Service Utilization & Death Among Individuals with Incarceration Histories Cover Image

Service Utilization & Death Among Individuals with Incarceration Histories

Published: | Author: Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Stephen Tripodi, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Megan Vogt

Individuals releasing from prison have a higher death rate than the general population. Few studies have explored pre-incarceration service utilization and health among those who die after prison. This paper fills the gap by exploring service usage and health trends among individuals who died and those who survived.

Category:
Measuring Well-Being During Reentry

Measuring Well-Being During Reentry

Published: | Author: Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn, Stephanie Kennedy, Carrie Pettus

A growing number of scholars and reentry practitioners are seeking alternative approaches to identify how community stability and success can be measured for those returning home from incarceration to our communities. Our team developed a well-being-oriented conceptual framework – the Well-Being Development Model – and a manualized reentry program approach – the 5-Key Model for Reentry – which focus on human potential and thriving.

Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Well-Being
The Well-Being Development Model: A Theoretical Model to Improve Outcomes among Criminal Justice System–Involved Individuals

The Well-Being Development Model: A Theoretical Model to Improve Outcomes among Criminal Justice System–Involved Individuals

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus, Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn, Stephanie Kennedy

This article proposes a new conceptual framework, the Well-Being Development Model (WBDM), to support the development, implementation, and assessment of innovative reentry interventions designed to increase well-being among the millions of individuals released from prisons and jails each year. In contrast to prominent models guiding reentry services, the WBDM increases incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals’ capacity to reach their full potential while addressing common problems and barriers to success.

Category: Well-Being, Reentry
The metropolitan context of substance use and substance use disorders among US adults on probation or parole supervision

The metropolitan context of substance use and substance use disorders among US adults on probation or parole supervision

Published: | Author: John Moore, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh

Study findings highlight the differences of substance use and substance use disorders between levels of metropolitan areas for those on probation or parole. Findings suggest that cocaine use should be emphasized in clinical services in large metropolitan areas, whereas methamphetamine use may be prioritized in nonmetropolitan areas.

Category: Substance Use, Probation and Parole
international journal of prisoner health

Incarcerated individuals’ experiences of COVID-19 in the United States

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Stephanie Kennedy, Christopher Veeh

This study examines steps taken by correctional staff and incarcerated individuals to reduce transmission risk for COVID-19. Data were drawn from interviews with 327 individuals incarcerated in 3 states. Overall, 9.9% of participants contracted COVID-19. Most participants wore face masks, washed hands, and practiced physical distancing. Participants reported that most facilities suspended visitation and volunteers, provided face masks, and sanitized. Few individuals were released early. Data indicate early adoption of many CDC guidelines, although state variation existed. 

Category: COVID-19
Associations between Well-Being and Reincarceration

Associations between Well-Being and Reincarceration

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Christopher Veeh

Preliminary findings from the 5-Key Model study suggest that participation in 5-Key Model services was associated with reduced reincarceration at 8 and 15 months post-release. Increased overall well-being and increased well-being on each of the 5 Keys were also associated with reduced reincarceration; those receiving the 5-Key Model had higher levels of well-being at 15 months post-release.

Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Well-Being
victims and offenders

The Role of Preparatory Programming in Increasing the Effectiveness of a Sex Offender Treatment Intervention

Published: | Author: Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Melissa D. Grady, David Edwards, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Katherine Kelton

Increasing the effectiveness of programs designed to treat individuals who have sexually offended is a critical step in reducing the rates of sexual violence in our communities. Yet, the research on such programs have yielded inconsistent results with regards to their effectiveness in reducing sexual recidivism among participants. Some researchers have explored whether the dose of treatment impacts recidivism, but there remains limited knowledge around the dose-response relationship for individuals who have sexually offended.

Category: Sex Offenders
survey doc prison-based programming

A Point-In-Time Survey of State Department of Corrections Prison-based Programming

Published: | Author: Tanya Renn, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Christopher Veeh

Research indicates that providing services to incarcerated individuals increases the chance that they will be successful upon reentry to communities. The current study assessed the provision of services (i.e. trauma and reentry) in state departments of corrections (DOCs) throughout the United States. DOCs from all fifty states and the District of Columbia were contacted to determine what services were provided to prisoners, with 44 of 51 providing responses. Results suggest that DOCs provide a range of programming, as well as assessments.

