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19 Fed. Sent. R. 275 (2006-2007)
Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates

handle is hein.journals/fedsen19 and id is 283 raw text is: Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Ratest Current long-term forecasts indicate that Washington will need two new prisons by 202o and possibly another prison by 2030. Since a typical new prison costs about $250 million to build and $45 million a year to operate, the Washington State Legislature expressed an interest in identifying alternative evidence-based options that can: (a) reduce the future need for prison beds, (b) save money for state and local taxpayers, and (c) contribute to lower crime rates. The 2005 Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (Institute) to report, by October 20o6, whether evidencebased and cost-beneficial policy options exist. If economically sound options are available, then the Legislature directed the Institute to project the total impact of alternative implementation scenarios.' This report describes our results to date. We begin by providing background information on historic and pro- jected incarceration rates in Washington, as well as a history of crime rates and fiscal costs of the criminal justice system. We then describe the process we use to determine if evidence-based and economically sound options exist, and we present our findings. We examine adult correc- tions, juvenile corrections, and prevention programs. This is followed by our projections of the impact of alternative implementation scenarios. We conclude by discussing some implications of the findings and next steps. For tech- nical readers, appendices begin on page 59 and describe our research methods and results in greater detail. Legislative Direction for the Study The legislative language directing the Institute's study is shown verbatim in the accompanying sidebar. In brief, the legislation requires the Institute to study the net short-run and long-run fiscal savings to state and local governments if evidence-based intervention, prevention, and sentencing alternatives are implemented in Washington State. The Institute is directed to examine three broad types of public policy options the legislature could consider. i. Intervention programs. For people already in Washing- ton's juvenile and adult correctional systems, the language directs the Institute to estimate whether Summary Under current long-term forecasts, Washington State faces the need to construct several new pris- ons in the next two decades. Since new prisons are costly, the 2005 Washington Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to project whether there are evidence-based options that can: reduce the future need for prison beds, * save money for state and local taxpayers, * contribute to lower crime rates. We conducted a systematic review of all research evi- dence we could locate to identify what works, if anything, to reduce crime. We found and analyzed 571 rigorous comparisongroup evaluations of adult correc- tions, juvenile corrections, and prevention programs, most of which were conducted in the United States. We then estimated the benefits and costs of many of these evidence-based options. Finally, we projected the degree to which alternative portfolios of these programs could affect future prison construction needs, criminal justice costs, and crime rates in Washington. We find that some evidence-based programs can reduce crime, but others cannot. Per dollar of spend- ing, several of the successful programs produce favorable returns on investment. Public policies incor- porating these options can yield positive outcomes for Washington. We project the long-run effects of three example portfolios of evidence-based options: a current level option as well as moderate and aggressive imple- mentation portfolios. We find that if Washington successfully imple- ments a moderate-to-aggressive portfolio of evidence-based options, a significant level of future prison construction can be avoided, taxpayers can save about two billion dollars, and crime rates can be reduced. Federal Sentencing Reporter, Vol. 19, No. 4, PP. 275-290, ISSN 1053-9867 electronic ISSN 1533-8363. © 2oo6 Steve Aos, Mama Miller, and Elizabeth Drake. Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates. Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy. FEDERAL SENTENCING REPORTER * VOL. 19, NO. 4 * APRIL 2007 a WASHINGTON STATE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY STEVE AOS MARNA MILLER ELIZABETH DRAKE October 2006

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