Announcement for 09/20/05
Reentry Courts: An Emerging Trend
Specialty courts, from drug courts to mental health courts, have become a significant part of criminal justice systems across the country. Now, a new type of specialty court can be added to the list. Reentry courts are designed to address the unique circumstances of prisoner reentry and increase the likelihood of successful community reintegration. Over the past five years, they have begun appearing around the country. This feature explores the emerging reentry court trend by asking five questions: (1) Where do reentry courts exist? (2) Whom do reentry courts serve? (3) What are the goals of reentry courts? (4) How are reentry courts administered? And (5) how effective are reentry courts? Resources for more information on reentry courts are included at the end of the page.
1. Where do Reentry Courts Exist?Reentry courts are an extremely new addition to the spectrum of alternative criminal justice proceedings, and their nationwide implementation has been quite limited. The main driver of reentry court implementation to date has been the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Reentry Court Initiative (RCI), which was launched in February of 2000. The RCI established nine pilot reentry court sites:
- San Francisco, CA
- El Paso County, CO
- New Castle County, DE
- Sussex County, DE
- Broward County, FL
- Cedar Rapids, IA
- Fayette County, KY
- Campbell and Kenton counties, KY
- Harlem (New York City), NY
- Richland County, OH
- Mineral, Tucker, and Grant counties, WV
In addition to the RCI sites, preliminary research has identified at least two other reentry court sites, one in Allen County, IN, which was also established in 2000, and a combined "reentry drug court" in Delaware, which was founded in 1993. There does not appear to be an exhaustive, centralized repository of information on reentry courts, and it is likely that there are additional reentry court programs in other jurisdictions.
2. Whom do Reentry Courts Serve?Unlike most other alternative court-based programs, reentry courts serve individuals who have already been convicted and incarcerated. In general, reentry courts enroll parolees who have been screened and selected for participation and who have consented to the jurisdiction of the reentry court. In some cases, participants may not be on parole and may instead be compelled by sentence or other court order to participate in the reentry court docket.
Though criteria for selection vary across courts, participants are generally selected based on the nature of their offense, their criminal history, and their assessed likelihood of recidivism. Most courts aim to serve non-violent offenders at a high risk for recidivism. In at least two cases, Kentucky and Delaware, the reentry court is combined with a drug court model, and specifically targeted at parolees with a need for substance abuse treatment. [back to top]
3. What are the Goals of Reentry Courts?As stated in the RCI documentation, the goal of the program is to "establish a seamless system of offender accountability and support services throughout the reentry process." As part of the system of offender accountability, reentry courts aim to establish a program of graduated sanctions and rewards that can be used to influence parolee conduct without automatically resorting to incarceration, the most expensive and extreme sanction. From another perspective, the implicit goal of reentry courts is to reduce recidivism among participating individuals. [back to top]
4. How are Reentry Courts Administered?
Across the identified reentry courts, there is not a consensus as to an ideal reentry court's administrative structure. In some cases, administrative authority is vested in the judiciary, while in others authority is retained by administrative law judges and/or a parole board.
Depending on the administrative authority, the mechanisms for enrolling reentry court participants also vary. In some cases, individuals are released from prison into judiciary-administered reentry courts via a court order issued prior to release. In other judiciary-administered programs, participation in the reentry court is compelled at the initial sentencing. In cases where parole is used as the release mechanism, participation in the reentry court is usually established as a condition of release.
In general, regardless of the administrative authority, all reentry courts require that participants appear before the court on a regular basis for review, and establish a personalized program plan for each participant to follow. Most programs require between six months and one year of reentry court participation. [back to top]
5. How effective are Reentry Courts?There is some outcome data available for some of these reentry courts; however, none of it can be considered particularly conclusive. In all cases, sample sizes were extremely small and outcomes were not necessarily significant. In most cases, because of the relatively recent inception of these programs, it may take several years before extensive evaluations involving robust samples and adequate follow-up periods can be conducted. Nevertheless, preliminary outcome data in most cases are promising. In Harlem, for example, reentry court participants were less likely to be convicted of a new felony or misdemeanor within one year of release than similar releasees who did not participate in the program.
Evaluation data from the reentry/ drug court in Delaware, and RCI pilot program in Kentucky also show promising results. Further investigation may uncover additional evaluation reports for other sites; an overall outcome evaluation of the RCI pilot program has not yet been conducted. [back to top]
A wide range of information on reentry courts, and the RCI program in particular, is available through OJP's website. In addition, information about specific reentry courts is available through the following links: