NCJ Number
79203
Date Published
1980
Length
61 pages
Annotation
Characteristics of 1979 releasees from each halfway house of Massachusetts Halfway Houses, Inc., (MHHI) are compared.
Abstract
MHHI -- a private, nonprofit corporation that contracts with the Massachusetts Department of Correction to provide prerelease services -- currently operates five programs: 577 House (36 releases), 699 House (37 releases), Temporary Housing Program (25 releases), Coolidge House (20 releases), and Brooke House (33 releases). Data on the releasees obtained from criminal justice information files focused on commitment, social background, and criminal history variables. Significant differences in releasee characteristics were found between some of the halfway houses. The most serious risks were concentrated in the 699 House, thus helping to explain why this program exhibits yearly recidivism rates higher than the other facilities. Most of those released from the Temporary Housing Project were youthful offenders who began their criminal involvement at a younger age than those in the other programs; however, they did not have extensive adult criminal records. The Brooke House releasees were less serious offenders than those from the other houses. Appended are statistics on 1979 releases by facility and data on variables found to be significant by facility. Two footnotes and three references are provided.