Conclusion and Endnotes

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The preceding pages provided a description of the origins of the problem, its dimensions, and its implications. That information, together with a knowledge of the process by which people are released from prison, an appreciation of how these processes are unique to each jurisdiction, and an understanding of the characteristics of jail and prison populations and the communities to which they return, should be a foundation for anyone considering the development of a reentry initiative. In the hands of someone with this foundation committed to effecting change, this Report can be an invaluable tool.

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Endnotes

  1. Serious and Violent Offender Re-Entry Initiative web site, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice, available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/reentry/learn.php, accessed May 13, 2004.
  2. Theodore M. Hammett, "Health-Related Issues in Prisoner Re-Entry to the Community," (paper presented at the Re-Entry Roundtable on Public Health Dimensions of Prisoner Re-Entry of the Urban Institute, Washington, DC, October 2000).
  3. The Bureau of Justice Statistics recorded an average annual growth between 1995 and 2003 of four percent in the number of jail inmates and 3.2 percent for the prison population, and notes that prison incarceration rates continue to rise. Paige M. Harrison and Jennifer C. Karberg, Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2003, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2004), NCJ 203947.
  4. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that only 46 percent of incarcerated individuals have a high school diploma or its equivalent. C. W. Harlow, Education and Correctional Population, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2003), NCJ 195670.
  5. Steven Steurer, Linda Smith, and Alice Tracy, Three-State Recidivism Study (Lanham, MD: Correctional Educational Association, 2001).
  6. Christopher J. Mumola, Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC, 1999) NCJ 172871; C. W. Harlow, Profile of Jail Inmates, 1996, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 1998), NCJ 164620.
  7. Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, June 2001).
  8. Jeremy Travis, Elizabeth Cincotta, and Amy L. Solomon, Families Left Behind: The Hidden Costs of Incarceration and Reentry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, October 2003).
  9. Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, June 2001).
  10. Christopher J. Mumola, Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 1999), NCJ 172871; C. W. Harlow, Profile of Jail Inmates 1996, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 1998), NCJ 164620.
  11. Steven Steurer, Linda Smith, and Alice Tracy, Three-State Recidivism Study (Lanham, MD: Correctional Educational Association, 2001).
  12. 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.
  13. Patrick A. Langan and David J. Levin, National Recidivism Study of Released Prisoners: Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: June 2002), NCJ 193427.
  14. Lauren E. Glaze, Probation and Parole in the United States, 2002, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2003), NCJ 201135.
  15. Lynn Bauer, Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2002).
  16. National Association of State Budget Offices, 2003 State Expenditure Report, available online at www.nasbo.org, accessed December 9, 2004.
  17. Alfred Blumstein and Allen J. Beck, "Population Growth in US Prisons 1980 -1996," Crime and Justice 26 (2000): 17 -62, cited in Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, June 2001).
  18. Unpublished statistic courtesy of Patrick Vanzo, Administrator, Cross Systems Integration Efforts, Department of Community and Human Services, King County, WA.
  19. For an explanation of discretionary release and supervised release, see sidebar, "Community Supervision: A Concise Guide" in Policy Statement 17, Advising the Releasing Authority.
  20. Jeremy Travis and Joan Petersilia, "Reentry Reconsidered: A New Look at an Old Question," Crime & Delinquency 47, no. 3 (2003). The 1967 President's Crime Commission recommended that ideal caseloads should be about 35:1. Camille Camp and George Camp, The Corrections Yearbook 1998 (Middletown, CT: Criminal Justice Institute, 1999).
  21. Caseloads for probation officers approach 200 people per officer in many large urban areas. Joan Petersilia, "Probation in the US," Perspectives 30 (Spring 1998), Part One. In Los Angeles County, probation officers supervising felons, many of whom have been recently released from jail, typically have caseloads of 300 people; caseloads of officers supervising less serious offenders can reach 1,000. Eduardo Barajas, Jr., NIC Focus: High Risk Offenders in the Community, US Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC: 2000).
