The new Pew report State of Recidivism: The Revolving Door of America’s Prisons opens with some staggering statistics:
In 2008 one in 100 Americans was locked up
In 2009 one in 31 American adults was either locked up, on probation, or on parole
States spend $52 billion on corrections, the majority of that amount is spent on prisons
The average cost of keeping a person locked up is almost $80 a day, 20 times higher than the daily cost of probation
The statistics found in the report were gathered by the Pew Center and the Association of State Correctional Administrators. Pew has followed two groups of prisoners released in 1994 and 2004. The report found that Missouri, Oregon and Kansas have used innovative pre- and post release methods to significantly reduce recidivism. Oregon is touted as a “national standout” in the Pew report for reducing recidivism 31% in five years.
While every state did not supply information,State of Recidivism includes data from both the 1999 and 2004 studies. Some state programs that are highlighted for reducing recidivism include:
Increased pre-release case management and “strong, swift consequences” for post-release violations (Oregon)
Categorizing the risk assessment of parolees and setting appropriate levels of supervision (Missouri)
Using funds for services for formerly incarcerated persons, instead of building new prisons (Texas Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky)
Creating new laws and working with the court and probation officers to reduce new convictions (Arizona)
The report discloses that the 19 states that cut their incarceration rate saw a reduction in their crime rate. States are getting less benefits for each dollar spent on incarcerating a drug offender. In Washington state the benefits fell from $9 per inmate in 1980 to 37 cents today.
The report’s section on state releases and recidivism rates shows that California is struggling with a rate of recidivism. From 1999-2002 California released 126,456 inmates and had a recidivism rate of 61.1%. Between 2004 and 2007, 118,189 inmates were released and the recidivism rate was 57.8%. During the same years, New York saw a similar number of incarcerations (approximately 25,000 releases) and a similar rate of recidivism (39.9%). Connecticut had 13,950 releases between 1999-2004, with a 45.8% recidivism rate, and during 2004-2007 the numbers were 16,100 released, with 43.7 % returning back to prison. The release/recidivism chart shows many states reporting an increase in recidivism, or a minor decrease.
In order to reduce recidivism, State of Recidivism suggests that states consider:
Defining success as the reduction of recidivism, and measuring and rewarding progress
Preparing an inmate for release when the inmate is first admitted to prison
Optimizing available supervision resources
Imposing swift and certain sanctions for violators
Creating incentives for the formerly incarcerated to succeed
To view the full report click here to go to website
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