Correctional Research Roundtable

firearms

bdhpag — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:46:23 GMT

I am looking for a statistic or a requirement stating what the percentage of staff have to be firearms qualified in a Max security facility. It is an Audit requirement but I can't find anything that gives a percentage. Does anyone have anything?

Need help on a research project regarding inmate's wants and needs in a correctional facility

minimi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:24:33 GMT

Hello, everyone. I am a second year MBA student. Four of my teammates and I are currently doing a student consultant project for a client who is looking into entering the commissary sector. In addition, we are seeking any opportunity that can help facility administrators to better manage and operate the facilities. At the research stage, we are trying to understand inmate and warden's need and wants to help us better understand the key problem inside the correction facilities. We are very interested in interviewing wardens, correctional facility guards, and administrators. I was wondering if any of you are willing to have a short conversation with us to help us gain more insights and ideas for our project? We are in the Philadelpia area, we can meet in person or phone conference if you are from outside of Philadelphia. Thank you.

Prisoner Release Statistics

Frankie Rene — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:48:01 GMT

Can you please give me information on how many ex-offenders are released to Cook County, Chicago, Illinois annually? If it is at all possible, can this be separated by genders? In addition, to the preceeding question, what is the recidivism rates for each gender as well? Thanks to all

Can recedivism be reduced to below 10%?

Dave Koch — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:44:27 GMT

Read the article, "Prisoner Recidivism - a genuine solution to an American Epidemic" at: http://web.me.com/davidjkoch/davidjkoch/Daves_Blog/Daves_Blog.html

multi-jurisdictional jail consolidation

ffiorello — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:53:43 GMT

looking for research or best practices covering consolidation of multiple municipal jail operations...can locate city-county consolidation but none on multi-city cooperatives...?

Customer Service Survey - Corrections

ctrancoso — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:49:13 GMT

I looking for surveys or material others have utilized to conduct a survey with the general public (visitors of offenders, tour groups, volunteers, and vendors) so that we can survey our customer service at the prison to see if we are missing or can improve on the services we offer,etc. Thanks!

How Cost-Effective Is Correctional Programming?

Eileen Conway — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:33:56 GMT

Following in the footsteps of the cost-benefit study done by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, the Correctional Service of Canada has commissioned its own review of the benefits of correctional programming. The Net Federal Fiscal Benefit of CSC Programming examines the costs and benefits of seven programming categories: violence prevention, family violence, substance abuse, sex offender, living skills, education, and employment. While the latter two did not fare well in the analysis, the researchers offer a caveat regarding those findings.

Research Influencing Policy, A Committee

Eileen Conway — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:30:24 GMT

Many thanks to the Oklahoma DOC's great Corrections News and Research blog for leading us to the activities of a National Academies committee highly relevant to followers of corrections research. The Standing Committee on Social Science Evidence for Use is tasked with addressing "how best to strengthen the quality, use, and utility of social science research, and to lay a solid foundation for the continuous improvement in both the conduct of social science research and its applications to policy." As we consider issues surrounding the influence of correctional research on policy and the quality of that research, we should keep an eye on activities of this committee.

C.O. Turnover

Ryan Mason — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:50:29 GMT

Any information / feedback on the high turnover rates for correctional officers would be much appreciated. We're also interested any opinions from veteran correctional staff, statistics and or other data about rookie correctional officers being harassed by their own staff. We are planning a revision to my book Vermont C.O. The Truth of Attrition which highlights by experiences as a C.O. with the Vermont D.O.C.. This forum has been helpful in the past with D.O.C. professionals from all over the country responding with many of their own stories of grief in dealing with their own staff. This is a big help to our research. Thank you. R.Mason

Pros and Cons of being a completely Tobacco Free Department

AmandaWilbers — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:39:53 GMT

Missouri is currently researching the pros and cons of becoming a completely tobacco free department. We are looking for any pros and cons other states have realized since they became tobacco free or that they have found when researching the idea.

Conflict Resolution

CEMontjoy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:21:37 GMT

I am in the process of writing a lesson plan on Conflict Resolution for basic students and was wondering if anyone had any information on the subject. I am estimating the class to last around four hours. Any assistance with this would be great. I have the AJA’s lesson plan already, but am looking for more information on the subject. Thanks You, Chris

New Research on GPS supervision and also the LSI-R

Eileen Conway — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:56:59 GMT

The good folks at the Oklahoma DOC's Evaluation and Analysis unit have been busy providing us with new research reports, including an analysis of the effect of post-release GPS supervision on recidivism. They have also posted a review of the latest research on the use and validity the LSI-R. Many thanks to their Corrections News and Research blog for bringing these reports to our attention.

Does Sex Offender Registration Reduce Crime?

Eileen Conway — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:01:59 GMT

New from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, "Does Sex Offender Registration and Notification Reduce Crime? A Systematic Review of the Research Literature."

Prison Therapeutic Community Outcomes

Eileen Conway — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:53:00 GMT

In its latest Research in Review, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections presents a summary of findings from a study of long term outcomes of therapeutic community drug treatment programs in the Department. Performed by Wayne Welsh, Ph.D., of Temple University, the study was begun in 1998 and continues to the present, although this summarizes a final report. The Department characterizes the study as "one of the longest, largest and most rigorous evaluations of prison TC. Thus, the research done here is valuable not only for Pennsylvania, but for the correctional profession nationwide." The full report is also available from the DOC's site.

