U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Project Horizon: How Utah is Reducing Recidivism

NCJ Number
183590
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 227-231
Author(s)
Daimar Robinson
Date Published
June 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines a recidivism reduction program in the State of Utah.
Abstract
Project Horizon, Utah’s 1992 statute to reduce the economic and social costs of recidivism, set a precedent for funding correctional education through a State education agency, for inmate accountability and for interagency collaboration. Project Horizon helps inmates prepare for jobs suited to individual needs when they are released. The project’s nine-point plan includes inmate assessment, multiagency collaboration, family involvement and support, research and evaluation, post-release tracking and support, job placement, career skills, basic literacy skills and cognitive problem solving skills. Horizon parolees recidivated 18 to 20 percent less than non-participants and found post-release jobs -- which they consistently tended to keep -- 89 percent of the time. The article looks briefly at Utah’s effort to establish a statewide coordinated curriculum making it easier for offenders to “pick up where they left off” if moved and describes a new law making early parole contingent on high school completion or vocational certification. Figures, references