Returning Home Maryland

Returning Home Maryland was a pilot study conducted from 2001 to 2003, examining prisoner reentry in Baltimore. The study involved self-administered surveys with 324 prisoners (235 men and 89 women) approximately 30 to 90 days before their expected release date, and two postrelease interviews with subsets of the original sample, one within 30 to 90 days after release (n=153), and one approximately 4 to 6 months after their release (n=104). Study samples were recruited from lists of soon-to-be-released prisoners at the designated state correctional facilities. In addition, 41 family members of prisoners were interviewed, and focus groups were conducted with residents in two Baltimore neighborhoods experiencing high rates of returning prisoners.

Returning Home Illinois

Returning Home Illinois was a full-scale research study conducted from 2002 to 2004, examining prisoner reentry in Chicago. The study design in Illinois was composed of several data collection efforts. The first effort involved a self-administered survey completed by 400 male prisoners returning to Chicago within 1 to 3 months of release and three in-person interviews with sample members conducted approximately 2 months (n=296), 7 months (n=266), and 16 months (n=198) after release. Study samples were recruited through a preexisting prerelease program in which groups of prisoners were already convened. During these sessions, Returning Home interviewers held orientations explaining the study and distributed the self-administered surveys to those willing to participate. The second data collection effort entailed one-on-one interviews with 247 family members of the prisoners in the sample. The third effort consisted of a series of focus groups with Chicago residents and one-on-one interviews with Chicago criminal justice stakeholders.

Returning Home Ohio

Returning Home Ohio was a full-scale research study conducted from 2004 to 2005, examining prisoner reentry in Cleveland. The study design in Ohio was composed of several data collection efforts. The first effort involved male prisoners sentenced to at least one year in prison who were returning to the Cleveland area, and entailed a self-administered survey completed by 424 prisoners about one month before release and three in-person interviews with sample members conducted approximately 1 month (n=358), 6 months (n=322), and 14 months (n=294) after release. To recruit sample members in each designated correctional facility, interviewers held scheduled orientation sessions to explain the study and distributed the self-administered survey to those willing to participate. The second effort consisted of a series of focus groups with community residents in the Cleveland neighborhoods that received the highest proportion of returning prisoners and one-on-one interviews with reentry policymakers and practitioners.

Returning Home Texas

Returning Home Texas was a full-scale research study conducted from 2004 to 2006, examining prisoner reentry in Houston. The study entailed three waves of interviews with male and female prisoners and state jail inmates returning to the Houston area. The first survey was administered to 676 prisoners (414 men and 262 women) approximately one week before their release, and the second two surveys were administered at 2 to 4 months (N=509) and 8 to 10 months (N=378) after release. Study participants were recruited from the two state prisons to which all Texas prisoners are transferred for processing before release, and two state jails that house a high number of confinees returning to the Houston area. In each facility, interviewers either scheduled orientation sessions to explain the study and distribute self-administered surveys to those willing to participate, or took advantage of groups of prisoners already convened in a prerelease program to present information about the study and administer the survey. In addition to the prisoner interviews, 427 family members of the study sample were interviewed approximately two to four months after the prisoner's release. Further, a series of focus groups were held with community residents in the Houston neighborhoods that received the highest number of returning prisoners, and interviews were conducted with key community stakeholders.