Improving Offender Outcomes
In agencies right around the world, the goal to reduce recidivism is at the top of the list of strategic
and operational priorities. As a company that travels around the globe and meets with agency leadership on a regular basis,
we frequently come in contact with innovative ideas and approaches to addressing this important challenge
and improving outcomes for offenders as they reintegrate with society. We believe there is value in sharing
this information with our global corrections network.
Every agency and jurisdiction is different, and the approaches which might work for some may not be suitable
for others. We share this information as a public service to our corrections community.
Abilis has not authored or in any way contributed to the various postings below.
September 17, 2018
Maryland’s 2016 Criminal Justice Reform
Maryland’s incarceration and crime rates declined over the past decade, but the state still imprisons more than 20,000 offenders at an inflation-adjusted cost of $1.3 billion annually, up 10 percent from 2006. State policymakers, concerned about the public safety return on those investments, undertook a study of the corrections system.
Read MorePublished by pewtrusts.org
September 17, 2018
Public Dollars To Help Washington State Inmates Earn College Degrees
Community and technical colleges in Washington state will soon be able to use taxpayer dollars to offer college courses to inmates.
A new law, which takes effect in July [2016], will enable prisoners to earn an Associate of Technical Arts degree in certain workforce-related fields such as business management.
Published by pewtrusts.org
September 17, 2018
The Recidivism Trap
Any discussion of criminal justice policy inevitably includes the word “recidivism.” Usually more than once. […] At all levels of justice, from local probation offices to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, if we judge the impact of interventions at all, we do so in part by measuring recidivism. In a report we published with the Harvard Kennedy School, we conclude that recidivism is often the wrong measure.
Read MorePublished by themarshallproject.org
September 14, 2018
Maryland’s 2016 Criminal Justice Reform
Maryland’s incarceration and crime rates declined over the past decade, but the state still imprisons more than 20,000 offenders at an inflation-adjusted cost of $1.3 billion annually, up 10 percent from 2006. State policymakers, concerned about the public safety return on those investments, undertook a study of the corrections system.
Read MorePublished by pewtrusts.org
July 13, 2018
Iowa’s Department of Corrections Takes an Innovative, Evidence-Based Approach Efforts targeted toward programs that reduce recidivism, improve successful re-entry into community
When departments of corrections target services to people who are incarcerated, these services can help reduce the likelihood that those individuals will engage in criminal activity when released. Too often, however, criminal justice agencies lack the information they need to know whether the programs they offer to inmates are effective.
Read MorePublished by pewtrusts.org
July 13, 2018
Consider legislative solutions to recidivism
Key pathways in Iowa’s quest to reduce recidivism are initiatives the Department of Corrections can’t initiate. About 95 percent of the Iowa prison population will eventually be returned to local communities. For several years, the Iowa Department of Corrections has explored ways to reduce the number of those who return to state custody.
Read MorePublished by thegazette.com
July 13, 2018
Nation’s ‘Most Incarcerated State’ Chooses a New Path
Louisiana has the highest imprisonment rate in the nation, but that is expected to change as a result of comprehensive sentencing and corrections reform legislation signed into law this summer. Through a bipartisan effort, state leaders adopted a package of innovative, evidence-based approaches to reducing recidivism and incarceration, such as steering less serious offenders away from prison, strengthening alternatives to prison and jail, and removing barriers to success during re-entry into society.
Read MorePublished by pewtrusts.org
June 28, 2018
Innovative strategies to reduce recidivism and help prison inmates transition back to society
More than three out of every four individuals released from U.S. prisons are re-arrested within five years. Given the sharp negative effects that incarceration has on individuals and their communities, as well as the often staggering expense of jails and prisons to governments and taxpayers, addressing this “revolving door” has become a top priority for many policymakers.
Read MorePublished by phys.org
June 28, 2018
Top 5 Recidivism Reducing Programs
Recidivism programs with the highest rates of success offer models for communities that need help with offender re-entry.
Read MorePublished by efficientgov.com/blog
June 28, 2018
Three Core Elements of Programs that Reduce Recidivism: Who, What, and How Well
State and local governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on a wide variety of programs and services intended to reduce recidivism for people involved in the criminal justice system.
Read MorePublished by csgjusticecenter.org