Tag: Recidivism

Formerly Incarcerated Continue to be Imprisoned by Low Education: Study

Getting Back on Course: Educational exclusion and attainment among formerly incarcerated people

Throughout their lives, people who serve time in prison are held back from educational opportunities, making it nearly impossible to earn the credentials they need to succeed after release. Using data from the National Former Prisoner Survey, this report reveals that formerly incarcerated people are often relegated to the lowest rungs of the educational ladder; more than half hold only a high school diploma or GED, and a quarter hold no credential at all. While incarcerated, and even after release from prison, we find that people rarely get the chance to make up for the educational opportunities from which they’ve been excluded — opportunities that impact their chances of reentry success.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/education.html

National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction

Here is a new and useful resource that illustrates the types of collateral consequences that follow a person after being convicted of a crime.

What are collateral consequences?

Collateral consequences are legal and regulatory restrictions that limit or prohibit people convicted of crimes from accessing employment, business and occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other rights, benefits, and opportunities.

Some collateral consequences serve a legitimate public safety or regulatory function, such as keeping firearms out of the hands of people convicted of violent offenses, prohibiting people convicted of assault or physical abuse from working with children or the elderly, or barring people convicted of fraud from positions of public trust. Others are directly related to a particular crime, such as registration requirements for sex offenders or driver’s license restrictions for people convicted of serious traffic offenses. But some collateral consequences apply without regard to the relationship between the crime and opportunity being restricted, such as the revocation of a business license after conviction of any felony. 

National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction
— Read on niccc.csgjusticecenter.org/

The Biased Algorithm: Evidence of Disparate Impact on Hispanics by Melissa Hamilton :: SSRN

This report discusses using algorithmic assessments for predicting recidivism. This is an example of the prediction problem and possible biases in the use of assessments.

Algorithmic risk assessment holds the promise of reducing mass incarceration while remaining conscious of public safety. Yet presumptions of transparent and fai
— Read on papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm

Research Central: Risk Assessment and Behavioral Health Screening for Youth in Probation

OJJDP’s Risk Assessment and Behavioral Health Screening Project, cofunded in 2014 with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, examined whether using a risk assessment for reoffending coupled with mental health and substance use screening protocols improves case processing, service allocation, and recidivism rates.

The study encompassed multiple probation offices in Arkansas and Rhode Island. Both states administered a risk assessment instrument in conjunction with the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2) for mental health screening and the CRAFFT substance use screening tools. As one component of the study, the researchers examined service referral, how services were used, and recidivism outcomes of youth. They also studied if and how services and outcomes were influenced by the potential behavioral health needs identified in MAYSI-2 and CRAFFT.

Overall, the researchers found that mental health services were used more often than risk-reduction services in most sites and had little influence on recidivism. There was some evidence that substance abuse treatment reduced recidivism among youth identified in CRAFFT as having a substance use problem.

This is a link to the OJJDP website: https://www.ojjdp.gov/newsletter/252069/sf_6.html?utm_source=NewsAtAGlance102218&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NewsAtAGlance&utm_content=ResearchCentral

Link to the REPORT: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/grants/251912.pdf