project Manager from CDCR had no knowledge of the processes within an RHU but was willing to support us in having conversations with policy makers which made this possible. Within the first 3 months of operation, this app lowered the amount of lawsuits coming out of RHUs to pay for itself. That is millions of dollars saved in just one area in a few months. It also lowered the amount of overtime needed in these units and enabled custody officers to focus on other important tasks. Audit time is basically non existent.

We got an award!!

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