Stepping Stones to Successful Reentry

Edwin G. Buss

Commissioner Indiana Department of Correction

August 2010, Corrections Today

It has become apparent that corrections cannot afford to warehouse offenders nor continue to build prisons due to increasing offender populations. Research shows that providing essential services to offenders based upon need and risk reduces the chance for recidivism. Prison systems must make every effort to deliver essential services efficiently to reduce the number of offenders returning to crowded prisons. If an offender’s essential needs are addressed during incarceration, his or her chance for successful reentry is greater.

Chemical dependency is a common factor for offenders returning to prison. In Indiana, 81 percent of offenders have a significant history of substance abuse. Criminal thinking must also be addressed to ensure individuals successfully reenter society. Other key factors to reentry include education, job training, job readiness and retention skills. In recent years, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) partnered with other agencies and external services to improve the successful transition of offenders returning to their communities. Internally, IDOC works diligently to address these critical needs through fundamental programming.

The department’s specialized intensive therapeutic communities (TCs) are designed to treat offenders with severe drug addictions. The program includes a minimum of eight months of cognitive behavioral counseling. Clients receive up to 12-15 hours of programming each day to assist in addiction recovery, build social skills, and develop job interviewing skills. Further, clients work on peer and personal relationship skills to aid in their recovery when released. IDOC has TCs at six facilities, totaling more than 1,300 treatment beds. During 2009, 773 offenders successfully completed a TC program. The TCs demonstrate a positive impact on both recidivism and conduct.

Clean Lifestyle Is Freedom Forever (CLIFF) is a modified TC designed specifically for individuals addicted to methamphetamine. The program is similar to the department’s other TCs, but the treatment focus is unique to methamphetamine addiction, an issue that widely affects Indiana. The matrix model is a best-practices curriculum that focuses on treating the unique aspects of methamphetamine and cocaine addiction, and is used as a core part of the program. Two male units have 356 beds total and one female unit has 100 beds. During 2009, 371 offenders successfully completed the CLIFF program. That same year, the program was recognized by the American Correctional Association, receiving the Exemplary Offender Program Award.

Purposeful Living Units Serve (PLUS) is a faith- and character-based program that encourages offenders to choose alternatives to criminal thinking and behavior by focusing on spiritual and character development, life-skills training, community service, and intentional preparation for living as law-abiding citizens. Key components include a strong positive peer culture, a curriculum that addresses risk factors and a mentoring relationship with a community volunteer who serves as a positive role model. Now in its fifth year, the PLUS program is offered at 14 facilities with approximately 1,200 participants. Since its inception, more than 1,700 participants have completed the 12- to16-month program. Of these, about 500 have been released back into the community. As of March 2010, the return rate of PLUS graduates was 12.42 percent. In 2009, PLUS was recognized by the American Correctional Chaplains Association with its Offender Program of the Year Award.

To bring more job opportunities to offenders as they prepare for reentry, Indiana is developing and expanding U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) apprenticeship programs throughout its correctional facilities. The USDOL apprenticeships help offenders with structured, on-the-job training in traditional industries, as well as emerging industries. The partnership between the USDOL Office of Apprenticeship and Indiana’s Correctional Industries, PEN Products, has been the launching pad for PEN Products’ move into offender reentry. The Indiana PEN Products USDOL program has grown to be the largest state prison program in the country. This collaboration also provides ex-offenders sound documentation to use as a reentry transition tool. There are currently about 200 registered apprenticeships throughout all DOC facilities. To date, more than 1,000 offenders have earned apprenticeships in more than 31 registered job titles. More than 300 staff have earned certificates in various disciplines as well.

IDOC has found a statistical significance between the formal education of offenders and recidivism. According to the 2008 unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Relationship Between College Degree Completers and Recidivism in the Indiana Department of Correction, by John M. Nally:

 • The number-one predictor of recidivism is employment;

 • An unemployed ex-offender is 2.1 times more likely to return to prison than an employed ex-offender; and

 • The number-one predictor of employment post-release is academic achievement while incarcerated.

To maximize offender employment opportunities, the Department is partnering with Ivy Tech Community College to offer basic literacy, GED and vocational programs. Ivy Tech is uniquely situated to provide multiple services post-release, including continuing education, job placement and counseling services. A 2006 survey of released offenders revealed that 80 percent lived within a 40-mile radius of an Ivy Tech campus. The focus of the Ivy Tech and IDOC partnership is to increase employment through occupational preparation for middle-skill, high-demand occupations with sustainable wages.