Measuring the Impact of Community Treatment Center Placement on Post-release Employment and Recidivism (From American Correctional Association Proceedings, P 247-256, 1981, Barbara Hadley Olsson and Ann Dargis, ed. - See NCJ-76771)

• NCJ Number: 76798
• Author(s): J L Beck
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: American Correctional Association
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper, presented at the 110th Congress of Correction of the American Correctional Association, summarizes the results of a study of the effects of community treatment center (CTC) placement on ex-offender employment and recidivism.

Abstract

The study was conducted by the Federal Prison System in cooperation with the United States Probation service. Employment and rearrest data were collected from parole officers on 974 parolees released during the first half of 1978. This investigation was conducted 1 year after the participants' release from a prison or from a CTC. The overall unemployment rate for the parolees was about 25 percent, average employment period during the year after release was 184 days, and average earned income was $6,025. During this time the national unemployment rate was 6 percent, and the poverty level for an urban family of 4 was $6,700. Minority offenders, younger offenders, women, and those with extensive prior records had the most difficulty in securing employment. Release from a CTC had a significant effect on the participants' had jobs upon release, compared with 49 percent of those released directly from a prison. This advantage continued over the first year after release, although it decreased with time; CTC releasees worked a significantly greater number of days, were less likely to be unemployed, and earned more money. Release from a CTC significantly reduced the likelihood of minority participants being rearrested. White CTC releasees had a rearrest rate of 22.5 percent, compared to 19 percent for those released from prison; minority offenders released from CTC's had a rearrest rate of 22.4 percent, compared to a rate of 32.1 percent for those released directly from a prison. Given the considerable difficulty which ex-offenders face in finding employment, participation in a CTC is particularly valuable. This program appears to be effective in reducing the recidivism rate among those ex-offenders with the greatest employment needs -- minority offenders and those with extensive prior records. Tabular data, four footnotes, and five references are included.