Florida Department of Corrections and Florida State University Research Project

The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) is collaborating with Florida State University to conduct reentry studies examining the post-release impact of in-prison substance abuse treatment, work release programs, and post-release supervision on employment, technical violations, rearrest, reconviction, and re-incarceration. The first study randomly assigned inmates admitted between 1/2006 and 12/2008 to in-prison substance abuse treatment; of those released by 2/2011, about 1400 completed treatment and about 9700 were in the control group. The second study examines outcomes and cost-efficiency for about 54,000 offenders released between 1/2002 and 12/2009 to community transition programs in public and private work release centers and other community custody. The third study examines outcomes and cost-efficiency for over 250,000 offenders released between 1/2002 and 12/2009 to probation, community control (house arrest) and conditional release supervision. Archival data resources include: DOC's Offender-Based Information System (offenders' movement, assessments, and service access); Florida Department of Education's Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (employment, public assistance); and Florida Department of Law Enforcement's criminal history data. Analyses will compare outcomes using t-tests, logistic regression, and survival analysis, with propensity score matching, precision matching to construct comparison groups; covariates include offender demographics, criminal, supervision and incarceration history. In addition to the data and written deliverables required by NIJ, anticipated work products include articles in practitioner and research publications, local stakeholder briefings, and professional conference presentations. ca/ncf