In an average three-week period, local jails have contact with as many people as state and federal prisons do in an entire year. Nine million men and women are jailed each year, with many cycling in and out of jail. These individuals face major obstacles: 68 percent have drug or alcohol problems, 60 percent do not have a high school diploma or GED, 16 percent have a serious mental illness, and 14 percent were homeless at some point in the year before their incarceration. Overcrowding, limited resources, short incarcerations, the diversity of the jail population (60% of jail inmates are not convicted and are being held awaiting trial or sentencing), and other challenges make it difficult for jails to effectively prepare individuals for successful reintegration into the community after release.
Yet jail/community transition presents a unique opportunity for intervention. Short stays — four out of five jail inmates are behind bars for less than a month — and local facilities mean that inmates spend relatively little time away from family, friends, treatment providers, employers, and other supports. At the same time, limited resources and inmates’ short incarcerations indicate that jails cannot be solely responsible for the transition process. Instead, new partnerships between jails and the local community must be forged.
For more on the unique challenges and opportunities of jail/community transition, see Life after Lockup: Improving Reentry from Jail to the Community.
Note: All statistics on this page come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Specific citations are available in Life after Lockup.
