Community Corrections - Essay Example

The National Institute of Justice created and funded a program and devised a multi-year and multi-site federal effort; The Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative. This initiative was created in confidence of improving reentry outcomes and evaluating this with five factors; criminal justice, employment, education, health, and housing. The program initially began in 2003, allowing the national Institute of Justice to track the success of the program (National Institute of Justice, 2012) Sixteen programs were divided among 14 states and included 12 adult and 4 juvenile facilities.

The purpose of the program was not starting a new program but to increase funding and resources available to existing programs. Partnerships were formed between supervision agencies, correction agencies, state and local level agencies and any faith based agency’s that have approved programs with the Department of Corrections. Participants were each considered a violent offender, each below the age of 35, and represented all three stages of reentry; in prison, post release with supervision and post-supervision.

The evaluation of this program sought to define how and if the program could lead to more integrated services among agencies, to what extent were participants in this program receiving services as compared to those who were not in the program and did the outcomes and benefits far exceed the cost of the program (Lattimore, & Steffey, 2009, p Es-5). In February of 2012 a final report was released with the findings of this study and recommendations for this community corrections program and initiative.

Prisoner Reentry Services The program focused on 12 different reentry factors that were identified as crucial pre-release. These factors were known to be contributive to the success of the offender once released. The offender should have a case manager, who has assessed his /her needs, a reentry plan; the offender should have completed some programs while incarcerated; did the offender attempt or successfully achieve this? Were life skills evaluated and any life skills education courses taken or available, did the offender take part in any prerelease employment services, mental health treatment or substance abuse treatment should have been available and provided to the offender, were personal relationship skills developed during incarceration?

, Attitude counseling related to criminal thinking and behavior provided, were anger management programs utilized, and was the offender able to receive a GED or other education during incarceration (Lattimore, Barrick, Cowell, Dawes, Steffey, Tueller, & Visher, 2012, p Es-2). Those who participated in the program had longer times between arrests and fewer arrests after release from the program across all demographics. Those services associated with a longer time period before being arrested again were personal relationship counseling, criminal thinking and behavioral counseling, anger management and a solid reentry plan.

These conclusions maintain the popular theory that personal development and programs that promote individual change may be more useful and successful than those which promote practical skills. This was true of female, males and juvenile offenders. Needs assessments and evaluations, reentry plans and participation in a reentry program, employment counseling, and criminal attitude and thinking counseling had no affects in any of the three groups on