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Abstract #153421

• Handout (free access)

Matthew L. Perdoni, MS¹, Faye S. Taxman, PhD², and Douglas Young¹. (1) Institute for Governmental Service and Research, University of Maryland, 4321 Hartwick Road, Suite 208, College Park, MD 20742, 804-828-1264, perdoniml@vcu.edu, (2) Wilder School of Govt & Public Affairs, VCU, 923 W Franklin Ste 501, Richmond, VA 23284-2028

Government estimates of the distribution of the correctional population depend upon different surveys of offenders in prisons, jails, and probation and parole agencies. This method assumes that all offenders are in legal categories that are consistent with these formal distinctions, and does not take into consideration various categories such as diversion, alternatives to incarceration, pretrial supervision, and local community control. The National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Survey used a two stage sampling frame to generate a comprehensive estimate of the offender population that is not confounded by setting boundaries. The first stage cluster was composed of counties or county equivalents as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (see http://geonames.usgs.gov/fips55.html) and the second stage was the corrections facilities, offices, or programs within the selected counties. Survey findings estimate that there are 1,233,867 adults in prison, 745,766 adults in jail, 908,477 adults on parole, 3,949,089 on probation, 1,006,586 on other forms of supervision, 57,355 juveniles in residential facilities, 542,349 juveniles on probation/parole, and 20,620 juveniles in diversion programs. These estimates show that there are approximately 1 million more adults involved in the criminal justice system than were shown in previous estimates, and provide the first national estimate of juveniles on probation supervision. From this the researchers estimated that 7.6 percent of adult offenders can access the appropriate level of care, and that juvenile offenders experience the same gap in treatment. The impact of the “hidden” population on the treatment gap is discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the use of a two stage sampling frame that relies upon counties to estimate the size of correctional populations
• Understand the value of different sampling strategies in identifying the various legal status’ of offenders and to identify “hidden” populations that are not obvious in legal-status specific sampling frames
• Identify new measures of service gap

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Handout (free access)