NCJ Number
202735
Editor(s)
Mary T. Phillips Ph.D,
Date Published
April 2003
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the effects on recidivism of six Alternative-to-Incarceration programs in the New York City criminal justice system targeting felony-level offenders.
Abstract
In focusing on post-program recidivism, this study examined six New York City Alternative-to-Incarceration (ATI) programs and their participants who were released into the community upon program completion. The six ATI programs included: two serving female offenders; three drug treatment programs; and one offering educational and vocational services. The recidivism rates of the ATI participants were analyzed in comparison with a similar group of non-ATI felony offenders in three sentencing categories: probation (felons serving a straight probation sentence), prison (felons released from a New York State correctional facility), and jail (felons discharged from a New York City jail). In collecting recidivism information, each individual in the study was tracked for 1 year. In this study, both re-arrest and conviction data were analyzed and reported. Data were analyzed from the perspective of prevalence, incidence, and timing. The study found no differences among felony-ATI participants and felons serving a probationary sentence or felons released from a State prison. However, the ATI group was systematically less likely to recidivate than a similar group of offenders discharged from a city jail. ATI programs do not appear to serve any better or any worse in reducing their participants’ recidivism than the New York State Department of Corrections or the New York City Probation Department. However, they do seem to reduce the criminal behavior of their clients somewhat more effectively than the New York City Department of Corrections.