Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Tweet[IWS] CRS: OFFENDER REENTRY: Correctional Statistics, REINTEGRATION into the Community, & Recidivism [17 December 2007]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34287
Offender Reentry: Correctional Statistics, Reintegration into the Community, and Recidivism
December 17, 2007
Blas Nuñez-Neto, Analyst in Domestic Security, Domestic Social Policy Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34287_20071217.pdf
[full-text, 37 pages]
Summary
The prison population in the United States has been growing steadily for more
over 30 years. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that each year more than
650,000 offenders are released into the community and almost 5 million ex-offenders
are under some form of community-based supervision. Offender reentry can include
all the activities and programming conducted to prepare ex-convicts to return safely
to the community and to live as law-abiding citizens. Some ex-offenders, however,
eventually end up back in prison. The most recent national-level recidivism study
is 10 years old; this study showed that two-thirds of ex-offenders released in 1994
came back into contact with the criminal justice system within three years of their
release. Compared with the average American, ex-offenders are less educated, less
likely to be gainfully employed, and more likely to have a history of mental illness
or substance abuse all of which have been shown to be risk factors.
Three phases are associated with offender reentry programs: programs that take
place during incarceration, which aim to prepare offenders for their eventual release;
programs that take place during offenders' release period, which seek to connect exoffenders
with the various services they may require; and long-term programs that
take place as ex-offenders permanently reintegrate into their communities, which
attempt to provide offenders with support and supervision. There is a wide array of
offender reentry program designs, and these programs can differ significantly in
range, scope, and methodology. Researchers in the offender reentry field have
suggested that the best programs begin during incarceration and extend throughout
the release and reintegration process. Despite the relative lack of research in the field
of offender reentry, an emerging "what works" literature has shown that programs
focusing on work training and placement, drug and mental health treatment, and
housing assistance have proven to be effective.
The federal government's involvement in offender reentry programs typically
occurs through grant funding, which is available through a wide array of federal
programs at the Departments of Justice, Labor, Education, and Health and Human
Services. However, only a handful of grant programs in the federal government are
designed explicitly for offender reentry purposes.
The 110th Congress is considering a number of bills that include some form of
offender reentry program within their purview. The Second Chance Act (S. 1060,
S. 2237, and H.R. 1593) would expand the current offender reentry grant program at
the Department of Justice and create a wide array of targeted grant-funded pilot
programs. Other bills pertaining to offender reentry include S. 456, S. 1907, H.R.
623, HR. 3187, H.R. 3547, H.R. 3467, and H.R. 3409. Potential issues in the 110th
Congress include the adequacy of the federal government's existing grant programs,
the lack of current national-level statistics on recidivism, whether other outcome
measures should be considered, whether more funding should be allocated toward
program evaluations, and whether enough coordination is taking place among the
various federal agencies that manage programs used to fund offender reentry.
This report will be updated as circumstances dictate.
Contents
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Correctional System Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Population in Correctional Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ex-offenders Under Community Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Probation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Parole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Recidivism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Bureau of Justice Statistics 1994 Recidivism Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
United States Sentencing Commission Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
National Recidivism Study Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Importance of Considering Other Outcome Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Offender Reentry: A Brief Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Offender Reentry Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Program Effectiveness: The "What Works" Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Drug Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Halfway House Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Other Kinds of Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Limitations with the "What Works" Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Current Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Federal Offender Reentry Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Offender Reentry Programs at the Department of Justice (DOJ) . . . . . . . . 21
Other DOJ Grant Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Offender Reentry Programs at Other Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Department of Labor (DOL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Department of Education (DOE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) . . . . . . 25
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) . . . . . . . . . . 25
Legislation in the 110th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Second Chance Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Other Offender Reentry-Related Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Current Legislative Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Adequacy of Existing Offender Reentry Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Lack of Current Federal Recidivism Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Focus on Recidivism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Coordination Between Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Evaluations of Offender Reentry Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34287
Offender Reentry: Correctional Statistics, Reintegration into the Community, and Recidivism
December 17, 2007
Blas Nuñez-Neto, Analyst in Domestic Security, Domestic Social Policy Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34287_20071217.pdf
[full-text, 37 pages]
Summary
The prison population in the United States has been growing steadily for more
over 30 years. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that each year more than
650,000 offenders are released into the community and almost 5 million ex-offenders
are under some form of community-based supervision. Offender reentry can include
all the activities and programming conducted to prepare ex-convicts to return safely
to the community and to live as law-abiding citizens. Some ex-offenders, however,
eventually end up back in prison. The most recent national-level recidivism study
is 10 years old; this study showed that two-thirds of ex-offenders released in 1994
came back into contact with the criminal justice system within three years of their
release. Compared with the average American, ex-offenders are less educated, less
likely to be gainfully employed, and more likely to have a history of mental illness
or substance abuse all of which have been shown to be risk factors.
Three phases are associated with offender reentry programs: programs that take
place during incarceration, which aim to prepare offenders for their eventual release;
programs that take place during offenders' release period, which seek to connect exoffenders
with the various services they may require; and long-term programs that
take place as ex-offenders permanently reintegrate into their communities, which
attempt to provide offenders with support and supervision. There is a wide array of
offender reentry program designs, and these programs can differ significantly in
range, scope, and methodology. Researchers in the offender reentry field have
suggested that the best programs begin during incarceration and extend throughout
the release and reintegration process. Despite the relative lack of research in the field
of offender reentry, an emerging "what works" literature has shown that programs
focusing on work training and placement, drug and mental health treatment, and
housing assistance have proven to be effective.
The federal government's involvement in offender reentry programs typically
occurs through grant funding, which is available through a wide array of federal
programs at the Departments of Justice, Labor, Education, and Health and Human
Services. However, only a handful of grant programs in the federal government are
designed explicitly for offender reentry purposes.
The 110th Congress is considering a number of bills that include some form of
offender reentry program within their purview. The Second Chance Act (S. 1060,
S. 2237, and H.R. 1593) would expand the current offender reentry grant program at
the Department of Justice and create a wide array of targeted grant-funded pilot
programs. Other bills pertaining to offender reentry include S. 456, S. 1907, H.R.
623, HR. 3187, H.R. 3547, H.R. 3467, and H.R. 3409. Potential issues in the 110th
Congress include the adequacy of the federal government's existing grant programs,
the lack of current national-level statistics on recidivism, whether other outcome
measures should be considered, whether more funding should be allocated toward
program evaluations, and whether enough coordination is taking place among the
various federal agencies that manage programs used to fund offender reentry.
This report will be updated as circumstances dictate.
Contents
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Correctional System Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Population in Correctional Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ex-offenders Under Community Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Probation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Parole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Recidivism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Bureau of Justice Statistics 1994 Recidivism Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
United States Sentencing Commission Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
National Recidivism Study Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Importance of Considering Other Outcome Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Offender Reentry: A Brief Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Offender Reentry Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Program Effectiveness: The "What Works" Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Drug Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Halfway House Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Other Kinds of Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Limitations with the "What Works" Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Current Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Federal Offender Reentry Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Offender Reentry Programs at the Department of Justice (DOJ) . . . . . . . . 21
Other DOJ Grant Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Offender Reentry Programs at Other Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Department of Labor (DOL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Department of Education (DOE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) . . . . . . 25
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) . . . . . . . . . . 25
Legislation in the 110th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Second Chance Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Other Offender Reentry-Related Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Current Legislative Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Adequacy of Existing Offender Reentry Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Lack of Current Federal Recidivism Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Focus on Recidivism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Coordination Between Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Evaluations of Offender Reentry Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 2:27 PM
