Prisons

Boehm, Julie. Missouri Reentry Process. Jefferson City, MO: Missouri Dept. of Corrections, 2007. The use of the National Institute of Corrections’ Transition from Prison to Community Initiative (TPCI) by the Missouri Department of Corrections is briefly explained. “The TPCI model offers Missouri a framework, process and set of principles for a system wide approach to preparing offenders for success in the community” (p. 1). Links at this website related to the Missouri Reentry Process (MRP) include a quarterly newsletter, MRP flowchart, MRP principles, and a transitional accountability plan brochure.

Burke, Peggy B., et al. TPC Case Management Handbook: An Integrated Case Management Approach. Washington, DC: National Institute of Corrections, 2010.

Designed for teams of correctional and non-correctional staff at policy, management, and line staff levels who have been charged with implementing improvements in supervision and case management that support an overall strategy to reduce recidivism and enhance community safety through successful offender reentry. Chapters include: an overview of the Integrated Case Management approach; critical challenges and strengths of the ICM approach; roles and responsibilities of staff; implementation strategy for agencies committing to ICM; and a final word on organizational and cultural change.

Burke, Peggy B. TPC Reentry Handbook: Implementing the NIC Transition from Prison to the Community Model. Silver Spring, MD: Center for Effective Public Policy, 2008.

Developed for a broad range of stakeholders involved in improving reentry practices. Chapters include: transition and reentry—a key public policy issue; the Transition from Prison to the Community (TPC) model; why and how to take on the challenge of transition and reentry—lessons from the eight TPC states; implementing the TPC model; case management—a critical element of the TPC model; TPC performance measurement framework; and emerging issues, challenges, and opportunities. Appendixes include: capsule descriptions of TPC implementation in the eight pilot states; and examples from the implementation efforts of these states—forming and chartering teams, articulating a vision, documenting current population, policy, and practice, improving the use of information, evidence-based practice, identifying targets of change and setting priorities, improving offender management, preparing organizations for change, case management, and emerging issues, challenges, and opportunities.

Carter, Madeline M., ed. Increasing Public Safety through Successful Offender Reentry: Evidence-Based and Emerging Practices in Corrections. Silver Spring, MD: Center for Effective Public Policy, 2007.

The implementation of an effective offender reentry framework is explained. Sections Offender Reentry contained in this manual include: introduction; offender reentry from a national perspective; framework for offender reentry; leadership and organizational change; a rational planning process for a learning organization; the essential role of collaboration; key strategies in effective offender management; women offenders; and conclusion. Also provided is a copy of the Offender Reentry Policy and Practice Inventory.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Release Preparation and Transitional Reentry Programs. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Audit Division, 2004.

The ability of the BOP to ensure “that federal inmates participate in its programs designed to prepare them for successful reentry into society” is evaluated (p. ii). Sections of this report are: executive summary; introduction; incarceration and recidivism statistics; BOP reentry programs; release planning; Inmate Skills Development Re-engineering Initiative; and findings and recommendations regarding reentry program completions and Community Corrections Centers.

Final Report of the [Florida] Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey

Foundation, 2006. Recommendations for making the process of ex-offender reentry more effective in Florida are presented. This report contains these sections: executive summary; introduction; the prison experience — successful reentry must start at prison entry; coming home — reentry at the community level; and organizing reentry reform work in 2007 and beyond.

Haas, Stephen M., Cynthia A. Hamilton, and Dena Hanley. Preparing Prisoners for Returning Home: A Process Evaluation of West Virginia’s Offender Reentry Initiative. Charleston, WV: Mountain State

Criminal Justice Research Services, 2007. Pre-release programs provided to soon-to-be-released inmates are evaluated. This report contains these sections: executive summary; introduction; present analysis; results for pre-release programs provided to inmates, program delivery and length of time served, institutional programs provided, transitional programs provided, and prisoner needs and treatment matching; and key findings and evidence-based recommendations for the Offender Reentry Initiative overall. Appendixes include: Individual Reentry Program Plan; Program Recommendation Matrix; Parole Release Plan form; Aftercare Plan form; and program categories and descriptions.

Johnson, Byron. Not by Government Nor Faith Alone: Rethinking Prisoner Reentry. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, 2008.

