Improving Prisoner Re-entry Outcomes through Large-scale Behavioral Intervention

As the U.S. moves away from mass incarceration, more inmates are being released from prison each year. Unfortunately, two-thirds of released inmates will be re-arrested within three years. This high recidivism rate signals our failure to help formerly incarcerated individuals build stable lives after prison.

There is little rigorous evidence on how to improve re-entry outcomes for incarcerated individuals. Our project aims to provide evidence on the efficacy of a highly-scalable, technology-based, behavioral science strategy to improve re-entry outcomes.

In partnership with an education technology firm, we will implement and evaluate a tablet-based re-entry module to strengthen inmates’ transition back into society. Before release, the module will help inmates create a personalized transition plan. Post-release, we will provide ongoing information to inmates to keep them on track.

Our proposed approach has proven successful in other contexts, particularly in postsecondary education.

We will implement this program as an RCT to measure the causal effects of the pre-release module and the post-release prompts. We will follow individuals for at least 6 months post-release, using administrative data to measure effects on recidivism. In subsequent years we plan to scale the intervention to additional facilities and investigate mechanisms driving treatment impacts.