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SECOND CHANCE ACT (H.R. 1593 / S. 1060)

What it is:  The Second Chance Act of 2007 (H.R. 1593 / S. 1060) is bipartisan legislation introduced by Danny Davis (D-IL) and others in the House, and Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the Senate. The bill would provide assistance to states and localities to implement strategic plans for providing and coordinating comprehensive efforts to enable juvenile and adult ex-offenders to successfully reenter their communities. Such efforts include access to supports and services such as: family reunification, job training, education, housing, substance abuse and mental health services. The bill would also provide for research on reentry and create a national resource center to collect and disseminate information on best practices in offender reentry.

How it works:  The U.S. Department of Justice would administer demonstration grants to states and local governments to provide and coordinate reentry programs for juvenile and adult offenders.

Why it’s important:  The transition of juvenile offenders from confinement to "life on the outside" presents great risks and opportunities for young people and society. Juveniles released from confinement still have their likely "prime crime years" ahead of them. Perpetrators over age 17 commit 85% of all violent crimes and young adults aged 18 to 21 account for a greater percentage of crime than any other four-year age group. Unsuccessful transitions into the community result in an alarmingly high recidivism rate for juvenile offenders of 55-75%.

Effective reentry programs can reduce recidivism rates. These programs provide the support and resources needed to guide ex-offenders through a successful transition from confinement to community life. Comprehensive reentry programs are especially effective among young people. With their development still in progress, young ex-offenders are more amenable to effective behavior modification interventions, thus saving lives, anguish, and public tax dollars. An example of a research-based, effective program that has a strong reentry component and reduces recidivism is Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC). MTFC provides services to youth and their families during and after a youth's out-of-home placement, ongoing supervision by a program case manager, and frequent contact and coordination of services with the youth's parole/probation officer, teachers, work supervisors, and other involved adults. Compared to juveniles in residential group homes, youth in MTFC averaged half as many repeat arrests and spent 59% fewer days incarcerated.

Overwhelming unmet need:  In recent years there have been approximately 100,000 juveniles (ages 17 and under) in custody nationwide. The vast majority of these troubled youths will be released back into the community, with their expected "prime crime years" ahead of them and facing recidivism rates of up to 75%. Many young people are released unconditionally when they "age-out" of juvenile court jurisdiction, without access to family reunification or aftercare services, increasing the likelihood that they will return to crime. In 2002, approximately 150,000 juvenile offenders were placed out-of-home, and nearly 400,000 others were placed on probation. Some juvenile offenders must be placed in secure custody to protect public safety, and many others are first-time offenders who will not become repeat offenders and therefore are not high-risk enough to justify the expense and intrusion of the aforementioned programs. But even if only half of those on probation and half of those placed out of home are eligible for these effective intervention programs, the number of young offenders who could benefit from evidenced-based approaches would still amount to 7 times the 35,000 total currently being served by MST, FFT, and MTFC. In other words, these programs will have to expand 7 times their current capacity nationwide before they start running out of youth who could and should be receiving these services.

Fiscally responsible: Research-based reentry programs such as MTFC not only reduce crime, they are also cost-effective. MTFC saves taxpayers and crime victims roughly $78,000 per juvenile treated.

Recommendation: Fight Crime: Invest in Kids recommends that Congress move the legislation to enactment, and then fund it at the authorized level, to facilitate the implementation of comprehensive research-based reentry programs for juvenile and adult offenders across the nation that can help make our communities safer.

For more information, please contact Miriam Rollin at (202) 776-0027 ext. 143 or miriam@fightcrime.org.