Essay Example: Comparison of Programs in Crime Solution

Office of Justice programs through the National Institute of Justice developed programs and practices set advance justice while strengthening science through research. In the program and practice profiles availed through CrimeSolutions.gov, there are details of well-organized programs showing whether a program achieves its goals when adequately implemented. Notably, a plan is a set of legal activities carried out with accordance to the guidelines provided in its description section to achieve definite goals. The results of a program application depend on specific procedures used in it when implemented at the time of evaluation. Therefore, the profile at the website link has a set of proof of success that a program is likely may achieve if its implementation is the same as what its details dictate. For this reason, the point of contention would be whether the mentoring program in any city in the United States achieves its expected goals. Guided by the components of the program profiles on the website, this summary analyzes two programs, compares them and gives suggestions on which is most beneficial to inmates.

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Mentally III Offender Community Transition Program (Washington)

The Washington DC-based program targets candidates that have mental health issues and the implementing institutions see it as the primary instrument in the offences they commit. Additionally, this category of offenders is likely to benefit from public-based treatment support within their communities (Biswas, 2017). Also, the program aims at reducing recidivism, and the institution rates the program effective regarding previous successes. In the recent past, those convicts who participated in the program were not likely to be part of recidivism by finding themselves on the wrong side of the law once they completed the program.

Candidates that get to this program are those referred by the Washington department of correction’s team of mental health risks management specialists. The determination of eligible populations depends on these main categories. That is to say; the candidate must be having a major mental illness that is likely to have been the cause of involvement in criminal activity. Besides, upon provision of the ongoing mental health care by the specialists, the DOC is expected to judge the victim as free from recidivism. The candidate must also be in a position to obtain accommodation and treatment from other sources, and he or she has enough time left in the sentencing period for the sake of prerelease services. Lastly, the candidate should not be a convict of level 3 sex offender and is willing to participate in the service for the set period.

Once an offender is eligible, the program sets off preleasing planning involving a treatment plan and a three-month entitlement application (Morelos, 2018). After that, the institution conducts intensive prerelease case-management services. This program includes a personal crisis program, daily contacts in cases of need, home visits scheduled as bi-monthly programs, personal crisis response program, and a treatment plan having structured and authoritative goals.

Allegheny County (Penn.) Jail-Based Reentry Specialists Program

The 2011 Pennsylvania county program involved two partners who launched a reentry program under the Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act. Moreover, the first phase of this program aimed at reducing recidivism and improves the transition of inmates into the community through the coordination of reentry services received by these inmates. Necessarily the program included candidates from both sexes who had a minimum sentence of 6 months and were returning home after release (McCall et al., 2019). Besides, the group also involved inmates regarded as medium-to-high risk offenders. In cases of reoffending, there were factors considered for the offenders to be part of the program, i.e., age of the offender at first arrest, the current generation of the offender, and several previous offences.

As mentioned earlier, the program functions in two phases, i.e., providing inmates with intensive five-month in-jail programs preparing them for release. Additionally, the second phase involves 12-month supportive plans in the community after release (McCall et al., 2019). The structuring of the program includes five officials dedicated to the success of inmates through the program. As an attempt to achieve the goal of eradicating recidivism, the program focuses on critical areas, including using a structured risk or need assessment tool and transferring the inmates to the jail reentry pods. Furthermore, the program also conducts literacy and other class programs to improve inmates' educational outcomes after the rehabilitation period elapses. Most fundamentally, the program goes beyond the inmate work scope to promote healthy family relationships and functioning through conducting parenting and public relation programs.

Suggestions from the Comparison Outcomes

In contrast, the two programs have one common goal of eradicating recidivism. However Allegheny County (Penn.) Jail Based Reentry Specialists Program has a broad goal scope than the Mentally III Offender Community Transition Program (Washington). This scope not only aims at eradicating recidivism but also perpetuates inmates' transition after jail terms so that it is sure of the full-blown transformation of these inmates.

Additionally, the two phases of the program are calling for extensive program components that are much more desirable than those of the Mentally III Offender Community Transition Program (Washington). In essence, the applications of the Mentally III Offender Community Transition Program (Washington) have a single face to ensure the correctional provision of inmates while still serving their jail terms. On the contrary Allegheny County (Penn.) Jail Based Reentry Specialists Program extends the program to community-based services to ensure success in the out of jail rehabilitation and correctional facilities. For this reason, the best plan for inmates that proves much more beneficial to inmates is the Allegheny County (Penn.) Jail Based Reentry Specialists Program.

References

Biswas, J. (2017). When jails become hospitals. Criminal Justice, 32(3), 4-8.

McCall, J. D., Rodriguez, K. L., Barnisin-Lange, D., & Gordon, A. J. (2019). A qualitative examination of the experiences of veterans treatment court graduates in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 63(3), 339-356.

Morelos, D. (2018). Roadblocks to Reentry: Psychological Problems Men Face as Part of the Prison Experience (Doctoral dissertation, Sofia University).