NCJ Number
183590
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 227-231
Date Published
June 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines a recidivism reduction program in the State of Utah.
Abstract
Project Horizon, Utah’s 1992 statute to reduce the economic and social costs of recidivism, set a precedent for funding correctional education through a State education agency, for inmate accountability and for interagency collaboration. Project Horizon helps inmates prepare for jobs suited to individual needs when they are released. The project’s nine-point plan includes inmate assessment, multiagency collaboration, family involvement and support, research and evaluation, post-release tracking and support, job placement, career skills, basic literacy skills and cognitive problem solving skills. Horizon parolees recidivated 18 to 20 percent less than non-participants and found post-release jobs -- which they consistently tended to keep -- 89 percent of the time. The article looks briefly at Utah’s effort to establish a statewide coordinated curriculum making it easier for offenders to “pick up where they left off” if moved and describes a new law making early parole contingent on high school completion or vocational certification. Figures, references