March 18, 2010

Follow-up Evaluation of Ohio's Community Based Correctional Facility & Halfway House Programs Outcome Study

Researchers Edward J. Latessa, Ph.D.; Lori Brusman Lovins, MSW; Paula Smith, Ph.D.; all of the University of Cincinnati, sought to discover the types of offenders who most benefit from Ohio halfway houses and community-based correctional facilities (CBCFs) and to determine which programs are most effective at reducing recidivism. Outcome measures included felony conviction, any conviction, and new incarceration for a two-year period following release. Using a quasi-experimental design, they compared outcomes for 27,000 offenders. Half were served by halfway houses and half served by CBCFs between February 2006 and June 2007. The halfway house and CBCF participants' outcomes were compared to those of parolees and to outcomes of offenders placed on Intensive Supervision Probation for the same period. In general, the two-year recidivism rates for offenders who completed programs offered by one of Ohio's 44 halfway houses between February 2006 and June 2007 were five percent lower than rates for offenders released to parole or Intensive Supervision Probation.