Improving Access to Services for Female Offenders Returning to the Community by Marie Garcia with Nancy Ritter

An evaluation of re-entry services for female offenders shows that increasing access can lead to modest improvements in key areas.

n a single decade — 1999 to 2009 Violent Offender Reentry Initiative — the number of adult women (SVORI) showed that adult females I incarcerated in U.S. prisons grew reported a significantly higher need by 25 percent. Adult women now for services than men. This finding make up about 7 percent of the total highlights a thread running through inmate population, and they face the re-entry literature that suggests many challenges upon release from a disconnect between the services prison. For example, women experi- individuals need to facilitate a suc- ence barriers to obtaining housing, cessful re-entry into their community greater difficulty in obtaining and and the services they receive. sustaining employment, less family support, and more substance abuse Through SVORI, funding was pro- than men.1 The programming offered vided to state and local jurisdictions to women while incarcerated, how- to develop re-entry strategies for ever, is usually modeled after the offenders returning to their communi- programs for male prisoners. ties. (See sidebar, “The Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative: As a group, women are often The Basics.”) NIJ funded a multi- overlooked with regard to re-entry year, multisite evaluation of SVORI programming, and results from the to examine the effect its programs recent evaluation of the Serious and had on access to re-entry services

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and programs and on housing, as usual” from their institutions 2. Health care services (including education, employment and criminal (“non-SVORI women”). SVORI substance abuse and mental behavior. This evaluation, one of the programming varied by the services health) largest NIJ-funded evaluations to provided and the approach each insti- 3. Employment, education and life- date, included a sample of 357 adult tution took to implementation.3 skills services females in 11 states who were return- ing to their communities.2 These The SVORI and non-SVORI women 4. Intimate partner violence-related women are the focus of this article. were interviewed at four intervals: services at 30 days pre-release and at three, 5. Child-related services Forty-three percent of the adult nine and 15 months post-release. female sample (153 women) were Women in both groups indicated that included in the experimental group When measuring need, research- their needs were highest in the third and received services funded by ers “bundled” services into five category, employment, education SVORI (“SVORI women”); 57 categories: and life skills (79 percent), and the percent of the sample (204 women) 1. Services to help with the transition first category, transition services did not receive SVORI services from prison to the community (73 percent). and instead received “treatment

The Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative: The Basics

VORI was an unprecedented considerably in approach, services housing, relationships, sub- Snational response to the provided and target populations. stance abuse, physical and challenges of prisoner re-entry.1 NIJ funded RTI International and mental health, and recidivism. Funded by the U.S. Departments the Urban Institute to evaluate the of Justice, Labor, Education, The multi-year, multisite evalua- impact of SVORI. The evaluation tion included an implementation Housing and Urban Development, assessed: and Health and Human Services, assessment, impact evaluation SVORI provided $100 million in ■ Whether SVORI programs, and economic analysis. The final funding to improve the criminal compared with “treatment as report was published in 2009 justice, employment, education, usual,” increased prisoners’ in six volumes, all of which are health and housing outcomes for access to pre-release services. available at the National Criminal people returning to the commu- Justice Reference Service web- ■ Whether SVORI participants site, http://www.ncjrs.gov. nity after prison. continued to receive more services Beginning in 2003, 69 agencies than non-SVORI participants upon In fiscal year 2010, NIJ awarded in the U.S. received $500,000-$2 release. $401,670 to RTI to reexamine data million over a three-year period. collected in the original SVORI ■ Whether SVORI participants evaluation and supplemental data. There was little federal guidance experienced better outcomes than for the development of re-entry The project will attempt to deter- non-SVORI participants on mea- mine what worked and for whom. programs, although the agen- sures of employment, education, cies had to offer a three-phase Findings are expected in 2012. continuum of services beginning during incarceration, intensifying just before release and during the Note first few months post-release, 1. Lattimore, Pamela K., and Christy A. Visher, “The Multi-site Evaluation of and continuing for several years. SVORI: Summary and Synthesis,” Final report to the National Institute of Therefore, the 89 programs Justice, grant number 2004-RE-CX-0002, April 2010, NCJ 230421, available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/230421.pdf. developed under SVORI varied

