Inmate Programs

This is a training and production program for incarcerated individuals, with the overall goal of reducing recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Compared with individuals in the waitlist comparison group, individuals who participated in the program had a statistically significant lower likelihood of being rearrested, reconvicted, or returned to custody during the 3-year follow-up period.

This is a reentry program designed to assist parolees transition from life in prison to life in the community. The program is rated Promising. The treatment group had statistically significant reductions in rates of reconvictions and parole revocations, increases in numbers of months employed, and a greater likelihood of receiving a high school diploma or GED, compared with the control group. However, there were no statistically significant differences in rate of rearrests or substance use.

The program is targeted at individuals whose mental illnesses are seen as instrumental in their offenses, and who are likely to qualify for and benefit from publicly supported treatment in the community. The overall goal is to reduce recidivism . The program is rated Effective. Participants in the program were less likely to be convicted of any new offense and convicted of felony offenses, compared with the matched comparison group. The difference was statistically significant.

Implemented by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, this is a cognitive–behavioral program for male parolees that aims to build psychosocial skills in areas such as self-control, interpersonal problem-solving, and critical reasoning. The program is rated No Effects. The authors found no statistically significant effect of program participation on recidivism and employment measures.

This program offered postsecondary education for incarcerated individuals to reduce or break the cycle of continued or repeated criminal behavior. The program is rated Promising. Participants in the program had a statistically significant lower rate of arrests for a new crime than comparison group members.

This is a reentry program designed to reduce recidivism and increase reentry services for males, ages 13 to 18, who have committed offenses and are placed in a locked, residential treatment facility. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to statistically significantly decrease recidivism rates among youths who participated in the program, compared with youths who received services as usual.

This boot camp intervention in Minnesota combines a traditional military institutional program for 6 months with two 6-month phases of intensive, supervised release aftercare. The program is rated Promising. Program participants had statistically significant lower rates of re-arrest, felony reconviction, and return to prison for a new offense than the comparison group, but no statistically significant difference in the rate of return to prison for any offense.

This inpatient program provides group and individual therapy to those who have committed sexual offenses and have recently been released from prison in Ontario, Canada. The program is rated No Effects. There was no significant difference in sexual recidivism rates between the treatment group and the comparison group.

This is a prison-based, cognitive–behavioral skills enhancement program in England. The program is rated Effective. Program participants showed statistically significant reductions in reconviction rates and frequency of reoffending, compared with nonparticipants. However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in severe offense reconviction rates.

This program brings together inmates, their families, and other supporters to discuss inmates’ past experiences and future expectations in a mediated session. The session is designed to facilitate communication, understanding, and a plan for reentry to help inmates successfully transition into the community after release. The program is rated Promising. This program showed a statistically significant reduction in rearrest, reconviction, and return to prison for program participants.

This is a psychological intervention for incarcerated males, which addresses the lifestyle concepts around crime, drug use, and gambling. The main objective of the program is to reduce recidivism through introducing program participants to lifestyle changes centering on the identification of conditions, choices, and cognition of crimes. The program is rated Promising. The program participants were statistically significantly less likely to be rearrested and reincarcerated during the follow up.

This is a prisoner-reentry employment program designed to reduce recidivism by helping participants find and retain employment after release from prison. The program is rated Promising. Participants had statistically significant lower rates of reconviction, rearrest, reincarceration, and revocations, and higher rates of employment and hours worked, compared with nonparticipants. However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in hourly wage.

The program provides postsecondary educational classes and programs to prisoners via one-way Internet courses or onsite vocational instruction. The goal of the program is to reduce arrests following release from prison. The program is rated Promising. This program was shown to statistically significantly reduce arrests within the 1-year follow-up period.

This was a case management program implemented in seven different correctional institutions across Minnesota. The program connected caseworkers in prisons with supervision agents in the communities to which participants return upon release from prison. The program is rated Promising. It statistically significantly reduced recidivism as measured by rearrest, reconviction, technical violation revocation, and reincarceration for any reason, but had no impact on new offense reincarceration.

This is a curriculum-based, gender-responsive intervention created to address the different cognitive–behavioral needs of incarcerated women. The program is rated Promising. Participants in the program had a statistically significant lower likelihood to be rearrested and reconvicted, compared with the control group participants; however, the program did not have a significant impact on reincarcerations for a new offense and technical violation revocations.

The program engages persons incarcerated in state prison in private sector jobs (which pay minimum wage or higher), in an effort to increase post-release employment and reduce recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Compared with those who worked in traditional prison industries and participated in other activities such as education and drug treatment, treatment group participants showed a statistically significant increase in post-release employment and a decrease in recidivism rates.

