Insights & Information

The Vera Institute of Justice's Center on Sentencing and Corrections and Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit developed a methodology to calculate the taxpayer cost of prisons, including costs outside states’ corrections budgets. Among the 40 states that participated in a survey, the cost of prisons was $38.8 billion in fiscal year 2010, $5.4 billion more than what their corrections budgets reflected. States’ costs outside their corrections departments ranged from less than 1 percent of total prison costs in Arizona to as much as 34 percent in Connecticut. In Illinois, the average annual cost per inmate in FY2010 was $38,268, significantly higher than the $22,043 reported in the Illinois Department of Corrections' 2010 Annual Report. Vera's full report provides the taxpayer cost of incarcerating a sentenced adult offender to state prison in 40 states, presents the methodology, and concludes with recommendations about steps policy makers can take to safely rein in these costs. To view the full report and state fact sheets, click here.

A new report published by Project NIA and authored by Mariame Kaba and Frank Edwards, “Policing Chicago Public Schools: A Gateway to the School-to-Prison Pipeline,” uses data from the Chicago Police Department to demonstrate the type of offenses and the demographics of the juveniles arrested on Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) property in 2010. The authors aim to inform the public about the scope and extent of policing in CPS, hoping to galvanize educators, parents, students, policymakers, and community members to advocate a decrease in reliance on law enforcement to address school discipline issues in favor of an increased use of restorative justice. Major findings include that African-American youth accounted for 74 percent of juvenile school-based arrests in 2010 but made up only 45 percent percent of the CPS population (2009), suggesting that they are disproportionately arrested. For media coverage of the report and its findings, click here.

The Sentencing Project has released a new report, Too Good to Be True: Private Prisons in America, which details the history of private prisons in America, documents the increase in their use, and examines their purported benefits. Thirty states and the federal government had some level of prison privatization in 2010 (Illinois is not among them). The amount of privately held state prisoners increased by 40 percent between 1999 and 2010, while the number of federal inmates held privately increased by 784 percent. In contrast, the total prison population experienced a 17 percent increase during this period. The report includes a comprehensive chart on state and federal privatization levels.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported in December 2011 that the number of people under adult correctional supervision (i.e. on probation or parole, or in jail or prison) in the U.S. declined 1.3 percent in 2010, the second consecutive year of decline since BJS began reporting on this population in 1980. The decline during 2010 was mainly due to a decrease in the number of probationers during the year (down 69,500 persons) and a decrease in the number of inmates incarcerated in local jails (down 18,700 persons). 

The total U.S. prison population fell to 1.6 million at yearend 2010, a decline of 0.6 percent during the year, the first decline in the total prison population in nearly four decades. This decline was due to a decrease of 10,881 in the number of state prisoners, which fell to just under 1.4 million persons and was the largest yearly decrease since 1977. The federal prison population grew by 0.8 percent (1,653 prisoners) to reach 209,771, the smallest percentage increase since 1980.

Half of state departments of corrections reported decreases in their prison population during 2010. California (down 6,213) and Georgia (down 4,207) reported the largest decreases, followed by New York (down 2,031) and Michigan (down 1,365). Illinois (up 3,257) reported the largest increase, followed by Texas (up 2,400) and Arkansas (up 996).

Among offender age groups, about 3.1 percent of black males in the nation were in state or federal prison, compared to just under 0.5 percent of white males and 1.3 percent of Hispanic males. Also, an estimated 7.3 percent of all black males ages 30 to 34 were incarcerated with a sentence of more than 1 year.

To read the reports, click here and here.

According to an article in the January 2012 issue of the journal Pediatrics, almost one-third of America’s youth are arrested or taken into custody for criminal activities, resulting in a destructive and unhealthy start in life. In the study, “Cumulative Prevalence of Arrest From Ages 8 to 23 in a National Sample,” researchers estimated that by age 23, between 25.3 and 41.4 percent of youth have been arrested at least once for a non-traffic offense. The greatest increase in the risk of arrest happens during late adolescence; by 18 years of age, the arrest rate is between 15.9 percent and 26.8 percent. Early risk factors that can lead to such delinquency include poor academic performance, discord or abuse in the home, hyperactive behavior and poor concentration or language development. Because all of these factors can be identified by pediatricians, study authors agree that early intervention by family members and pediatricians can direct at-risk children to treatment programs or help them steer away from violent and unsafe behavior. To read more, click here, here, or here.

A report released in November 2011 by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission charges that the state's juvenile justice system is failing to rehabilitate and return to society the youth involved in it. The Commission noted that more than half of youth released from the system return to incarceration with the juvenile system, and that it also serves as a "feeder" system for the adult correctional system. To read more in an article by Ryan Haggerty in the Chicago Tribune, click here.

Winnebago County, Illinois, is accepting applications for the position of Director of the Illinois Center of Excellence. The county was awarded a $260,000 Justice Assistance grant by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) to establish the Illinois Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health and Justice to serve the entire state. The mission of the Center is to equip communities to appropriately respond to the needs of persons with behavioral health disorders who are involved in the criminal justice system. The Center will do this by providing technical assistance, resources, and training to improve systemic responses for persons with mental health and/or substance use disorders involved in the criminal justice system. The Center will also compile information about evidence-based practices and conduct research. For more information about the program, click here. For more information about position and required qualification, click here. Posting closes January 30, 2012.