Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry: Maryland Pilot Study: Findings from Baltimore

URBAN INSTITUTE Justice Policy Center Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry Maryland Pilot Study: Findings from Baltimore Christy Visher, Principal Investigator Nancy LaVigne, Project Director Jeremy Travis, Policy Advisor RESEARCH REPORT JANUARY 2004 URBAN INSTITUTE Justice Policy Center 2100 M Street NW Washington, DC 20037 www.urban.org © 2004 Urban Institute The views expressed in this document are those of the authors, and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. JPC Publication: CPR04 0122 Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry i Acknowledgments Production of this report was a team effort involving a number of talented researchers from the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center: Avi Bhati; Jennifer Castro; Jill Farrell; Meagan Funches; Vera Kachnowski; Kamala Mallik Kane; Sarah Lawrence; Rebecca Naser; John Roman; William Turner, Michelle Waul, and Laura Winterfield. Many of these researchers were authors of individual sections of this report, and attribution is noted at the beginning of each chapter. In addition to this outstanding research staff, the authors would like to thank the many individuals and organizations that made valuable contributions to this report. We are indebted to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (MD DPSCS), and specifically to Bob Gibson and Tom Stough from the Office of Planning and Statistics, and Kristy Corrado and Sam Strasbaugh from the Criminal Justice Information System Central Repository who provided valuable advice on the administrative data used in this report. Former commissioner William Sondervan, former deputy commissioner Jack Kavanagh, and former administrative officer Clif Burton, all of the Division of Correction, provided information on prison programming and the overall policy context of reentry in Maryland. Facility wardens and staff provided vital assistance in gaining access to facilities, identifying study participants, scheduling, and conducting interviews. We would like to thank deputy commissioner Patricia Allen, warden Marsha Maloff, Maureen Reid, Sylvester Bracey, and Theresa Labiano. Linda Pemberton, Margaret Blasinsky, and Taryn Foster of CSR Incorporated (CSR), along with interviewer consultants hired by CSR, coordinated and conducted the original data collection for this project. Nidhi Tomar of the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) provided demographic data on Baltimore neighborhoods. Grant Young provided invaluable data entry support. Finally, we would like to thank our funders without whom this report would not have been possible. This research was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Open Society Institute - Baltimore, the Abell Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. We thank them for their support but acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these organizations. ii Maryland Pilot Study: Findings from Baltimore Contents Executive Summary..........................................................................................................................1 Employment..................................................................................................................................2 Substance use...............................................................................................................................3 Programs and Services..................................................................................................................3 Health...........................................................................................................................................4 Family...........................................................................................................................................4 Community....................................................................................................................................5 Attitudes and Expectations.............................................................................................................6 Criminal Involvement......................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER 1 Introduction......................................................................................................................................9 Background of the Study..............................................................................................................10 Interpreting This Report.......................................................................................................