Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/682

 12 2 STA T .659PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 199 — AP R .9 , 200 8(3)Rec e nts t udi es indic a tet h at ov e r2⁄3 o f re l eased S tate p risoners are e x pected to b e rearrested for a felon y or serious m isdemeanor w ithin 3 years after release . ( 4 ) A ccordin g to the B ureau of J ustice Statistics , expendi - tures on corrections alone increased from $9, 0 00,000,000 in 1 9 82, to$ 5 9, 6 00,000,000 in 2002. T hese figures do not include the cost of arrest and prosecution, nor do they ta k e into account the cost to victims. (5) The Serious and V iolent O ffender Reentry I nitiative (SVORI) provided $139,000,000 in funding for State govern- ments to develop and implement education, j ob training, mental health treatment, and substance abuse treatment for serious and violent offenders. This Act seeks to build upon the innova- tive and successful State reentry programs developed under the SVORI, which terminated after fiscal year 2005. (6) Between 1991 and 1999, the number of children with a parent in a F ederal or State correctional facility increased by more than 100 percent, from approximately 900,000 to approximately 2,000,000. According to the Bureau of P risons, there is evidence to suggest that inmates who are connected to their children and families are more likely to avoid negative incidents and have reduced sentences. ( 7 ) Released prisoners cite family support as the most important factor in helping them stay out of prison. Research suggests that families are an often underutili z ed resource in the reentry process. (8) Approximately 100,000 juveniles (ages 17 years and under) leave juvenile correctional facilities, State prison, or Federal prison each year. Juveniles released from secure confinement still have their likely prime crime years ahead of them. Juveniles released from secure confinement have a recidivism rate ranging from 55 to 75 percent. The chances that young people will successfully transition into society improve with effective reentry and aftercare programs. (9) Studies have shown that between 15 percent and 27 percent of prisoners expect to go to homeless shelters upon release from prison. (10) Fifty-seven percent of Federal and 70 percent of State inmates used drugs regularly before going to prison, and the Bureau of Justice statistics report titled ‘ ‘Trends in State Parole, 1990 – 2000 ’ ’ estimates the use of drugs or alcohol around the time of the offense that resulted in the incarceration of the inmate at as high as 84 percent. (11) Family-based treatment programs have proven results for serving the special populations of female offenders and substance abusers with children. An evaluation by the Sub- stance Abuse and M ental H ealth Services Administration of family-based treatment for substance-abusing mothers and chil- dren found that 6 months after such treatment, 60 percent of the mothers remained alcohol and drug free, and drug- related offenses declined from 28 percent to 7 percent. Addition- ally, a 2003 evaluation of residential family-based treatment programs revealed that 60 percent of mothers remained clean and sober 6 months after treatment, criminal arrests declined by 43 percent, and 88 percent of the children treated in the program with their mothers remained stabilized.

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