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Pew ‘1 in 31’ report on corrections: Challenges and opportunities
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Georgia ranks highest in the nation for the ratio of adult persons in the criminal justice system under some form of correctional 
control to that of the general adult population at 1 in 13. In 1982 the ratio was 1 in 37. Florida is ranked at the national average of 1 in 31. New Hampshire is lowest with 1 in 88. The Pew report was released on March 2, 2009.
In 2008, the rate of incarceration nationally exceeded 1 in 100 for the first time in the history of the United States. Although the rate of growth in the number of people incarcerated from 1982 through 2007 is 274%, the greatest growth has been in the number of people serving sentences outside prison walls on probation or parole (See related article: ‘More offenders serving time outside prison’). In 1982 almost 1.6 million were under the community supervision of probation or parole, which has increased in 25 years to 5.1 million. At the end of 2007 the total number of people under correctional control, including both imprisonment and community supervision, is more than 7.3 million.
According to the report “One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections,” Probation and parole, the dominant community corrections programs, have had larger population growth than prisons but far smaller budget growth.” At the same time the offender population continues to increase at unprecedented levels, the economic resources are critically limited in the current economy. The 2008 national average daily cost of incarceration per inmate was $78.95 whereas the average daily cost of community supervision was $3.42, only 4.3% the cost of incarceration.
The Pew report recognizes the circumstances as an unprecedented opportunity. “Rather than trying to weather the economic storm with short-term cost saving measures, policy leaders should see this as a chance to retool their sentencing and corrections systems. If we had stronger community corrections, we wouldn’t need to lock up so many people at such a great cost. By redirecting a portion of the dollars currently spent on imprisoning the lowest-risk inmates, we could significantly increase the intensity and quality of supervision and services directed at the same type of offenders in the community.” Nationally, 69% of the population under correctional control was under community supervision with 31% in prison at the end of 2007.
Employing the strategy of bolstering services in programs and treatment interventions that are proven effective would diminish the rate of recidivism for ex-inmates and for those participating in community diversion programs after conviction. Reduced recidivism results in reduced cost for the reduced numbers of people being imprisoned. The states of Texas and Kansas are at the forefront in shifting resources and authority to community corrections and requiring strict accountability. Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Vermont are taking similar actions.
Senator Webb, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, has introduced a 2009 prison reform bill that also addresses these issues (See related article: ‘Senator Webb proposes 2009 national prison reform’). Continuing the same policies of the past 25 years with increasing corrections populations and escalating costs in the face of diminishing fiscal resources is unworkable. Continued spending policy for prison building in contrast to reductions in funding for community supervision programs and intervention and expecting different results is, again, more insanity (See related article: ‘Addictions intervention and criminal rehabilitation’). Punishment alone, without effective rehabilitation and means for restoration of ex-offenders to productive roles in our communities, does not work.
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