Sentences for Adult Felons in Washington: Options to Address Prison Overcrowding – Part II (Recidivism Analyses)

The 2003 Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to analyze how sentences for adult felons affect the state’s prison population. Our task is to determine whether policy changes to Washington’s sentencing structure could reduce the growth in the prison population without jeopardizing public safety. Our findings are published in three parts. Part I, published in March 2004, reviewed the sentencing structure for Washington and examined the growth of the prison population. Part III will summarize the study’s findings. This report, Part II, examines the statistically estimated impact of imprisonment and sentence lengths on recidivism. That is, do offenders sentenced to prison, and those who receive longer prison sentences, recidivate more or less often than similar offenders not sentenced to prison or who receive shorter sentences? Can these policy levers be adjusted to reduce prison populations without adversely affecting public safety?

Benefits and Costs of Prevention and Early Intervention Programs for Youth

Updated September 17, 2004

Does prevention pay? Can an ounce of prevention avoid (at least) an ounce of cure? More specifically for public policy purposes, is there credible scientific evidence that for each dollar a legislature spends on “research-based” prevention or early intervention programs for youth, more than a dollar’s worth of benefits will be generated? If so, what are the policy options that offer taxpayers the best return on their dollar? These are among the ambitious questions the 2003 Washington State Legislature assigned the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. This report describes our findings and provides an overview of how we conducted the analysis.

The “summary report” link contains a summary of findings. Appendix A contains a full description of our results and methods, and Appendix B lists the references used in the study. We publish updates whenever significant new results become available.

Decline in Washington’s Family Reunifications: What Influenced This Trend?

When children are removed from home due to child abuse or neglect or because of the child’s behavior, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) may file a dependency case in the court. Or, in cases where parents agree to the placement, services may be provided to the family to help resolve their problems without going to court. In both instances, when it is possible to do so safely, the goal of DSHS is to reunify the family.

Between 1995 and 2002, the annual number of reunifications dropped by 31 percent. The Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to identify factors that reduce family reunifications in Washington. To do this, we merged administrative records from DSHS with court records of dependencies for the same children. We found that most of the reduction in reunifications has occurred because the number of out-of-home placements has dropped, not because of any significant change in rate of reunification.

Recommendations for the MAA Forecast Process: Final Report

In April 2004, the Institute was asked by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the Office of Financial Management (OFM), and legislative staff to review the Medical Assistance Administration (MAA) expenditure forecast process and to make recommendations on how to improve it. This report summarizes the final recommendations.

Assessing Risk for Re-Offense: Validating the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment

The 1997 Washington State Legislature enacted the Community Juvenile Accountability Act (CJAA) to test the use of “research-based” programs to reduce juvenile offender recidivism. The act required the use of a risk assessment to assign youth to these programs. The Washington Association of Juvenile Court Administrators worked with the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (Institute) to develop the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment (WSJCA). The assessment was implemented in 1999 as a two-stage process. The first stage is a pre-screen assessment completed for all youth placed on probation. The second stage, a full assessment, is required for youth assessed as moderate or high risk on the pre-screen. This report examines the validity of the pre-screen and full assessment.

Sentences for Adult Felons in Washington: Options to Address Prison Overcrowding – Part I (Historical Trends).

The 2003 Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to determine if there are changes to Washington’s sentencing structure that could reduce the growth in the prison population, and its associated costs, without endangering public safety. Our findings will be published in two parts. In this report—Part I—we provide an overall context for the study by reviewing Washington’s sentencing system and examining the growth trends of the prison population. Part II of this study, which estimates the impact that prison sentences have on recidivism, was published in June 30, 2004.

Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment Manual, Version 2.1

The 1997 Community Juvenile Accountability Act (CJAA) specified that the Washington State Department of Social and Health Service’s Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, in consultation with the Washington Association of Juvenile Court Administrators, the State Law and Justice Advisory Council, and the Family Policy Council, establish guidelines for the Community Juvenile Accountability Programs. These requirements necessitated the development of a comprehensive assessment designed to meet the requirements of the Washington State Association of Juvenile Court Administrators and the 1997 CJAA. This report is the manual for this assessment, called the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment (WSJCA).

How Do Court Continuances Influence the Time Children Spend in Foster Care?

The 2001 Washington State Legislature directed the Institute to investigate how reductions in court delays may influence foster care costs. In the courts, child dependency cases range in duration from a single day to five years or more. Over the course of a case, children may be placed in multiple, temporary settings. Logic suggests that the longer a dependency is open in the court, the more time children will spend in state-paid foster care. Court continuances (the postponement of hearings or trials) could be expected to extend the life of a court case, and hence, the time a child spends in foster care. This study examines how court continuances in dependency cases affect the time children spend in state foster care, and also examines the effects of continuances on the length of dependency and termination cases.

Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification in Washington State: Evaluation Update

In 2001, the Washington State Legislature adopted recommendations from the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) and created three alternative routes to certification for prospective teachers in Washington. The legislation directed the Institute to evaluate the programs and produce a final report by December 2004. This update describes the evaluation steps undertaken in 2003 and plans for 2004.

Long-Term Outcomes of Public Mental Health Clients: Preliminary Report

In response to a performance audit of the state’s mental health system, the 2001 Washington State Legislature passed ESSB 5583, which calls for the development of an outcomes-based performance system to be implemented by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). This legislation also directs the Institute to conduct a longitudinal study of long-term state-funded mental health client outcomes. This report describes the research steps involved in the longitudinal study and provides preliminary information on the sample of individuals to be analyzed.