Evaluation of an occupational therapy reentry program: Achieving goals to support employment and community living after incarceration

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Individuals released from prisons to community supervision often experience unstable housing, unemployment, substance misuse, mental ill-health, and lack of support systems contributing to high rates of recidivism. Occupational therapy practitioners have distinct value in promoting engagement in new habits and routines to support “occupation,” or development of daily living skills to support community reentry. OBJECTIVE: We developed an occupational therapy (OT) program within a Department of Corrections (DOC) Community Supervision Center in the Midwest United States. The purpose of this study was to determine feasibility and efficacy of an OT program for community reentry. METHOD: The program was piloted with a sample of five justice-involved men received OT interventions. Pre- and posttest assessments included a behavioral health interview, demographic survey, five Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) assessments, the Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT) and Activity Card Sort-Advancing Inclusive Assessment. Descriptive analyses were performed to determine goal attainment and compare pre- and post-test scores over time and to a reference population (PROMIS). Staff of the DOC were also interviewed to assess perceived feasibility and efficacy of this pilot. RESULTS: Significant health changes were reported in participant self-efficacy, managing emotions, anxiety, and sleep disturbances (1 > SD). Moderate changes were seen in reduced feelings of social isolation (0.5 > 1SD). CONCLUSION: It was feasible to implement an OT program with tailored reentry interventions based on unique needs of criminal justice involved individuals. Initial findings suggest OT offers health promotion benefits to reduce risk of recidivism and prepare individuals for community reentry following incarceration.

The role and effectiveness of occupational therapy in prison rehabilitation programs: systematic review

“…The reoffending rate for inmates who have been successfully placed in competitive employment is 12.1%, whilst the reoffending rate for enrollees who have never been placed corresponds to 46.5%. In the study by Gonzalez et al (2023), the mean number of psychiatric diagnoses per client selfreport among participants was four (SD ¼ 1.2). Frequency of specific psychiatric disorders included four (80.0%) diagnosed with bipolar disorder, three (60.0%) depression, two (40.0%) anxiety disorder, two (40%) posttraumatic stress disorder, two (40%) schizophrenia, one (20.0%) with a traumatic brain injury (four reported) and four (80%) Neurodevelopmental disorders.…”

Do They Pose a Danger: Evaluation of the Recidivism Characteristics in China’s Community Corrections?

“…the offender's behaviour is regulated so that the offender complies with the law and social rules [15] . Lenient programmes, which include family relationship counselling, psychological counselling, and emotional management, place a greater emphasis on the offender's psychological state than strict programmes do [16][17][18] . For instance, community corrections officers have intervened in the psychological symptoms of kleptomania in a wealthy offender who has committed multiple burglaries through numerous sessions of counselling to stop recidivism.…”