An Outcome Evaluation of a Midwestern Prisoner Reentry Initiative

Abstract

In recent years, correctional and community agencies have developed and promoted an array of policies and programs aimed at successfully facilitating the offender transition from prison to community. One model, the Reentry Partnership Initiative (RPI), emphasizes building collaborative partnerships in an effort to deliver a coordinated and continuous stream of supervision, services, and support during the transitional process and includes institutional, structured reentry, and community reintegration phases. The current study evaluates the outcome of an RPI-style model called the Missouri Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI). The impact of MPRI participation was examined by comparing the reimprisonment of two MPRI treatment groups to the reimprisonment of a reference group having no MPRI involvement. The MPRI groups consisted of (a) offenders entering all MPRI phases and (b) offenders receiving MPRI assistance exclusively inside prison. MPRI was not successful in reducing reimprisonment for males but had benefits for females who entered all MPRI phases.