Category: In-Prison Intervention
reforms to barriers

Reforms of Policy Barriers to Positive & Productive Community Engagement of Individuals with Felony Histories

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Christopher Veeh, Sheree Hickman

Over the past four decades, civil disability policies have proliferated throughout the United States in tandem with the rising use of criminal sanction as social policy. There are currently more than 45,000 different state and federal statutes that impose a type of civil disability on individuals with a felony conviction. This preliminary report provides a brief overview of the reform efforts that have thus far been enacted, but not introduced, to either eliminate or ameliorate existing civil disability policies at the state level between 2010 and 2017.

Category: Civil Disabilities
5-Key preliminary policy results

Employment and Behavioral Health-5-Key Model Preliminary Results for Policy Stakeholders

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh

This report features preliminary 5-Key Model results on study participant employment and behavioral health outcomes approximately eight months post-release. Results are presented by state to maximize usefulness to policy stakeholders.

Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Results for Policymakers
journal of offender rehabilitation

Intervention development study of the five-key model for reentry: An evidence-driven prisoner reentry intervention

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Jacob Eikenberry

Over the past decade and a half, substantial resources were poured into the development of prisoner reentry programs. However, the excitement that surrounded the initial rollout of reentry programs has begun to wane from a lack of substantive change to the number of individuals who return to prison. Therefore, this article details the development of an intervention that can provide a new path forward for prisoner reentry programs.

Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Well-Being
journal of traumatic stress

What Trauma Looks Like for Incarcerated Men: A Study of Men’s Lifetime Trauma Exposure in Two State Prisons

Published: | Author: Maria Morrison, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Christopher Weatherly

While it is understood that high rates of trauma exposure are common among incarcerated male populations, there is limited data on the nature of the trauma exposure. This study examined the trauma histories of a randomly selected sample of 67 men incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The analyses revealed several patterns among study participants, including near universal trauma exposure in adolescence with the most frequent exposures involving witnessing or being proximate to violent deaths of family and friends.

Category: Trauma
The Intersectional Effects of Race and Gender on Time to Reincarceration

The Intersectional Effects of Race and Gender on Time to Reincarceration

Published: | Author: Katie Ropes Berry, Stephanie Kennedy, Margaret Lloyd, Christopher Veeh, Stephen Tripodi

People of color are disproportionately incarcerated and reincarcerated after release. In an 8-year analysis of more than 21,000 individuals leaving state prisons, Black men were incarcerated more often and more quickly when compared to all other race/gender groups. However, with two exceptions (age at intake and marital status), Black men had lower risk scores on most variables when compared to other members of the sample. The interaction of race and gender was a potent predictor of time to reincarceration, even when controlling for a range of identified risk factors.

Category: Reentry, Recidivism, Racial and Gender BIas
The Relationship Between Severe Mental Disorders and Recidivism in a Sample of Women Released from Prison.

The Relationship Between Severe Mental Disorders and Recidivism in a Sample of Women Released from Prison.

Published: | Author: Erin A. King, Stephen Tripodi, Christopher Veeh

Women are one of the fastest growing sectors of the prison population, and have different pathways into prison and differing needs during the reentry process when compared to men. Women report higher levels of mental health problems overall, and report more severe symptomatology. The current study focuses on the role of severe mental disorders (SMDs) for 2,311 women released from prison and how SMDs relate to recidivism. Women diagnosed with SMDs were 16% more likely to have recidivated at eight years post-release compared with women who were not diagnosed with an SMD (p < .05).

Category: Reentry, Recidivism, Mental Health, Incarcerated Women
Promoting Reentry Well-Being: A Novel Assessment Tool for Individualized Service Assignment in Prisoner Reentry Programs

Promoting Reentry Well-Being: A Novel Assessment Tool for Individualized Service Assignment in Prisoner Reentry Programs

Published: | Author: Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn, Carrie Pettus-Davis

The Reentry Well-Being Assessment Tool (RWAT) is an innovative practice tool to systematically guide individualized assignment into reentry program services based on a participant’s changing needs during the transition from prison to the community. Clearly defined treatment targets that promote an individual’s well-being are paired with a comprehensive set of assessments within the RWAT to measure progress throughout a prisoner reentry program.

Category: Reentry, Well-Being