Buffer Zones Around Correctional Facilities

JK_CityofLancaster — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:39:02 GMT

Greetings,

My city has a state correctional facility within it's jurisdiction and is trying to deal with some zoning issues regulating property that adjoins the buffer zone around the facility. The existing municipal zoning was likely enacted prior to the existence of that facility, but there was never an issue because there was no development in that area. As development expands, buffer zone encroachment may be an issue in the future. If we change the zoning, we would like to follow current industry standards or recommendations.

Does anyone have any guidelines, research, or publications on recommendations for correctional facility buffer zone sizes and/or adjacent property zoning?

Any help or direction would be appreciated.

JK
CJ Analyst
City of Lancaster, CA
661-723-6059

Reentry Research Continues To Report Out

Eileen Conway — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:45:21 GMT

The Urban Institute's Returning Home longitudinal study of prisoner reentry is continuing to produce reports of findings from its study. Three recently posted reports examine several aspects of reentry findings in Houston. Community Perspectives "explores prisoner reentry from the perspective of Houston stakeholders and community members." Women on the Outside addresses the experiences of women returning from Texas state prisons and state jails. When Relatives Return "examines the challenges of incarceration and reentry from the perspective of family members on the outside."

Inmate fire crews

Jaime Joyce — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:28:12 GMT

Hello. My name is Jaime Joyce and I'm writing an article about inmate wildland fire crews. Does anyone in this forum know of research related to these crews? For example, do inmates who serve on fire crews have a lower rate of recidivism once they are released? How many states have wildland fire crews? Anecdotal information is also helpful. I'm focusing specifically on the Dude FIre in Arizona, in which six inmate firefighters were killed. Any information is very much appreciated. Thank you.

How WSIPP Did It

Eileen Conway — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:41:44 GMT

Fans of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy's 2006 document, Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates, will be pleased to know that they have posted a paper extensively describing the methodology behind that report, including some updates. The article, "Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Crime and Criminal Justice Costs: Implications in Washington State," appears in Victims and Offenders, 4:170-196, 2009.

Good News for Correctional Research Followers!

Eileen Conway — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:55:14 GMT

Wonderful news out of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, which has launched a Corrections News and Research blog. The blog is produced by the DOC's Evaluation & Analysis Unit, which is headed by Michael Connelly, whom many of you probably remember from the former Corrections Sentencing blog. A warm welcome to this new blog from the DOC!

Sex Offender Treatment Effectiveness Research

Eileen Conway — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:21:57 GMT

Also new on the posting front today is a meta-analysis of treatment effectiveness for sexual offenders from Public Safety Canada. The report looks at "23 recidivism outcome studies meeting basic criteria for study quality, [finding] the unweighted sexual and general recidivism rates for the treated sexual offenders were lower than the rates observed for the comparison groups..." It further looks at the impact of risk, need, and responsivity principles in improving outcomes.

Marital and Relationship Status and Crime

Eileen Conway — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:07:23 GMT

Followers of outcomes research and recidivism may be interested in a newly posted study by the Urban Institute, The Impact of Marital and Relationship Status on Social Outcomes for Returning Prisoners. Among its findings are "After statistically adjusting for self-selection into marriage or into unmarried relationships, we found that former prisoners who were married or living as married had half the odds of self-reporting a new crime and/or drug use as did those in casual, unmarried relationships."

A Visual Presentation of Reentry Factors

Eileen Conway — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:58:10 GMT

In a new Research Brief from the Returning Home reentry research project, Illinois Prisoners' Reentry Success Three Years after Release, the Urban Institute uses graphs to highlight the status of former prisoners at various time periods as they move through the reentry process. The graphs address issues such as employment and substance use, housing, family and peer relationships, attitudes, and physical and mental health, from which summary findings and policy implications are drawn.

Risk Assessment Trends Heading in Wrong Direction?

Eileen Conway — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:31:02 GMT

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency has posted an intriguing new report by Christopher Baird, "A Question of Evidence: A Critique of Risk Assessment Models Used in the Justice System." A part of its summary states "The focus on evidence-based practice in corrections is an extraordinarily positive development. That said, the need remains to carefully review some of the more recent assessment models used in juvenile and adult correctional systems, because by expanding the objectives of these models, their clarity, validity, and reliability have all been compromised." The report seems likely to engender some lively debate.

Correctional Care Measures

jdiwan — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:00:20 GMT

I am trying to learn of the different measures of correctional health care across the states. Does anyone have any insight as to who runs correctional health care at the state and/or national level. Is it different for each individual facility or is there are national and/or state department that oversees this care?

National Prison and Prison Alternatives Cost Data Needed

ashadkins11 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:32:55 GMT

I am currently conducting policy analysis for Prison and Prison alternatives. I am attempting to collect data on the national fiscal costs for prisons and their alternatives. I was able to find the direct expenditure from 1982-2005 for Judicial, Police and General Corrections Spending through the Bureau of Justice Statistics. I am looking for the national fiscal costs for prisons (private and public), probation, parole, electronic monitoring, home incarceration, drug courts and half-way houses. Total expenditure would be great and if the information can be broken down any further by prisoner that would be helpful. Cost per prisoner in each program would be the most useful. I was able to locate his information for the State of Kentucky at http://www.corrections.ky.gov/about/factsfigures.htm. I can not, however, locate this same information at the National level. If you could help me find this or know where to locate it, that'd be extremely helpful.