About 500 of every 100,000 Americans are behind bars in local, state or federal prisons and jails (Cloud, 2009). Prisons are almost universally overcrowded, and with more than $62 billion being spent by government on corrections, the problem is significant. As John Cloud (2009) pointed out, many states faced with budget crises and competing demands for dwindling resources are looking for ways to reduce incarceration rates and levels, often by means of programs designed to facilitate early release, community-based corrections outside of traditional prisons and jails, and through more effective and targeted vocational and academic education and training programs. As this essay will demonstrate, such efforts are meant to reduce recidivism as well, but their success varies often quite substantially from one locale to another.
Early release programs are meant to bring down incarceration rates and attendant costs (Cloud, 2009). Such programs focus on returning non-violent offenders, offenders with excellent records, first-time offenders, and others considered to be relatively minimal risks to society. Early release programs can be quite cost effective; Cloud (2009) noted that in Colorado, where such efforts are widespread, the State saves some $45 million per year.
Early release programs do trouble some analysts, however. Some legislators see these programs as rewarding bad behavior and reducing the deterrent effect of incarceration (cloud, 2009). Relatively little research had been conducted on the efficacy of such programs in terms of reducing the potential for recidivism, an effect at least as significant as a reduction in prison overcrowding and cost savings. Sending prisoners out into the community with tracking devices such as ankle bracelets should be accompanied by programming that provides for a positive transition, which would invariably include both supportive social services and job training or
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