1. Residential Community Supervision Programs
Chapter 8
Residential Community Supervision Programs

2. Introduction
Intermediate Sanctions are sentencing options between prison & probation that provide more freedom than prison but less freedom than traditional probation
There are both residential & nonresidential intermediate sanctions
Residential options include:
Halfway houses/community corrections centers
Work release programs
Shock incarceration/boot camps

3. Halfway Houses
Halfway houses, known as Community Corrections Centers (CCC) or Residential Community Corrections Facilities (RCCF), are staffed 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, providing residential services for offenders who are:
Halfway-in:
high risk/high need probationers
graduated sanctions for probation & parole violators OR
Halfway-out:
preparole/prerelease prisoners
parolees who need assistance transitioning from prison to the community

4. History of Halfway Houses
Halfway houses date to early 1800s in England & Ireland, originating in the U.S. in 1816
State & public support for halfway houses was lacking in U.S., so private, nonprofit corporations opened them
After only partial success, halfway houses received government assistance for the first time in the 1960s
Today private halfway houses have a permanent niche as alternatives to prison
Some jurisdictions rely on them more than others
Private halfway houses choose their clients, contract with the government for a specific amount per day per offender, & offenders are expected to assist financially

5. Program Components
While there is no “average” residential facility, they share certain features:
Residents live in the facility
Residents must be employed
They can leave the facility for work at a verified job.
Residents must be preapproved to leave for any other reason
There are restrictions on leaving for other than work, school, rehabilitation, or medical needs, & approval depends on good behavior

6. Level Systems: Behavior Modification
Increased freedom must be earned, based on:
good behavior
the amount of time in the program
client’s financial situation
The bottom level is most restrictive
As offenders move up levels, they earn passes to leave the facility for longer periods of time & for more reasons, curfews are later in the evening, weekend passes become available, & some offenders are allowed to own their own vehicle
Clients released from the residential phase are assigned to supervising officer & some may return to the facility for aftercare treatment

7. Worker Perspectives & Role Orientation
Two different type of staff work at halfway houses:
Those involved in security activities: population counts, searches, signing residents in & out, dispensing medications, conducting breathalyzers & urine screens
Case managers & counselors involved in treatment & rehabilitation: assessing needs & risks, counseling, teaching classes, preparing prerelease plans
The different roles often result in role conflict, as the goals of punishment & treatment clash

8. RCCFs for Women Offenders
Many women offenders are good candidates for RCCFs, as nonviolent offenders
RCCFs that address gender-specific issues have grown, especially the issue of dependent children
Children of incarcerated parents are at risk
John Craine House in Indiana is an example of an RCCF that allows women offenders to reside with their children
It is more expensive than incarceration but provides prevention programs for the children & recidivism rates are low

9. Evaluation of RCCFs
Evaluations of RCCFs often examine program success or failure rates by comparing recidivism of residents with a matched sample of probationers or parolees
Evaluations conclude:
Successful programs use cognitive behavioral treatment with trained staff
RCCF clients most likely to fail: younger, use drugs/alcohol, lack job skills, have few community ties, & more extensive criminal histories
RCCF clients are more successful than high risk parolees,
Low risk parolees have lower recidivism rates than RCCF clients

10. Work Release
Work release is both a type of institutional corrections & community corrections program
Offenders are only released to go to work or attend school
Jail-based work release may allow weekender programs & some pretrial programs, along with traditional work release
Traditional work release includes:
unsupervised release where offenders leave the jail every day to go to work on their own
Supervised release where a group of offenders are transported under supervision & security to the same work site
Research is scant about the effectiveness of work release programs to reduce recidivism

11. Restitution Centers
Restitution centers: residential community correctional facilities for work-capable offenders who owe victim restitution or community service, are minimum custody, & have 6 months or less until their release date
Focus is on gainful employment & payment of child support, restitution, court-ordered fees, & rent/food.

12. Work Ethic Camp
A 120-day alternative to prison residential program based on cognitive-behavioral treatment
Similar to a halfway house in that it combines work & treatment
CREST is a program that combines the therapeutic community concept with work release

13. Shock Incarceration
Shock incarceration: a brief period of imprisonment that precedes a term of supervised probation & is variously referred to as:
Shock probation
Shock parole
Intermittent incarceration
Split sentence
Boot camp
The hope is the period of incarceration will convince the offender to avoid criminal behavior

14. Correctional Boot Camps
After beginning in Georgia in 1983, boot camps were the most common form of shock incarceration from 1983-late 1990s
They adopt the military concept of discipline, intense physical training, hard labor, drill & ceremony, and rigid structure
Eligible offenders generally:
Are young, first-time felony offenders
Have been convicted of a nonviolent offense
Meet certain physical requirements
Volunteer to participate

15. Types of Boot Camps The two main types of boot camp programs are:
Prison boot camps: participants are selected by prison administrators, are separated from general population, & they graduate to parole
Probation/jail boot camps: Judges assign offenders to facilities maintained by the county, & they graduate to probation
Programs are typically days
Successful boot camps also provide therapeutic & educational programs
Counseling is especially important for juvenile boot camps

16. Criticisms & Evaluations of Boot Camps
Criticisms include:
They widen the net
The confrontational style may have negative consequences & make camps targets of civil lawsuits
Evaluations of boot camps:
Show boot camps have a positive impact in the short term, but do not reduce recidivism in the long term
Most successful programs have a significant treatment component, voluntary participation, selection from prison-bound offenders, longer program duration, & aftercare
Interest in boot camps has diminished since 2000, & many of them have closed

17. Rapper Released from Halfway House
Rapper T.I. (Clifford Harris) was released in September 2011, from an Atlanta halfway house. He had spent 10 months in federal prison on a probation violation.
He was arrested in 2010 on drug charges & sentenced to 11 months for violating probation he had received after he was convicted of federal firearms charges.
He was sent to the halfway house after being released from prison.

18. Standards for RCCFs
corrections/resources/Community%20Corrections%20 Residential%20Center%20Standards.pdf
Check out the link above to review an example of the standards that adult residential community corrections facilities must meet in order to operate in Kansas. Similar standards apply in every state