“All reentry is local”: Evaluating a Strategy to Reenter State Prisoners through Local Correctional Systems

This research involves a quasi-experimental evaluation of jail-based, stepdown
program run by the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department (HCSD)
and the Massachusetts Department of Correction (MADOC). (The quasiexperimental
design involves a difference-in-difference analysis of reentry
outcomes of stepdown program participants and matched detainees who
did not have access to the program.) The goal of this effort is to determine
the effectiveness of the program in reducing recidivism for individuals
reentering Hampden County from MADOC prisons. The main outcomes
will be recidivism along with successful reentry indicators of education,
employment, housing, and treatment services provided. Researchers will
augment the impact and outcome study with a process study that includes
practitioner interviews, along with a cost-benefit analysis.