Alternatives to Incarceration Programs in New Jersey

• NCJ Number: 133140
• Author(s): E J Coyle
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 63 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services; New Jersey Criminal Disposition Cmssn
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Six short-term strategies to relieve prison and jail overcrowding in New Jersey are identified: supervised pretrial release (SPTR), county intensive supervision (IS) programs, supervised group community service, State intensive supervision program, residential drug and alcohol treatment, and intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS) program.

Abstract

County governments are encouraged to consider the viability of SPTR programs as one possible strategy for reducing the number of defendants in county jails. As of April 1989, 1,326 people were accepted to participate in the Middlesex County SPTR program, and 616 successfully completed program requirements. Some counties have established IS programs. Middlesex County reports that of 44 people released to an IS program, 37 percent have successfully completed the program. Community service orders have become a popular sentencing option, and community service programs operate in each county probation department supervising over 25,000 participants. Many counties indicate, however, that transportation and site placement present some obstacles to program operation. Created in 1983, New Jersey's IS program gives a select group of offenders an opportunity to obtain rehabilitation services outside the custodial environment without jeopardizing public safety. The State IS program has received over 10,000 applications, but only 1,943 inmates had been accepted as of January 1990. IS program officers supervise caseloads of about 20 clients per officer. The State IS program requires full-time employment, a curfew, substance abuse counseling, and abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Created in 1986, the ISS program is modeled after the IS program. ISS program officers supervise caseloads of about 20 parolees rather than 70 typically under traditional parole supervision. Currently, 350 parolees participate in the ISS program. Long-term strategies for relieving prison overcrowding in New Jersey focus on enhancing probation supervision and specialized offender case plans. An IS halfway house proposal is appended. 10 references and 4 figures