NCJ Number
121644
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1990) Pages: 17-18,30
Date Published
1990
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This evaluation of the Community Control Project determined whether electronically enforced curfew restrictions are a sound alternative to the usual method of releasing Federal inmates through community treatment centers.
Abstract
Under this experimental program, selected low-need offenders are released directly into the community up to 180 days before the original release date. Offenders have a curfew monitored by electronic surveillance. The program is generally restricted to releasees with a stable residence and reasonable employment prospects and who would otherwise be released to a halfway house to relieve prison crowding. To evaluate the program's effect, all offenders (169) who entered the program in 1988 were studied. Evaluation results indicate that offenders can be placed in a house confinement program, which is less costly than a halfway house, with an acceptable degree of accountability. Electronic monitoring permitted curfew enforcement with reasonable assurance that any violation would be discovered immediately. There were no serious breaches in the system's integrity, and the program increased contact between the parole officer and the client.