2010 Adult Institutions Outcome Evaluation Report

1. 2010 Adult Institutions Outcome Evaluation Report California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Office of Research

2. Overview • In keeping with national best practices CDCR now measures recidivism by arrests, convictions, and returns to prison. • Return to prison was used as the primary measure of recidivism for this report. • Return to prison is defined as “an individual convicted of a felony and incarcerated in a CDCR adult institution who was released to parole, discharged after being paroled, or directly discharged from CDCR during a defined time period and subsequently returned to prison during a specified follow-up period.”

3. Redesign of the Cohort Methodology • Felons released to parole • First time releases on current term • Excludes those directly discharged from institution and those discharged from parole before the full three-year follow-up period • Includes releases during a Calendar Year • All released felons • First time releases and re-releases (parole violators) on current term • Includes those directly discharged from institution and those discharged from parole before the full three-year follow-up period • Includes releases during a Fiscal Year Old Design New Design

4. Overall Recidivism Rates

5. Overall Recidivism Rates

6. Recidivism by Type of Release

7. Time to Return

8. Key Findings • The total three-year return to prison recidivism rate for all felons released during FY 2005-06 is 67.5%. • Re-released felons recidivate at a higher rate than those released for the first time (i.e., 16.8 percentage points higher). • Most felons who return to prison do so within a year of release (approximately 75%).

9. Recidivism rates were further examined by: • Demographic Characteristics • Offender Characteristics • Incarceration Experience

10. Recidivism by Demographics • Females have a 58% recidivism rate, which is almost 10 percentage points lower than that of males. • Inmates released at age 24 or younger return to prison at a rate of almost 75%. • Rates by race/ethnicity vary greatly for first-releases, but is consistent among re-released inmates.

11. Recidivism by Offender Characteristics • Inmates committed for property crimes consistently recidivate at a higher rate than those committed for other crimes. • Sex offenders recidivate at a rate slightly lower than non-sex offenders (mostly for parole violations). • Inmates who participated in a mental health EOP/CCCM program return at a rate 9 percentage points higher than non-EOP/CCCMS inmates. • The CSRA performs well at predicting inmate risk for recidivism.

12. Recidivism by Incarceration Experience • Recidivism rates increase with length of stay up to 19-24 months and decrease thereafter. • Recidivism rates for inmates with more total stays increase with each additional stay at CDCR institutions. • Inmates released from reception centers have a recidivism rate that is higher than any other institutional missions.

13. Conclusion • Approximately one-third of felons released in FY 2005-06 did not return to CDCR within the three-year follow-up period. • Almost half of the felons released returned to CDCR for a parole violation. • Twenty percent returned to CDCR after being convicted of a new crime.

14. Future Directions • Provide recidivism results for felons who completed programming (drug, education, vocation) within the institution. • Provide further information on felons recidivating due to parole violations. Specifically, what type of violation was committed.

15. 2010 Adult Institutions Outcome Evaluation Report • Adult Research Branch • http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/adult_research_branch/ • (916) 323-2919 • Brenda Grealish, Research Manager • Cindy Wagstaff, Staff Information Systems Analyst