Reconsidering the Project Greenlight Intervention: Why Thinking About Risk Matters

• NCJ Number: 235890
• Journal: NIJ Journal Issue: 268 Dated: October 2011 Pages: 10-15
• Author(s): James A. Wilson; Christine Zozula
• Date Published: October 2011
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Journal
• Grant Number(s): 2002-RT-BX-1001
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Providing Transitional Services to Improve Offender Outcomes

Annotation

This article, Reconsidering the Project Greenlight Intervention: Why Thinking About Risk Matters, presents a new evaluation of the project's data to more fully understand why the project failed to live up to its expectations.

Abstract

This article presents the results of a new evaluation of Project Greenlight, a cognitive-behavioral program aimed at reducing recidivism rates among offenders in New York State. The original evaluation of Project Greenlight examined the effectiveness of the program on recidivism rates of offenders 12 months after their completion of the program. The evaluation found that Greenlight participants had higher rates of arrests and parole revocations compared to offenders who received standard prerelease programming or no prerelease programming at all. This current study re-evaluated Project Greenlight, this time examining the data over a 30-month period, instead of the initial 12-month period. The new evaluation found that at 30 months, only 20 percent of offenders with a low-risk level for reoffending were rearrested, compared to 56 percent of offenders with a medium-risk level and 76 percent of offenders with a high-risk level of reoffending. These findings suggest that low-risk offenders are more likely to benefit from the intensity of the Greenlight program, and that this and other factors should be taken into account when placing individuals in the program. 1 exhibit, 1 figure, and 4 notes