In a speech given to the Princeton University Policy Research Institute on March 5, Nancy G. La Vigne, the Director of the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center, discussed research that shows rehabilitative reentry programs show promise for people leaving corrections.

From the report:

While our findings on program effectiveness may be mixed, our research at the Urban Institute suggests that, programs aside, exposure to specific reentry practices is associated with better outcomes for exiting prisoners. Our landmark study, Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, interviewed soon-to-be released prisoners in four states, following them in the community for up to a year. That research gleaned the following insights:

• Education, specifically obtaining one's GED behind bars, is associated with higher rates of employment after release.
• Employment matters in preventing recidivism, but what makes the biggest difference is the wages one earns; released prisoners who earn $10?12 an hour are twice as likely to remain crime free than their employed counterparts earning minimum wage.
• Drug treatment behind bars is associated with lower rates of relapse in the community.
• Family support can make a tremendous difference in reentry outcomes. Those with strong financial and emotional support from family members are less likely to relapse and return to prison. (Nearly all participants interviewed said they had at least one supportive family member in their lives).

These findings and others like them suggest that the last thing correctional agencies should do is to cut educational, employment, substance abuse treatment, and family reunification programs. To the contrary, in these tough economic times, agencies should consider increasing them in the interests of using reentry initiatives as a means of reducing the correctional population.

Full report: http://www.urban.org/publications/901332.html 

Urban Institute. (2010). Can reentry programs be both effective and cost beneficial? Speech to Princeton University Policy Research Institute. La Vigne, N.G.