Reducing Recidivism by Expanding Funding for Alternatives to Incarceration
Summary
Many of those incarcerated in New York State prisons are afflicted with mental health or addiction problems. These individuals, and the greater society, would be best served by offering lower-cost alternatives to incarceration to address the problems that are at the root of their criminal activity.
Conference Position
The Catholic Conference supports efforts to reduce crime and recidivism, and to help former offenders recover and live productively in the community through expansion and improved coordination of alternatives to incarceration for mentally ill and addicted offenders throughout New York State.
Rationale
A large proportion of inmates suffer from addiction and mental health problems. Approximately 14 percent of the nation’s prison inmates and seven percent of jail inmates have serious mental illnesses. Unfortunately, a National Institute of Justice study indicates that 84 percent of jail officials reported that only 10 percent or fewer of inmates received mental health care while incarcerated.
Incarcerating mentally ill and addicted individuals is costly and ineffective. A recent California study found that it costs that state up to $1.8 billion annually to house mentally ill offenders. And, according to a National Institute of Justice report, mentally ill offenders return quickly to the correctional systems in part because those systems lack aftercare planning and the communities to which the offenders return lack sufficient services to meet their needs. Expanded services and better coordination between correctional staff and programs in the community would help stabilize mentally ill offenders in the community, stem additional criminal activity and prevent their return to jail or prison.
A recent study from Columbia University’s Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) reports that the more often an individual is imprisoned, the more likely that person is to be a substance abuser. Forty-one percent of first time offenders have a history of regular drug use, however, that figure rises to 63 percent for those with two prior convictions and to 81 percent for those with five or more prior convictions. According to the National Institute of Justice, without proper treatment between 65 and 70 percent of all untreated parolees with histories of cocaine or heroin use will return to drug use within just three months of release. A released prisoner is expected to successfully reenter society after a lengthy incarceration with no more skills to address addiction than he or she possessed at the time they committed the crime.
It is clear that treatment is more effective than imprisonment for many individuals who come into the criminal justice system. A report issued by the Arizona Supreme Court estimated that state’s policy of treating nonviolent drug offenders rather than putting them in prison produced good results, with 77.5% of the more than 2,600 participants testing free of drugs after participation. This rate exceeds the results in most other states. A study by the State of Connecticut indicated that their lower-cost alternatives to incarceration program was 2-5 times more successful than prison in reducing crime, with re-arrest rates much lower among program participants. Federal Bureau of Prisons research indicates that an inmate who receives treatment is 73 percent less likely to be re-arrested and 44 percent less likely to use drugs again. A RAND study indicates that treatment for offenders can be 10 to 15 times more effective in reducing drug-related crime than incarceration.
Resources are better spent on community-based rehabilitation than on incarceration for many offenders who could benefit from treatment. The NYS Department of Corrections currently spends $32,000 per inmate per year to incarcerate offenders. Columbia University’s CASA reports that investing in proven treatment for inmates (coupled with appropriate education, job training and health care) could yield tremendous benefits. Nationwide treatment costs an average of $6,500, and would provide an annual economic benefit to society of $68,800—a tenfold return on investment—in terms of avoided incarceration costs, as well as wages earned and taxes paid by former offenders.
You can download this document, Reducing Recidivism by Expanding Funding for Alternatives to Incarceration, in PDF form.
