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Controlling Violent Offenders Released to the Community: An Evaluation of the Boston Reentry Initiative

NCJ Number
306649
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 46 Issue: 4 Dated: 2009 Pages: 411-36
Author(s)
Anthony A. Braga; Anne M. Piehl; David Hureau
Date Published
2009
Length
26 pages
Annotation

The authors present their examination of the Boston Reentry Initiative’s effects on participants’ recidivism.

Abstract

Despite the high level of funding and policy interest in prisoner reentry, there is still little rigorous scientific evidence to guide jurisdictions in developing reentry programs to enhance public safety, particularly for managing those who pose the greatest safety risks. The Boston Reentry Initiative (BRI) is an interagency initiative to help transition violent adult offenders released from the local jail back to their Boston neighborhoods through mentoring, social service assistance, and vocational development. This study uses a quasi-experimental design and survival analyses to evaluate the effects of the BRI on the subsequent recidivism of program participants relative to an equivalent control group. The authors find that the BRI was associated with significant reductions, about 30 percent, in the overall and violent arrest failure rates. Publisher Abstract Provided