Connecticut’s Recidivism Rate Falls

Connecticut’s three-year recidivism rate fell 3.9%, from 43.9% for those released in 2007 to 40.0% for those released in 2010, according to a report issued by the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center and the National Re-entry Resource Center.  For Connecticut, this report measures recidivism as the percentage of inmates released from prison who return to custody because of a new conviction or violating a supervision condition (such as a probation violation) within three years.

The study’s authors examined the recidivism rates in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Recidivism rates dropped in all eight states while crime rates and overall incarceration rates also dropped in all but one state. Connecticut experienced a 8.9% drop in the recidivism rate when comparing inmates released in 2007 and 2010, a 12.6% decline in crime rate from 2007 to 2012, and a 19.4% decline in incarceration rate from 2007 to 2012.

The study’s authors attribute Connecticut’s success to legislation passed in 2004 and 2008 that:

• focused on reentry planning for inmates leaving prison and intensive supervision in the community;
• improved the response to people who violate probation, which reduced the number of people returning to prison for probation violations;
• provided continuity of care to people with mental health needs released from prison; and
• improved data collection and performance measurement.