A study released by the Stanford Public Policy Program and prepared for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation takes a close look at how well a residential reentry program implemented is having on recidivism rates. The study, originally released in 2021, is titled “Effects of the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) on Recidivism in the State of California.”
In 2015, CDCR launched a new program called the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP). Focused on transitional community reentry, MCRP is a rehabilitative live-in program outside of prison in which inmates can enter the program up to 15 months pre-release. MCRP is a voluntary program for eligible males who have two years or less of their prison sentence left to serve. This allows eligible people committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the community, in lieu of confinement in state prison. MCRP is facilitated by the state’s Division of Rehabilitative Programs.
MCRP is designed to provide a range of community-based, rehabilitative services that assist with substance use disorder, mental health care, medical care, employment, education, housing, family reunification, and social support. MCRP assists participants to successfully reenter the community from prison and contributes to reduced recidivism by using community-based rehabilitative services. Rehabilitative services may include guidance and support, family reunification, community resources, education, employment, health care services, recovery groups, and housing.
California’s Focus on Community Reentry Services for Parolees
After peaking in 2006 at more than 173,000 inmates in California prisons, the prison population has steadily declined after major court decisions and departmental shifts that focused efforts to return individuals who are incarcerated to community reentry programs. In 2018-19, the state’s prison population had dropped to 130,000 individuals, and by 2020 the population had dipped below 100,000 individuals, the lowest prison population in 30 years.
MCRP facilities were established in several locations throughout four counties, including Butte, Kern, Los Angeles and San Diego. GEO Reentry operates one of these residential reentry facilities in Long Beach, California. Services offered at the GEO Reentry facility include individual risk/needs assessment, cognitive and thinking skills training, substance abuse education, anger and stress management, parenting skills, individual and group counseling, victim awareness, budgeting and money management, motivational enhancement, alumni and aftercare programs, community services referrals, job readiness, and HIV/STD awareness.
Study results show a significant improvement in recidivism rates
The study’s authors, Emily Morton, Garrett Jensen and Kimberly Higuera, provided the first quantitative review of the program’s effect on recidivism. They compared MCRP participants to a comparison group of individuals on parole who shared similar characteristics. The researchers found that for individuals who participated in MCRP for at least seven months, the program decreased the likelihood of arrest by 8 percentage points. For individuals who participate in MCRP for nine months, the results were even better, with a decrease in the likelihood of rearrest by 13 percentage points.
From the Authors: “These findings suggest MCRP is a promising program for policymakers and practitioners with a goal of reducing recidivism rates, but substantially longer durations of participation than the average duration of 4 to 5 months are necessary for achieving that goal.”
To read the full report, click here.