Impact of Well-Being-Focused Programming on Post-Release Recidivism: Encouraging Findings

This long-term evaluation of the 5-Key Reentry Model, a well-being-focused program that served people releasing from prison in South Carolina, indicates that program exposure, measured as the number of program sessions received, is associated with a longer time to post-release recidivism as measured by the first arrest, conviction, or incarceration incident. Participation in three interventions central to the 5-Key model—Now, Next, Later and Texas Christian University Healthy Thinking and Reducing Anger modules—are also associated with longer time to recidivism. Similarly, receipt of more program sessions was associated with a longer time to new conviction. These results are from an independent evaluation of the 5-Key Reentry program that examined recidivism outcomes for 161 people randomly assigned to participate in the 5-Key program and 136 people who received reentry services as usual.