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Analysis of New Jersey's Day Reporting Center and Halfway Back Programs: Embracing the Rehabilitative Ideal Through Evidence Based Practices

NCJ Number
226431
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 48 Issue: 2 Dated: February-March 2009 Pages: 139-153
Author(s)
Michael Ostermann
Date Published
February 2009
Length
15 pages
Annotation

This study examined recidivism characteristics of individuals who were supervised by the New Jersey State Parole Board (NJSPB): Day Reporting Centers (DRCs) and Halfway Back (HWB) Programs.

Abstract

Results showed that those who maxed-out of New Jersey prisons in 2004 without the benefits of parole supervision in general, or either of the community programs in particular, did consistently worse on all levels of the failure criteria. Not only were those who maxed-out of prison more likely to be rearrested after release, they were more likely to have a greater volume of arrests, and were more likely to be rearrested faster than any of the four groups. The addition of the program type variable added significantly to the predictive accuracy of failure upon reentry in all iterations of the multivariate modes. Those who maxed-out of prison were significantly more likely to be rearrested than any of the other four groups after controlling for demographics and criminal history. DRC participants evidenced the greatest likelihood of staying conviction and incarceration free when compared to max-outs within these multivariate models followed closely by HWB participants; however HWB participants fared the best according to the rearrest criteria. Parolees without community programs did not significantly fare better than max-outs in terms of the likelihood of experiencing a reconviction or reincarceration after the control variables were accounted for. Despite these finding, parolees without community programs did better than max-outs according to the main recidivism criteria: rearrest. Data were collected from 714 reintegrating individuals who were released from the New Jersey Department of Corrections custody in calendar year 2004. Tables and references