The Impact of Halfway Houses on Parole Success and Recidivism

Abstract

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This article seeks to identify short and long term effects of halfway house completion on parole success and subsequent recidivism from a sample of offenders released from a northeastern state’s correctional facilities between 2004 and 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using propensity score matching techniques, we compare parolees released to parole after successfully completing a residential treatment program to a matched group of parolees released directly into the community from a correctional facility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Analyses show that parolees who successfully complete a halfway house program are more likely to successfully complete parole but the effect on residential programming on long-term recidivism are negligible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black;">Keywords: </span></strong><em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Alternative Corrections, Community Corrections, Halfway Houses, Parole, Recidivism</span></em></p>