The Connecticut Regional Institute for the 21st Century (CRI) hired the respected firm of BlumShapiro to do extensive interviews and research in the area of Connecticut’s Department of Correction, Court Support Services of the Judicial Branch, and the Bureau of Pardons and Parole. The information gathered is to be used to determine how Connecticut’s criminal justice system can be improved.
The report, Assessment of Connecticut's Correction, Parole and Probation System, issued in July 2011, found that during the last decade the CT prison population has risen and fallen, with the expectation that the prison population will continue to go downward, but at a slower rate.
According to the report, since 1990 the general expenditure at the Department of Corrections has increased by 280% to $710,139,836 in 2008-2009, and the daily amount spent on prisoners has gone up 57%, to $92.35 per day during that same time period. Probation costs equaled $91,552,100.
The report also found:
Connecticut’s recidivism rate is consistent with other states.
Policy choices are the cause of prison growth, not more crimes.
There is not a correlation between increased prison spending andreducing
crime.
The cost of incarceration does not “pay” for all prisoners.
To improve the criminal justice system in CT a steering mechanism should
be formalized and funded across the entire system.
Treatment, reentry, rehabilitation and community correction programs are
more effective than incarceration.
The full report can be viewed in the Library section of www.reentrycentral.org
|
|
|
|
