NCJ Number
208067
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 68 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 25-30
Date Published
September 2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article provides an overview of the development and model of the National Institute of Corrections' Transition From Prison to Community Initiative (TPCI), as well as States' challenges in implementing it in participating sites.
Abstract
The TPCI model focuses on the process by which imprisoned offenders should be prepared for transition to the community. The model encompasses the entire process whereby a convicted offender moves through the criminal justice system from sentencing through imprisonment, release from prison, postprison supervision and services, discharge from supervision, postsupervision aftercare, and the emergence of the ex-offender as a law-abiding citizen. The model also focuses on the various governmental agencies that are engaged with offenders as they move through the criminal justice system, including human services agencies. Another element of the model is the phases of the transition process, i.e., an institutional phase, a reentry phase, and a community phase. The fourth element of the model is the Transition Accountability Plan (TAP), which uses data from assessments that identify offenders' dynamic risks and targets selected groups of offenders for increased access to evidence-based interventions. States face three challenges in implementing the TPCI mode. First, they must initiate, manage, and sustain collaboration among multiple State and local agencies. Second, they must plan, implement, and manage substantial changes in the way they do business in a time of scarce public resources. Third, they must share case-level information that is maintained in various agencies' separate, and sometimes incompatible, management information systems.