Retaining Offenders in the Community - Minnesota Community Corrections Act Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 86167
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 73 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-IJ-CX-0001
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

The Minnesota Community Corrections Act was evaluated with respect to its effectiveness in increasing the proportion of adult and juvenile offenders retained in the local community.

Abstract

The act promoted the retention of offenders in the community by imposing a per diem charge for juveniles and certain nonserious adult offenders who were committed to State institutions and by providing a subsidy to help create correctional alternatives and programs for all offenders. The retention of offenders in the community was a major goal of the law. Court data and data on commitments to State institutions were used to assess the law's impact on the retention of offenders in the community. Five counties were found to have experienced a reduction of 50 percent or more in the expected numbers of juveniles committed to State institutions. The overall reduction in commitments was almost 30 percent. Two counties showed an increase over the expected number of commitments. Nine counties reduced the proportion of adult offenders committed to State institutions, although the numbers involved were small. In most areas, the development of alternatives to incarceration for nonchargeable offenders did not occur to any great extent. The law apparently reduced the proportion of both chargeable and nonchargeable offenders committed; this charge reduced the wide sentencing disparity among participating counties. Tables, figures, and a list of seven references are provided.