High-yield corrections: states are reshapping policies to save money and maintain public safety with "justice reinvestment" reforms.

• Author: Lyons, Donna
• Position: CRIMINAL JUSTICE

For two generations, increasing prison populations and their associated costs have been as certain as death and taxes. Recently, however, states have been moving the needle in the other direction. In 2009, for the first time in 37 years, the number of state prisoners declined and has continued to do so. In a growing number of states, "justice reinvestment" strategies are contributing to this trend with reforms that have been bipartisan, cross-governmental and effective.

At least 27 states have made some kind of justice reinvestment, and significant reallocations in more than a dozen show promising results. The process involves analyzing trends and data on what drives prison population growth, and developing and adopting policies to address those factors. Resources are reallocated to support policy changes, and a portion of the savings is reinvested into programs proven effective at reducing recidivism. Ongoing evaluation is put in place to ensure desired results are achieved.

An important objective of all of this: Stop the revolving door that traditionally sees at least a third of former inmates return to prison within three years. Doing so can save money and reduce crime.

Crime Down, Prisoners Up

"We know that increases in state prison populations are not the result of an increase in crime rates, but a product of state policies," says Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project at the Pew Center on the States. The project, which analyzes prison populations and policies, has been involved in many state justice reinvestment efforts. Gelb says the large growth in prison populations that started four decades ago was fueled by sentencing and release laws and decisions by courts and parole boards that sent more offenders to prison and kept them there longer.

"We also know a tremendous amount more today about how to supervise and keep people from returning to prison," Gelb says. This includes improved methods to assess risk, as well as better supervision techniques and technologies. "Combine these strategies, and you can have strong results," says Gelb.

Indeed, the work and recommendations of intergovernmental and bipartisan study groups in a number of states have changed the tenor and course of discussion and moved corrections policies in a different direction.

Reducing Recidivism

Texas and Kansas were among the first states to make justice reinvestment changes. In 2007, Texas lawmakers saw a growing number of probation violators being sent to prison, a high number of offenders with substance abuse and mental health problems, and a low parole rate. Instead of spending $500 million on new prisons, the Legislature allocated $240...