Feature Story

May 6, 2008

Massachusetts Inmates Report High Use of Prison Program, But Face Postrelease Challenges With Substance Abuse and Limited Employment

From Urban Institute:

Former prisoners in Massachusetts are back behind bars at a significantly lower rate than the national average, new research from the Urban Institute and the Massachusetts Department of Correction finds.

Thirty-nine percent of the 1,786 male inmates released in 2002 by the Department of Correction (DOC) were in prison again within three years, compared with the national average of 53 percent. Interviews with 178 men who returned to prison show that substance use and employment instability ranked among their greatest challenges while in the community.

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