Community-Based Adult Correctional Program

The title of the program will be a Community-Based Adult Correctional program. The reason for choosing this name is that there will be involvement of the community in helping first-time offenders who have been on probation and have been released to go back to their communities. It means that their communities will play a big part in helping them avoid conflicts with the law. In addition, the community will be involved in assisting these first-time felony offenders in preventing recidivism, which may show that the objectives of community-based correctional programs may have failed.

Review of programs that are effective for first-time felony offenders 

One of the programs that are effective for first-time felony offenders is educational programming (National Institute of Justice, 2017). The reason for coming up with educational programs is that available data shows that many felony offenders drop either out of high school or elementary school (National Institute for Justice, 2017). With such low educational levels, such people cannot access formal employment that is likely to offer good pay that can help them lead good lives. That is why they engage in crime like petty theft to survive. Otherwise, educational programs will make it possible for them to acquire education or skills that will help them to come up with income-generating activities, thereby end up leading lives that are not depended on crime.

Another program that can help first-time offenders is putting in place material support and social support for these people. With this support, it will be possible for them to start their lives afresh, as they will have an economic activity that will keep them (Harding, Wise, Dobson & Morenoff, 2014). It should be seen that one of the causes of imprisonment is the lack of income among many people. That is why they end up committing a crime with the hope of getting money either from their victims or families of the victims. However, with social and material support programs, it will be possible to help such offenders have something to keep them busy, which will eventually lead to low criminal activities.

After undergoing rehabilitation in the correctional facilities, it is good to issue the ex-offenders with rehabilitation certificates that would convince potential employers that they are reformed (Doleac, 2018). In the U.S., getting formal employment or even a place to stay after one has served a prison sentence either through probation or jail sentence, is not easy. Programs that offer rehabilitation certificates will make they can gain formal employment, which may help them lead normal lives that are free of criminal activities.

Another program that can help felony offenders is drug rehabilitation programs that make it possible for these offenders to desist from drugs (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2018). Rehabilitation programs will help the offenders seek alternative routes through which they can overcome their addiction, which may have led them into committing petty crimes like fighting or being arrested for having drugs. Such rehabilitation programs will then make it possible for them to realize their mistakes and be integrated into the community effectively.

Review of programs that are effective in reducing parolee recidivism 

Recidivism is the act of committing a crime after release from prison or after being paroled (Brittani, 2017). The crime committed may lead to the imprisonment of the suspect. Kimber (2014) says that 70 % of ex-offenders are likely to commit crimes after serving their sentence, and eventually find themselves behind bars again. Programs that reduce recidivism border on making it possible for the offender not to repeat the crime. One such program is the one that will lead to the breaking of the social stigma that is associated with ex-offenders. The reason is that society views such people as bad people who cannot be trusted (Paige, 2015). In so doing, there is fear that the society directs towards them. The fear makes it impossible for the society to fully accept back the ex-offenders by offering them jobs or even homes. Without breaking this social stigma, the ex-offenders will still commit crimes as they feel that the society does not love them or is not ready to accept them back. The result will be that they will go back to crime either as a way of hitting back at the society or as a way of surviving.

Mental health rehabilitation programs are also likely to keep away recidivism. The reason is that some people may find themselves in prison or on probationary sentences due to committing crimes in moments of temporary insanity. These episodes of temporary insanity may result from the inability to handle the various disgusting situation in their environment, which may make them break the law, which later on brings them regrets (Lamberti, 2016). Such moments of temporary insanity arise out anger outbursts that may lead to aspects like fighting or destroying other people’s property. The result will be that such people may find themselves being sentenced on probationary terms. However, when they realize their mistakes, they may show remorse for their actions, which may lead them being granted parole. With mental health rehabilitation programs that involve guidance and counseling on aspects like anger management, such people may understand how to behave in various situations, which may then lead them to avoid going back to prison due to anger-related problems. Mental health programs should also touch on aspects like substance abuse treatment that will help these people overcome the challenge of using drugs (McKiernan, Shamblen, Collins Strader & Kokoski, 2016). Once they keep off drugs, they are not likely to find themselves in prison anytime soon.