This paper “reviews research documenting the role of religion in prisons and prisoner reentry, and reviews research connecting religion to crime reduction as well as prosocial behavior, and thus provides a basis for inclusion of a faith-based approach to prisoner reentry” (p. 18). Sections include: the relevance of religion in prisons and prisoner reentry; faith-based prisoner reentry — strengths and shortcomings; harnessing human and spiritual capital through intermediaries; a comprehensive and scalable prisoner reentry plan; and conclusion.

Listwan, Shelley Johnson, Dena Hanley, and Mark Colvin. The Prison Experience and Reentry: Examining the Impact of Victimization on Coming Home.Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, 2011.

The impact of prison victimization on how an offender behaves when released back into the community is examined. Sections following an abstract include: executive summary; introduction; review of the relevant literature; methodology; results for design and sample selection, prison victimization data, characteristics of selected victimization incidents, and re-entry outcomes; conclusion; and implications for policy and practice. A few of the observations made from the research are: about 58% of the sample experienced victimization; 97.9% witnessed someone being victimized; victims did take advantage of prison-based treatment; and younger offenders are more likely to be victims. “Ultimately, however, prison violence and subsequently re-entry outcomes, are likely to be impacted from a structured and deliberate response utilizing best practices in the areas of assessment and treatment” (p. 102).

Parent, Dale G., and Cranston Mitchell. Transition from Prison into Community: Project Briefing. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates, 2002.

Copies of overheads used in a presentation about the National Institute of Corrections’ (NIC) Transition from Prison into Community project are supplied. Topics discussed include: transition reform — the solution to adequately protecting the public while dealing with the record number of released prisoners; the NIC model — a new transition process, reform promotion, partnership creation, and information sharing; key agencies in transition reform; phases of the initiative; involve the stakeholders; principles of the transition accountability plan (TAP); advantages of TAP; stakeholders involved in partnerships; transition partnerships; the need to share data; enhancing communication through technology; and transition performance measures.

Pettway, Coretta. Best Practices Tool-Kit: Faith/Based Programming, Reentry and Recidivism. London, OH: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 2007.

Empirical evidence for the impact of religious activities and/or the effectiveness of faith-based programs is reviewed. Topics covered include: program implementation; highlighted program — the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI)); and legal concerns.

“Promising Strategies in Transition from Prison.” Topics in Community Corrections. Annual Issue 2007. Longmont, CO: LIS, Inc., 2007.

Issue contents are: “Foreword” by Kermit Humphries; “An Overview of NIC’s Transition from Prison to the Community Initiative” by Peggy B. Burke; “Rising to the Challenge of Applying Evidence-Based Practices Across the Spectrum of a State Parole Board” by Sherry Tate and Catherine C. McVey; “Collaboration and Partnership in the Community: Advancing the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative” by Le’Ann Duran; “Providing Tools for Risk Reduction Case Management in Parole and Community Corrections” by Keven Pellant and Margie Phelps; “Improving Parole Outcomes with Performance Leadership and Data: Doing What Works” by Danny Hunter, George Braucht, and John Prevost; “Working Together to Improve Reentry: Bridging Budgets and Programs, Public and Private, Prison and the Community” by Ginger Martin; “Ensuring Successful Offender Reentry: Umatilla/Morrow County “Reach-In” Services” by Mark Royal; “Creating Better Transitions at Indiana’s Plainfield Reentry Educational Facility” by Michael Lloyd; “Gender-Responsive Reentry in Rhode Island: A Long and Winding Road” by Bree Derrick; and “Missouri Makes Its Move Toward a New Reentry Philosophy” by Julie Boehm.

State of Recidivism: The Revolving Door of America’s Prisons. Washington, DC: Pew Center on the States, 2011.

Anyone concerned with keeping ex-offenders out of prison or jail, be they correctional professionals or concerned community members, should read this publication. “This report seeks to elevate the public discussion about recidivism, prompting policy makers and the public to dig more deeply into the factors that impact rates of return to prison, and into effective strategies for reducing them” (p. 1). Sections following an executive summary are: introduction—recidivism as a performance measure, overview of the study, and what a recidivism rate is; a closer look at recidivism rates—new figures show steady national recidivism rate, states vary widely, and how recidivism rates have changed; unpacking the numbers—how sentencing impacts recidivism rate, how community corrections policy impacts recidivism rate, and examples of how three states dealt with recidivism; and improving public safety and cutting correctional costs—strategies for successfully reducing recidivism, resources for developing effective reentry and supervision strategies, and a promising start.

