SOUTHSIDE DAY REPORTING CENTER REENTRY PROGRAM (IL)

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Program Description
In 1998, the Illinois Department of Corrections opened a new program called the Southside Day Reporting Center Reentry Program (DRC) in the Englewood community in Chicago. A private corporation called Behavioral Interventions runs the DRC for the Department of Corrections. The target population for this program is high-risk parolees returning to neighborhoods in South Chicago. For the purposes of this program, high risk is defined as parolees with two or more prior incarcerations, parolees who have served a sentence of ten or more years, and/ or parolees aged 25 or younger sentenced for a violent crime. The DRC provides a continuum of intense supervision, monitoring, treatment, and educational services for these program participants immediately upon release from prison with the aim of reducing recidivism and thereby increasing public safety.

Parolees assigned to the DRC must report there within 24 hours of release. The program has four levels of supervision; each parolee begins at the most intensive level and works toward less intensive levels. Parolees are assigned an individual case manager who meets with them at least once a week (and, in some cases, up to seven days a week). All parolees undergo an extensive assessment upon entering the program, which helps the case manager develop an individualized supervision, treatment, and education plan. Parolees may be assigned up to three separate rehabilitation activities per week including substance abuse education and treatment, adult basic education, GED preparation, parenting and family reintegration support group, anger management, employment skills training, and career development counseling. Case managers prepare monthly reports for parole officers on parolees' progress in meeting the goals of their reentry plan. Progression through the DRC is individually paced and based on the parolee's compliance with the requirements at each level of supervision. For instance, parolees cannot move to a reduced level of supervision until s/he has been drug free for 30 days.

Program Goals
The Southside Day Reporting Center for returning prisoners has four primary goals: 1) to reduce recidivism through involvement in a highly structured program where parolees learn to modify their behavior patterns that lead to criminal activities; 2) to decrease substance abuse and sex offender relapses; 3) to increase parolees' ability to find jobs and stay employed; and 4) to provide structured activities for parolees in the community and act as a resource for parole field agents.

Outcomes
More than 1,500 parolees have participated at Southside since it opened in 1998. Data analysis by the Department of Corrections on the first three years of the program (1998-2001) indicates a reduction in recidivism compared to a closely matched comparison group of parolees who did not participate in the program. Specifically, 35 percent of the parolees admitted to the program in year one (1998) had been reincarcerated for a new crime three years after release, compared to 52 percent of the non-program group. After two years, 24 percent of the parolees admitted to the program in year two (1999) had been reincarcerated for a new crime conviction, compared to 45 percent of the comparison group. After one year, ten percent of parolees admitted to the program in year three (2000) had been reincarcerated for a new crime, compared to 35 percent of the comparison group. The Department of Corrections also estimates that the program saved $3.6 million in correctional and court costs given that the Southside Day Reporting Center program costs about $925 per participant per month or $11,000 a year compared to $2,100 a month or $20, 000 a year to incarcerate a prisoner.

Additional Reading
Lane Lasater, "Three Year Outcomes for the Illinois Department of Corrections Parolee Reentry Program at the Chicago Southside Day Reporting Center." Evaluation report produced by Behavioral Interventions.

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