Metropolitan Community Justice Recidivism Reduction Center Study, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 226354
• Author(s): T. Hank Robinson Ph.D.
• Date Published: December 2006
• Length: 64 pages
• Contract Number(s): CC-07-348
• Sponsoring Agency: Nebraska Community Corrections Council
• Corporate Author: University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Sale Source: Nebraska Community Corrections Council
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded March 18, 2009

Annotation

Methodology and findings are presented for a study that examined the types of services to be provided and the types of offenders to be served by a Recidivism Reduction Center located in the Greater Omaha area (Nebraska), as well as the costs of such a facility.

Abstract

The goal of the Recidivism Center, as envisioned by the State’s Community Corrections Council, would be to provide a point of collaboration and coordination that would better meet the treatment and support needs of offenders, with a view toward preventing their recidivism. The study determined that the offenders who would most benefit from the Recidivism Center are those who have not received screening and comprehensive risk assessment in the course of the processing of their case. The study concluded it would be too expensive and redundant to create a program that would parallel existing services provided to offenders served by Douglas County’s corrections, probation, and parole agencies, as well as its drug court. Further, the study determined that a strategy for reducing the overall recidivism rate of Douglas County offenders would depend on individualized assessments, successful connections with treatment and support services, and case management. This would require the Recidivism Center to provide mental health and substance abuse screening, standardized risk assessment services, referral brokerage for existing community services and resources, case management for select offenders, and discharge planning. In addition, the study concluded that a Center should be designed to assess 1,000-1,500 offenders annually and link them to community service providers. The Center would enable the most effective service providers to count on growing numbers of clients, while steering offenders away from programs that prove incompetent or unprepared to meet the unique treatment and service needs of offenders. 1 figure, 1 table, a 32-item bibliography, and appended supplementary information, a list of programs and services in the county and mental health screening instruments