This third Annual Report is submitted to Congress by the Attorney General, according to Section 101 of the First Step Act of 2018, codified in 18 U.S.C. § 3634; it reflects the ongoing efforts of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons to realize the goals of the First Step Act, and summarizes the Department’s activities in that respect since the publication of the last report in April 2022.
This report is divided into the following sections: an assessment of Bureau of Prisons’ implementation of the risk and needs assessment system and compliance with 18 U.S.C. § 3621(h); a summary and assessment of the types and effectiveness of the Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction (EBRR) Programs and Productive Activities (PAs) in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP); BOP’s additional First Step Act (FSA) of 2018 implementation activities; the rates of recidivism among individuals who have been released from federal prisons; the status of prison work programs at facilities operated by the BOP; the operational policies and guidelines issued; an assessment of progress made towards carrying out the purposes of the FSA, including any savings; an assessment of budgetary savings; and statistics on incarcerated individuals with dyslexia. The initial summary section also provides a brief description of significant activities since the last Report, which include: BOP’s maximizing the availability of time credits; enhancing the use of confinement and prerelease custody, consistent with the FSA’s emphasis on transitioning individuals to a community setting; increasing capacity and participation in evidence-based programming to reduce recidivism; expanding mental health and substance use treatment programs; enhancing reentry programming, enabled by the forging of BOP’s partnerships with external individuals and organizations, including volunteers, volunteer-based organizations that provide visitation, mentoring, and other services, and contractors that assist with programming and activities; assessing and updating the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN); improving Standardized Prisoner Assessment for Reduction in Criminality (SPARC013) needs assessment system; and the development of release ID cards.