Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects, Evidence-Based Practices: Case Management

• NCJ Number: 250470
• Author(s): Shelli B. Rossman; Janeen Buck Willison; Christine Lindquist; Jennifer H Walters; Pamela K. Lattimore
• Date Published: December 2016
• Length: 39 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-RY-BX-0001
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program Description (Demonstrative)
• Award: Evaluation of the FY2011 Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects (Focus Area 2)

Annotation

This report describes the use of case management practices by seven sites that implemented demonstration projects under the Second Chance Act (SCA) Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects (AORDPs).

Abstract

Findings are based on information collected in 2014 through semi-structured interviews with AORDP staff and organizational partners, as well as through an online survey administered to key reentry stakeholders at each site. All seven demonstration sites provided some level of case management for participants, although the structure of case management services differed among the sites. At three sites (California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts), the same case managers worked with clients both before and after release; however, the intensity and duration of these services and contacts varied by site. The remaining four grantees provided some form of pre-release institution-based case management that involved varying levels of contact to establish rapport with clients and initiate transition planning prior to release. Risk/needs assessment information was prominent in case management plans for community-based supervision and services in all sites. Case management in some sites involved clients as partners in the case-planning process; however, few of the sites used case conferencing, in which there is planned contact with the client that involves multiple team members interacting with the client in holistic case planning. Several sites reported either developing or leveraging existing automated databases to record client needs and services, measure participants' and the project's progress, and share information across partners. Such automated databases and information sharing across partners are consistent with principles of effective case management. Stakeholders reported high levels of information exchange for routine reentry case planning and the exchange of case plans among partners. Appendixes present the Second Chance Act logic model, principles for effective intervention, and a summary of each grantee's program model. 3 exhibits and 26 references