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During the pre-release interviews, professional treatment for a drug the women reported that their great- Because of their high or alcohol problem at some point in est employment, education and their lives. On average, the women life-skills needs were education level of need, female reported they had been in a treat- (95 percent), employment (83 per- ment program three times. At the cent) and job training (83 percent). offenders are likely to time of their pre-release interview, Their reported greatest transition 65 percent of the women reported service needs were public health encounter tremendous needing substance abuse treatment. insurance (91 percent), financial assistance (87 percent), a mentor obstacles when they The SVORI women received a (83 percent) and obtaining a driver’s higher level of treatment services for license (79 percent). re-enter the community. substance abuse than non-SVORI women. At three and 15 months Because of their high level of need, post-release, the SVORI women female offenders are likely to encoun- were significantly less likely to have ter tremendous obstacles when Employment used drugs during the post-release they re-enter the community after At 15 months post-release, SVORI period and during the 30 days prior serving time in prison. “The women women were more likely than non- to assessment than the non-SVORI in the SVORI study had numerous SVORI women to report they were women. This finding suggests that physical and mental health problems, supporting themselves with a job, consistent monitoring of drug use is extensive substance abuse histories, receiving formal pay, and experienc- an important tool to provide during significant criminal histories, seri- ing stable employment. post-release services because hold- ous exposure to drug or criminally ing women accountable may help involved family members and peers, The researchers believe the impact them keep clean longer. and substantial housing challenges,” of SVORI services on employ- said Pamela K. Lattimore, a nationally ment outcomes was not surprising It is important to note, however, recognized expert on prison re-entry because employment was the most that in both groups, substance use and one of the principal investigators common programmatic focus among increased the longer the women for NIJ’s SVORI evaluation. all the SVORI programs. What was were out of prison. somewhat surprising was that, for Lattimore, a principal scientist with many dimensions of employment, “These findings are particularly RTI International, worked with these differences were not statisti- important because of the extensive co-principal investigator Christy A. cally significant until 15 months substance abuse histories reported Visher, professor at the University post-release. by the women,” Lattimore said. “For of Delaware and former principal all of the women we studied — the research associate with the Justice “This pattern may have emerged SVORI participants and those in the Policy Center at the Urban Institute, because, although employment control group — abstinence from on the evaluation. outcomes steadily increased for the substance use became increasingly SVORI group, it dropped off for the more difficult throughout the post- non-SVORI group at the 15-month release follow-up period.” Outcomes for SVORI Women post-release point,” Lattimore said. and Non-SVORI Women “Overall, we believe that the SVORI Although the SVORI programs Findings regarding the impact of programs were effective in improv- positively influenced women’s the additional SVORI services on ing employment outcomes for the employment and substance use women’s outcomes were mixed. The women.” outcomes, women who received SVORI women showed significant SVORI services did not do better improvement in the areas of employ- Substance Use than their non-SVORI counterparts ment and substance use compared Approximately two-thirds of the in the areas of: with non-SVORI women. There were women in the SVORI study had used no significant differences, however, illicit drugs during the 30 days before ■ Housing (which gradually improved in housing, family and peer relation- incarceration. More than half (55 over the study period for all ships, physical and mental health, percent) reported they had received women) and recidivism.

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The Second Chance Act and Other Ongoing NIJ Research Projects

he Second Chance Act (SCA) ■ Evaluation of the BJA Reentry receive the experimental treat- Twas signed into law in 2008. Courts Program ment or to receive “business The SCA authorizes federal Northwest Professional as usual” re-entry services agencies to award grants to state Consortium, Inc., is performing (or some other clearly defined and local agencies and nonprofit a $3 million, 42-month, multisite control treatment). evaluation of BJA’s Reentry Courts organizations to provide employ- NIJ has also given additional Program. A process evaluation will ment assistance, substance funding for Alfred Blumstein and document and compare program abuse treatment, housing, family Kiminori Nakamura’s research on models and implementation. An programming, mentoring, victims hiring ex-offenders. The $247,000 impact evaluation will examine support and other services to project continues their previ- re-arrests, reconvictions, viola- people returning to the commu- ous research into calculations of tions and returns to incarceration. nity from prison or jail. The goals “redemption time,” the amount Cost-benefit analyses will look at of the SCA are to increase re- of time that an individual with an the cost to the public of program entry programming and improve arrest record has stayed “clean” interventions versus “business as outcomes for offenders returning (i.e., no additional arrests) and usual.” to their families and communities. could be considered “redeemed” (For more information about the ■ Evaluation of the Multisite with respect to his or her criminal SCA, visit the National Reentry Demonstration Field record. The researchers are testing Resource Center at http:// Experiment: What Works the robustness of the previous nationalreentryresourcecenter. in Reentry Research findings, and looking at out-of- org.) In an effort to provide rigorous state arrests and racial differences. The SCA directs NIJ to evaluate evidence of what works in re-entry, The work is increasingly relevant the effectiveness of demon- NIJ awarded $3 million to MDRC because of the large number of stration projects funded by the to conduct tests of promising people who are handicapped in Bureau of Justice Assistance re-entry interventions, strategies finding employment by stale (BJA). In fiscal year 2010, NIJ or programs. Re-entering offend- criminal records. awarded $10 million for re-entry- ers will be randomly assigned to related research:

■ Evaluation of the BJA Second Chance Act Adult Demonstration Projects Social Policy Research Associates will perform a $3 million, multi-year, multi- site evaluation of seven SCA adult demonstration sites. The evaluation will include impact, process, outcome and cost assessments of re-entry services. It also will include an implementation study of three adult demonstration sites that are not included in the full-scale evaluation.

