NCJ Number
127690
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 54 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 22-23
Date Published
1990
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The U.S. Parole Commission's Community Control Project uses home confinement and electronic monitoring to provide a period of close supervision in the community during the transition between institutionalization and freedom for selected Federal parole releasees who do not require the full range of services provided by a halfway house.
Abstract
A total of 357 parolees entered the project during 1988 and 1989. Project participants were overwhelmingly male and tended to be older offenders. Approximately half were either black or Hispanic, and about two-thirds were classified as very good risks. Only 46 of the 357 offenders were returned to prison due to a parole revocation or absconding from supervision. An evaluation of the project revealed that using electronic monitoring equipment makes it possible to confine offenders in their residences with reasonable assurance that any unauthorized absence from the home will be discovered immediately. Home confinement can be cost-effective; the cost of such confinement through electronic monitoring is estimated to be $15 per day. Electronic monitors alone, however, are not sufficient to enforce a viable home confinement program. There also needs to be personal involvement with the offender by a supervising agent to insure the offender is working, living arrangements are stable, and the offender is not engaging in prohibited behavior such as substance abuse. A detailed description of the supervision process is included. An appendix lists violations of the home confinement project. 17 references and 1 table