A LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE WERE SENT TO EACH STATE'S CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (DC), AND THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS; WITH FOLLOWUP, RESPONSES WERE RECEIVED FROM ALL. QUESTIONS WERE ASKED CONCERNING THE EXISTENCE OF PRERELEASE CENTERS AND THE AVAILABILITY OF DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION AND RESEARCH ON PRERELEASE PROGRAMS. THE STUDY THEN COMPARED PRERELEASE OUTCOMES (PROGRAM COST, RECIDIVISM, PROGRAM COMPLETION) WITH NON-PRERELEASE OUTCOMES THROUGH MATCHING, BASE EXPECTANCY TABLES, CONTROL GROUPS, AND SYSTEMS REVIEW. OF THE 52 SYSTEMS, 37 STATES, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND THE FEDERAL SYSTEM HAD PRERELEASE CENTERS. OF THESE 39, 15 HAD DESCRIPTIVE MATERIALS, AND 14 HAD EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, 13 OF WHICH WERE COMPARED. COMPARISONS IN TERMS OF COSTS OF KEEPING AN INMATE FOR A DAY SHOWED THAT PRERELEASE PROGRAMS COULD REDUCE COSTS TO THE COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS PROVIDE THE BENEFITS OF AN INMATE IN THE LABOR FORCE, AND REPAY SOME OF THE COSTS OF INCARCERATION (ALTHOUGH DIFFERENCES IN PROGRAMS AND ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES RENDER INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS DIFFICULT). OF THE 10 SYSTEMS PROVIDING ANALYSIS OF OUTCOMES, NONE FOUND PRERELEASE TO HAVE HIGHER RECIDIVISM RATES THAN TRADITIONAL PROGRAMS. IN ALL CASES PRERELEASE PROVED TO BE AT LEAST AS EFFECTIVE AS TRADITIONAL METHODS OF INCARCERATION. OVERALL, PRERELEASE OR COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS IS WIDELY USED THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, PRERELEASE HAS BEEN INTERPRETED IN MANY WAYS BY THE VARIOUS CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS, AND MOST RESEARCH SUPPORTS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRERELEASE PROGRAMS BOTH IN REDUCING RECIDIVISM AND IN LOWERING THE COSTS OF INCARCERATION. SHORT RESEARCH SUMMARIES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES ARE PROVIDED FOR DC, IOWA, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, NEW JERSEY, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND THE FEDERAL SYSTEM.