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■ Family and peer relationships women. For other outcomes, how- In the areas of housing, family and (which remained relatively stable ever, improvements over time seem peer relationships, and physical and throughout the study period for all to be the predominant pattern. mental health, however, women women) enrolled in SVORI and women receiv- “For example, women’s housing ing “treatment as usual” had similar ■ Physical health and mental health situation, employment, resumption outcomes. (which remained relatively stable of primary care responsibility for their for all women) children and community involve- “Frankly, the fact that the SVORI ment appear to gradually improve women and those in the control “The bottom line,” Visher said, over time,” Visher said. “This could group had similar outcomes in these “was that, although the women who indicate that many women find their areas did not surprise us, because received SVORI services showed footing in these dimensions.” we did not have a significant differ- modest improvements in several key ence in the level of services to both areas — particularly employment and groups, such as assistance in finding drug use — their high level of need a place to live, medical treatment, far outweighed the services they “Overall, we believe domestic violence services and child received.” that the SVORI services,” Visher said. Implications for Policy The low level of services provided programs were under SVORI that might have and Practice improved re-entry outcomes related Findings from the SVORI evaluation effective in improving to housing, relationships, and mental suggest the provision and delivery and physical health was confirmed of pre- and post-release services employment outcomes by the SVORI directors, who said is a difficult task. The evaluation that such services were not a major results can be used by corrections for the women.” focus of the programs. “This is professionals and service providers unfortunate,” said Visher, “given the to improve evidence-based planning emphasis that previous research has and service delivery. placed on the importance of familial The SVORI findings also could be relationships in the re-entry process Overall, both SVORI and non-SVORI used to help identify the appropri- — and the high levels of both women faced challenges including ate point at which to intervene to physical and mental health problems mental and physical health problems, address particular needs. The period reported by returning women.” extensive family responsibilities, and around nine months post-release lack of employment experience. appears to be a particularly challenging time for women. Where to Go From Here “Appropriate identification of needs, Both self-reported drug use and For policymakers and practitioners treatment planning and follow-up housing challenges — including who are faced with doing more may be particularly important for homelessness — were higher at with the same or less in the crucial women,” Lattimore noted, adding nine months post-release than at area of offender re-entry, there is that the coordination of a range of three months or 15 months. a need to understand why, in look- services should be considered one of ing at findings as a whole, there the guiding principles when develop- The SVORI program was success- were only significant differences ing strategies for female offenders. ful in delivering important re-entry between the 153 women who services to women returning to received SVORI services and the 204 The researchers also observed some their communities. SVORI women women who did not in two service temporal patterns that may have received a substantially higher level areas — employment and substance implications for supervision and ser- of overall services than non-SVORI abuse. The delivery of services for vice delivery. Some outcomes, such women. Indeed, where services SVORI women, although greater as substance use, criminal behavior were provided, the women generally overall, failed to match their level and recidivism, worsened over time did better, such as in employment of need with respect to mental and for both SVORI and non-SVORI and substance use. physical health problems, family

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responsibilities, and lack of work re-entry services,” Lattimore said. “The bottom line of the evaluation is experience. “On the basis of the limited research that women returning to the commu- on female offenders — and the even nity after prison need so much,” said Mixed findings, however, do not more limited evaluations of re-entry Visher. “The SVORI study showed equate to no findings, nor do they programs — the factors that appear that women are receiving so few ser- equate to failure. If there is one most important for the successful vices, compared to what they need, crucial “take-away” from the NIJ re-entry of women include establish- that it’s little wonder they don’t do evaluation of SVORI, it is that women ing suitable housing, finding gainful better when they re-enter society.” returning to the community after employment, and reuniting with serving time in prison have extremely children and family.” high levels of need. In addition, About the authors: Marie Garcia is a although these needs declined over In addition, she added, women’s re- social science analyst at NIJ. Nancy time, levels of unmet need remained entry programs need to emphasize Ritter is a writer and editor at NIJ. high even at 15 months. post-release treatment and coun- seling for infectious diseases and NCJ 237725 “It is important that practitioners substance abuse as well as protec- and policymakers keep this in mind tion from abusive relationships. when planning and coordinating

For more information: Notes Read the SVORI evaluation reports 1. Mallik-Kane, Kamala, and Christy Visher, Health and Prisoner Reentry: How for: Physical, Mental, and Substance Abuse Conditions Shape the Process of ■ Adult females: https://www.ncjrs. Reintegration, Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2008, available at http://www. gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/230420.pdf urban.org/publications/411617.html. 2. Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, ■ Adult males: https://www.ncjrs.gov/ South Carolina and Washington. pdffiles1/nij/grants/230419.pdf 3. Although services varied, the research design (treatment versus control) was the ■ Juvenile males: https://www.ncjrs. same for all sites. gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/230423.pdf

Data from the SVORI Multi-site Impact Evaluation is available in the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. Learn more and apply for access to the data at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/ studies/27101/detail. To learn more about re-entry into society, visit NIJ’s Web topic page at http://www.nij.gov/nij/topics/corrections/reentry/welcome.htm.

Watch an interview of Pamela Lattimore on SVORI at http://nij.ncjrs.gov/ multimedia/video-nijconf2009-lattimore.htm.

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