Prisoner Reentry Services: What Worked for SVORI Evaluation Participants?

• NCJ Number: 238214
• Author(s): Pamela K. Lattimore; Kelle Barrick; Alexander Cowell; Debbie Dawes; Danielle Steffey; Stephen Tueller; Christy A. Visher
• Date Published: February 2012
• Length: 560 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2009-IJ-CX-0010
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Award: Prisoner Reentry Services: What Works for Whom?

Annotation

This report presents the findings and methodology of a secondary analysis of data collected for a large multi-site evaluation of State and local reentry initiatives funded under the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI).

Abstract

The evaluation found that participation in SVORI programs was associated with longer times to arrest and fewer arrests after release for all three demographic groups during a minimum follow-up period of 56 months for the adults served and 22 months for the juvenile males. Many of the specific SVORI-funded services had no effect on housing, employment, substance use, or recidivism outcomes; and in some cases, the effect was harmful rather than beneficial. There were significant effects of SVORI program participation on arrests following release, with SVORI participants associated with a 14-percent reduction in arrests for the adult men, 48-percent reduction for adult women, and 25-percent reduction for the juvenile males over the fixed follow-up periods. The findings indicate the need for additional research into the sequencing and effects of specific and combinations of reentry services, with an awareness that some programs may be harmful if delivered at the wrong time or in the wrong way. The findings also indicate that follow-up periods longer than 2 years may be necessary to observe positive effects on criminal behavior and criminal justice system interaction, since the strong effects observed at 56 months were not observed at 24 months after release, when non-significant positive effects were observed. Longer follow-up periods may be particularly important for high-risk populations. The findings pertained to 2,300 adult males, adult females, and juvenile males in different States who either participated in SVORI programs or were members of control groups who received traditional postrelease services. 24 tables