Community-Based Corrections

• Community-based corrections consists of programs that provide an alternative to incarceration. They include probation ---the supervision, for a specified amount of time, of a former offender to ensure that he follows conditions ordered by the court --- and community service, as well as other programs designed to help offenders rejoin society smoothly, such as work training and placement.
  
  

Effects on Local Community

• Community-based corrections also includes halfway houses, or residences where ex-offenders learn to make the transition from prison into society. Residents are typically kept on a strict curfew and they must find employment. However, halfway houses are always located in a neighborhood, as opposed to an isolated or remote location, and this often disturbs the residents of that neighborhood, who fear being victimized or threatened by the halfway house's ex-offenders.
  
  

No Effect on Re-arrest

• A study published in 2006 by the Oregon Department of Corrections analyzed the effects that community-based corrections had on rates of re-arrest of ex-offenders. Researchers kept track of a group of former inmates for a period of one year following the completion of their sentences. According to the study, "There is no clear indication that either jail or [community-based corrections] effect [sic] arrest rates. Comparing groups of offenders who have the same crime type and same risk to re-offend, the differences are not statistically significant."
  
  

No Effect on Compliance with Supervision (Probation)

• The study published in 2006 by the Oregon Department of Corrections also analyzed the effects of community-based corrections on ex-offenders' compliance with the terms of their supervision, also known as probation. A sample of former inmates was tracked for one year and researchers watched the inmates' levels of compliance during that time. According to the study, "There is no clear indication that either jail or community sanctions compel future compliance. Comparing groups of offenders who have the same crime type and same risk to re-offend, the differences are not statistically significant."