Virginia tracked prisoners released in 2020 to see how many ended up back behind bars. After three years they found 17.6% came back – the lowest rate compared with 31 other states. The Department of Corrections was quick to claim credit what it called best-in-class re-entry services.
But inmate advocate Taj Mahon-Haft says others also deserve praise.
“It is the people coming home and their support networks," he says. "Once you leave DOC, that’s where success comes from, and that’s who should really be thanked.”
And he doesn’t think recidivism is the best measure of a prison system’s success.
“We don’t just want people to not go back. We want people to come back and work, so we should have measures that include employment. Are you having stable, long-term relationships with loved ones? If you have a substance use history, are you in treatment? These are things that contribute to a quality of life, not just not being incarcerated.”
At the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, Keith Wallington tempered praise for Virginia’s Department of Corrections with a call for more educational opportunities behind bars.
“Good public safety policy is investing in education and employment – particularly higher education while in prison,” he explains.
Mahon-Haft says our prisons don’t even have enough capacity for those who need a high school degree.
“When you get a GED while you’re incarcerated, you’re likelihood of getting employment does seem to go up, and your likelihood of getting re-incarcerated does seem to go down a little bit, but under 20% of the people who are eligible get to take the GED test.”
He says the state does not count cases where people are convicted of new crimes and sentenced to less than a year – which helps to keep our recidivism rate low, and Wallington argues s that a lower rate of recidivism may also reflect an aging population in Virginia prisons.
“Older individuals statistically have lower recidivism rates. People age out of crime. There’s a ton of research that shows that. You add on top of that Virginia’s truth in sentencing laws has led to longer periods of incarceration.”
Both men hope the success of so many inmates who leave prison will encourage lawmakers to consider reinstating parole for those least likely to commit new crimes.
