How One Massachusetts Jail Cut Its Population By 30 Percent In 6 Years

By Joseph Erbentraut, the Huffington Post

By now the problem is well documented: There are far too many Americans behind bars, and it costs society far too much, in every sense, to keep them there. Less discussed, however, is what can be done about it.

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Some facilities have already begun this work, such as the Hampden County jail in Ludlow, Massachusetts.

According to a report released last week by the Vera Institute, a prison reform nonprofit, the Hampden facility cut its inmate population by 30 percent (634 inmates) between 2008 and 2014.

The Vera report notes that while Hampden’s declining inmate population was connected to a reduced crime rate in Springfield, the county’s largest city, there were other factors involved as well — namely the jail’s increased diversions to probation supervision and its expanded investment in re-entry initiatives, which have caused local recidivism to drop by 25 percent since 2000.

At the heart of the jail’s re-entry program is a community center, established in 1996 in Springfield’s Mason Square, that serves as a hub to connect soon-to-be ex-offenders with local resources. Since 2006, the program has also offered a high-risk offender initiative, and in 2007, it added a lower-security community re-entry unit in the jail and began to make available re-entry assistants to work intensively with inmates both before and after their release.

The center also offers an employment team, case management, housing support, community support groups and a mentorship program to assist inmates who are returning to society.

The reduced population has allowed the Hampden County jail to save $16 million a year, thanks to its being able to close multiple housing units, downsize others and reduce personnel numbers, according to the report.

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