RPC Newsletter - 11/29/2006

Connecticut Implements Justice Reinvestment Strategy to Manage Prison Growth and Generate Savings

 Many states have had difficulty developing and implementing the programs and policy needed to improve outcomes for people returning to the community from prison or jail. Often these difficulties stem from the prohibitive cost of starting new programs or improving existing programs and protocol. However, states across the country are taking steps to mitigate these costs by generating strategic savings in other aspects of the criminal justice system and reinvesting in communities to increase their capacity to receive individuals released from incarceration.

Policymakers in Connecticut recently generated savings by decreasing existing criminal justice costs and reinvesting in a variety of reentry efforts. State officials worked with CSG's Criminal Justice Program staff to analyze the state's prison population and spending patterns in the communities to which people released from prison most often return. Among other things, the analysis found that parole and probation technical violators accounted for 25 percent of the prison population on any given day.

In 2004, Republican and Democratic legislators, the governor, and agency leaders worked together to enact measures to streamline the parole process, reduce parole and probation violations by 20 percent, and require the state to develop a comprehensive reentry strategy. In response to these measures, probation officials established two innovative programs, the Technical Violations Unit (TVU) and the Probation Transition Program (PTP), to reduce the number of people incarcerated as a result of technical violations during the probation period.

Legislators were also able to cancel Connecticut's contract with the Virginia Department of Corrections for 2,000 additional prison beds, which yielded $30 million annually in averted costs. From these savings, approximately $13 million was reinvested in reentry programs and initiatives. One million dollars of the savings was used to develop pilot reentry projects in New Haven and Hartford.

Since the reinvestment, probation violations are on the decline, dropping from over 400 per month in July 2003 to less than 200 in September 2005. The state also saw a four percent decline in the prison population between mid-year 2003 and mid-year 2006.

The Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which is coordinated by CSG, is developing a forthcoming case study on Connecticut's efforts to reduce spending on the state's prison system, reinvest in reentry programs, and curb the growth of the state's prison population. For more information on the Justice Reinvestment Initiative's work in Connecticut, contact Crystal Garland . For more information on managing the growth of prison populations and measuring savings from the Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council, click here.


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Washington State Considers Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates

 Washington State Institute for Public Policy (the Institute) released a report last month promoting the expansion of criminal justice programs as a way to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals, cut spending, and improve public safety. Recent long-term forecasts indicate that Washington will need to build two new prisons by 2020 to accommodate the state's growing prison population. As a result, the Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to investigate less costly alternatives to building new prisons, and to project the impact of implementing these alternatives on criminal justice costs and crime rates.

The Institute conducted a comprehensive statistical review of all criminal justice program evaluations conducted for the last 40 years in the United States and other countries to identify which programs were found to reduce crime, and to determine the costs and benefits of each program evaluated.

To project the impact of implementing these programmatic alternatives to building new prisons, the Institute built a forecasting model for current, moderate, and aggressive approaches to expanding criminal justice programs in the state. The Institute found that adult corrections programs, juvenile corrections programs, and prevention approaches produced the most favorable returns on investment. According to the Institute, if Washington successfully implements a moderate to aggressive expansion of these programs, then a significant level of future prison construction can be avoided, state and local taxpayers can save approximately two billion dollars, and net crime rates can be lowered slightly.

To view the full report, click here.


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Announcements

 Funding Opportunity: Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Program

According to the US Department of Justice, the majority of people in prison and jail has a history of substance abuse. Furthermore, in-prison drug treatment has been shown to reduce the use of injection drugs, hospital stays for drug and alcohol problems, and recidivism rates. The most successful outcomes are found for those who participate in both in-prison treatment and post-release treatment in the community.

The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Program assists states and local governments to develop and implement substance abuse treatment programs in state and local correctional facilities, incorporate reentry planning activities into treatment programs, and help individuals connect to community-based treatment aftercare services. RSAT funds may be used to implement three types of programs: residential, jail-based, and aftercare. States may apply for formula grant awards under this program. The state office may award subgrants to state agencies, units of local government, and Native American tribes.

Application Deadline: December 13, 2006
For more information about this grant announcement and application requirements, click here.


Funding Opportunity: Prisoner Reentry Initiative

Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) aims to strengthen communities that receive a large number of returning prisoners and reduce recidivism by helping individuals find work and access other critical services upon release. Grants are available for state agencies to provide pre-release assessment, programming and services, transition planning, and post-release supervision and coordination of services for individuals returning to communities. Grants will include an assessment/ planning phase not to exceed 3 months following the award start date, with implementation occurring in the remaining project period.

Application Deadline: January 11, 2007
For more information about this grant announcement and application requirements, click here.


Upcoming Events:

National HIRE Network- New York State, Reentry and Employment: A Current Snapshot and Recommendations for the Future
December 6, 2006 (New York, NY)
http://www.hirenetwork.org/pdfs/FLYER1.pdf

Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Series on Reentry Research: Women and Incarceration
December 15, 2006 8:30-10:00 am (New York, NY)
http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/centersinstitutes/pri/Fall2006Series.pdf

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Recent Coverage of Reentry Issues

  • 11/27/06 "State sets up more supports to help mentally ill inmates get parole" (Stamford Advocate (CT))

    Connecticut is setting up a new parole unit for mentally ill offenders so more of them can be granted parole and placed in other early release programs. The unit, which will start with five parole officers statewide, will begin work early next year, officials said. They will make sure the ex-offenders make all doctor's appointments, take their medications and ease back into life in their communities.

  • 11/27/06 "Zoning Laws That Bar Pedophiles Raise Concerns" (New York Times)

    The public defender's office in New Jersey, filed suit against the Franklin Township, claiming that the ordinance not only violates the right to due process, but also conflicts with a state law requiring that parole officers decide where registered sex offenders live. It is the first such case the agency has taken up, and could herald a curb on the rapidly proliferating local ordinances that threaten to push pedophiles to the fringes of communities.

  • 11/23/06 "A false sense of security in L.A. County jail" (Los Angeles Times)

    Thousands of inmates with mental health issues receive treatment each year in the Los Angeles County jails. Sheriff Lee Baca has said that caring for the mentally ill is among the most challenging aspects of operating the nation's largest jail system, which processes more than 200,000 inmates every year.

  • 11/21/06 "Staying out: Tenant-assistance plan works to ease former inmates into society" (Chicago Post-Tribune)

    Indiana Department of Correction officials believe part of the reason why some ex-offenders don't succeed in the community is because many have no place to live once they have served their time. On Monday, at the Westville Correctional Facility, the DOC and the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority launched a pilot tenant-based rental assistance program aimed at helping ex-offenders find a permanent home.

Click here to see more collected reentry news from the Reentry Policy Council.

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Recent Published Resources on Reentry Issues

To suggest additional resources for inclusion in the RPC newsletter, please email editors@reentrypolicy.org.

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