Recidivism As an Intended Outcome: A Frank Discussion about Criminal Justice Policy

Criminal justice system reform is one of the few national issues that has recently enjoyed bi-partisan support. However, the Grand Challenges of criminal justice reform and smart decarceration remain formidable. Thus, it is imperative for social work researchers to disseminate their research in a way that helps inform evidence-based policy. Social workers should be knowledgeable of current trends in research, programming, and policy for incarcerated people, the formerly incarcerated, and those with criminal histories. This session includes presenters whose research focuses on criminal justice involved populations and the reintegration obstacles they face post-incarceration or conviction. People with criminal convictions face barriers to important resources known to help prevent recidivism such as housing, employment, public benefits, and education. Registered sex-offenders (RSOs), arguably the most marginalized group of offenders in the U.S, face enhanced barriers to re-entry. Drug-offenders also face considerable obstacles due to the sentencing enhancements and civil penalties encoded during the escalation of the “war on drugs” during the 80's and 90's. Justice-involved Women face their own set of hurdles to re-entry. Lastly, the difficulties faced by people returning to rural areas are often largely different from those returning to urban areas. This roundtable will provide five presentations addressing restrictions and re-entry for Women, drug- offenders, RSO, people returning to rural communities, and people with convictions in general. The first presenter will provide a concise overview of research trends in policy analyses related to the effectiveness and impact of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) requirements in the United States. Then this presenter will explore areas for evidence-based sex offender registry reform, highlighting five major recommendations. Another presenter will discuss the current obstacles drug-offenders face in accessing federally subsidized housing, some recent changes in internal HUD policies, and examples of municipalities currently implementing and evaluating pilot programs expanding access to public housing to people with drug convictions. The next presenter will discuss current trends and evaluations in state-level policies using restorative justice models as a tool for diversion and reentry. Another presenter will discuss the need for gender-responsive approaches and the need to frame community integration and the desistence process with a feminist lens. Lastly, one presenter will discuss the restrictions and issues faced by rural offenders and how to address their unique needs. Overall, presenters will discuss how evidence-based reform would facilitate prevention of recidivism by reducing reentry obstacles, decreasing stigma, and enhancing factors known to be predictive of successful reintegration. Participants will: (1) Understand barriers to reentry for justice-involved populations, with a special emphasis on barriers for women, people with sex and drug offenses, and rural re-entry. (2) Critique current policies relating to re-entry and collateral sanctions. (3) Identify policies consistent with social work values and ethics to guide re-entry, highlighting best practices related to sex offender registries, housing subsidies, restorative justice modalities, rural re-entry, and gender-responsive approaches that take into context the sociopolitical context of women. (4) Consider how to effectively translate social work research to advocacy in front-line and policy settings.