Recidivism is usually defined, in corrections circles, as a prison inmate being rearrested for a new offense within a given period of time.
Measurement methods vary, but historically the rearrest rate has been quite high. Take, for example, the recent New York Times article on state-level efforts to help ex-inmates to find jobs upon release. The recidivism rate given there is 2 of every 3 released inmates within three years.
States have much to gain, though, by investing money in offender re-entry. As the Times piece points out, it costs about $35,000 to incarcerate someone for a year - more than it takes to send someone to the University of Michigan.
Showing posts with label Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative. Show all posts
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
What Went Up Can Come Down
Correctional populations have gone up so steadily for so long that it had come to seem almost like a law of nature.
Over a decade ago, when the total number of people in jail or prison reached 2 million, the conservative scholar John J. Dilulio opined that this was (finally) enough. Further increases were not likely to enhance public safety and might even diminish it, as wholesale incarceration decimated the social stability of so many neighborhoods.
Yet the number of inmates continued to go up - from 2 million in jail or prison in 1999 to 2.3 million in 2009.
In several states, however, the relentless budgetary pressure wrought by the Great Recession is forcing a rethinking. Indeed, in some states the numbers are actually starting to come down.
Michigan is a case in point. On my recent trip to Grand Rapids for a board meeting of Prison Congregations of America, I learned that the statewide prison population has gone down from 51,000 to 45,0000 in a matter of months. State officials have prioritized reentry for ex-offenders (or, as one prison ministry volunteer called them, "returning citizens"). As a result, what once seemed immutable is now in a condition of rapid change.
Over a decade ago, when the total number of people in jail or prison reached 2 million, the conservative scholar John J. Dilulio opined that this was (finally) enough. Further increases were not likely to enhance public safety and might even diminish it, as wholesale incarceration decimated the social stability of so many neighborhoods.
Yet the number of inmates continued to go up - from 2 million in jail or prison in 1999 to 2.3 million in 2009.
In several states, however, the relentless budgetary pressure wrought by the Great Recession is forcing a rethinking. Indeed, in some states the numbers are actually starting to come down.
Michigan is a case in point. On my recent trip to Grand Rapids for a board meeting of Prison Congregations of America, I learned that the statewide prison population has gone down from 51,000 to 45,0000 in a matter of months. State officials have prioritized reentry for ex-offenders (or, as one prison ministry volunteer called them, "returning citizens"). As a result, what once seemed immutable is now in a condition of rapid change.
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