This report summarizes an evaluation that determined the extent to which programs funded under the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) improved access to appropriate, comprehensive, and integrated services and resulted in better outcomes for released serious and violent offenders.
The programs were unable to sustain support of SVORI participants during the critical high-risk period immediately after release. Although the results suggest modest improvements in outcomes for the adult SVORI participants, there were few differences between juvenile SVORI and non-SVORI offenders. SVORI programs apparently reduced substance use rates among program participants, although overall drug use increased over time for all groups and exceeded 50 percent at 15 months after release. For the adult men, there were no differences between participant and comparison groups in arrest and reincarceration rates after 24 months (approximately 70 percent and 40 percent, respectively). Women SVORI participants were significantly less likely to have an arrest and were more likely to have been reincarcerated. This report presents findings for 2,391 participants in 12 adult and 4 juvenile sites selected for the impact evaluation (1,697 adult males, 357 adult females, and 337 juvenile males). Participants were interviewed 30 days before release and 3, 9, and 15 months after release. Data from State agencies and the National Criminal Information Center documented postrelease recidivism. Propensity score techniques were used to improve the comparability between the SVORI and non-SVORI groups. Weighted analyses examined the treatment effects of SVORI program participation. 55 exhibits, 94 references, and appended data tables