Almost Home

In a public-private collaboration with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and the Massachusetts Parole Board, Dismas House opened, The Almost Home Program, in the traditional Worcester Sheriff’s residence. This 24-hour staffed facility provides a four month structured treatment programs to Worcester County inmates eligible for parole or post-incarceration placement. Each resident of The Almost Home Program participates in daily vocational training on the premises, substance abuse treatment groups, individual therapy, and educational, job-readiness and placement and life skills training. The Almost Home Program acts as a needed first-step and a “feeder” program to other transitional programs. Graduates of The Almost Home Program are better prepared for the challenges of successful reintegration. By providing cost-effective, bundled services to those inmates most likely to re-offend, The Almost Home Program alleviates institutional roadblocks to reentry, reduces recidivism, and ultimately, will help stem jail overcrowding in Worcester County.

Institutional Roadblocks to Reentry

64% of male county inmates in Massachusetts are serving sentences of six months or less.1 The nature of short sentences limit opportunities for substantive treatment or vocational training. Program budgets statewide for programs and education are limited. Only three percent of the DOC budget in FY 2004 was dedicated to a wide range of inmate programs, including substance abuse counseling, work programs, educational services and community resource centers.2 In the fourth quarter of 2004, the Worcester County House of Corrections operated at 162% capacity, having an average daily population of 1,281 and a capacity of 790.3 Overcrowding and months’-long backlogs of parolees seeking program placement create a disincentive for good behavior within the institution.

1Massachusetts Department of Correction, Research and Planning Division, New Court Commitments to Massachusetts County Correctional Facilities During 2003, (Concord, MA: 2004).

2The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Corrections Reform, Strengthening Public Safety, Increasing Accountability, and Instituting Fiscal Responsibility in the DOC, (June 2004).

3Massachusetts Department of Correction, Research and Planning Division, Quarterly Report on the Status of Prison Overcrowding, Second Quarter of 2004, (Concord, MA: 2004).

Inmate Roadblocks to Reentry

47% of Massachusetts inmates have not achieved a GED or high school diploma at the time of incarceration.1

99% of Worcester County House of Corrections applicants to Dismas House report a history of substance abuse.

Many inmates have limited employment and poor work performance histories, which are compounded after release by employer CORI checks.

Former inmates tend to return to communities with high rates of crime and poverty.2 Most Worcester inmates are from Worcester County and, presently, are released to their “stomping grounds” with little treatment and limited housing options.

1The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Corrections Reform, Strengthening Public Safety, Increasing Accountability, and Instituting Fiscal Responsibility in the DOC, (June 2004).

2From Incarceration to Community: A Roadmap to Improving Prisoner Reentry and System Accountability in Massachusetts, (Boston, MA: Crime and Justice Institute, 2004).

Recommendations

The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and Dismas House plan to convert the existing farmhouse on the Sheriff’s grounds to a “first- step” treatment and reintegration facility to address the institutional factors that hamper reentry and the outstanding criminogenic needs that face “high-risk” releasees.1

Dismas House plans to incorporate its evidence-based models and existing partnerships and resources to provide substance abuse education and treatment, behavior-modification, vocational, job- readiness and educational workshops, linkages to healthcare and other services, and discharge planning to appropriate transitional services. An exciting opportunity exists in the underutilized farm on the grounds, which will be used not only to provide vocational training and a real employment history, but also to ingrain important motivational and job-retention skills.

To alleviate overcrowding at the jail caused by recidivism, Dismas House will work closely with classification to identify those inmates who are at a high-risk to re-offend and who have limited substance abuse treatment and employment histories. To alleviate overcrowding caused by backlogged parolees, Dismas House will work with the jail to offer placement in The Almost Home Program to inmates at their earliest date of eligibility. The projected increase in available parole beds hopefully will engender “good behavior” and an uptick of inmates seeking parole.

The Almost Home Program will provide a cost-effective, necessary “step-down” currently lacking throughout the Commonwealth’s corrections system due to the closure of pre-release facilities, and the limited capacity of work release facilities. By partnering with Dismas House and through the services outlined below, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office promises to enhance the benefits typically associated with pre-release and work release programs.

For the purposes of this project, “high-risk” inmates and releasees are those deemed to be at a high-risk to reoffend and recidivate. Those at risk to commit serious and violent offenses are not included in this group, as the nature of these sentences typically indicate a state prison sent

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