NCJ Number
247288
Date Published
January 2012
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This outcome evaluation compared the recidivism rates of offenders in Vermont who were assigned to the Northeast and Southeast Work Camps with offenders sentenced to prison/jail without participating in work camps.
Abstract
The evaluation determined that the overall recidivism rate for work-camp participants was 35 percent, compared to a 46-percent recidivism rate for those who went to prison. Work-camp participants with a risk-assessment score of "medium" on the Level of Services Inventory (LSI) had a 35-percent recidivism rate compared to a 53-percent recidivism rate for prison inmates with a LSI score of "medium." The work camp to which an offender is assigned was significant in reducing recidivism. Participation in the Northeast Work was more statistically significant in reducing the likelihood of recidivism compared to those who participated in the Southeast Work Camp. The recidivism patterns for both the work camp group and the prison group; were generally the same. Recidivists from both groups were reconvicted of a wide variety of offenses. Just over 70 percent of the reconvictions for both groups were misdemeanors. Recidivists from both groups were reconvicted soon after release from custody. Approximately 45 percent of the recidivists from the work-camp group were reconvicted within 1 year, and 92 percent were reconvicted within 3 years. Forty-nine percent of the prison-group recidivists were reconvicted within 1 year, and 88.4 percent were reconvicted within 3 years. The study focused on those inmates released from the Vermont Department of Corrections custody from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2010. Information on offender release date, length of stay, work camp location, days served, LSI score, and reentry level were provided by the Department of Corrections. Of the total cohort of 5,612, 1,181 (21 percent) were in the work camp group, and 4,431 (79 percent) were in the prison group. 13 charts and 3 tables