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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 3:58 am
Time: 3:58 am
Results for prisoner reentry (illinois)
2 results foundAuthor: Illinois Community Safety and Reentry Commission Title: Inside Out: A Plan to Reduce Recidivism and Improve Public Safety Summary: Communities in Illinois and nationwide are reeling from a revolving criminal justice door. The cycle of crime, punishment, and reoffending is a major public safety issue, and without intervention is bound to accelerate if recidivism rates remain at near record highs and record numbers continue to be released from state prison. Illinois’s prison population more than doubled from 1988 through 2001, largely due to incarceration rates among drug-involved offenders. Without positive intervention, more than one-half of the record nearly 40,000 inmates estimated to be released from state prisons this fiscal year will be back in prison within three years — after committing new crimes, finding new victims, or violating their parole. No one knows this better than the families in the hardest hit communities in Illinois. In 2005, the vast majority (82%) of the formerly incarcerated returned to just ten regions in the state. These communities also suffer some of the highest poverty and crime rates. Therefore, in addition to increased risk of becoming a crime victim, residents of these communities are losing family members to the vicious cycle of drugs, crime, and incarceration. The family, community, and statewide toll of crime is only compounded when a formerly incarcerated individual, lacking supports and jobs, commits another crime and returns to prison. When Governor Rod Blagojevich was first elected, he announced that his administration would spearhead a comprehensive public safety initiative to roll back the state’s recidivism rate, which had been climbing for more than a decade, standing in 2004 at over 54 percent, a historic high. In other words, for every two inmates released, one committed another crime and returned to prison, likely within a year of release. The costs of this revolving door of incarceration to the community and to the state — which spent $3 billion over 16 years, primarily in the 1990s, to build, operate, repair, and maintain new state prisons and expand their capacity — are simply too high to sustain. Funds are far better spent breaking this vicious cycle than supporting it. Under Governor Blagojevich’s leadership, the state has taken strong steps to stem this flood, including instituting several innovative programs, such as the Sheridan National Model Drug Prison and Reentry Program (which aims to be the largest state prison and comprehensive reentry program in the nation dedicated to inmates with substance abuse issues; the program focuses its efforts both in prison and during a highly supervised and supported return to the community) and Operation Spotlight Parole Reform Initiative (a long-term plan to dramatically increase the number of parole agents, improve case management, tighten parole supervision to emphasize risk reduction and expand community-based resources that help reduce crime). These efforts are seeing early, promising results. Among graduates of the Sheridan Program within its first two years, recidivism rates were nearly 40 percent lower than comparison groups. In addition, the Operation Spotlight Initiative has already helped to reduce new crimes among all of the state’s parolees to the lowest levels in state history. In part, thanks to these and other initiatives, the state’s overall three-year recidivism rate has declined to 51 percent. However, much more remains to be done to maintain the momentum. Details: Springfield, IL: Community Safety and Reentry Commission, 2007. 204p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 9, 2011 at: http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/reports/other/Governor's%20%20Reentry%20Commission%20Report%20FINAL.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/reports/other/Governor's%20%20Reentry%20Commission%20Report%20FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 122338 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsPrisoner Reentry (Illinois)RecidivismRehabilitation |
Author: Reichert, Jessica Title: Community Re-entry After Prison Drug Treatment: Learning from Sheridan Therapeutic Community Program Participants Summary: The Sheridan Correctional Center National Model Drug Prison and Reentry Program is a drug treatment program providing in-prison substance abuse treatment as well as substance abuse treatment upon release. Prior research has shown reductions in recidivism among Sheridan participants compared to other prisoners. This study examined a group of 50 re-incarcerated men who successfully completed the in-prison phase of the Sheridan program and what led to their re-incarceration. Among this sample, positive findings about the Sheridan program and its participants include: • Sixty-two percent stated they were Very engaged in the Sheridan program. • Slightly more than half (60 percent) felt Sheridan prepared them for success after release. • Over three-fourths (76 percent) indicated they had a job at some point after graduating Sheridan and before their re-incarceration. • A majority (84 percent) reported having little difficulty in finding housing. • Most (86 percent) said Sheridan helped them more than a traditional prison. Other notable findings include: • On average, Sheridan graduates in this study spent 738 days (about two years) in the community before returning to IDOC. The range was 40 to 2,096 days (over five-and-a-half years). • A majority of the men in our sample (90 percent) relapsed into drug or alcohol use after their release from Sheridan. • Slightly more than half (56 percent) of the sample reported they had illegal sources of income. • Sixty-eight 68 percent stated drug dealing was common in the neighborhood they lived in after release. This study found many factors associated with length of time to relapse to drug or alcohol use and recidivism (self-reported criminal activity or re-incarceration) including: • Younger participants engaged in criminal activity and relapsed sooner than older participants. Younger participants also reported being less engaged in the Sheridan program than older participants. • After prison, those who returned to their original neighborhood relapsed sooner than those who did not return to their original neighborhood. • Unemployed participants engaged in criminal activity sooner than employed participants. • Those living in neighborhoods that were perceived as unsafe and/or where drug dealing was common relapsed sooner than those living in safer, lower-risk neighborhoods. • Those who reported spending time with persons who engage in risky activities—substance use and/or criminal activity—relapsed sooner than those who did not spend time with persons engaging in risky activities. • Those with gang involvement engaged in criminal activity and relapsed sooner. • Those who did not complete aftercare engaged in criminal activity and relapsed sooner than those who did complete aftercare. Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2012. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 19, 2012 at: http://www.icjia.org/public/pdf/ResearchReports/Reentry_Sheridan_Report_012012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.icjia.org/public/pdf/ResearchReports/Reentry_Sheridan_Report_012012.pdf Shelf Number: 123667 Keywords: AftercareCorrectional ProgramsDrug OffendersDrug TreatmentPrisoner Reentry (Illinois)RecidivismRehabilitation |