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Current Research
Traumatic Brain Injury - CDC Fact Sheets
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as being caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of a TBI may range from “mild,” i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to “severe,” i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury.
TBI Fact Sheet for Criminal Justice Professionals (download PDF 440k)
TBI Fact Sheet for Corrections Professionals (download PDF 1.2 MB)
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2006 (2007)
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) presents data on prison and jail inmates collected from National Prisoner Statistics counts and the Annual Survey of Jails, 2006. This annual report provides the number of inmates and the overall incarceration rate per 100,000 residents for each State and the Federal system. It offers trends since 2000 and percentage changes in prison populations since midyear and yearend 2005. The midyear report presents the number of prison inmates held in private facilities, the number of prisoners under 18 years of age held by State correctional authorities, and the number of noncitizen prisoners. It includes total numbers for prison and jail inmates by gender, race, and Hispanic origin as well as counts of jail inmates by conviction status and confinement status. The report also provides findings on rated capacity of local jails, percent of capacity occupied, and capacity added.
Prison & Jail Inmates at Midyear 2006 (download PDF 352k)
Washington's Dangerous Mentally Ill Offender Law: Program Costs and Developments
David Lovell, Jim Mayfield
This study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy provides an overview of Washington State's Dangerously Mentally Ill Offender Law. In 1999, legislation was passed to better identify and provide additional mental health treatment for mentally ill offenders who were released from prison, who pose a threat to public safety, and agree to participate in the program. A “Dangerous Mentally Ill Offender” (DMIO) is defined by the legislation as a person with a mental disorder who has been determined to be dangerous to self or others. As part of its legislative mandate, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy has published a series of reports that evaluate the DMIO program. A 2005 report demonstrated that the DMIO program significantly reduced recidivism after 1 1/2 years, and the 2007 follow-up report found that reductions in recidivism were sustained at the 2 1/2 year mark. The benefit-cost analysis in that report indicated that the reductions in DMIO recidivism generated financial benefits to taxpayers that were less than program costs. This report examines how DMIO program funds are being used, how services and billings are tracked, changes in mental health funding, interagency collaboration, and how these impact program viability.
Program Costs & Developments (download PDF 68k)
Offender Reentry Initiative: Recommended Criteria for the Community Transition Coordination Networks (2007)
Elizabeth Drake
This study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy provides an overview of the pilot program established in 2007 (called Community Transition Coordination Networks) for offenders reentering the community from confinement (ESSB 6157). The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) was tasked to review county proposals and select up to four CTCN pilot projects to receive grant funding. The Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, by September 1, 2007, to recommend criteria for assisting CTED during the grant review process.
Offender Reentry Initiative: Community Transition Coordination Networks (dowload PDF 44k)
Washington's Offender Accountability Act: Department of Corrections' Static Risk Instrument (2007)
Robert Barnoski, Elizabeth Drake
This study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy provides a review of the Washington Offender Accountability Act (OAA), which was enacted by the Washington State Legislature in 1999. The OAA requires the Department of Corrections (DOC) to supervise felony offenders according to their risk for future offending. In a 2003 report, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (Institute) analyzed the validity of DOC’s risk for reoffense instrument, the Level of Service Inventory—Revised (LSI-R). As part of the analysis, the Institute suggested that the predictive accuracy of the LSI-R could be strengthened by including more static risk information about an offender’s prior record of convictions. DOC subsequently asked the Institute to develop a new static risk instrument based on offender demographics and criminal history. This report describes our evaluation of the validity of the static risk instrument developed for DOC.
Washington's Offender Accountability Act: DOC Static Risk Instrument (download PDF 168k)
Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works And What Does Not (2006)
This study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy provides a
comprehensive review of evidence-based programs for adult offenders. We asked
a simple question: What works, if anything, to lower the criminal recidivism
rates of adult offenders? To provide an answer, we systematically reviewed
the evidence from 291 rigorous evaluations conducted throughout the United
States and other English-speaking countries during the last 35 years.Evidence Based Research Results (download PDF 1.6 MB)
West Virginia Parole Revocation Profile 2002 – 2005 (2006)
From 2002 to 2005, 1044 West Virginia Division of Corrections (WVDOC) parolees have had their parole revoked by the WV Parole Board and were subsequently sent back to prison for either a Technical Violation or due to a New Felony conviction. This process is referred to as a “Revocation.” During that four-year span the number of revocations increased by 43.5%, from 225 in 2002, to 323 in 2005. This report looks at several of the aspects surrounding revocations and the offender whose parole was revoked. Data presented in this report was collected from Parole Revocation Orders for the years 2002 through 2005, inmate master cards, and through the use of the WVDOC Inmate Management Information System (IMIS).