MDOC Prison Population Projection Update

Michigan Department of Corrections
Policy Reforms that Reduce
Corrections Spending
Impact from Probation, Community
Corrections, Parole and the MPRI
Presentation to the National Governor’s
Association
April 2009
Evidenced Based Practices
Reducing Crime by Focusing on What Works
• Studies show there is little direct relationship between crime and
incarceration and that the cost benefit of imprisonment is not the best
way to reduce crime. While increased incarceration has contributed to
modest crime rate reductions in the past, studies indicate it will
prevent considerably fewer crimes in the future and may actually
increase crime in Michigan because of the high unemployment rate
among former prisoners and the reduced funding available for
education.
• Return to prison rates for former prisoners who serve one, two, three,
four or five years in prison are nearly the same.
• The rising cost of the corrections budget is not driven by increases in
crime, it is driven by the sheer size of the prison system: personnel
costs and benefits, health care for prisoners, and utility costs. The size
of the corrections system is driven more by policy decisions than by
crime.
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Evidenced Based Practices
Reducing Crime by Focusing on What Works
• Dollar for dollar, investments in effective police practices
reduce crime more than imprisonment.
• Employment is a critical dimension of successful offender
rehabilitation and is associated with lower rates of reoffending; higher wages are associated with lower rates of
criminal activity.
• Educational and training programs that address fundamental
abilities and teach skills directly applicable to the job market
contribute to successful reintegration of offenders into society
and reduce recidivism.
• Research shows that for severely disadvantaged children,
participation in pre-kindergarten dramatically reduced
participation in juvenile and adult crime, and increased high
school graduation, employment and earnings.
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Evidence Based Practices
Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative
• Implemented statewide in FY 2008 with expansion to up-toscale possible in FY2009
• Focus on MPRI has provided improved resources to Parole
Board including better training and more sophisticated
assessment instruments
• Annual parole revocations are down by 42% since record high
year of 2002, despite a 40% increase in size of parole
population
• Successful MPRI process mitigates and controls risk - raises
Parole Board confidence in parole plans and outcomes,
enabling higher parole approval rates across the board
• Improved parole guidelines are being developed as a way to
sustain and expand the impact of these improvements
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February 2009 Baseline Projection Assumptions
Successful Approaches to Controlling Prison Growth
Front End Impacts on Prison Growth
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Comprehensive Planning through the Community Corrections Act
continues to keep prison admission rate lower than other states
Graduated sanctions and services for probationers respond to
probationer risk and need – less than 7% fail and go to prison
Residential substance abuse treatment programs are effective
Efforts to Affect Length of Stay, Releases and Returns
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MPRI statewide expansion includes every county in the state
Improved Parole Board risk and need assessment strategies
Focus on special populations: Mentally Ill, Youthful Offenders, SAI,
Female Offenders
Continue Aggressive Review of Past ERD Prisoner Population
Cross System Efforts Driven by MPRI Focus
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More sophisticated risk and need assessment approaches
Offender based accountability plans
Collaborative Case Management approaches
Focus on employment as primary offender need
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Historical Context Defines The Challenge
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Front End Impact: Prison intake decreased due to reduced dispositions, and
improved community corrections and probation practices – lowest since 2001
Michigan Department of Corrections
Prison Intake
12,000
11,094
11,050
10,000
9,584
9,169
8,000
10,713
10,311
8,667
9,811
9,610
9,424
8,809
8,922
1999
2000
10,241
9,715
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1995
1996
1997
1998
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
*Includes new court commitments, probation violators (technical or new sentence), parole violators new sentence, and escapee new sentence.
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Impact on Length of Stay: Parole approval rate reached highest level since
1993 due to MPRI and Parole Board efforts to improve risk & need assessment
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Impact on Releases: Max outs have steadily declined due to the MPRI
after a decade of annual increases
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Impact on Returns: Parole violator new sentence admissions to prison have
been stable for 3 years - despite about 3,000 more offenders on parole - due to
MPRI and improved parole supervision approaches
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Impact on Returns: Parole violator technical returns to prison decreased
to the lowest number since 1992 - despite a record high parole population –
due to MPRI and improved parole supervision approaches
Michigan Department of Corrections
Parole Technical Violator Returns to Prison
3,500
3,000
3,110
3,186
3,236
3,289
3,158
3,111
3,013
2,859
2,500
2,577
2,668
2,161
2,000
2,095
1,916
1,893
1,500
1,000
500
0
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Note: Historically 70% have involved new criminal activity
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Impact on the Prison Population
The year end prison population has decreased from a high of 51,454 prisoners
down to 48,686 – a 5% reduction in three years
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Impact on the Prison Population
The prison population has decreased for two consecutive years by an
unprecedented 2,500 inmates
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New Prison Population Projections
Expand Front End Impacts on Prison Growth under the
Community Corrections Act
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Amend the Community Corrections Act (CCA) and increase
diversions
Implement demonstrations of impact when targeting higher risk
probationers and measure impact of evidence based practices
Use COMPAS for risk and need assessments of probationers and
improve case planning and case management efforts
Expand graduated sanctions and services for probationers –
including short stays in jail when possible
Improve the use of the County Jail Reimbursement Program for
diversions
Reduce Length of Stay, Increase Releases and Reduce
Returns to Prison under the MPRI
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Take MPRI up-to-scale in FY 2009 – NO EARLY RELEASES
Expand efforts to work with mentally ill prisoners
Expand Review of Past ERD Prisoner Population by adding 5 new
parole board members and increase number of paroles
Implement CSG work group recommendations for parole reforms
immediately and decrease length of stay of prisoners
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New Bed Space Projections
Impact and Reinvestments
Reduced Need for Prisons
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Trends in community efforts to keep prison admissions low
Increased paroles for past ERD prisoners – NO EARLY RELEASES
Reduced technical violations and parolee failures
Reassessment of classification approaches for prisoners will allow
re-configuration of prison system
As prison space becomes available, prison closings will be
assessed
Reinvestments on the Front End
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Expand use of sophisticated risk and need assessment approaches
Improved offender based accountability plans
Improved comprehensive planning under PA 511
Improved Collaborative Case Management approaches
Focus on offender employment using Stimulus funds
Reinvestments on the Back End
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$20M for MPRI and Parole Supervision expansion in FY 2009
$24.2M more for parole services in FY 2010
$22.7M more for MPRI in FY 2010
Improvements in prisoner education & academic training
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Resources
The Council of State Government’s Justice Center, Michigan Justice
Reinvestment Initiative, Analysis of Crime, Community Corrections and
Sentencing Policy, January 2009.
http://justicecenter.csg.org/resources/justice_reinvestment
The Council of State Government’s Justice Center, Justice Reinvestment in
Michigan: Reducing Crime, Victimization and Corrections Spending, 2008
http://justicecenter.csg.org/resources/justice_reinvestment
The Pew Center on the States, One in 100: Behind Bars in America, 2008
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=35912
The Pew Center on the States, One in 31: The Long Reach of American
Corrections, 2009.
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=49398
Michael Jacobson, Downsizing Prisons: How to Reduce Crime and End Mass
Incarceration, 2005
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3757/is_200609/ai_n18621804/
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