NJ- State studies how to keep ex-inmates out of prison

8-30-2008 New Jersey:

TRENTON -- New Jersey is in the midst of an ambitious pilot program to find out what combination of services works best at keeping ex-inmates from returning to state prisons after they're released.

The $2 million program, called "Another Chance," is part of the state's stepped-up efforts to lessen the percentage of ex-cons who re-enter state prison. It's also a key component of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's strategy to combat gang and gun violence.

The pilot program offers a range of social, job and medical services to 1,300 people with criminal convictions, then tracks the results.

Shavar Jeffries, who is overseeing the state's re-entry programs until a permanent director comes on board next month, said data is being collected from newly admitted prisoners, those about to leave prison and some already on parole.

Every year in New Jersey, 14,000 adult inmates and 1,600 juvenile offenders are released from correctional facilities. As many as 65 percent of the adults will be re-arrested within five years, and 37 percent of juveniles will return to correctional facilities within two years.

The pilot program is limited to four prisons -- Northern State, Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and Riverfront State -- and to releasees returning to Newark, Trenton and Camden.

Inmates and parolees in the program can receive an array of services, including job training to behavioral therapy, anger management and parenting classes.

It begins with a diagnostic assessment, so services are customized to each person's needs. Those in the pilot are divided into three components: newly admitted prisoners, who receive a full range of services; those who will be released within nine months, who get a discharge plan and are lined up to receive services once they are released; and those already on parole, who receive only post-release services.

The idea is to collect data on all groups "so we can connect with what really works to reduce recidivism," said Jeffries.

New Jersey is "ahead of the curve" when it comes to reducing recidivism, said Jeffries, who named only Michigan and Kansas as addressing the problem as comprehensively as New Jersey.

Wanda Moore, a lawyer who previously oversaw Newark's re-entry programs, will oversee Another Chance and the state's other, ongoing re-entry efforts, which total about $185 million a year. She starts Sept. 10.

"A lot of folks are talking about re-entry across the country, but we're making a complete paradigm shift in making sure people get the services they need, and continuing this from corrections to community," Moore said.

Asked about the allocation of scarce financial resources to such programs, Moore asked, "Do we spend the money on the back end and incarcerate people, or do we intervene and try to move people into a place where they have the support system and connections they need? So, really, we are looking at the reallocation of dollars. We need to be smart about how we are spending our existing dollars."

..News Source.. by ANGELA DELLI SANTI