Frequently Asked Questions

The Reentry section of the National Institute of Justice website and the Bureau of Justice Assistance-supported National Reentry Resource Center website capture a number of resources, articles, and more related to the reentry of individuals to their communities. Also visit the Corrections & Reentry section of the CrimeSolutions website for access to important research on the effectiveness of a variety of reentry programs and practices.

For information about juvenile reentry, see these resources from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention:

• Youth Reentry and Family Engagement
• Reentry Starts Here: A Guide for Youth in Long-Term Juvenile Corrections or Treatment Programs
• Model Programs Guide: Implementation Guide: Juvenile Reentry Programs

You can find additional information and resources in our Reentry Special Feature.

The following resources provide information about juvenile reentry/aftercare resources:

• In Focus: Juvenile Reentry
• Reentry Starts Here: A Guide for Youth in Long-Term Juvenile Corrections or Treatment Programs
• Second Chance Act: Juvenile Reentry 
• Model Programs Guide: Reentry/Aftercare

The National Institute of Justice's CrimeSolutions website uses rigorous research to inform practitioners and policy makers about what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services. Visit the Corrections & Reentry section of the site to view research on program effectiveness reviewed and rated by CrimeSolutions Researchers and Reviewers.

Also see the following sites for additional information and resources:

• Reentry Resource Center
• Reentry Special Feature

Information about and access to findings from Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recidivism studies is available on the Recidivism and Reentry section of the BJS website. Also see BJS's Prisoner Recidivism Data Analysis Tool, which you can use to calculate recidivism rates for persons released from state prisons in 2005.

Statistics on individuals sentenced to death in the United States may be accessed from the Capital Punishment section of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) website.

According to Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2014 National Report, a report funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP): "There is no national recidivism rate for juveniles. Each state's juvenile justice system differs in organization, administration, and data capacity. These differences influence how states define, measure, and report recidivism rates. This also makes it challenging to compare recidivism rates across states." In addition, view the report Measuring and Using Juvenile Recidivism Data To Inform Policy, Practice, and Resource Allocation and Core Principles for Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Outcomes for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System, which are sponsored by OJJDP and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Also see Measuring Juvenile Recidivism an online interactive resource from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Public Safety Performance Project.

You may also wish to conduct a search of the Abstracts Database, which contains a number of reports on recidivism at the state level. Also see the recidivism data collection from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Less-lethal technology devices serve to minimize the risk of death and injury to public safety officers, suspects, detainees, and the public. Information about less-lethal technologies can be found on the Less-Lethal Technologies section of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) website. This page captures information about the topic and provides links to NIJ resources and reports concerning these technologies.

Also see the Less Lethal Technologies section of our website for additional resources.

• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
• The Use and Impact of Correctional Programming for Inmates on Pre- and Post-Release Outcomes
• How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go From Here? The Results of a Comprehensive Evaluation
• The Effects of Postsecondary Correctional Education

Information on juvenile sex offenders is available in the following Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention resources: Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: A Review of the Professional Literature and Juvenile Sex Offender Research Bibliography. Also view the Juvenile Sex Offenders resources and the Juvenile Section Research Briefs from the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking.

According to Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2014 National Report, a report funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP): "There is no national recidivism rate for juveniles. Each state's juvenile justice system differs in organization, administration, and data capacity. These differences influence how states define, measure, and report recidivism rates. This also makes it challenging to compare recidivism rates across states." In addition, view the report Measuring and Using Juvenile Recidivism Data To Inform Policy, Practice, and Resource Allocation and Core Principles for Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Outcomes for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System, which are sponsored by OJJDP and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Also see Measuring Juvenile Recidivism an online interactive resource from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Public Safety Performance Project.

You may also wish to conduct a search of the Abstracts Database, which contains a number of reports on recidivism at the state level. Also see the recidivism data collection from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.