Reentry in Ohio Corrections: A Catalyst for Change

Citizen Circle Steering Committee. The Citizen Circle Steering Committee is comprised of members of the Adult Parole Authority, DRC, academics, the faith community, and other representatives from the community. Committee members are charged with oversight of local Citizens' Circles. The committee is designed to create a sense of shared ownership among community partners over the Citizen Circle process and serves as a central resource unit for those in the community wishing to find out additional information regarding the Citizen Circle process. In addition, the committee maintains a web page providing information on the current status of Citizens' Circles in Ohio.

Research

The Ohio Plan reflects a strong commitment to implementing effective correctional programs. The 'what works' literature has identified the components characteristic of effective programs such as targeting criminogenic needs, considering adequate dosage, and providing behavioral treatments to name a few. Programs exhibiting these characteristics are only effective to the extent that they maintain program integrity and show research findings supportive of program effectiveness. DRC is committed to assessing the level of support for its reentry programs. To date, DRC participates in two federal research initiatives, and is conducting several assessments of reentry programs on its own through the Bureau of Planning and Evaluation.

Returning Home. Ohio was selected by the Urban Institute as one of its sites in a multi-year, multi-state research study designed to document the reentry process and the challenges facing prisoners as they are released and return home. In November 2003, the Urban Institute released A Portrait of Prisoner Reentry in Ohio (La Vigne et al., 2003) representing completion of its analysis of the reentry process in Ohio. The report documents the extensive release needs of prisoners returning to communities in Ohio.

The Urban Institute has followed-up this report by interviewing 400 soon to be released inmates returning to the Cleveland area. A Portrait of Prisoner Reentry in Ohio focused on reentry from a systems perspective, the second study seeks to document the reentry experiences of offenders after returning back to their community. The study seeks to explore offender perceptions of Ohio's reentry process.

As part of the "Returning Home" research project, the Urban Institute conducted an exploratory study to assess the process of return for inmates with serious medical and mental health needs (Visher, Naser, Baer, & Jannetta, 2005). The researchers conducted in-depth one-on-one interviews with prisoners, focus groups of prisoners and service providers, and a post-release survey to assess the needs of released offenders returning to Hamilton County, OH. The report indicated significant barriers upon release for seriously medically and mentally ill offenders returning to the community. DRC, through the reentry initiatives described in this report, is making significant progress towards bridging the gaps in service delivery for released inmates with medical and mental health problems.