It is a well-known fact in the criminal justice system that 95 percent of prison inmates will eventually be released. This translates to approximately 700,000 inmates returning to the community annually. But, a new report, Process and Systems Change Evaluation Findings from the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative, claims:
For every person released from prison annually, approximately 12 people exit local jails. Some 9 million individuals are released from jails every year (Beck 2006), and many of them enter and exit repeatedly.
These jail inmates have many needs that put them at risk of re-offending. They have high rates of substance abuse and dependence (Karberg and James 2005), mental health issues (James and Glaze 2006), and physical health problems (Maruschak 2006).
Jail inmates also have low levels of educational attainment (Wolf Harlow 2003) and a high incidence of homelessness (Greenberg and Rosenheck 2008). Service provision to address these issues is generally far short of the extent of the need (Karberg and James 2005; James and Glaze 2006; Brazzell et. al 2009).
A promising model to increase public safety and reduce recidivism has been developed by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and the Urban Institute (UI). The Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) model, according to UI, was created five years ago “to develop and test an innovative, comprehensive model for effective jail-to-community transition.” UI goes on to say, “The resulting model and Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) Initiative advances systems-level change and local reentry through collaborative, coordinated jail-community partnerships. Enhanced public safety, reduced recidivism, and improved reintegration are overarching goals.”
The TJC model was tested in Davidson County, TN, Denver, CO, Douglas County, KS, Kent County, MI, La Crosse County, WI, and Orange County, CA, with promising results, and the expectation that the TJC model can be equally effective in other localities.
To learn how TJC was developed, and how it can be implemented,
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