Since driving under the influence is another reason that may lead to incarceration, measures to deter people from this behavior would come in handy in helping them avoid prison. One of these methods is installing in their vehicles ignition interlocks, which will jam their vehicle's system if the device detects alcohol above a specific limit (Miller, Curtis, Sonderlund, Day & Drotse, 2014). The device is calibrated only to allow the vehicle to start if the driver has a certain percentage of alcohol in his blood. If this device is not there, it could be possible for those who have just been released from prison to find themselves behind bars again. However, this device is likely to lead to reduced recidivism levels.

Recommendations to the Director on the programs you recommend and how to implement each. Include a basic organization structure (how would it be staffed) and estimated general budget. 

Among the many recommendations that can be given to the Director is to employ public educators in each state who will help bring to the attention of the citizens the many programs that can help ex-offenders fit in the society. Public educators should be given enough resources to ensure that they can carry their campaigns on various platforms for them to reach as many people as much as possible. Once this is done, there are possibilities that the society is likely to have a different perception about the ex-offenders, which will make it possible for them to be reintegrated back into their communities. In so doing, rates of recidivism will go down in the entire U.S. The basic organization structure will have a senior educator at the top. The senior educator will be the one in charge of all educators in the U.S. Below him; there will be state educators for each state. Each state educator will be in charge of a given state. Below the state educators, there will be local educators who will be tasked w ith coming up with civic education at the local levels. Each state should be allowed at least ten local educators.

An estimated annual budget is shown below 

Vote head	Quantity	Salary per month in U.S. $	Annual pay In U.S. $
Senior Educator	1	25,000	300,000
State Educator	52	1,040,000	12,480,000
Local Educator	520	7,800,000	93,600,000
	OTHER EXPENSES
Local travel and transport			10,000,000
Adverts			10,000,000
Vehicle maintenance			2,000,000
Rentals			5,000,000
Insurance			2,000,000
TOTAL			135,380,000

References

Brittani, S. (2017). Clinical Interventions that Reduce Recidivism among Female Offenders:

A Systematic Review. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/783

Doleac, J.L. (2018). Strategies to productively reincorporate the formerly incarcerated into communities: A review of the literature . Texas. IZA Institute.

Harding, D. J., Wyse, J. J., Dobson, C., & Morenoff, J. D. (2014). Making Ends Meet After

Prison. Journal of policy analysis and management : [the journal of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management] , 33 (2), 440–470. doi:10.1002/pam.21741

Kimber, M. (2014). Recidivism Prevention Through Prosocial Support: A Systematic Review

of Empirical Research. HIM1990-2015. 1598.http://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/1598

Lumbert, J.S., (2016). Preventing criminal recidivism through mental health and criminal

justice collaboration. Psychiatric Services, 67 (11) pp 1206-1212 https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201500384 

McKiernan, P., Shamblen, S.R., Collins, D.A., Strader, T.N., Kokoski, C. (2016). Creating

lasting family connections: Reducing recidivism with community-based family strengthening model. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 24 (1) pp 99-124 https://www.integration.samhsa.gov/mai-coc-grantees-online-community/Creating_Lasting_Family_CJPR_article,_SAGE_publications_-12-17-12-_FINAL_-Fatherhood-.pdf

Miller, P.G., Curtis, A., Sønderlund, A., Day, A & Droste, N. (2015) Effectiveness of 

interventions for convicted DUI offenders in reducing recidivism: a systematic review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature, The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 41:1, 16-29, DOI: 10.3109/00952990.2014.966199 

National Institute of Justice (2017). The use and impact of correctional programming for inmates on pre- and post-release outcomes. Washington . National Institute of Justice.

Paige, P. (2015). The Role of Community-Based Programs in Reducing Recidivism in Ex-

Offenders. Retrieved from Sophia, theSt. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/247

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2018). Introductory handbook on the prevention 

of recidivism and the social reintegration of social offenders . Vienna. United Nations.