Research Findings and Statistics

The following national statistics and research findings help give an overall scope of the number of offenders reentering communities and an idea of how some programs can impact their success.

• The U.S. incarcerated population, numbering more than 2.1 million individuals in 2004 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prison Statistics), has grown nearly 600 percent in the past 30 years (Council of State Governments, 2005).
• Although public spending on corrections has increased from under $10 billion in 1982 to $60 billion in 2002, many corrections officials struggle to adequately fund the institutional needs of the growing incarcerated population (Council of State Governments, 2005).
• More than 97 percent of all U.S. prisoners are eventually released, and communities are absorbing nearly 650,000 formerly incarcerated individuals annually (Council of State Governments, 2005).
• More than two-thirds of those released will be rearrested within 3 years of release, and many will return to jail or prison (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Reentry Trends in the U.S.: Recidivism).
• Participants in the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative are more likely to receive services than comparable nonparticipants (Lindquist, Brumbaugh, and Winterfield, 2006).
• Most of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) programs are serving small numbers of offenders. As of spring 2006, 41 percent of programs had enrolled 100 or fewer participants over the entire duration of the program. (Lindquist, Brumbaugh, and Winterfield, 2006)