Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Christy Visher on Crime Statistics

This policy brief presents the findings from surveys of 424 male prisoners serving time in Ohio facilities, who were interviewed as part of the multi-site research study Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry. The respondents, who were within 30 days of release and returning to the Cleveland community, reported on their experiences and expectations across a range of issue areas, including education, employment, financial support, substance use, health, family, and faith. Based on these findings, this policy brief details the histories and anticipated needs of this population as they re-enter society and sketches the policy implications for practitioners, community stakeholders, and policymakers.

As part of a five-year joint project, RTI International and the Urban Institute have produced National Portrait of SVORI: the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative. Funded by the departments of Justice, Labor, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services, SVORI provides over $100 million to 69 grantees in all 50 states and the Virgin Islands to develop programming, training, and state-of-the-art reentry strategies at the community level. SVORI programs intend to reduce recidivism and improve employment, housing, and health outcomes for participants. This report outlines SVORI and the planned impact evaluation, and describes each grantee's program.

The number of people released from Illinois prisons increased by 157 percent over the past two decades. Half of those released from prison in 2001 returned to the city of Chicago, and many were even more concentrated within a few distressed neighborhoods. This report describes the process of prisoner reentry in Illinois by examining the policy context surrounding reentry, the characteristics of Illinois' returning inmates, the geographic distribution of returning prisoners, and the social and economic climates of the communities that are home to the highest concentrations of returning prisoners. [View the corresponding press release]

The number of people released from Maryland prisons in 2001 was nearly twice the number released two decades ago. Well over half of the Maryland prisoners released in 2001 returned to Baltimore City and many were even more concentrated within a few neighborhoods in Baltimore. This report describes the process of prisoner reentry in Maryland by examining the policy context surrounding reentry, the characteristics of Maryland's returning inmates, the geographic distribution of returning prisoners, and the social and economic climates of the communities that are home to the highest concentrations of returning prisoners. [View the corresponding press release.]