The Challenge
Research indicates that over 250,000 inmates will
be released from prison over the next three to five years nation
wide.
Most will reenter society without a high school
education, job skills, or training and will become homeless in less
than thirty days from their release date.
These characteristics directly impact the
recidivism rate in the State of Illinois, which is among the highest
in the country.
On a national basis and over the past
quarter-century, the growth in prison populations has resulted in a
greater number of people being released from prison and reentering
society. The State of Illinois has experienced similar
incarceration and release trends and faces the reentry challenges
that accompany such growth.
Between 1970 and 2001, the Illinois prison
population increased by more than 500 percent (from 7,326 to
44,348). The state ranks as the eighth highest prison
population in the United States. This growth is attributable
to increased admission of people cycling through prison on shorter
sentences, specifically drug offenders and parole violators, as well
as inmates serving longer sentences due to determinate and truth in
sentencing laws.
Illinois reported releasing 30,068 men and women
in 2001, a number representing more than two and a half times the
number released two decades ago (11,715 in 1983).
The first year after release is critical in
determining whether an ex-inmate will re-offend or return to prison,
and failures in the first year account for almost two-thirds of all
re-offending during the first three years of release.
Prison administrators and others hold the belief
that providing educational and vocational programming to prisoners
increases the likelihood of their successful return to the
community. Research has shown that a range of prison
programming can contribute to positive post-release outcomes,
including reduced recidivism.
The IDOC offers a wide range of facility-based
programs and services to the prisoners. These programs include
education, substance abuse treatment, employment readiness, physical
and mental health treatment. Since 1991, prisoners on
post-release supervision have been required by IDOC to attend the
PreStart Program.
The program addresses prerelease education,
preparation, and planning. Efforts to reduce the rate of
recidivism were also addressed by enhancements to the
community-based programs. Among these programs are Electronic
Detention, Community Correctional Centers, Adult Transitional
Centers, and Day Reporting Centers.
The facility-based and community-based programs
serve only a very small percentage of Illinois' inmate and parolee
populations. Illinois provides a wide array of facility-based
and community-based programs designed to increase the likelihood
that inmates returning to their communities will reintegrated
successfully and not re-offend, and some have been shown to be
effective in this regard.
Despite the fact that Illinois is on a par with
other states with regard to some programmatic efforts, the state
stands to benefit from increasing the availability of programs and
services found to be effective in preparing inmates for reentry.