Notable new initiative, Safe Streets & Second Chances, taking "evidence-driven approach to the chronic issues of recidivism"

As reported in this new article from The Hill, the "donor network helmed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is putting $4 million behind a pilot program aimed at reducing recidivism rates among former prisoners." Here is more: 

The effort, called Safe Streets and Second Chances, launches Wednesday in four trial states — Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Louisiana.  The 1,000 participants will come from a mix of rural and urban communities and will receive “individualized reentry” programs and have their progress tracked.

The program is led by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Dr. Carrie Pettus-Davis, an author and professor who says the U.S. prison system is focused too much on punishment and not enough on rehabilitation.

“This unique initiative marries research-driven policy and reentry services reforms,” Pettus-Davis said in a statement.  “Even though incarceration and reentry impacts millions of people’s lives in our country, there is a huge void in research on creating a successful transition of people from prison back home to our communities. We’re closing the gap.”

The webpage announcing the launch of the new Safe Streets & Second Chances initiative provides this additional information:

Today, a new initiative is being launched to reduce the high rate of recidivism by effectively rehabilitating and equipping incarcerated individuals with the tools they need to return home and become productive members of our communities. Called Safe Streets & Second Chances, the new effort uses proven approaches underpinned by academic research to develop comprehensive reentry activities for those releasing from prison to ensure they are successful once home in our communities.

Nearly 700,000 Americans will be released from prison this year, yet close to 70 percent of them are expected to return to prison within five years. This alarmingly high rate of recidivism endangers America’s communities, traps individuals — many of them non-violent offenders — in a cycle of incarceration, and costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year. It’s a problem largely due to criminal justice policies that focus on punishment, but too often fail to implement effective interventions that correct people both in prison and upon release.

Safe Streets & Second Chances takes an evidence-driven approach to the chronic issues of recidivism. This initiative crafts individualized reentry approaches informed by the latest academic research to shift the outcome focus of our criminal justice system from whether individuals are punished to whether they are improved, rehabilitated, and capable of redemption.

Led by author and renowned scholar Dr. Carrie Pettus-Davis, the research component of the new effort will include a four-state, eight-site, randomized controlled trial involving more than 1,000 participants in a mix of urban and rural communities. The four states being examined include Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Louisiana.

DISCLOSURE: As detailed in this prior post, the new Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) I am helping to get started at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law was made possible by a gift from the Charles Koch Foundation.