Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center (Urban-JPC) initiated a 12-month process and outcome evaluation of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania reentry programs under the Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Programs initiative. The first of these two programs linked sentenced Allegheny County jail inmates to Reentry Specialists, who coordinated reentry services and programming in jail and the community. The second program connected inmates to designated reentry Probation Officers before release, who then engaged offenders in pre-release reentry planning and supervised them in the community after release. Researchers utilized the methods of fidelity assessment, impact analysis, and a mixed-method approach. Key findings suggested both programs 1 and 2 reduce rearrest among participants and prolong time to rearrest, particularly after the first 90 days post-release, indicating that initial and continued program efforts to stabilize clients are significant.

The Urban Institute helps identify solutions for neighborhoods, cities, states, and national criminal justice systems. Urban Institute Researchers analyze crime trends and evaluate prevention initiatives. A core component of their work is studying how to protect vulnerable people and communities from violence and abuse. They take a close look at new and emerging criminal justice technologies and combine quantitative and qualitative methods to provide objective data grounded in the experiences of victims, offenders, and practitioners.

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^{Keywords: Pennsylvania, Report, reentry, Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, reduced rearrest, Improving employment outcomes, Improving education outcomes, fidelity assessment, impact analysis.}

• Recidivism