{"id":43658,"date":"2019-02-21T13:20:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T22:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/how-much-money-should-be-spent-to-combat-recidivism\/"},"modified":"2019-02-23T11:45:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T20:45:20","slug":"how-much-money-should-be-spent-to-combat-recidivism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/how-much-money-should-be-spent-to-combat-recidivism\/","title":{"rendered":"How much money should be spent to combat recidivism?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The state of Alaska has failed at addressing recidivism, but not for lack of trying, said Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla.<\/p>\n

Recidivism is an issue Shower and others on the Senate Finance Corrections Subcommittee want to see improved. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River; and Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks are on the subcommittee too.<\/p>\n

“One of the things I think we realized, is we did not do a good job setting people up for success when they get out of prison,” Shower said during a Wednesday night Finance Corrections Subcommittee meeting. “And that’s something we’re going to have to do better of if we want to get recidivism down.”<\/p>\n

During the meeting, the subcommittee went through Department of Corrections <\/a>budget numbers and discussed issues within the DOC.<\/p>\n

[Senators baffled at proposed reductions to public safety departments]<\/a> <\/ins><\/p>\n

Recidivism, in general terms, is the rate at which people re-offend and return to jail. In Alaska, recidivism is defined by a statute and it only looks at a three-year window of time. Shower took issue with that. Reinbold said the varying definitions of recidivism is one of her “pet peeves.”<\/p>\n

Shower said two-thirds of prior offenders will commit a crime and return to jail in Alaska, but after a look at the larger picture, a nine-year window of time, 88 percent of offenders recidivate. Both Shower and Reinbold expressed a desire change the definition of recidivism in hopes of improving crime data.<\/p>\n

The Department of Corrections<\/a> is one of the few departments that is expecting a budget increase in 2020. This is because every legislator and Gov. Mike Dunleavy agree that public safety must be improved. Housing inmates accounts for about 75 percent of the DOC’s $239 million budget. Supervised release programs release makes up about 17 percent of the budget. Reformative programs such as education and vocational programs for inmates account for about 7 percent of the DOC’s expenses.<\/p>\n

At one point in the Shower posed a question for the record about reformative programs that help reduce recidivism.<\/p>\n

“What program costs are we going to have to incur to try and make those better?” he asked.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 32<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senate Bill 32, which proposes to increase prison sentences for many crimes, would cost the state an additional $38 million to house additional inmates.<\/p>\n

Reinbold, who referred to herself as “Mrs. Budget Hawk, budget cutter,” said she looked at the fiscal note attached to SB 32 “pretty darn close.”<\/p>\n

“I think $38 million is absolutely worth it,” Reinbold said.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2022 Contact reporter Kevin Baird at 523-2258 or kbaird@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @alaska_kev.<\/b><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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