“What makes in2Action successful?”
I am often asked why in2Action recidivism rates are so much better than most other programs. There is certainly no quick answer to this but let me start with some of the numbers. For FY 2015-2016, 27.3% of all state prisoners returning to Boone County were back in prison within one year. The recidivism rate goes up to 45.2% over two years. That’s right, close to half of everyone released from prison is back in prison within two years. When I consider that less than 1% of the general population is in prison, it appears obvious to me that it can’t be that hard to stay out of prison. So, what really going on?
I remember the first time I was released from prison, after being assessed for recidivism, I was told I had a better than 95% chance of returning to corrections. I told them they were crazy and I would prove them all wrong…and I meant it. I was back in prison less than one year later. They obviously knew more about me than I did.
Recidivism rates at in2Action for one year are just over 13% which means our recidivism rates are about half of that for people not going through our program. Our data collection system is pretty new so we are unable to calculate two-year recidivism at this time. And while there are lots of people doing reentry work, rarely do we find efforts making the impact we find at in2Action.
The in2Action program is informed not only by the ten plus years I spent in prison (including three releases), but also by my academic and professional experience. After being released from the prison for the third time in 2003, I enrolled in college and earned bachelor and master degrees in Social Work. My passion for reentry can be seen in nearly every class choice and assignment throughout my education. I was very narrowly focused, especially for a social work program. Upon graduation, I soon begin working for the Department of Correction as the Reentry Coordinator for the state. This role allowed me to not only influence and oversee reentry efforts around the state, but also allowed me to keep a pulse on what was going on nation-wide. Currently I teach criminal justice classes at the University of Missouri and contract with the U.S. Department of Justice as a peer reviewer on federal reentry grant proposals. Both keep me sharp and up to date on the latest research with regard to effective reentry. It is this combination of real life, professional life, and a respect for the academic research that makes for an effective intervention.
Tunnel vision is the biggest mistake I see people making in this field. The housing people feel if someone does not have a place to live, nothing else matters…its housing first. The addiction professional will say if a person cannot stay clean, nothing else matters…its recovery first. The church people (and we are a Christian program) will say you have to have faith…. its Christ first. Employment professionals will say a person has to have a job if they expect to be successful…its employment first. I can go on and on.
For a program to be successful it must provide comprehensive services and partner with many other in the community who are providing the services they are not. It takes all those ingredients above and more – and all at the same time! We all too often see providers trying to be the one-stop-shop. While they sell this as a convenience to those they serve, their real motive is almost always “keep the money in-house”. So, providers begin providing services they are not good at, and have no business providing. I think in2Action is doing a really good job providing comprehensive services in-house as well as collaborating closely with many partners in the community that are experts at what they do. At in2Action we do not provide mental health services, medicated assisted treatment, vocational training, and any number of other services. We do however have great relationships in the community to ensure when one or our residents have one of these needs, it can be met, and met effectively.
While in2Action is proud of our recidivism rate, we are not satisfied. We are always improving the quality of our services and looking for every opportunity to move that needle just one more point. We are very relationship driven at in2Action and we feel it in our hearts when one of ours goes back to prison. These are men we know and love and care about. They are not a number to us, they are a person created and cherished by our Creator.
Please feel free to visit our website for more information about in2Action. We are in the process of updating this site but over the next month or two we plan to have a lot more information regarding what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. As always your support is always helpful as we strive together to reduce crime, improve public safety, and restore people back to their rightful place in our community.
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