PATCH LINKED TO LOWER RECIDIVISM

“Parenting Programs Like PATCH are Useful” suggests MO Department of Corrections report

A recent report from the Missouri Department of Corrections shows that PATCH participants have been less likely to return to prison than other females with dependents. The report, which spans from 2010 through 2017, found that PATCH graduates returned to prison almost 10 percent less frequently than other inmates with dependents. But that is not the end of the good news, as David Oldfield, Director of Research and Evaluation for the Missouri Department of Corrections points out, “Most of the Patch offenders [who] returned to prison within two years of release have been returned for technical violations and you can see that because the incarceration rate is 25.3%, but the new conviction rate is only 8.9% (and that includes new probations).” Director Oldfield commented further that, “The recidivism rates for the females in your Patch program are lower than the average recidivism rates for all releases of females with dependents for all time periods from six months after release to three years.”

So what does all this mean?

It means that over the past eight years PATCH participants have been less likely to return to prison for any reason (and less likely to commit new crimes) than their non-participating counterparts. Greater numbers of PATCH participants will certainly bring added clarity, but according to the numbers thus far, PATCH’s impact has been demonstrably positive and this recent report is certainly–as Director Oldfield described–“…promising news for the PATCH program…”.