Silverdale Detention Facility: Tackling Recidivism Through Tech
Marissa Harrison
The U.S. leads industrialized countries in recidivism, with 68% of incarcerated individuals rearrested within three years of leaving jail or prison, imposing significant costs on these individuals and the country (Yukhnenko, 2020). As the public and policymakers demand change, new technology solutions can help correctional facilities prepare people for life after incarceration and break the seemingly intractable cycle.
Key Challenges
One of the many issues driving the persistent recidivism challenge is the lack of resources for residents of correctional facilities to maintain family connections, develop skills, and plan for their lives after release.
Longstanding barriers and entrenched attitudes have hindered efforts to address these issues. Individuals reentering society may lack a legal ID, making it difficult to open a bank account or apply for a job. Housing and healthcare present challenges for many people, and nonprofits often have limited resources to help.
The pandemic severed in-person services offered to incarcerated individuals by outside organizations, and those services have been slow to return. In addition, substance abuse treatment and support programs provided inside correctional facilities often don’t continue after residents are released.
Public and Policy Shifts
Today, however, public opinion and policy are shifting. Thirty-seven states, more than 150 cities and counties, and most federal agencies and their contractors have adopted so-called “ban the box” policies that remove conviction and arrest history questions from job applications (Avery, 2022). At the same time, companies facing a tight labor market are more interested in hiring individuals reentering society.
For the first time in decades, Pell Grant funding is available to incarcerated individuals to support their studies before release. In October 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced nearly $100 million in grants to support adults and youth returning to their communities (Justice Dept. Awards, 2022).
Public support for criminal justice reform is also strong, with large majorities of Americans backing measures to reduce prison populations, strengthen rehabilitation programs, and improve mental health and drug abuse treatment, according to a poll (91% of Americans, 2017).
In response, correctional institutions, such as Silverdale Detention Facility in Hamilton County, Tennessee, are starting to leverage technology to support resident services and reentry programs—providing new opportunities for incarcerated individuals to prepare for reentry and increase their chances of a successful return to society.
Prioritizing Reentry
Over the past five years, more than 900 residents of the Silverdale Detention Facility have participated in a reentry program designed to break the cycle of recidivism.
The program launched in 2018 with one reentry specialist. Today, the facility has enough caseworkers to provide one-on-one case management for every resident who opts into reentry services. The program includes substance abuse classes, job fairs, and partnerships with outside organizations that provide other resources.
Scaling Services
Modern technology helps Silverdale scale critical reentry services. The facility deployed a virtual portal that increases access to services that can prepare incarcerated individuals for release. The system, hosted in the cloud, enables residents to apply for legal IDs, housing programs and mental health counseling online.
The reentry technology platform Silverdale leverages allows services to be customized for each facility based on available local resources. Staff in charge of reentry programs identify outside organizations to incorporate into the system. Incarcerated individuals can interact with these organizations on their own, reducing workloads for reentry case workers while expanding access.
For Silverdale, obtaining an ID is fundamental to successful reentry, says Laurie Gandre, team lead for Silverdale’s reentry program.
“Having that ID is so big—without it, people can’t access a lot of services,” Gandre says. “Without having that important critical partner on the outside helping with IDs, it’s very difficult to do.”
Staff from Project Return, a local nonprofit, visit the Silverdale facility regularly to help incarcerated individuals apply for IDs and other services online. Participants also access resources from Project Return and two other agencies during one-on-one meetings with Silverdale reentry caseworkers. A staffing agency which had previously held in-person job fairs at the facility will soon provide online access to employment opportunities through the same online system, making it a one-stop shop for incarcerated individuals and community partners.
Three of these organizations had existing relationships with the facility, but the fourth—a Memphis-based prison outreach ministry located hundreds of miles away—would have been unable to provide services without an online component, according to Gandre.
“Not every agency is going to be able to come into the facility,” she says. “It’s a way to let our residents have contact with someone they might meet on the outside. This has been huge in expanding our network of resources.”
“We’ve learned the importance of having someone on the outside. We can tell residents about the services all day, but talking to someone from that agency is going to make it real for them and let them complete steps in here so they don’t have to worry about them on the outside.”
Looking Ahead
Providing electronic access to resources and reentry opportunities is the only way to scale services to meet the needs of all incarcerated individuals.
“Changing the culture of incarceration in America can’t happen with the amount of service delivery friction facilities face today,” says Silas Deane III, a reentry technology founder and manager.
Technology reduces that friction and the workload for corrections staff. Shifting these activities to an electronic platform also lets institutions track the impact of everything from job coaching and training to substance abuse and mental health services.
Facilities also must forge partnerships with outside organizations to offer expanded services. “We go to a lot of job fairs and resource fairs, and as we get to know organizations, we can tell them we have this digital platform,” Gandre says. “So, if they can’t come in to speak with our inmates, they have this opportunity.”
This article is part of a larger thought leadership piece, Breaking the Cycle of Recidivism, which was written and produced by the Government Technology Content Studio, with information and input from Tyler Technologies.
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Marissa Harrison is the content marketing manager for Tyler Technologies’ Courts & Justice Division. Her work focuses on highlighting innovative courts, correctional facilities, probation departments, and justice agencies driving better outcomes and building connections across the justice system—and the communities they serve—through technology.
Sgt. Oghenetega Onoshirie
References
91 percent of Americans support criminal justice reform, ACLU polling finds. American Civil Liberties Union. (2017). https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/91-percent-americans-support-criminal-justice-reform-aclu-polling-finds
Avery, B., & Han Lee. Ban the box: U.S. cities, counties, and states adopt fair hiring policies. National Employment Law Project. (2022). https://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/
Justice Department awards a total of nearly $100 million to help reduce recidivism and support successful reentry to communities. Office of Public Affairs. United States Department of Justice. (2022). https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-awards-total-nearly-100-million-help-reduce-recidivism-and-support
Yukhnenko. D., Sridhar, S., & Fazel, S. A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: 3-year update[version 3; peer review: 3 approved]. Wellcome Open Res. 4:28. (2020). (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14970.3)