THE CALIFORNIA PROGRAM, WHICH BEGAN IN JULY 1966, CONTAINED ONE UNIQUE FEATURE: PAYMENTS TO THE COUNTIES WERE TO BE GEARED WHOLLY TO REDUCING COMMITMENTS - $4000 FOR EACH REDUCTION ACHIEVED. THIS VOLUME, THE FIRST IN A SIX-PART EVALUATION REPORT, EVALUATES THE STATE FORMULA FOR CALCULATING REDUCTIONS AND INVESTIGATES THE EXTENT OF COMMITMENT REDUCTION ACTUALLY ACHIEVED BY THE PROGRAM. THE METHOD OF ESTIMATING COMMITMENT REDUCTION USED BY THE STATE WAS A COMPARISON OF ACTUAL COMMITMENTS FOR THE YEAR WITH THE COUNTY'S BASE RATE OF COMMITMENTS FOR THE YEARS 1959-63 OR 1962-63, DEPENDING ON WHICH WAS HIGHER, ADJUSTED ANNUALLY FOR POPULATION INCREASES. A SUMMARY OF DATA BASED ON THIS COMPARISON AS WELL AS FOUR OTHER METHODS OF CALCULATING REDUCTIONS IS PROVIDED IN BOTH TABULAR AND NARRATIVE FORM. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THERE ARE A VARIETY OF METHODS OF ESTIMATING COMMITMENT REDUCTION, ALL OF WHICH INDICATE THAT COMMITMENT RATES HAVE DECLINED SINCE THE START OF THE SUBSIDY PROGRAM FOR BOTH JUVENILES AND ADULTS. ESTIMATES OF COMMITMENT REDUCTION THROUGH 1970-71 RANGED FROM 12,000 TO 47,000 CASES. COMPARISONS WITH ADULT COMMITMENTS FROM TWELVE OTHER STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND BETWEEN PARTICIPATING AND NONPARTICIPATING COUNTIES IN CALIFORNIA SUGGESTED THAT THE SUBSIDY PROGRAM, AS OPPOSED TO OTHER CAUSES, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THIS REDUCTION. FOR THE OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES, SEE NCJ-035075-77 AND NCJ-036490-91.