Work Release as a Transition: Positioning Success Via the Halfway House

Halfway houses (HWHs) are one resource that the New Jersey DOC utilizes to transition offenders from prison back into society. Previous studies show that offenders who participated in HWH programming are at less risk for recidivating compared to nonparticipants (Austin, 2001; Lowenkamp & Latessa, 2005). Work-release HWHs, specifically, have shown effectiveness in reducing recidivism for participants (Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2007). Using propensity score matching, offenders placed in work release HWHs were matched to offenders released directly from prison (N = 11,644). Offenders in work-release HWHs demonstrate a reduced propensity for revocation and returns to prison (for any reason) compared to nonparticipants.