Formerly called the Dangerous Mentally Ill Offender Program, this is a reentry-planning and service program aimed at reducing recidivism for dangerously mentally ill people in Washington State. The program is rated Promising. Program participants had statistically significantly lower violent felony and overall felony recidivism rates compared with the matched control group 4 years following release from prison.

This program is an alternative to incarceration for felons with substance abuse problems. In lieu of confinement, they must successfully complete a residential, chemical-dependency treatment program in the community. The program is rated Promising. Residential DOSA was shown to statistically significantly reduce overall recidivism rates compared with prison-based DOSA.

This is a prison work crew program designed to increase the availability of affordable low-income housing while training inmates in construction-industry-specific occupational skills. The program is rated No Effects. The program had a statistically significant effect on participants’ likelihood of gaining employment in the construction field. However, there were no statistically significant effects on rearrests, reconvictions, and reincarceration.

A prison-based drug treatment program based on the principles of therapeutic communities with the overall goal of reducing the risk of drug relapse and recidivism once they return to the community. The program is rated No Effects. The program did not significantly impact participants’ rates of rearrests or drug relapse, and only had a small effect on reincarceration rates.

This is a voluntary, faith-based prisoner reentry program that attempts to prepare inmates for reintegration into the community, employment, family, and other significant relationships through programming. The program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant reductions in rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration rates for the treatment group, compared with the comparison group. However, there was no statistically significant impact on revocations for a technical violation.

This program comprises a violence prevention curriculum, which is designed to assist youth in detention to overcome obstacles such as gangs, violence, crime, and substance abuse. The program is rated Effective. Treatment group youth who participated in the program had lower rates of recidivism and took a longer amount of time to recidivate, compared with control group youth, at the 1-year follow up. These differences were statistically significant.

This is a program, provided by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, which offers treatment, therapy, and transitional services to convicted males in prison. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group inmates had a statistically significant lower likelihood of being rearrested for sex offenses, violent offenses, or any offenses, compared with comparison group inmates who did not receive any treatment.

This is a prison-based, methadone maintenance program in Australia, which is designed to reduce recidivism, prevent the spread of blood-borne viral infections (HIV and hepatitis) in prison, and encourage continuation of treatment in the community following release. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant effects on rates of mortality, recidivism, or hepatitis C infections.

This program involved cooperation between police and prosecutors to increase the likelihood that high-risk individuals would be convicted and incarcerated. The program is rated Promising. The experimental group had a statistically significant greater likelihood of being sentenced to prison and having longer prison sentences, compared with the control group. However, there was no statistically significant difference for conviction rates between the groups.

This is an institution-based transitional services demonstration program, designed to be a short, intensive intervention, which could provide a greater number of individuals with reentry services at a lower cost. The program is rated No Effects. Program participants showed a statistically significant higher rate of parole revocation and rearrests for new offenses, compared with comparison group participants. However, there were no significant differences in felony rearrest rates between groups.

This is a methadone maintenance treatment designed for currently incarcerated individuals with a heroin addiction. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group participants spent a greater number of days in community-based drug treatment following release and improved opioid drug test results, compared with control group participants. These differences were statistically significant. However, there were mixed results regarding cocaine use, criminal activity, and frequency of heroin use.

This program serves an alternative to incarceration for technical parole violators or as a special condition of parole on release from prison. The program, which is run at secure residential facilities, provides paroled persons with an environment that is halfway between prison and ordinary parole release. The program is rated Promising. Program parolees showed statistically significant reductions in re-arrest, reconviction, and reincarceration, compared with the comparison group.

This program provides intensive treatment in a dedicated housing unit to male incarcerated persons with substance abuse problems during the last 9 to 12 months of their prison terms. The program is rated Promising. Participants had statistically significant lower reincarceration rates at the 24-month and 5-year follow-up periods, compared with the control group. There were no significant differences between the groups in reincarceration rates at the 36-month follow up or in drug use at the 5-year follow up.

This is a prison-based chemical dependency treatment for incarcerated persons who abuse chemicals or are chemically dependent. The main goal is to reduce their recidivism rates once they reenter the community. The program is rated Promising. Those who received treatment showed statistically significant lower rates of rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration, compared with the control group at the follow-up period.

This program uses a drug treatment continuum of prison-based therapeutic community and residential work release for drug-involved convicted persons. The program is rated Promising. Results showed statistically significant increases in remaining drug-free after 3 years and increases in condom use after 6 months; however, there were no statistically significant effects in being injection-free (after 6 months) or arrest-free (after 3 years).

This program is the first prosecution-led, residential drug treatment diversion program designed to divert people convicted of nonviolent felony drug offenses to community-based residential treatment. This program is rated Promising. Controlling for time spent in the community following release from prison, the intervention showed statistically significant positive effects on recidivism, time to first rearrest, and rearrest for program participants, compared with the control group.