Public Policy Solution #6
Reconnecting Formerly Incarcerated Individuals with their Families, where Appropriate, May Help Reduce Crime and Prevent Relapse

A formerly incarcerated person’s family can be a positive influence on an individual’s recovery. Family members who do not participate in criminal activity or drug use, and who do not benefit financially from the criminal activity of the individual, can help the reentering individual to rebuild familial bonds and develop other positive social relationships helps to improve family functioning. These positive changes increase the likelihood that the reentering individual will remain drug and crime-free.1 Extending addiction treatment and prevention services to include the formerly incarcerated individuals’ family members – many of whom themselves have or are at risk for developing a drug or alcohol problem – can help the reentering individual to remain abstinent.2

La Bodega de la Familia

La Bodega de la Familia in New York City engages both the individual and his or her family members in family case management and other services as a supplement to probation, parole, or pre-trial supervision. By providing support to the families of drug users in the criminal justice system, La Bodega aims to increase the success of drug and alcohol treatment, reduce the use of incarceration to punish relapse, and reduce the harms addiction causes within families.6

A study of La Bodega’s effectiveness found that family members participating in the program obtained medical and social services at significantly higher rates than those in the comparison group, and they showed a significantly stronger sense of being supported emotionally and materially in their social relationships. At the same time, the percentage of La Bodega participants using any illegal drug declined from 80 percent to 42 percent, a significantly greater drop than in the comparison group. Arrests and convictions were also lower among drug users participating in Bodega over six months.7

Family members who lead drug and crime-free lives can become the “front line” of reentry, providing former inmates with critical material and emotional support including shelter, food, clothing, job leads, and guidance for staying sober and avoiding criminal behavior. Engaging the family can be helpful, as they may be more personally invested in and affected by positive outcomes for the returning offender than are criminal justice practitioners or other professionals.3 However, despite 30 years of research suggesting that family support can help make or break a successful transition from prison to community, in practice, most criminal justice systems have only recently tried to harness the family’s investment by engaging them in the transition.4 Since positive social support from family and friends during addiction treatment is related to improved treatment outcomes such as increased commitment to treatment, decreased arrest rates and drug use, and fewer relapses after treatment, more should be done to engage families in the reentry and recovery process.5

1 “The Front Line: Building Programs that Recognize Families' Role in Reentry,” Mike Bobbitt and Marta Nelson, September 2004, http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/249_476.pdf

2 Id.

3 “From Prison to Home: The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities,” Travis, J., Waul, M., and Solomon, A.L. 2002. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410632_HHSConferenceBackground.pdf
http://www.urban.org/pubs/prisoners/contents.html (updated February 2004)

4 “The Front Line: Building Programs that Recognize Families' Role in Reentry,” Mike Bobbitt and Marta Nelson, September 2004, http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/249_476.pdf

5 Id.

6 “Families as a Resource in Recovery from Drug Abuse: An Evaluation of La Bodega de la Familia,” Vera Institute of Justice 2002, http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/163_250.pdf

7 Id.

Return to Policy Summary