The Effectiveness of Day Reporting Centers

Abstract

A Day Reporting Center is a community-based, highly structured, non-residential alternative to incarceration. Day Reporting Centers (DRCs) are programs that have been utilized for a variety of offender populations (e.g., pre-trial released offenders, probationers, and parolees). Most of the studies on DRCs suffer from a number of methodological deficiencies; the most prominent flaw being the lack of the use of quasi-experimental design. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of DRCs on the criminal recidivism of adult offenders by conducting a meta-analysis of DRC studies that used a quasi-experimental design. The findings show that, overall, DRCs do not differ from traditional supervision options in terms of recidivism outcomes. One the major challenges in conducting evaluative research on DRCS is that the programs themselves differ from state to state and even from county to county. Inconsistencies in program characteristics and different types of clients the program serves (e.g. probationers or parolees) limit the ability to make recommendations for best practices.