We highlighted a report earlier this week on the effectiveness of Prison Fellowship’s InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Minnesota for reducing recidivism. The study which was based on tracking 732 offenders after their release in 2003 found that the program decreased the risk of reoffending between 26 and 40 percent.
Around the same time, another study began based on tracking the release of 14,000 offenders in Connecticut, though with much different results.
From the Harford Courant:
The overall rates in the report — 78.6 percent of the 14,400 rearrested; 49.8 percent returned to prison with new sentences — appear to jibe with national rates and are higher than those some states, but lower than others, said Kuzyk.
An often-cited study by the Department of Justice in 2002 found that 67 percent of prisoners it had tracked were rearrested, and 52 percent landed back in prison with a new sentence.
The Connecticut figures “while alarming, are about what you would expect,” said Kuzyk, who worked with parole and probation officers, treatment counselors, and the state Department of Correction on the project. The team compiled an offense profile for each of the released inmates over the five years.
Mr. Kuzyk is right. Without the transforming power of the gospel, it is “about what you would expect.” The good news is there is proof of a better program based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Please consider supporting the proven program. To learn more about InnerChange Freedom Initiative click here.