{"id":105,"date":"2009-01-23T10:30:28","date_gmt":"2009-01-23T18:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.opinion.katrinasdream.org\/?p=105"},"modified":"2009-01-23T11:00:55","modified_gmt":"2009-01-23T19:00:55","slug":"105","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/105\/","title":{"rendered":"Washing State Prison Reform?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"left\"><strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\n<p align=\"right\">Report by The Washing State Institute for Public Policy<\/p>\n<p align=\"right\">\n<div align=\"left\">Under current long-term forecasts, Washington<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">State faces the need to construct several new<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">prisons in the next two decades. Since new<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">prisons are costly, the 2005 Washington<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">Legislature directed the Washington State<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">Institute for Public Policy to project whether<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">there are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153evidence-based\u00e2\u20ac\u009d options that can:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>reduce the future need for prison beds,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>save money for state and local taxpayers,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>contribute to lower crime rates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We conducted a systematic review of all<br \/>\nresearch evidence we could locate to identify<br \/>\nwhat works, if anything, to reduce crime. We<br \/>\nfound and analyzed 571 rigorous comparisongroup<br \/>\nevaluations of adult corrections, juvenile<br \/>\ncorrections, and prevention programs, most of<br \/>\nwhich were conducted in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>We then estimated the benefits and costs of<br \/>\nmany of these evidence-based options.<br \/>\nFinally, we projected the degree to which<br \/>\nalternative \u00e2\u20ac\u0153portfolios\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of these programs<br \/>\ncould affect future prison construction needs,<br \/>\ncriminal justice costs, and crime rates in<br \/>\nWashington.<\/p>\n<p>We find that some evidence-based programs<br \/>\ncan reduce crime, but others cannot. Per dollar<br \/>\nof spending, several of the successful<br \/>\nprograms produce favorable returns on<br \/>\ninvestment. Public policies incorporating these<br \/>\noptions can yield positive outcomes for<br \/>\nWashington.<\/p>\n<p>We project the long-run effects of three<br \/>\nexample portfolios of evidence-based options:<br \/>\na \u00e2\u20ac\u0153current level\u00e2\u20ac\u009d option as well as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153moderate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nand \u00e2\u20ac\u0153aggressive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d implementation portfolios.<br \/>\nWe find that if Washington successfully<br \/>\nimplements a moderate-to-aggressive portfolio<br \/>\nof evidence-based options, a significant level of<br \/>\nfuture prison construction can be avoided,<br \/>\ntaxpayers can save about two billion dollars,<br \/>\nand crime rates can be reduced.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a1 <em>Suggested citation: Steve Aos, Marna Miller, and<br \/>\nElizabeth Drake. (2006). Evidence-Based Public Policy<br \/>\nOptions to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal<br \/>\nJustice Costs, and Crime Rates. Olympia: Washington<br \/>\nState Institute for Public Policy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Legislative Direction for the Study<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The legislative language directing the Institute\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<br \/>\nstudy is shown verbatim in the accompanying<br \/>\nsidebar. In brief, the legislation requires the Institute<br \/>\nto study the net short-run and long-run fiscal savings<br \/>\nto state and local governments if evidence-based<br \/>\nintervention, prevention, and sentencing alternatives<br \/>\nare implemented in Washington State.<br \/>\nThe Institute is directed to examine three broad<br \/>\ntypes of public policy options the legislature could<br \/>\nconsider.<\/p>\n<p>1. Intervention programs. For people already in<br \/>\nWashington\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s juvenile and adult correctional<br \/>\nsystems, the language directs the Institute to<br \/>\nestimate whether investments in evidencebased<br \/>\nprograms could cost-effectively lower<br \/>\nrecidivism rates and, as a result, the need for<br \/>\nadditional prison beds.<\/p>\n<p>2. Prevention programs. The legislative<br \/>\nlanguage also instructs the Institute to estimate<br \/>\nwhether investments in evidence-based and<br \/>\ncost-beneficial prevention programs could help<br \/>\nreduce the need for future prison beds. Since<br \/>\nmost prevention programs are for young<br \/>\nchildren, effective evidence-based prevention<br \/>\nresources can be expected to affect adult prison<br \/>\nuse in the longer run. Prevention programs hold<br \/>\nthe potential, of course, to offer other near-term<br \/>\nand long-term advantages, such as improved<br \/>\neducational outcomes. In this report, we include<br \/>\nsome representative prevention programs but, in<br \/>\norder to complete this report on budget, we were<br \/>\nnot able to update our earlier study of prevention<br \/>\nprograms.2 Subsequent versions can include<br \/>\nadditional prevention programs.<\/p>\n<p>3. Sentencing options. The legislation directs the<br \/>\nInstitute to examine possible changes that could<br \/>\nbe made to Washington\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sentencing laws,<br \/>\nincluding sentencing alternatives and the use of<br \/>\nrisk factors in sentencing. These options are to<br \/>\nbe analyzed in conjunction with the Washington<br \/>\nState Sentencing Guidelines Commission.<br \/>\nAfter analyzing the economics of each of these<br \/>\npolicy options, the task for the study is to project the<br \/>\ntotal fiscal and prison bed impacts of alternative<br \/>\nimplementation scenarios. The goal of these policy<br \/>\nchoices is to allow the legislature to consider<br \/>\ndifferent combinations of options that have the ability<br \/>\nto keep crime rates under control while also lowering<br \/>\nthe long-run fiscal costs of Washington\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s state and<br \/>\nlocal criminal justice system. In financial terms, this<br \/>\nmeans identifying \u00e2\u20ac\u0153portfolios\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of policy choices that<br \/>\nreplace lower rate-of-return investments with<br \/>\nstrategies that produce higher rates of return on the<br \/>\ntaxpayer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dollar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source and Complete Report:<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsipp.wa.gov\/rptfiles\/06-10-1201.pdf\">CLICK HERE <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Summary Report by The Washing State Institute for Public Policy Under current long-term forecasts, Washington State faces the need to construct several new prisons in the next two decades. Since new prisons are costly, the 2005 Washington Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to project whether there are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153evidence-based\u00e2\u20ac\u009d options that&#8230;<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/105\/\">Read more <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,20],"tags":[93],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace-justice","category-torture-no-prisoners","tag-rev-samuel-gardner-welles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}