Sentencing, Recidivism,
and the Positive Impact
of Successful Reentry

Agenda
• Governor’s Task Force on Sentencing and Recidivism
• Tennessee Trends
• Sentencing
• Recidivism
• Reentry
• Going Forward

Governor’s Task Force on
Sentencing and Recidivism
• Composition – All 3 branches of state government, local officials and
private entities
• Established to work with Public Safety Subcabinet on crime reduction
and public safety improvement efforts
• Seeking input from hundreds of stakeholders throughout the state
• Developing legislative and policy recommendations by focusing on
sentencing and recidivism challenges and best practices
• Receiving technical assistance from the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center
on Sentencing and Corrections
• Recommendations are due to the Public Safety Subcabinet by June 2015

Tennessee Trends
TDOC Admissions and Releases
FY 2010 - 2014
17500

16500

Admissions
15500

Releases

14500

13500
Fiscal Year

2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

Admissions Releases
13788
15961
14655
15423
15205
16115
14713
16879
14312
16357

Tennessee Trends

7

Average Length of Stay (in years)

6

Average Time Served When Released
FY 2010 - 2014
6.3

6.3

TDOC In-house

4.2

System-wide

5

4
3.9

3.1

3
2.8
2

2.1

1
Fiscal Year

2.4

TDOC Backup

Locally Sentenced

Tennessee Trends
Population Projection
33,000
32,407

32,500
32,000
31,500
31,000
30,500
30,000

29,564

9% Growth Projected over the next 5 years
(Assumes No Operational / Strategic
Changes)

29,500
29,000
28,500
28,000

Population

Tennessee Trends
TDOC “Areas of Influence”

x
• Admissions

x

• Length of
Stay Jail

• Length of
Stay
Diagnostics

x

=
• Length of
Stay State
Prisons

Tax Payer
Dollars

Tennessee Trends
TDOC “Targets of Influence”
Reduce Admissions
Admissions 10%
by 10%
Reduce

Admissions

Length of Stay

Population

Budget Impact Cost Avoidance

1,000
900

1 year
1 year

1,000
900

$ 24,531,650
$ 22,078,485

$

2,453,165

12,000
10,800

3 years
3 years

36,000
32,400

$ 883,139,400
$ 794,825,460

$

88,313,940

Deliver Sentences
in Months
vs. Years
Delivering
Sentences
in Months
v. Years

Admissions

Length of Stay

Population

Budget Impact Cost Avoidance

1,000
1,000

1 year
9 Months

1,000
750

$ 24,531,650
$ 18,398,738

$

12,000
12,000

3 years
30 Months

36,000
30,000

$ 883,139,400
$ 735,949,500

$ 147,189,900

6,132,913

Sentencing
TDOC Continuum of Supervision
Current State
Conviction &
Sentencing

Community
Corrections

State Prison or
Local Jail

Recovery Courts
Boot Camp
Probation

Parole Technical
Violators Diversion
Program

Community Impact
Programs

Probation Technical
Violator Unit

Recidivism
Definition - a person's relapse into criminal behavior, usually
after receiving sanctions or undergoing intervention for a previous
crime
Measured by criminal acts that result in rearrests, reconvictions or
returns to prison with or without a new sentence during a threeyear period following release
Tennessee – 46%
• State 38% v Local 51%
National – 68%*
• Bureau of Justice Statistics report – April 2014

Recidivism
Barriers to Success
• Lack of suitable housing
• Lack of meaningful employment
• Educational deficiencies
• Lack of mental health & substance abuse aftercare
• Lack of vital records (birth certificates, DL’s, ID’s)

Reentry

Case plan &
Reentry plan

Classification

Access to
services

Assessments

Access to
services

Community
Supervision

Expiration of
Sentence

Milestone
Reviews

Reentry
Drug
Courts
Enhanced
Supervision
Standards

Take One
Program

Ongoing Initiatives
Reentry
Housing
Partnership

Probation
Technical
Violator Unit

Workforce
Development
Specialists

Community
Impact
Program

Identification
Partnership
w/ DOS

Day
Reporting
Centers

Reentry
2,117 Adult
Basic Education
Participants

107 Organizations
in Take One

236 Successful
HISET Tests

Impacts
Residential
Substance Use
Treatment – 1,216

3,999 Vocational
Education
Program
Assignments
9,000 Job
Opportunities

1,814 Reentry
Plans since
August

Morgan County
Recovery Court – 84

274
Transitional
Housing
Placements

Moving Forward
• Continue to build partnerships with state and local
governmental agencies, community partners, service providers
and other interested parties
• Enhance the continuity of service provision from prison to the
communities
• Programming being provided by practitioners
• Curriculum for programming is the same throughout TDOC
supervision
• Consulting with other DOC’s for evidence based, best practices
• Partner with a university to evaluate the programs we provide

END