A Description of the Self-Identified Needs,Service Expenditures,and Social Outcomes of Participants of a Prisoner-Reentry Program

Abstract

This study examines 122 ex-offenders who participated in Project Re-Connect, a 6-month, voluntary, prisoner-reentry program for inmates who served their maximum prison sentence. The needs most frequently self-identified by program participants prior to their return into the community included transportation, clothing, food, housing, and employment or vocational training. To help address these needs, program participants had access to US$3,000. These funds were largely directed toward the self-identified needs, with the greatest portion of expenditures applied to housing. Social outcomes, including employment, housing, and substance abuse, are examined for program participants. The study found that many ex-offenders will seek assistance through reentry programs, even when participation is voluntary, and that they are capable of self-identifying their service needs.

Keywords

prisoner reentry rehabilitation ex-offenders reentry service needs

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arrigo

B. A.

Takahashi

(2008). Theorizing community reentry for male incarcerates and confined mothers: Lessons learned from housing the homeless. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 46(1/2), 133-162.

Belenko

(2006). Assessing released inmates for substance-abuse-related service needs. Crime and Delinquency, 52, 94-113.

Belenko

Peugh

(2005). Estimating drug treatment needs among state prison inmates. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 77, 269-281.

Blitz

C. L.

(2006). Predictors of stable employment among female inmates in New Jersey: Implications for successful reintegration. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 43(1), 1-22.

Freeman

(2003). Can we close the revolving door?: Recidivism vs. employment of ex-offenders in the U.S. Symposium at the Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable, New York.

Gendreau

Little

Goggin

(1996). A meta-analysis of the predictors of adult offender recidivism: What works! Criminology, 34, 575-607.

Hals

(2007). From locked up to locked out: Creating and implementing post-release housing for ex-prisoners. Seattle: AIDS Housing of Washington. Retrieved from http://www.buildingchanges.org/search/from%20locked%20up%20to%20locked%20out?ordering=&searchphrase=all

Hammett

T. M.

(2001). Health-related issues in prisoner reentry. Crime and Delinquency, 47, 390-409.

Housing and Urban Development. (2000). Section 8 tenant based assistance: Housing choice voucher program (24 C.F.R. § 982.306). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

10.

Kubiak

S. P.

(2004). The effects of PTSD on treatment adherence, drug relapse, and criminal recidivism in a sample of incarcerated men and women. Research on Social Work Practice, 14, 424-433.

11.

Langan

Levin

(2002). Recidivism of prisoners released in 1994. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

12.

La Vigne

Davies

Palmer

Halberstadt

(2008). Release planning for successful reentry: A guide for corrections, service providers, and community groups (Urban Institute Justice Policy Center Research Report September 2008). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

13.

Lewis

C. E.

Jr. Garfinkel

Gao

(2007). Incarceration and unwed fathers in fragile families. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 34(3), 77-94.

14.

Lipton

D. S.

(1995). The effectiveness of treatment for drug abusers under criminal justice supervision. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

15.

Lurigio

A. J.

(2000). Drug treatment availability and effectiveness: Studies of the general and criminal justice populations. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27, 495-528.

16.

MacKenzie

D. L.

(2006). What works in corrections: Reducing the criminal activities of criminals and delinquents. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

17.

Mellow

Christian

(2008). Transitioning offenders to the community: A content analysis of reentry guides. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 47, 339-355.

18.

National Association of State Budget Offices. (2004). 2003 State Expenditure Report. Retrieved from www.nasbo.org

19.

O’Brien

(2001). Making it in the “free world”: Women in transition from prison. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.

20.

O’Brien

Leem

(2007). Moving from needs to self-efficacy: A holistic system for women in transition from prison. Women and Therapy, 29, 261-284.

21.

Parsons

M. L.

Warner-Robbins

(2002). Factors that support women’s successful transition to the community following jail/prison. Health Care for Women International, 23, 6-18.

22.

Petersilia

(2003). When prisoners come home: Parole and prisoner reentry. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

23.

Petersilia

(2004). What works in prisoner reentry? Reviewing and questioning the evidence. Federal Probation, 68, 4-8.

24.

Petersilia

(2005). Hard time: Ex-offenders returning home after prison. Corrections Today, 67(2), 66-155.

25.

Roman

C. G.

Travis

(2004). Taking stock: Housing, homelessness, and prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

26.

Seiter

R. P.

Kadela

K. R.

(2003). Prisoner reentry: What works, what does not, and what is promising. Crime and Delinquency, 49, 360-388.

27.

Sherman

L. W.

Gottfredson

MacKenzie

Eck

Reuter

Bushway

(1997). Preventing crime: What works, what doesn’t, and what’s promising. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

28.

Smith

C. J.

Bechtel

Patrick

Smith

R. R.

Wilson-Gentry

(2006, May 10). Correctional industries preparing inmates for re-entry: Recidivism and post-release employment (Document No. 214608). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

29.

Spjeldnes

Goodkind

(2009). Gender differences and offender reentry: A review of the literature. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 48, 314-335.

30.

Travis

Solomon

A. L.

Waul

(2001, June). From prison to home: The dimensions and consequences of prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center.

31.

U. S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2009). Prison inmates at midyear 2008—statistical tables. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim08st.pdf

32.

Webster

Hedderman

Turnbull

P. J.

May

(2001). Building bridges to employment for prisoners. Home Office Research Study 226. London, UK: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.

33.

West

H. C.

Sabol

W. J.

(2008, December). Prisoners in 2007 (NCJ 224280). Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

34.

Wheeler

D. P.

Patterson

(2008). Prisoner reentry. Health and Social Work, 33(2), 145-147.

35.

Wilson

J. A.

Davis

R. C.

(2006). Good intentions meet hard realities: An evaluation of the Project Greenlight Reentry Program. Criminology and Public Policy, 5, 303-338.

36.

Zhang

S. X.

Roberts

E. R.

Callanan

V. J.

(2006). Preventing parolees from returning to prison through community-based reintegration. Crime Delinquency, 52, 551-571.