Finding the right mix of programming and treatment to help offenders succeed in the community after release can be painstaking, but for those agencies that roll up their sleeves, the outcomes show it is worth the effort.

Many different agencies, state and county, have been trying out different approaches to reentry, searching for the perfect combination of services and support to best prepare released offenders for life outside prison or jail walls. Representatives from several of those agencies spoke about their efforts and successes at the American Correctional Association's Winter Conference last week in Nashville.

In Virginia, corrections officials believe they have found a reentry model that will help offenders succeed once they walk outside the prison gates. The model involves therapy and support while offenders are incarcerated and gives them a chance to change their problematic thinking.

“The key is if you put someone in a group for two hours, they look good, they can perform, but bring them back to the unit and [their behavior changes.] But in a cognitive community model there's no place to hide. Those behaviors can be modified,” said Jessica French, Program Director for the Southhampton Pre-Release Center for Women in Capron, Va.

The cognitive community model in place at the Southampton Pre-Release Center is a combination of a therapeutic community and cognitive interventions that are used to change criminal thinking.

“We thought about combining them and blending them to accelerate recovery for our offender population,” said Dudley Bush, Substance Abuse Program Manager for the Programs Division of the Virginia DOC.

When the Southampton facility opened in 2003, 50 beds were set aside for the cognitive community and 50 beds for the work center program. The idea behind the program is that prior to release, women from various security levels and different programming experiences are transferred to the center for a specific program that works on their criminal thinking and skills for controlling their behavior.

Women can refuse to participate in the program, but if they do, they are sent back to a high security level facility and can lose 30 days of good time, according to French, which makes for a powerful incentive to stay. French added that most women who come to the program are surprised by the supportive nature of the community program.

“They don't want to leave their old institution, they have their friends this community makes them feel uncomfortable [at first] but if you have a good community the new person will feel welcome,” she said.

Once a part of the community, the offenders begin to work in different steps to address their tendency for poor choices and criminal thinking.

French said the program asks the offenders to pay attention to the thoughts that they have about different circumstances or incidents, then to identify the emotions that are attached to their thoughts. The program also works with the women to notice the risk behaviors involved in their thoughts and be alert to when those thoughts will “get them into trouble.”

“Many in our population don't understand the difference between pro-social and anti-social thinking. Their ideas of making money, on authority and the rules are all distorted,” said French.

The final step in addressing their thinking, French said, is working with the female offenders to replace their risky thoughts with new ones, then practice, practice, practice.

The Southampton program utilizes tools, such as Thinking Reports, when an offender uses poor judgment or has a violation while in the program. These reports require the offenders to work through a sheet that asks them to identify the situation, the thoughts associated with the situation, high risk thoughts and feelings, beliefs and attitudes associated with the situation, their physical responses, patterns and the outcome.

In addition, the community program uses problem solving groups, relapse prevention groups and role playing to help the women make positive, non-risky behaviors second nature prior to release.

Although no formal evaluation of the program's effectiveness has been completed, officials at the Southampton facility believe that it is making a difference with the women.

According to French, of the 500-plus women who have gone through the program, only 23 have returned to other DOC facilities, with most of those returns begin for medical or mental health reasons and only five for violations or inappropriate behavior.

“We need to spend time discussing their criminal behavior,” said French. “You can see their thinking change.”

Other facilities have also made changes to the programming provided to offenders prior to release in the hopes that it will mean more positive outcomes. Hampden County in Massachusetts is one.

Hampden County Focuses on Reentry

Located on the Interstate 91 corridor that runs through several northeastern states up to Canada, Hampden County, Mass., Correctional Center officials know their inmate population is in need of some serious rehabilitation – and that participation in the drug trade is likely.

And, as many correctional institutions have come to realize, reentry programming needs to start from the moment the inmates come through the door.

According to Martha Lyman, Research Director for the Hampden County Sheriff's Department, it is imperative that inmates begin to take responsibility for their recovery and successful reentry from the start – and the programming in Hampden County aims to help them do that.

“It has changed the culture. They used to sleep until 9 a.m. and watch Jerry Springer, now we don't do that,” said Lyman, who spoke at last week's American Correctional Association Winter Conference in Nashville, Tenn. “We are compelling them to do something with their lives and getting people to do something about their criminogenic factors.”

Hampden County's institutional reentry preparation programming focuses on what officials have identified as eight criminogenic factors that relate to their success after release – criminal history, relationship to family of origin, employment, education, criminal associates, substance abuse, psychological factors, and anti-social attitudes.

Officials developed a phased program several years ago that touched upon all these needs, rating existing programming that met those needs and weeding out all the programs that did not. The facility required all inmates to participate in the programming and, if they refused, they could reside in the accountability pod – which is designed to encourage participation.

That pod is based on a behavior modification system where participants can earn privileges, attend class on criminogenic factors, are required to write in a journal and can lose points for non-participation and other infractions. The minimum stay in the pod is 30 days.

If an offender goes straight to the reentry programming, then they participate in a variety of programs assigned to them based on their specific needs. But bringing the facility's programs up to the criminogenic factors criteria took some work.

According to David Moorehouse, Accountability and Reintegration Manager for Hampden County Sheriff's Department, some of the programs on the facility's list of 300-plus options were not currently running and had never been taken off the list. Other programs, such as Thai Chi, were removed because they did not fit the criminogenic needs criteria.

“We needed to update and get with the 21st century,” he said.

With programs evaluated and staff re-trained to teach to criminogenic factors, the programs were ready to roll – almost.

