5% of State prisoners will be released back into their communities. 735,000 prisoners were released from State and Federal prison in year 2008. This was a 20% increase from year 2000.

In 2008, parole violations accounted for 34.2% of all prison admissions, 36.2% of all state prison admissions, and 8.2% of all federal prison admissions.

25% of all adults who exited parole in 2008 (133,947 people) went back to prison for violating terms of their supervision, and 9 percent of adults were sent back for committing a new crime.

Employment rates and earnings of incarcerated people are often low before their incarceration due to limited education, low skill levels, physical and mental health problems, and other factors. Incarceration exacerbates these employment challenges.

A large three-state recidivism study found that less than half of those released from prison had a secure job waiting for them when they returned home. Source: Department of Justice Statistics -2010

Studies in Milwaukee, WI and New York, NY found that a criminal record reduces employment opportunities by 50 percent for whites and 64 percent for blacks. Source: Pager – 2003

60 percent of establishments surveyed in four major cities reported that they would “probably not” or “definitely not” hire a formerly incarcerated person. Source: Holzer, Raphael and Stoll-2002

The number of women in prison has increased to more than double the rate of men. A great number of women in prison or jail have a history of sexual abuse, a high rate of HIV, and have substance abuse issues. Source: Sentencing Project www.sentencingproject.org – 2010

Women comprise seven percent of the state prison population, but are the fastest growing portion of the incarceration population. Source: Harrison and Black – 2006

In 1980 the U.S. imprisoned 12,331 women in state correctional facilities. That number jumped to 98,602 by 2005, an increase of nearly 700 percent. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics – 2005