Debt and Prisoner Reentry

This research will use data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) to examine the association of prisoner and returning prisoner debt and financial obligations on successful reentry. Objectives are to describe and examine whether: (1) differences in reentry experiences for the SVORI and non-SVORI participants are related to child support orders, family instrumental support, receipt of financial debt reduction or modification and related services;(2) child support orders and amount of debt are associated with employment outcomes;(3) employment buffers the relationship between child support orders/debt and recidivism;(4)family support (both instrumental and emotional support) acts as a moderator between child support orders/debt and recidivism;and, (5) to assess alternative models comparing aspects of services and supervision related to payment of support and modification of child support debt to determine whether and which aspects of these types of services are related to reduced recidivism. ca/ncf