50% Figure 18. Trends in Recidivism in Four Male Youth Release Cohorts Percent revoked, Federal Bureau of Prisons 5 Sources: 1) Glaser, Effectiveness of a Prison -53 -54 The partially adjusted rates for four youth release cohorts were: D. C. Youth Center, 43%; D. C. Community Treatment Center for Youth, 50%; California Youth Authority criminal court cases, 51%; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons youth corrections act cases, 54%. Further studies with more current and more detailed data are needed to refine the adjustment procedures and to test the dependability of these preliminary comparisons. Publication Stuart Adams, A Comparative Study of Recidivism Rates in Six Correctional Systems, pp. 22 January 1970 23) TRENDS IN CHARACTERISTICS OF D.C. JAIL FIRST ADMISSIONS: Purpose and Method 1940-1969 To provide information on changes in characteristics of people being booked for the firsttime into the D. C. Jail, a survey was made of first-admissions in the years 1940, 1950, and 1960 through June 30, 1969. A two percent interval sample was taken by manual search of the Jail card files. The sample indicated that the following changes had occurred: Findings 1) The median age of first-admissions to the Jail fell about ten years in the period of the study. The trend line of median ages omitting all drunkenness cases from the sample shows a drop of 8.1 years. 2) The proportion of first-admissions who were black rose from 50% in 1940 to 79% in 1969 while the District of Columbia black population rose from 28% of the total in 1940 to 61% in 1966. -55 3) The proportion of first-admissions who were female fell from 13.5% to 9% during the study period. 4) The proportion of first-admissions charged with Index crimes rose from 10% to 27%. Excluding drunkenness cases, the proportion for the rest of the first-admissions went from 17% charged with Index crimes to 27%. 5) The proportion of Jail first-admissions who have been in the District of Columbia longer than ten years increased from 39.5% to 52% between 1940 and 1969. There was no clear trend in the place of birth of jail first-admissions. Publication Virginia McArthur, Trends in Characteristics of D. C. Jail First Admissions: 1940-1969, pp. 20, April 1970 24) TRENDS IN ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES TO Purpose and Method Monetary resources allocated to the D. C. Department of Corrections during the five-year period have ranged from a low of $11.8 million in Fiscal 1968 to $20.8 (requested) in Fiscal 1971. The bulk of the resources over the past five years (about 60%) have been allocated to custody and security. The next largest allocations have been: supportive services (about 17%), social and community services (about 10%), and support of D. C. prisoners in Federal prisons (about 6%). Relatively small allocations have been made to four functional categories: education and training (about 2%), psychological services (about 1.8%), data processing, research and planning (about 1.7%), and employment services (about 0.7%) -56 Findings Some pronounced over-the-years trends were noted in the allocations of funds to a few of the functions described here. The portion of the total funds available to custody and security declined from 70% in 1967 to 55% in 1971. The portion allocated to social and community services rose from about 2% in 1967 to about 18% in 1971. Resources allocated to data processing, research and planning rose from about 0.8% in 1967 to about 2.4% in 1971. The relative decline in custody costs and the relative rise in community services are trends that have been recommended by recent Presidential commissions on crime, by Presidential statements, and by many experts in law enforcement and criminal justice. The rise in expenditures on data processing and research is also consistent with the best in current thought about modernization of corrections and criminal justice. The relative declines in expenditures on education and training and on psychological services may represent a shortcoming in Departmental development. If corrections must be modeled largely upon education and training concepts as some experts believe, then the weakness of the Department's program in these areas may be viewed with some misgiving. Recommendation It is a major responsibility of correctional administration to evaluate its program elements and to allocate its resources so that a maximum of results is achieved at a minimum of costs. Study of resource allocation by function and continuing assessment of results achieved by each function are essential steps to this optimization of results. Publication Stuart Adams, Trends in Allocation of Resources to D. C. Correctional Functions: 1967-1971, pp. 16, May 1970 -57 25) COST ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Purpose and Method The D. C. Department of Corrections Work Release program for men was studied to provide information on the extent to which the program has been cost-beneficial. The study covers the first thirty-nine months of Work Release operation, during which more than 1000 men were in the program. The data used were obtained from Work Release records and reports and from the Department's Budget Office. Because of a change in the budget status of the program, the study period was divided into two parts: Phase I, April 1966 through December 1967, and Phase II, January 1968 through June 1969. Findings - Cost Reduction: The Phase I Work Release program had two parts a felon program which ran the full twenty-one months, and a separate misdemeanant program, running the last ten months of the period. Both parts of the program were housed in prisons and had small staffs. Although records are not complete for this Phase of the program, the reduction in cost of maintaining these men is estimated at $104,209 for an average population of fifty-four felons and forty-four misdemeanants over the period, or an annual saving of $59,548 to the Department. During Phase II, the program was housed in the Jail with a larger, but still relatively small staff for the average program population of 106. The records for this period show a cost reduction of $109,342, or $136,894 on an annual basis. Data were not available on any savings that may have been produced by reductions in recidivism attributable to the program. Benefits from Earnings: During Phase I the Work Releasees returned $94,006 to the government through taxes and payment for lodgings out of total earnings of $387,376. In Phase I the Work Releasees also paid $74,104 to dependents and creditors in the community, and retained $219,265 for their own use in the program and after release. |