• 97% of incarcerated inmates return to the community.

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

• In 1998, 88% of those returning were men and 12% were women.

• Current adult re-arrest rates are approximately 66% with nearly 50% returning to prison within three years.

• Lack of successful reintegration impacts society in three ways: increased threats to public safety, increased taxpayer expenditures for prison construction and increased social costs, such as homelessness, public health risks, and lost connections to family and community. (J. Travis, The Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center)

Sources:
The Sentencing Project
Bureau of Justice Statistics