On December 11, 2018, American Enterprise Institute Resident Fellow Brent Orrell and Minnesota Department of Corrections Director of Research Grant Duwe hosted a private working-group meeting on evaluating and developing reentry programs for individuals returning to their communities from prison. The purpose of the meeting was to convene a group of leading researchers to discuss the current state of reentry programming and explore innovative solutions to reducing recidivism in the United States.
The event featured 10 different presentations and 27 attendees. The presenters came from a variety of organizations including AEI, Florida State University, George Mason University, Mathematica, the Minnesota Department of Corrections, RTI International, Social Policy Research Associates, the State University of New York at Albany, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Delaware, and the Urban Institute. The working group lasted from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and was divided into two sessions, with the first session focusing on evaluations of current reentry programs and the second session centering on ideas for future program development. This report will outline the discussion from the day’s proceedings and highlight several key takeaways for policymakers and practitioners to consider.
It should be noted that this report reflects the author’s summary of the proceedings and key takeaways from the December 2018 working group. While I invited participant feedback and integrated much of that feedback into the report, no portion of this report is meant to reflect the consensus view of the participants or funders.