The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Under the bill, every released inmate in the state would be assigned to a parole or probation officer and would receive job training, access to drug treatment programs, housing assistance, and other services designed to help their transition back into society.

Currently, 20,000 prisoners are released in Massachusetts every year, and 40 percent of them leave prison with no supervision.

''One trip to jail should be enough," Healey said at a news conference yesterday. ''We need to make sure the money we spend on incarceration here in Massachusetts not only punishes crime, but also stops crime from happening in the future."

The bill is part of the Romney administration's ongoing attempt to change the criminal justice system, an effort spearheaded by Healey, who did research in the field before she entered politics. National criminal justice specialists say it represents a current trend in prison reform: not just ensuring that people serve their full sentences, but giving them support when they get out.

''It's the pendulum swinging back and forth," said Peggy Burke, a principal at the Center for Effective Public Policy, a Maryland-based think tank. ''We have spent so much effort on incarceration, and people thought that was going to solve the problem."

Governor Mitt Romney and Healey considered a similar approach last year. This time, a key state representative is raising concerns.

Saying problems in the criminal justice system are deeply rooted, Representative David P. Linsky, a Natick Democrat, took aim instead at mandatory sentencing requirements, which force state judges to imprison drug dealers and users who are ineligible for parole and probation.

Mandatory sentences are packing state prisons and jails, prompting judges to give lighter sentences to violent criminals just to reduce the strain on prisons, Linsky said.

Linsky has filed bills to make drug offenders eligible for parole and probation, which he said would save more money in the long run.

''This is a good first step, but there's a lot more that needs to be done," Linsky said. ''If they don't free up more resources by having fewer people behind bars, we'll have to add money to the budget to pay for parole and probation officers."

But Healey said the new bill could save the state money in the long run. It costs $43,000 per year to keep one person in prison, she said, so reducing recidivism by 1 percent would save $1 million per year.

Maureen Walsh, chairwoman of the state Parole Board, said the bill would put Massachusetts in line with other states that have adopted post-release supervision requirements.

''Massachusetts is in a minority of states that don't have this [legislation] in place," Walsh said.

Across the country, prison reform advocates say, criminals return to prison at alarming rates. About two-thirds of released criminals nationally are rearrested within three years. A 2002 study by the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission showed that 49 percent of state offenders commit crimes within a year of leaving prison.

State officials yesterday said inmates don't get enough support to transition well to the outside world.

In the past four months, 91 percent of the former inmates who visited state ''reentry centers," voluntary centers that offer transitional services, were unemployed, Walsh said.

If Healey's bill passes, all released prisoners would be assigned to case managers or parole officers, and would be required to get help from the reentry centers.

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