NCJ Number
79195
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: (August 1981) Pages: 24-27,30-32
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Responses to and assessments of the evaluation of Minnesota's Community Corrections Act are presented.
Abstract
The Minnesota Community Corrections Act (CCA) encourages counties and groups of counties to develop local programs for all but the most dangerous offenders and all juvenile offenders by giving the counties a State subsidy based on their populations and the quantity of crime and criminal justice activity in their jurisdictions. Twenty-seven of the State's 87 counties, representing 70 percent of the population, have joined the program. Until recently, when a county or group of counties joined the program, they were required to develop local alternatives for all eligible offenders or be subject to a 'chargeback' (a reduction of subsidy) for each ineligible offender they sent to the State. Since 1980, however, this arrangement only has applied to juveniles and those adults sentenced before 1980. The evaluation, which was conducted between 1975 and 1979, noted distinct improvements in local corrections planning and administration, plus a wealth of new community-based programs and an increase in number of felony offenders retained in the community. The evaluation, however, found no evidence that the CCA had saved the State money, checked the growth of the State prison population, or improved public protection. Critics of these evaluation conclusions argue that the State's prison population was a low percentage to begin with, compared to other States, and that CCA has helped to stabilize that population and retard its growth. Others say that the problem is getting judges to take fuller advantage of community-based dispositions. This can only be done, say some, by limiting the bed space available in State prisons and using sentencing guidelines.