From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry

• NCJ Number: 190429
• Author(s): Jeremy Travis; Amy L. Solomon; Michelle Waul
• Date Published: June 2001
• Length: 63 pages
• Corporate Author: The Urban Institute
• Sale Source: The Urban Institute
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper examines the prisoner re-entry (return to the community from prison) process, challenges for prisoner re-entry, and the implications of prisoner re-entry for families and communities.

Abstract

The chapter on the re-entry process considers the characteristics of inmates who re-enter the community, how release decisions are made, how prisoners are prepared for release and reintegration, the moment of release, post-release supervision, and parole violations. The chapter on challenges for prisoner re-entry encompass substance abuse treatment, physical and mental health services, employability and workforce participation, and re-entry and housing. This paper argues for a re-examination of the nexus among the jurisprudence of sentencing, the mission of corrections agencies, the availability and quality of services for prisoners and their families, and the social goal of prisoner reintegration. A focus on the moment of release, with its attendant risks and opportunities, suggests that correctional agencies and community groups could create new links to smooth the transition from prison to liberty. A strategy as simple as ensuring that the ex-inmate has proper identification, housing, and a community agency to report to the day after release may avert some failures of the immediate transitional phase. Links to health care providers, drug treatment, transitional work environments, family counseling, and faith institutions are important. Such a strategy suggests moving the re-entry planning process into the prison itself, so that these linkages are developed well before the moment of release. Using the mechanisms of conditional supervision and the tools of graduated sanctions, criminal justice agencies could have an enhanced role in deterring criminal behavior and reducing drug use. This monograph identifies the safety risks posed by returning prisoners as well as a number of interventions that have proven successful in reducing those risks. 236 references