Rural Jail Reentry Non-Clinical Case Management: An Examination of the Middle Tennessee Rural Reentry (MTRR) Program

This study evaluates the Middle Tennessee Rural Reentry (MTRR) program. MTRR is a rural reentry program funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance that uses non-clinical case managers. Specifically, the program provided non-clinical case management and services to 144 medium and high-risk offenders released from a rural county correctional facility for up to 12 months after incarceration. Fully 56.9% of offenders completed the program, with 52.8% recidivating (i.e., arrest and revocation of supervision). Program completion did not have a statistically significant impact on recidivism. Moreover, females who participated in the program had a significantly lower overall likelihood of recidivism than when compared to male participants. Additional findings and policy implications for rural jail programs are also discussed.