Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Recidivism topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Officials say prison-based education correlates with lower recidivism; figures differ in testimony
Summary
THEI and bill sponsors told the subcommittee that postsecondary education is associated with large reductions in reoffense; testimony cited figures of "50%" and "48%" reductions while THEI gave Tennessee's recidivism rate as 29.6% and said it is still analyzing the data.
Speakers at the Feb. 11 subcommittee meeting linked postsecondary education for incarcerated people to reductions in recidivism, but they cited multiple figures and qualified the data in testimony. Chairman Raper said research "shows that education is strongly associated with lower rates of re-offense, reducing recidivism by 50%." THEI representatives said education "reduces the risk of recidivism by 48 percent" and noted Tennessee's current recidivism rate is about "29.6 percent," adding they are "still parsing the data."
Committee members and THEI framed the statistics as part of the rationale for both the bill and the program work: presenters argued that clearer access to higher education and on-ramps for degree completion help returning citizens gain employment and reunify with family, which they said contributes to community safety. At the same time, presenters and the sponsor explicitly acknowledged that they are continuing to analyze state-level data and did not provide published citations during the session.
The committee did not require THEI to produce a specific report on the figures during the meeting, though presenters said they would follow up with impact materials.
