Improved Outcomes for Offenders with Chronic Mental Illness, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, July 2011

Last month DOC released a study entitled Iowa Recidivism Report: Prison Return Rates. The study documents that Iowa’s three-year return rate to prison for offenders released during FY 2007 decreased from 33.9% for the previous three-years period studied to 31.8% (and below our goal of 33.3%). More dramatic is the decrease in the percent of offenders with mental illness returning to prison.

The Challenge of Housing for Ex-Offenders, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, September 2010

On October 5, 2010 there were 25,829 probationers and parolees (including special sentence) under community-based corrections field supervision statewide. As shown in the pie charts below, LSI-R offender assessments show that a sizeable percent of offenders are dissatisfied with their living accommodations – particularly for higher risk offenders.

Evaluation Findings: Rural Reentry Program Works, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, April 2010

Iowa’s Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning (CJJP) recently completed an evaluation of the 2nd Judicial District’s Rural Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI), which provided reentry services to offenders both while in prison and after release.

CJJP Forecasts Increase in Special Sentence Sex Offenders Caseloads, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, December 2011

The Iowa Sex Offender Research Council recently released a report to the Iowa General Assembly focusing on sex offender registration and the special sentence for sex offenders. Regarding the latter, the Council (staffed by the state’s Division of Criminal & Juvenile Justice Planning) projected a steady increase in community-based corrections’ special sentence caseloads from 619 offenders in 2011 to 2,651 offenders in 2021:

New Convictions Lower for Parole, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, Data Download, November 2011

In June 2011, Lettie Prell released a report entitled Iowa Recidivism Report: Prison Return Rates (FY2007 Releases Tracked for 3 Years), in which she finds that those prison inmates who are paroled are less likely to return to prison due to a new conviction than are inmates who leave prison due to expiration ofsentence.

Data Download, Building Better Programs, Iowa Department of Corrections, August 2011

Beginning in 2006, the Iowa Department of Corrections embarked on a systematic offender program audit at each of the state’s institutions and community-based corrections agencies, the purpose of which was to determine each program’s effectiveness as supported by results and research (evidence-based practices). Those programs demonstrating success were maintained, and all others either modified to comply with evidence-based practices or replaced by programming that did.

Parole Reduces Crime and Victims, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, April 2011

Iowa offenders paroled from prison are significantly less likely to return to prison for a new conviction than are those offenders who expire their sentence. Put another way, for every 100 offenders who are paroled rather than discharge by way of expiration of sentence, we can prevent 9 new convictions involving prison incarceration.

Welcome to Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, March 2008

Data Download is a new DOC newsletter that each month will show how we are using data to help measure what we are doing, and to better inform decisions that we make.

Females and African-Americans in Iowa Prisons, Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, September 2008

incarceration in Iowa prisons, as compared to white males. The rates are particularly alarming for African-Americans, in that while the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that they comprised just 2.5% of the state’s population as of 2006, they constituted over 25% of Iowa’s prison population as of June 30, 2008.

A New Way to Look at Offender Recidivism, ICON Data Download, Iowa Department of Corrections, January 2007

Traditionally, recidivism is studied from the point when an offender first has an opportunity to reoffend, which is usually when he or she is admitted to community-based corrections supervision. However, an offender beginning supervision has not had an opportunity to complete treatment interventions that would potentially lower their risk of reoffending.

Analysis of the association between chondrocalcinosis and osteoarthritis: a community based study

To analyse the association between chondrocalcinosis and osteoarthritis (OA) of the hands and knees in an unselected elderly rural population. METHODS--A community based cross sectional study was performed in individuals randomly selected from a previous epidemiological survey on the prevalence of chondrocalcinosis in people older than 60 years from Osona county, Catalonia, northeastern Spain. Radiological OA (grade 2 or more of Kellgren's classification) was evaluated in 26 individuals with chondrocalcinosis and in 104 controls. A total of 18 articular areas of both knees (medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments) and hands (first, second and third metacarpophalangeal (MCP), first carpometacarpal, trapezium-scaphoid, radiocarpal and distal radioulnar joints) were studied. RESULTS--Radiological changes of OA in the knees were more common in subjects with chondrocalcinosis than in those without it, with an odds ratio adjusted for age and gender (aOR) of 4.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6 to 11.8, p = 0.005). OA was also more frequent in almost all areas of the hands in individuals with chondrocalcinosis, though the difference reached statistical significance only in the MCP joints (aOR 3.1; 95% CI 1.1 to 8.8; p = 0.033). However, taking into account the side and the different joint compartments analysed, the association between chondrocalcinosis and OA was significant only in the lateral tibiofemoral compartment and the left MCP joints. CONCLUSIONS--In an elderly population unselected for their rheumatic complaints, there was a real association between OA and chondrocalcinosis. This association was particularly relevant in the lateral tibiofemoral compartment of the knee and in the first three left MCP joints.

Brain injury program to ensure greater access to community-based services, July 2006

More than 2,200 Iowans each year experience a traumatic brain injury that requires hospitalization. Of those, more than 750 will experience long-term disability as a result. According to a 2000 CDC report, there are an estimated 50,000 such individuals living in Iowa – a number similar to the population of Ames.

Brain injury program to ensure greater access to community-based services, July 2006

More than 2,200 Iowans each year experience a traumatic brain injury that requires hospitalization. Of those, more than 750 will experience long-term disability as a result. According to a 2000 CDC report, there are an estimated 50,000 such individuals living in Iowa – a number similar to the population of Ames.

Brain injury program to ensure greater access to community-based services, July 11, 2006

More than 2,200 Iowans each year experience a traumatic brain injury that requires hospitalization. Of those, more than 750 will experience long-term disability as a result. According to a 2000 CDC report, there are an estimated 50,000 such individuals living in Iowa – a number similar to the population of Ames. As part of an enterprise-wide effort to ensure that all Iowans, including those with brain injuries, have access to quality healthcare, Governor Tom Vilsack signed the Brain Injury Services program bill on May 23. The bill will allow the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) to implement a one-of-a-kind program to help those with brain injuries and their families in navigating and maximizing the Iowa community-based service system.

Issue review : construction status and operating costs of new corrections beds.

This issue review provides information on the Department of Corrections construction and of proposed staffing for additional beds in the prison system and community-based corrections.