In this report we present findings on the implementation and early outcomes of three Second Chance Act (SCA) grant projects funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Reauthorized under the First Step Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-391), the SCA named improvements to existing Department of Justice grant programs that supported the successful reintegration of individuals returning to communities from prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities. It required the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to evaluate the process, implementation, outcomes, costs, and effectiveness of DOJ’s reentry and recidivism reduction grants in several areas of evaluation: effectiveness in reducing recidivism and improving reintegration, service delivery design, program impact on participants and communities, responsiveness to diverse populations, and the quality of training and technical assistance (TTA) funded by the Department of Justice.
This report was prepared in response to the SCA requirement of an interim evaluation report. It focuses on process and implementation evaluation because an insufficient amount of time passed from when projects completed enrollments into their programs in September 2023 and the time this report was written to assess impacts of the projects on reentry and recidivism.
From 92 grantees awarded SCA funding in federal fiscal years 2018 and 2019, the BJA selected three of eight top-tier sites for the evaluation based on NIJ’s standards for evaluability. These sites also received additional funding to support their participation in this evaluation:
- Alameda County Probation Department (ACPD) – Pathways Project
- Hope of Buffalo (HOB) – Project Blue Community Reentry Initiative
- Lucas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) – Northwest Ohio Innovative Reentry Initiative
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all sites received program extensions from BJA to enroll participants through September 2023. This report uses data through December 31, 2023, to describe each site’s program model, target population, implementation challenges, and modifications, along with implications for evaluating program impact. Data sources used included program documents, site visits, interviews with participants, stakeholders, grantees, and TTA coaches. Sites varied based on the number and type of interventions embedded in their programs; interventions ranged from standard, pre- and post-release practices to innovations in creating customized technology solutions. All sites prioritized recidivism reduction as their primary goal, with additional goals such as improving employment outcomes, strengthening family relationships, and increasing access to community resources.
Findings show varied responses to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruptions among the sites. All sites experienced delays in participant enrollment, expanded their target population criteria beyond high-risk individuals to include medium-risk clients, and modified program designs, including changes in intervention delivery modes. For example, one site increased enrollment after dropping plans for a control group; another omitted female participants due to delays in opening a facility for women; a third minimized the scope of a virtual reality solution.
By the completion of the implementation period, enrollment targets were met for all but one intervention at one site. Program completion rates varied widely from a low of 11.5% to a high of 80%. TTA coached reported various levels of engagement with sites and identified challenges and successes in delivering their services.
The implementation changes have implications for impact evaluation. Primary among these were program designs that omitted control groups—which require matching methods to identify program effects—and randomized controlled trials that involved small sample sizes, which reduce the power of the sample to test for differences between groups. Future publications will detail effectiveness and impact findings.
(Author abstract provided.)
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