THE SHERIDAN PROJECT: PREPARING FOR RELEASE ON DAY ONE
Volume 28, Issue 497 August 6, 2007
Allison Colker
The last 30 years have seen a meteoric rise in the number of Americans serving time in prison. Every year, state prisons release approximately 600,000 inmates into society; roughly two-thirds of them are re-arrested within three years.
Some states are seeking to prevent recidivism by offering inmates the tools they need to successfully re-enter their communities. This includes drug treatment, as well as assistance with housing and vocational training. Such assistance is costly, but research documents that:
- addiction is closely linked to incarceration and recidivism;
- treatment helps reduce recidivism; and
- recidivism rates are even lower if treatment is continued after prisoners are released.
Illinois has taken this research to heart. In 2004, the
(DOC) established the Sheridan Correctional Center. A dedicated drug treatment prison, Sheridan begins preparing inmates for community re-entry on the day they start serving their sentences.
“I support this type of comprehensive drug treatment program because our past efforts are just not working,” said Representative Robert W. Pritchard. “Besides helping the inmate break their immediate drug dependence, treatment must include support after incarceration. This is an expensive solution, but the alternative is more costly to society in terms of a continual revolving door for the addict: slipping back into addiction, loss of income, crime, prison and recovery. We cannot achieve rehabilitation without case management, emotional support and other services.”
Sheridan serves adult male inmates who have substance abuse problems, but excludes those with serious mental health issues and those convicted of murder or criminal sexual assault.
The DOC contracts with a number of nonprofit groups to provide a wide range of services to inmates, ranging from individual and group substance abuse treatment, to intensive post-release supervision. The nonprofit
(TASC), for example, handles pre-Sheridan screening and works with offenders in prison to develop a re-entry plan that provides for drug treatment, housing, and mental health and anger management services. After release, TASC provides case management and regularly meets with clients to help them fulfill their plans.
A number of outside, for-profit businesses also provide services. The Illinois Valley Community College, the Illinois Manufacturing Foundation and the National Homebuilders Association, for example, run vocational programs.
Promising Results
It’s too soon to say whether the additional costs of the Sheridan program will translate into long-term savings. But the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority indicates they will. In May 2006, the Authority released an
that compared inmates released from Sheridan to a group of similar inmates released from other Illinois prisons. Roughly 11 months following release, the Sheridan inmates had:
- a 21 percent lower risk of re-arrest for a new crime;
- a 44 percent lower risk of returning to prison; and
- more success in obtaining and maintaining employment.
“[I]n aggregate, the positive improvements in recidivism and employment coupled with sentence reductions due to earned good conduct credit (EGCC) suggest that the potential exists for significant cost savings,” the Authority wrote.
(Under the EGCC program, inmates can obtain an additional half-day off their sentences for each day they participate in treatment. Many newly admitted Sheridan inmates told researchers that the EGCC motivated them to participate in the therapy programs. During its first two years of operation, the EGCC program saved nearly $2.1 million by reducing time served.)
“As a long-time advocate of putting more dollars into treatment, I strongly support the Sheridan project,” said Senator Mattie Hunter. “The program recognizes that drug treatment is critical to improving the safety of our communities. We have to give offenders the treatment, counseling and vocational training they need so that they can succeed in not re-offending and help to repair their communities after their release.”
