Nebraska Serious and Violent Offender Re-entry Program: An Evaluation of Participants\u27 Perception of Program Effectiveness

In response to the three-fold increase in the number of returning inmates to America\u27s communities over the last three decades, the Department of Justice\u27s Serious and Violent Offender Re-entry Initiative provides funding for development of programming to reduce recidivism rates and improve community safety. However, evaluations of these re-entry programs have not addressed the attitudes and opinions of the program participants themselves. This study examined the perceptions of the re-entry participants to help assess the effectiveness of the programming they are receiving from the Nebraska Serious and Violent Offender Re-entry Pilot Program. Data was gathered from personalized re-entry plans for offenders and through qualitative interviews of the program transition managers and program participants. The results of this research addressed the effectiveness and possible improvements of the Nebraska re-entry program, which will ultimately affect the inmates\u27 likelihood of living crime-free upon their return to the community and hence increase public safety