News - 2009
Poll: 8 In 10 Americans Believe Alternatives to Incarceration Appropriate for Nonserious Offenders
Washington, Jun 12 - Eight in ten Americans believe that alternatives to incarceration are appropriate for nonviolent and nonserious offenders, found a report released last week from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD). Additionally, the report found that, if "80% of these nonviolent and nonserious offenders were sentenced to effective programming as an alternative to prison, NCCD estimates that states and localities could save at least $7.2 billion."
"This NCCD report captures the attitudes of American voters that reflect a growing awareness that alternatives to incarceration like the reentry services that Community Education Centers, Inc. (CEC) provides, not only represent smart public policy and significant cost savings, but also maintain public safety," said Dr. Robert Mackey, Senior Vice President.
The report also found that "over three-quarters believe alternatives to incarceration do not decrease public safety and more than half believe alternatives to prison or jail decrease costs to state and local governments."
"University-based research has shown that CEC reentry treatment programs reduce recidivism by 30%-50%. CEC reentry treatment programs are not only cost effective, but substantial savings are achieved in addition as less offenders return to prison or jail. As this report supports, alternatives to incarceration make the most sense for appropriate offenders," said Dr. Mackey.
In an outcome-based research study conducted in 2004, the recidivism rates of a sample of male offenders who completed CEC's New Jersey continuum-of-care programs were compared with a control group (no treatment) of male offenders. The researchers found that the CEC group had a 30% lower rate of recidivism than the control group. A comparison of CEC's recidivism rates were also compared with the same results. It should be noted that the CEC group were deemed higher risk for recidivism than the control group and the national sample in critical variables. Drexel University and the NJ DOC conducted a more recent study on female offenders from the Bo Robinson facility and found that the CEC group averaged a 50% reduction in recidivism compared to a similar group of female offenders from the NJ DOC.
Nonviolent and nonserious offenders are defined in the report as those convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual crimes in which the value of lost property did not exceed $400. The report "Attitudes of Voters toward Nonserious Offenders and Alternatives to Incarceration," was released by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency on June 8, 2009 and is available at the council's website:
http://www.nccdcrc.org/nccd/pubs/2009_focus_nonserious_offenders.pdf
Community Education Centers, Inc. (CEC) is the largest provider of offender reentry and in-prison treatment services in America, operating in 20 states, with nearly 30,000 individuals in our daily care. CEC provides a full range of therapeutic residential and non-residential reentry services with a documented record of reducing recidivism.
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