About the Report The Report, Part II: Review of the Re-Entry Process:

chapters and policy statements:
About the Report of the Re-Entry Council

Policy Statement 26, Research Highlight 4

Research suggests that the most critical period for a returning prisoner is immediately following release.

In a 15-state study, over two-thirds of prisoners were rearrested within three years of their release. Importantly, the first six months accounted for nearly half (44 percent) of all recidivism during the three-year period, with 30 percent of all releasees re-arrested in those first months. [1]   In the first year out, 44 percent of released prisoners were arrested. Property offenders were the most likely to recidivate. Almost three-quarters of all property offenders were arrested within three years of their release. [2]   Two-thirds of drug offenders and 62 percent of both public-order and violent offenders were rearrested within three years. [3]   The first months out of prison are also a high-risk, high-need period for housing and other services. [4]  

  1. Patrick A. Langan and David J. Levin, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2002) NCJ 193427. back
  2. Ibid. back
  3. Ibid. back
  4. Marta Nelson, Perry Deess, and Charlotte Allen, The First Month Out: Post-Incarceration Experiences in New York City (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 1999); Dennis P. Culhane, Stephen Metraux, and Trevor Hadley, The Impact of Supportive Housing for Homeless People with Severe Mental Illness on the Utilization of the Public Health, Corrections and Emergency Shelter Systems (Washington, DC: Fannie Mae Foundation, 2001). back
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