NCJ Number
111520
Date Published
1987
Length
188 pages
Annotation
This evaluation of New York City's Alternatives-to-Incarceration Program (ATI) for fiscal year 1984 considers client and case characteristics, client participation, and client recidivism.
Abstract
The ATI Program identifies 'jail-bound' defendants, generally at conviction, and offers them counseling, job training, tutoring, and employment opportunities. Upon successful completion of the program in 6 months, the court imposes probation. The 172 clients entering the ATI Program in fiscal year 1984 were, on average, male, black, 18 years old at intake, living with family, and not employed nor in school. Approximately 58.8 percent of those entering the program completed it. The evaluation's primary focus was on ATI clients' recidivism patterns compared to two matched samples of offenders: one group sentenced to probation without ATI intervention and a second group sentenced to incarceration and released from State custody during fiscal year 1984. The overall rearrest rate for ATI clients within 1 year of their intake into the program was 49.4 percent, compared to the lower rearrest rate of 41.9 percent for probationers and the higher rearrest rate of 57.9 percent for State custody releasees. Recommendations are offered for program improvement. 69 tables, 7-item bibliography, and appended supplementary data.