Innovative community corrections programs

I consent. Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to side navigation Accessibility Statement. Section Navigation. Correctional centres. Probation offices. Reducing reoffending. Research and evaluation. Reports and publications. COVID information for judicial sector. About Us. Community Corrections. Parole Board. Memoirs of a Pioneer Probation Officer. Additional Videos. Correctional camps. Correctional Centres. Family justice. States are heading into the third consecutive fiscal year of declining revenues and large budget gaps.

The fiscal outlook remains troubling for FY , FY and beyond. According to NCSL budget information, corrections spending accounts for about 6 percent of state general fund budgets, and lawmakers in many states have made it a priority to control prison populations and subsequent costs. Today, states increasingly have access to tools to help identify and analyze causes of prison growth.

As legislators weigh various sentencing and corrections policy options, they can use such information to allocate scarce resources to programs and policies that promote public safety and reduce recidivism. These decisions play a key role in state prison population increases and decreases. A slower growth rate in state prison populations in was attributed to fewer people sentenced to prison.

In , more people were released from prison than in previous years, further slowing prison growth. These two factors ultimately contributed to the drop in population in As fewer people are sentenced to prison and more are released, many offenders will serve at least a portion of their sentence in the community, rather than in prison.