Reentry

Reentry programs are defined as reintegrative services that prepare out-of-home placed juveniles for reentry into the community. A comprehensive reentry process typically begins after sentencing, continues through incarceration and into the period of release back to the community. It requires the creation of a seamless set of systems across formal and informal social control networks as well as the creation of a continuum of community services to prevent the reoccurrence of antisocial behavior. It can also involve public-private partnerships to expand the overall capacity of youth services.

Although it is preferable to deter juveniles from entering the juvenile justice system through prevention activities such as diminishing risk factors and promoting protective factors, or intervening early through the use of intervention strategies, some juveniles will commit crimes, and some of those juveniles will commit serious and violent crimes for which they will be sentenced to out-of-home placement. Moreover, this number has been climbing in recent years. The number of adjudicated cases that resulted in out-of-home placement rose 51 percent nationally from 105,600 in 1987 to 159,400 in 1996 (MacKenzie, 1999). The vast majority of these out-of-home placed juveniles will one day reenter the community. Thus, one of the most important questions that the juvenile justice system must address is: What should a juvenile justice system do with youthful offenders upon their release from out-of-home placement to prevent the recurrence of antisocial behavior?

The current state of the art finds that many residential facilities do little to “correct” delinquent behavior. Research demonstrates that any gains made by juvenile offenders in correctional facilities quickly evaporate following release because youth are often released back to disorganized communities where it is easy to slip back into the old habits that resulted in arrest in the first place (Deschenes and Greenwood, 1998). In fact, large percentages of serious juvenile offenders continue to commit crimes and reappear in the juvenile justice system (Krisberg, 1997). Moreover, the rate of recidivism is higher, the younger the offender when released. For example, in one study of 272,111 prisoners (both juveniles and adults), over 80% of youth under the age of 18 were rearrested, compared to 45.3% of those 45 or older (Langan and Levin, 2002).

The ineffectiveness of these practices prompted juvenile justice practitioners and researchers to explore new and innovative research-based programming to better prepare recently released juveniles to reenter the community. This exploratory inquiry hypothesized that providing transitional and reintegrative supervision and services to youthful offenders returning to community living will reduce the high rate of recidivism among parolees. In turn, a reduction in recidivism would reduce overcrowding and the expenses associated with out-of-home placement.

Current practice offers several different types of reentry programs.

References - Click here for 'REENTRY' References, and to browse other references.

Click one of the 'REENTRY' programs below


Aggression Replacement Training® (ART®)
Parenting with Love and Limits®
Operation New Hope
Multisystemic Therapy–Family Integrated Transitions (MST–FIT)

What's New?

New Resources Added to Reentry Program Literature Reviews

Links
National Reentry Resource Center:
www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org

Reentry Policy Council:
http://www.reentrypolicy.org

Publications

2011
The National Reentry Resource Center:
Five Emerging Practices in Juvenile Reentry

The Center for Court Innovation:
Reentry Courts - Looking Ahead

National Reentry Resource Center:
Reentry Myth Buster! On Juvenile Records

National Reentry Resource Center:
Reentry Myth Buster! On Youth Access to Education upon Reentry

National Reentry Resource Center:
Reentry Myth Buster! On Medicaid Suspension vs. Termination for Juveniles