  22. Theodore M. Hammett, Cheryl Roberts, and Sofia Kennedy, "Health-Related Issues in Prisoner Reentry,"Crime & Delinquency 47, no. 3 (2002): 390 -409.
  23. Christopher Uggen and Jeremy Staff, "Work as a Turning Point for Criminal Offenders," in Jesse L. Krienert and Mark S. Fleisher (eds.), Crime & Employment: Critical Issues in Crime Reduction for Corrections (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004); Shawn Bushway and Peter Reuter, "Labor Markets and Crime," in Joan Petersilia and James Q. Wilson (eds.), Crime: Public Policies for Crime Control, 2nd ed. (Oakland, CA: ICS Press, 2000).
  24. US Conference of Mayors, A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in American Cities, 2002 (Washington DC: United States Conference of Mayors, 2002).
  25. Stephen Metraux and Dennis P. Culhane, "Homeless Shelter Use and Reincarceration Following Prison Release: Assessing the Risk," Criminology & Public Policy 3, no. 2 (2004): 201 -222.
  26. The rate of release from prison is documented by Anne Piehl, From Cell to Street: A Plan to Supervise Inmates After Release (Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, January 2002). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, jail inmates were sentenced to an average of 23 months in 2002, and were expected to be released after serving an average of just nine months. Doris J. James, Profile of Jail Inmates 2002, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2004), NCJ 201932.
  27. Justice Policy Institute, "The Punishing Decade: Prison and Jail Estimates at the Millennium," available online at http://www.justicepolicy.org/article.php?id=299; Paige M. Harrison and Jessica Karberg, Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2003), NCJ 198877
  28. From 1980 to 1999, the percentage of state prisoners who completed their sentence while incarcerated rose from 13% to 18% (20,460 in 1980 to 98,218 in 1999). Timothy A. Hughes, Doris James Wilson, and Anthony J. Beck, Trends in State Parole, 1990 -2000, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2001), NCJ 184735.
  29. In 1999, 82 percent of released prisoners were subject to conditional release. Jeremy Travis and Sarah Lawrence, Beyond the Prison Gates: The State of Parole in America (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, November, 2002).
  30. Thomas P. Bonczar and Lauren E. Glaze, Probation and Parole in the United States, 1998, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 1999), NCJ 178234
  31. Ibid.
  32. Ibid.
  33. Timothy A. Hughes, Doris James Wilson, and Anthony J. Beck, Trends in State Parole, 1990 -2000, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2001), NCJ 184735.
  34. Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Re-Entry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2001).
  35. US General Accounting Office, State and Federal Prisoners: Profiles of Inmate Characteristics in 1991 and 1997 (Washington, DC: GAO, 2000).
  36. Ibid.
  37. Timothy A. Hughes, Doris James Wilson, and Anthony J. Beck, Trends in State Parole, 1990 -2000, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 2001), NCJ 184735.
  38. Allen Beck, "State and Federal Prisoners Returning to the Community: Findings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics" (paper presented at the First Re-Entry Courts Initiative Cluster Meeting, Washington, DC, April 13, 2000).
  39. Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, A Portrait of Prisoner Re-Entry in Maryland (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, March 2003).
  40. Ibid.
  41. Council of State Governments, Building Bridges: From Conviction to Employment: A Proposal to Reinvest Corrections Savings in an Employment Initiative, January 2003, viewed online at: www.csgeast.org/crimpub.asp.
  42. Analysis by Eric Cadora and Charles Swartz for the Community Justice Project at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES), 1999, cited in Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Re-Entry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2001).
  43. Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Re-Entry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2001).
  44. Paula M. Ditton and Doris James Wilson, Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC: 1999), NCJ 170032.
  45. Christy Visher, Nancy G. LaVigne, and Jill Farrell, Illinois Prisoners' Reflections on Returning Home (Washington DC: The Urban Institute, 2003).
  46. Ibid.
  47. Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul, From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Re-Entry (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2001).
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