Lowering Prison Costs, Decreasing Some Recidivism

Eileen Conway — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:26:00 GMT

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy has released an interesting new report examining the impact of Washington State's 2003 law that increased earned release time for some offenders. Increasing Earned Release From Prison: Impacts of 2003 Law on Recidivism and Criminal Justice Costs finds "that the law has been effective: criminal recidivism has not increased and taxpayer costs are lower." The report further estimates a decrease in recidivism for non-violent crimes. Calculating the benefits of future crimes avoided and taxpayer costs saved, the report projects "a total savings of $10,743 per offender."

Saving Money by Expanding Drug Treatment

Eileen Conway — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:51:00 GMT

As states look to balance burgeoning costs with public safety needs, the Urban Institute has released a timely report on the cost-benefits of expanding the availability of drug treatment among arrestees. In To Treat or Not to Treat: Evidence on the Prospects of Expanding Treatment to Drug-Involved Offenders, the authors find that strict eligibility rules are limiting access to treatment, and they simulate several policy changes to provide guidance to policymakers on the cost-benefits of treatment expansion. In their striking findings, "every policy change simulated in this study yields a cost-effective expansion of drug treatment. ... In particular, removing all eligibility restrictions and allowing access to treatment for all 1.47 million at risk arrestees would be most cost effective--producing more than $46 billion in benefits at a cost of $13.7 billion."

Thinking About Corrections : Cost-Benefits

Lowering Prison Costs, Decreasing Some Recidivism

Saving Money by Expanding Drug Treatment