“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.