Federal program says it halves recidivism
July 5, 2008 - 5:30PM
BY WILLIAM ROLLER, SUN STAFF WRITER

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office has received a federal grant to prevent ex-offenders from committing new crimes and returning to prison, according to a local health provider.

The Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) was created to stem the growing rates of recidivism. PRI is a cooperative effort between YCSO, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Justice (DOJ). The program is intended to assist offenders 18 years and older who have not been convicted of a violent or sexual offense. In the spring of 2008 the DOJ awarded a grant to YCSO.

Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said that PRI is tailored to reduce recidivism by helping offenders and ex-offenders with pre- and post- release assessments and services to form some sort of transition plans with justice and community based agencies.

PRI will rely on these community organizations for delivering social services to prisoners. Community Intervention Associates is the local behavioral health provider that will implement needed services, according to its news release.

In the U.S. more than 650,000 men and women are released from federal and state prisons and return to their local communities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics, two out of three returning ex-offenders will be rearrested within three years of their release and more than half will be re-incarcerated.

Released ex-offenders face numerous obstacles such as joblessness, substance abuse, mental health problems, lack of educational attainment, unstable housing and poor family connections, said the release.

PRI sites across the nation began helping program participants in the spring of 2006. By the fall of 2007, there were more than 10,000 participants enrolled in the program. PRI reports the one-year post-release recidivism rate is now 20 percent, less than half the Bureau of Justice Statistics rate of 44 percent, the release said.