State correctional institutions in many states are located hundreds of miles from the communities to which the greatest number of individuals return after release. Individuals who have been incarcerated in a prison hours away from their home community are likely to find themselves particularly disconnected from the neighborhood to which they wish to return. Moving these prisoners to a facility located near their community can enable prerelease contact with family members, service providers, and community corrections officers. For individuals who have not located suitable housing to move into following release, transfer to a community-based facility may also allow them more time to determine an appropriate housing situation.

Corrections staff and the transition team should further consider transferring individuals nearing release to work-release facilities, when such facilities are available. Work-release facilities provide the opportunity for prisoners to prepare for economic independence, and can serve as an effective transitional phase between incarceration and release to the community. (See Policy Statement 22, Workforce Development and the Transition Plan, for more on the use of work release as a job preparation technique.)

Example: Work-release facilities, Pioneer Human Services and the Washington Department of Corrections

The Washington Department of Corrections places inmates who are residents of Seattle (nearly one-third of the incarcerated population) and eligible for a work-release program in one of the six facilities it contracts with Pioneer Human Services, a private, nonprofit social enterprise organization. Individuals may enter a work-release program no sooner than six months prior to discharge. Work-release participants are overseen by community corrections officers, who help to staff the facilities and provide case management services, including assessments and program referrals. Participants must be employed or enrolled in a training program; stay in the work-release facility at all times, except those approved for work and other appointments; remain alcohol- and drug-free; and pay approximately ten dollars a day for their room and board.

Some jurisdictions use the county jail system to facilitate transition planning in or near the community to which the person will return. While these jails may offer work-release opportunities and transition planning, state prison systems should not seek to transfer inmates to the local jail system as part of the transition process unless the destination jail has the resources and facilities to hold these inmates safely and can benefit their transition by enabling inmates to develop community connections. State policymakers and corrections administrators who wish to establish a jail transfer program should work with local jurisdictions to ensure that the proper treatment and rehabilitative services are available there. Jails should be reimbursed by the state for each inmate transferred from a prison facility. When properly reimbursed for expenses, jails may benefit from such a program through a reduction in the number of sentenced individuals waiting for prison beds that they hold at any given time. Jails would receive soon-to-be released inmates (who typically have low security needs) while recently sentenced individuals (who require greater security) could be transferred more quickly to the state prison system. Policymakers determining transfer procedures should recognize, however, that programming space is likely to be very limited in jails, even under the best of circumstances.

Example: Jail Transition Program, Virginia Department of Corrections

In Virginia, the Department of Corrections prereleases state inmates to county jails for work release. While the state does not pay the counties a per diem cost for individuals on work release who are housed at local jails, the state does pay for 90 percent of the operational costs of local jails and ensures that sufficient staff are available to carry out the additional responsibilities associated with the state prisoners.

Example: Community Transition Program, Indiana Department of Corrections

In Indiana, the state legislature enacted a law in 2001 which provides that state inmates can be remanded to local jails 60 to 180 days before their release date. This permits prisoners to participate in work release and transition programming as they move back to their communities. The state pays the local jail authorities 15 dollars a day for providing the programming.