The Statistics

As Safer Foundation continues to be a leader in prisoner reentry services, more and more people with criminal records are coming through Safer's doors. Over the past eight years, the number of people seeking Safer's services has increased by 255 percent.

Safer Foundation has helped lower Illinois' recidivism rate for over three decades. When Safer clients achieve employment for at least 30 days, they are 58% less likely to return to prison. Safer's recidivism study is conducted independently by Loyola University in Chicago. 

Since 1998 about 600,000 people per year are released from U.S. prisons. In 1980, 170,000 people were released.

Safer Foundation is an official testing center for the GED, and more than 300 people earn their GED at Safer each year.  Safer programs provide classes leading to a GED, and extensive training and coaching in job readiness and life skills.  After obtaining their GED, students are assisted in enrolling in post-secondary or vocational training programs, or transitioning directly into the workforce. 

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world at 699 inmates per 100,000 population. This surpasses Russia’s rate of 644 and South Africa’s of 400 and compares unfavorably to the United Kingdom at 125, Canada at 110 and Japan at 40. These increases are primarily due to mandatory sentencing policies such as mandatory minimums, three-strikes and truth in sentencing, rather than increasing crime rates. Source: The Sentencing Project

More than 400 employers hire Safer Foundation clients. Each employer helps reduce recidivism,  while helping their company's bottom line. Find out how to hire a Safer client.

With over 4,200 client job starts in fiscal year 2011, Safer saved the state more than $80 million in prison costs alone. If someone has a job they are better able to care for themselves and their families. Not only are employed individuals less likely to commit crimes, but they also become taxpayers, growing the state revenue where they used to subtract from it. 

Among people on probation, 46% are black, 35% are white,  21% are Hispanic, and 3% are other.

52% of U.S. prison inmates are housed for non-violent offenses related to drugs, property or public disorder/other. Source: The Sentencing Project

The population of U.S. federal and state prisons and local jails in 2000 exceeded 2,000,000 people. When the 4.5 million people on parole and probation are included, the total is 6.5 million representing a 240% increase since 1980.

In 1999, 1.5 million children under the age of 18 had parents in prision. 22% of these children were under 5 years of age. Sources: The Sentencing Project, Bureau of Justice Statistics