Taxman, Faye S. “The Cattle Call of Reentry: Not all Processes are Equal.” Criminology & Public Policy, 10: 925–937. 2011.

With budget crunches capturing the attention of state and local governments, the affordability of long prison (jail) sentences is being questioned. States have taken daring steps to use early release tactics, with the expectations that such moves will both save money and reduce recidivism. Kevin A. Wright and Jeffrey W. Rosky (2011, this issue) explored the impact of early release efforts in one state. Not surprisingly, the results are disappointing in that those individuals who were released early were more likely to recidivate than those who served their time. Wright and Rosky point to several explanations, including the potential actions of parole officers and other attributes covered under the umbrella of “criminal justice thermodynamics” where the mechanics of the criminal justice system continue working in such a fashion to “backfire.” The findings of this study are predictable – early releases are more likely to recidivate – and those thrust back into society without preparation are doomed to fail. In this essay, I consider the importance of the messages that are attached to different policy initiatives, the messages that basically support the cattle call that “all things should work.” Unless we focus on the messages and the “punitive culture,” most of our efforts will fail to reform the justice system or people involved in justice environments. [abstract from author]

Taxman, Faye S., et al. What Works in Residential Centers Monographs. Fairfax, VA: George Mason

University, 2010. This series of monographs “examines the impact of participation in a RRC [Residential Re-entry Center] on federal offender release outcomes” (p. 2). RRCs assist in the transition of offenders from prison to the community. The series contains eight reports: Executive Overview: What Works in Residential Reentry Centers; Report 1: What Is the Impact of “Performance Contracting” on Offender Supervision Services?; Report 2: Measuring Performance- The Capacity of Residential Reentry Centers (RRCs) to Collect, Manage, and Analyze Client-Level Data; Report 3: What Organizational Factors Are Related to Improved Outcomes?; Report 4: How Do Staff Hiring, Retention, Management and Attitudes Affect Organizational Climate and Performance in RRCs?; Report 5: What Services Are Provided by RRCs?; Report 6: Technical Violation Rates and Rearrest Rates on Federal Probation after Release from an RRC; and Report 7: Site Visits. The rearrest rate for offenders who participated in RRCs is 13 % while technical violations that ended in revocation of supervised release is 23.5%.

Transition from Prison to Community: Making It Work [Satellite/Internet Broadcast]. Longmont, CO: National Institute of Corrections Academy, 2005.

Public safety is everyone’s business. This year, 600,000 offenders will leave prison and return to our communities. Whether released offenders live as law-abiding citizens or return to criminal behavior is largely dependent on the preparations made for their release while in prison and their transition process from prison to the community. Many jurisdictions have embraced NIC’s Transition from Prison to Community (TPC) Model to Offender Reentry increase public safety, support a successful transition process, and utilize scarce taxpayers dollars more effectively. The TPC Model involves community organizations and partnering agencies in creating system change that holds offenders accountable and supports their success in the community. This 3-hour program, originally broadcast September 28, 2005, focuses on the TPC implementation experiences of two states – Missouri and Michigan. Panelists will discuss their experiences with and insights to implementing the reentry model.

Virginia Adult Re-entry Initiative: The Four Year Strategic Plan: Executive Summary: July 2010 – June 2014. Richmond: Virginia Department of Corrections, 2011.

Those agencies needing to create a strategic plan for their own reentry programs will find common elements in this plan that they can use. Sections of this executive summary are: background; development of the Virginia Adult Re-entry Initiative (VARI) strategic plan; VARI strategic plan summary—vision, mission, principles, goals, service components (i.e., first contact, reception, on-going assessment and case planning, programs and services, re-entry service continuum from less than five years before release to lifers, the three phases of re-entry preparation, community supervision, and special populations; and concluding comments. Related flow charts also provided include: the Virginia re-entry structure; Transition from Prison to the Community (TPC) model; Virginia adult re-entry program model; programs and re-entry; and correctional control and offender personal responsibility.