20 research outputs found
The impact of residential change and housing stability on recidivism: pilot results from the Maryland Opportunities through Vouchers Experiment (MOVE)
Objectives: This article provides a description and preliminary assessment of the Maryland
Opportunities through Vouchers Experiment (MOVE), a randomized housing mobility program
for former prisoners designed to test whether residential relocation far away from former
neighborhoods, incentivized through the provision of a housing subsidy, can yield reductions in
recidivism.
Methods: The MOVE program was implemented as a randomized controlled trial. Participants
were recruited from four different Maryland prisons and randomly assigned to experimental
groups. In the first iteration of the experiment, treatment group participants received six months
of free housing away from their home jurisdiction and control group participants received free
housing back in their home jurisdiction. In the second iteration of the experiment, the treatment
group remained the same and the control condition was redesigned to represent the status quo
and did not receive free housing. Analyses were conducted of one-year rearrest rates.
Results: With respect to reductions in recidivism, pilot results suggest that there is some benefit
to moving and a benefit to receiving free housing. Rearrest was lower among the treatment group
of movers than the non-movers, and was also lower for non-movers who received free housing
versus non-movers who did not receive housing.
Conclusions: To the extent that pilot results can be validated and replicated in a full-scale
implementation of the MOVE program, policies that provide greater access to housing assistance
for formerly incarcerated individuals may yield substantial public safety benefits, particularly
housing opportunities located far away from former neighborhoods
The Effect of Less-Lethal Weapons on Injuries in Police Use-of-Force Events
Objectives. We investigated the effect of the use of less-lethal weapons, conductive energy devices (CEDs), and oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray on the prevalence and incidence of injuries to police officers and civilians in encounters involving the use of force