A reentry program launched in federal court shows promise as a way to reduce recidivism

They stacked Body Number 557 in the Philadelphia city morgue just before midnight on Dec. 29. He had 16 gunshot wounds but no name. His murder on Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia barely made the news.

Body Number 557 increased the new record for homicides and more than doubled the 246 murders that were recorded eight years ago. In response, the district attorney wants to talk reform, not murder. The mayor won’t speak to the district attorney, and blames the state legislature, which seems to boast a pristine record of doing absolutely nothing on gun violence. And now the former mayor says the entire situation reeks of racism because the district attorney is clueless and white but most of the bodies in the morgue are Black and brown.

Missing in this debate is any mention of evidence and how practices based on documented research might bring us a step closer to sanity and peace in our city. At the least, implementation of evidence-based criminal justice practices such as those used in Philadelphia’s federal court might save a few lives.

Fourteen years ago, U.S. District Court in Philadelphia launched a reentry program to address recidivism for those leaving prison after convictions for violent crime. We used evidence-based practices to help men and women break the cycle of violent crime and resume law-abiding lives in our community. It worked.

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More than 400 returning citizens have spent at least a year in our reentry program, and for those who complete the program, less than 10% have committed new crimes and returned to prison. The other 90% are now your neighbors: chefs, delivery workers, Realtors, union members, students, and office workers. They mentor schoolkids, pay taxes, and save us the $40,000 per year it costs to keep a person in federal prison.

Research taught us that a swift judicial response to potential criminal lapses soon after release from prison prevented recidivism. We combined that approach with mental health counseling, job assistance, safe housing, family support, tutoring, and health care to break the cycle of violent crime. Our successes far exceed the failures.

The federal reentry program features two teams of prosecutors, defense lawyers, probation officers, judges, and others who meet biweekly with about 40 returning citizens to help them navigate the return from prison. Accountability is the key and staying crime-free is the goal. A groundbreaking program with the Drexel University psychology department provides counseling to address criminal thinking patterns, and Temple’s Fox Business School and Clarifi, a credit counseling agency, offer financial advice and rental subsidies. A host of community partners, featuring local law schools, private industry, labor unions, and the local housing authority provide ongoing support.

A local criminal justice scholar, Caitlin Taylor at La Salle University, has studied our program for 14 years and identified the evidence-based practices that work. Her work is recognized nationally but apparently ignored locally. Our reentry program has been replicated in some form by nearly each of the 94 federal judicial districts. Philadelphia can do the same.

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A few local judges have made some effort to create similar programs in Philadelphia’s state courts and their work needs to be expanded. Turf battles and jurisdictional issues have precluded a broader reentry initiative in state court. Resolution of those local issues may require leadership from the legislature and the state Supreme Court.

Reentry is one piece of the puzzle to ending the murder mayhem. Families and schools play a critical role as well. Former Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, who now works with the Stoneleigh Foundation, has spent years developing ways to improve school safety. He is nationally recognized as a critical resource in identifying evidence-based practices to stem youth violence.

Perhaps our leaders should give Mr. Bethel and Dr. Taylor a call and give the morgue a break. Their numbers are listed.

Timothy R. Rice is a United States magistrate judge in Philadelphia and former chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia. Since 2007, he has worked on the federal courts’reentry program with Circuit Judges L. Felipe Restrepo and Theodore McKee, and U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg. The views expressed in this article are his own. The annual report of the federal reentry program can be found here.