Financial Obligations: About the Project
The Issue
Many people released from prisons and jails have a substantial amount of debt to repay, including supervision fees, court costs, victim restitution, and child support. Corrections departments and community supervision agencies rely on court and supervision fees to support administrative costs, victims need restitution to compensate for their monetary losses, and children whose parents are incarcerated require financial support.
Yet people reentering the community typically have insufficient resources to pay their debts to their children, victims, and the criminal justice system. These groups often compete for a share of the small payments people released from prisons and jails are able to make. Their inability to meet all their financial obligations can contribute to their reincarceration—jeopardizing the chance for long-term support to their children and families, or for making restitution.
- Many of the men released from prison in two states report owing monthly probation or parole supervision fees.1
- An analysis of restitution debt in one jurisdiction found that the 15 percent of people on probation with restitution orders owed an average of $3,500.2
- Most people who are incarcerated have children under 18 years of age.3 Parents in one state were shown to leave prison owing an average of more than $20,000 in child support arrears.4
- Nationally, two-thirds of people detained in jails report annual incomes under $12,000 prior to arrest.5
- Most people returning to the community have difficulty finding employment upon release from incarceration, and they often rely on their families for support.6
The Response
The Council of State Governments Justice Center is developing two resources for policymakers and practitioners interested in ensuring that people released from prisons and jails meet their financial obligations to victims, families, and criminal justice agencies.
- Repaying Debts: The Justice Center has produced Repaying Debts, a comprehensive report to help corrections administrators, victim advocates, human services agencies, state legislators, and others make certain that people released from prisons and jails meet their court-ordered financial obligations. The report gives users tools to analyze the components of debt accumulated by people reentering the community and provides examples of jurisdictions where policymakers have made strides in addressing these issues. The report provides guidance on developing policies that encourage accountability, recovery of funds, and the successful reintegration of individuals returning to the community.
- Technical Assistance to Select States: Using the Repaying Debts report, the Justice Center staff and expert consultants will provide technical assistance to several states to help policymakers better understand and address issues related to restitution, child support, and other fees, fines, and surcharges that people leaving prisons or jails owe, while creating systems and supports that encourage individuals to successfully complete the conditions of their sentence.
Contact:
Jamie Yoon
Research Associate
Council of State Governments Justice Center
jyoon@csg.org
tel: (212) 482-2320
fax: (212) 482-2344
1 Personal communication about unpublished findings from the Returning Home study in Texas and Ohio, Amy Solomon, Policy Associate, Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., April 6, 2006. Personal communications about unpublished findings from the Returning Home study in Texas and Ohio, Lisa Brooks, Research Associate, Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., January 11, 2007 and March 3, 2007. For more information on Returning Home, see www.urban.org/projects/reentry-portfolio/index.cfm.
2 Personal communication, Julie Begoña, Maricopa County Probation Department, Arizona, April 6, 2006.
3 Christopher Mumola, Incarcerated Parents and Their Children, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 182335 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2000).
4 Jessica Pearson, “Building Debt while Doing Time: Child Support and Incarceration,” Judges’ Journal 43, no. 1 (2004): 5-12.
5 Doris James, Profile of Jail Inmates, 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 201932 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2004).
6 Steven Steurer, Linda Smith, and Alice Tracy, Three-State Recidivism Study (Lanham, Md.: Correctional Educational Association, 2001). Sharon M. Dietrich, “Criminal Records and Employment: Ex-Offenders Thwarted in Attempts to Earn a Living for Their Families,” in Amy E. Hirsch, Sharon M. Dietrich, Rue Landau, Peter D. Schneider, Irv Ackelsberg, Judith Bernstein-Baker, and Joseph Hohenstein, Every Door Closed: Barriers Facing Parents with Criminal Records (Washington, D.C, and Philadelphia, Penn.: Center for Law and Social Policy and Community Legal Services, 2002). Nancy La Vigne, Christy Visher, and Jennifer Castro, Chicago Prisoners’ Reflections on Returning Home (Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2004).