Kirk Heilbrun, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA.

Presented for Community Education Centers, Inc. and
the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Elizabethtown, PA. November 2010.

By James P. Wojtowicz and Liu Tongyin

Corrections Compendium, Nov/Dec 2006, Vol. 31, Pages 6,7,22- 23.

This paper presents the results of an analysis examining the New Jersey Halfway House Program walk-away data for the years 1997 through 2004. The results of the analysis indicate that during the past 7 years the walk-away rate was indeed decreasing at the approximate rate of 0.4 percent per year. Also, the likelihood of offender walk-away occurrence as compared with the base year of 2003 decreased approximately 8.0 percent annually over the period. Central to the New Jersey Department of Corrections reintegration strategy, as well as a key component of the continuum-of-care treatment approach for drug and alcohol addicted offenders is prerelease participation of qualified inmates in residential community-release programs or halfway houses. The halfway house offers an opportunity to transition from the prison setting to the community. However, the department is fully aware that inmates with community access have opportunities to walk away from community-based halfway house facilities. It is the department’s responsibility to minimize this occurrence in order to ensure public safety. To understand walk-away trends and measure the impact of implemented policy on walk-away outcomes, an analysis was conducted to examine the halfway house walk-away data for the years January 1997 through June 2004. The goal of the analysis was to identify and quantitatively approximate the annual increase or decrease in walk-away rates during that time, measure the impact of policy initiatives designed to address walk-away prevalence, and determine if there existed a seasonal effect related to walk-away rates.

By Tracy Flass, Kirk Heilbrun, David Dematteo, and Dr. Ralph Fretz

Criminal Justice and Behavior, 2008, Vol. 35, Pages 1095-1108.

This study provides validation data on the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) and the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) using a large male cohort (N = 975) with a substantial proportion of ethnic minority offenders. In comparing the predictive validity of these tools, the authors employed a retrospective, archival, known groups design to study outcomes of offenders released into the community from New Jersey prisons between 1999 and 2002, with a post release outcome period of 12 months. The results indicate that both the LSI-R composite score and the COMPAS recidivism score have inconsistent validity when tested on different ethnic/racial populations.

by Greg M. Kramer and Kirk Heilbrun

Forensic Mental Health: Working with Offenders with Mental Illness, 2001, Pages 47-49.

Interest in violence risk assessment has grown in recent years, as risk assessment is relevant to a variety of decisions in law, mental health practice, and correctional settings. Risk assessment can be particularly relevant in correctional settings, as it affects decisions on classification, transfer, and release, as well as parole service delivery planning.

by Jack Terhune

Association of State Correctional Administrators, August 2000, Pages 201-206.

The article describes the Assessment and Treatment Centers operated by Community Education Centers in the State of New Jersey.

by Kirk Heilbrun, Melanie L. O'Neill, Lisa K. Strohman, Quinten Bowman and Judith Philipson

Law and Human Behavior, 2000, Vol. 24, Pages 137-148.

The study considers how psychologists and psychiatrists, identified as experts in violence risk assessment, responded to eight vignettes which systematically measured preferences for risk communication.

by Barbara Mrozoski, Ralph Fretz, PhD, Eric Silver, PhD, Keri Burchfield, MS, Robert Mackey, Michael Oliver, MHS and Kirk Heilbrun, PhD.

Presented at the Biennial Conference of the American Psychology-Law Study Division 41 of the American Psychological Association in Austin Texas, March 2002.

This study focuses particularly on whether the released individual fails to return in a timely way on authorized pass ("walk-aways") in the community setting in which he has been placed, with the ultimate purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of relevant risk-reducing interventions.

by Kirk Heilbrun, PhD. 

Handbook of Psychology in Legal Contexts, 2003, Second Edition, Chapter 22.

The paper focuses on risk management, and describes conceptual, empirical, and practice advances in risk management and the implications of the changes in each of these areas.