As the new programming for inmates began, officials started to realize one more problem – too many inmates were on waiting lists for programs and some did not begin programming, despite their willingness, until 30 days after they had been at the facility.

Officials again became creative and developed a series of introductory program modules that would become Phases 1 and 2.

A three to five day Basic program was created with an introduction to anger management, substance abuse, education and employment elements that would be revisited again in the full reentry programming they would have later. Inmates entered this Phase One program as soon as they had finished initial facility roientation.

A Phase Two program was also conceptualized to address the weeks between the orientation and the full programming. This phase included four weeks of mandatory daily programming that brought the offenders further into the concepts of cognitive change, victim impact as well as employment, anger management and education.

“While this is going on, they are living in the same pod,” said Lyman.

Lyman added that the curriculum and the instruction for these programs was completed with in-house resources.

“We took fitness trainers and taught them to teach anger management,” she said.

After completing Phase Two, then the offenders are mapped to specific programs (Phase Three) that meet their needs as identified in their individualized service plans. Phase Four includes creating a release plan for each offender and connecting them to services in the community.

According to Hampden County Sheriff Mike Ashe, offenders readying for release have a number of options available to help them reintegrate into the community.

Ashe said one of the key aspects is the universal discharge plan that incorporates the specific needs of the offender and creates connections for them to step down into the community.

The sheriff's office has even established housing step-down programs, such as Foundation House, where offenders can stay for 60-90 days and receive transitional services. And beyond housing specialists to assist offenders, the sheriff's department employs education specialists, provides mental health support and pre-employment training with job developers that also help with the transition back into the community.

“We are continuing to provide that support system that will help the offender succeed. We are doing this based on public safety. If you think about it, in the past, corrections was dumping people back into the street and the community in the middle of the night. Now we are doing this preparation work and notifying the police, letting them know where they are living and about the adjustment they are making at the jail,” said Ashe.

Because of integrated reentry model and increased accountability among inmates while they are incarcerated, Hampden County officials believe the approach will have a lasting effect on those inmates who reenter the community.

Other organizations have also looked hard at what works to improve offenders' chances of success in the community, including the VOA, which has provided services to this population for decades.

Programming What Works

The Volunteers of America organization was founded more than 100 years ago to provide human services to those in need, including those involved in the correctional system. The organization's many chapters provided a host of programs for offenders both inside facilities and in the community after release. But it wasn't until the early 90s that the organization looked closely at whether its programs really met offenders' needs.

In 1993, following a “What Works” conference, the VOA of Delaware Valley in New Jersey used an assessment instrument to show whether its programs really targeted those areas that had been proven to affect recidivism. What the VOA chapter learned was shocking to the organization.

“We initiated the [Community Program Assessment Inventory] against our programs. We thought we were good. We were convinced the CPAI would show us how good we were,” said Dan Lombardo, CEO of VOA Delaware Valley, who spoke at the ACA's Winter Conference last week. What the CPAI actually showed the Delaware Valley VOA was its programs needed revamping and an organizational philosophy change.

The outcome from this assessment today is seen in three programming divisions to assist offenders in a successful reentry back to society. Those three divisions, Housing, Behavioral Health and Corrections evidence-based treatment include a variety of programs that now all focus on areas that have been proven to be key to an offender's success.

The VOA Delaware Valley is contracted by the New Jersey Department of Corrections to provide services to offenders in pre-release status including case management, incentive programs and treatment – all in the Camden, N.J. area.

At the 175-bed Hope Hall, for example, VOA provides treatment to offenders for 90 days and then, under its work release component, prepares pre-parole adult male offenders for employment or for schooling. In the Half Way Back program, the VOA employs graduated sanctions for those offenders who have been released and were failing in the community setting. The program offers them an alternative to a return to prison.

According to Pat McKernan, Chief Operating Officer for Corrections Services for the Delaware Valley VOA, the change in approach and philosophy included several steps.

McKernan said staff training and the use of a respected risk assessment tool for offenders were key in the changes.

“Staff training was key so that they understood why we needed [to change] and we needed to share with others on staff – even those answering the phones,” McKernan said.

Then, the implementation of an assessment tool for offenders helped program administrators identify offenders' criminogenic needs, which are in turn addressed in the programs they are assigned to.

“We can focus on the greatest, most salient criminogenic needs first,” McKernan said.

Through a thorough assessment, offenders are now matched to treatment that focuses on those needs that have been red flagged -- with the idea that by addressing those factors first, they will be better equipped for release in the community.

An evaluation of the Delaware Valley VOA's programs has shown that in the short term, offender outcomes are positive.

McKernan said that after six months, VOA clients have fewer risk factors, which is indicated by lower risk assessment scores and, in a study of 516 offenders, the re-arrest rate overall was 32 percent – lower than the national statistic that 2/3 of offenders recidivate after three years.
 
With results like these, corrections officials are becoming excited about reentry rpograms and what they can go for stopping the cyclical nature of incarceration in this country.

Sheriff Ashe from Hampden County believes that focusing on reentry is a necessary component to modern corrections.

“For me, I think this is the only way to go. I believe strongly in this; it is what good public safety is. Society has been given us the responsibility to look at this. We are climbing a mountain. There's always another hill or mountain to climb. People come here with a 100 percent failure rate based on the old model of warehousing. When you don't make an investment in people, you don't get anything out of it,” Ashe said.

Resources:

VOA – Delaware Valley http://www.voadv.org/

Hampden County Sheriff's Department http://www.hcsdmass.org/

Virginia Department of Corrections - http://www.vadoc.state.va.us/