THE FORT DES MOINES HALFWAY HOUSE, AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BOTH JAIL AND PRISON, PROVIDES HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED CLIENT TREATMENT THROUGH A RIGOROUS COUNSELING PROGRAM AND THROUGH REFERRALS TO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT, AND EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATIONAL AND MEDICAL SERVICES. AN ASSESSMENT OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTED IN THIS EVALUATION SHOWS THE PROGRAM'S CLIENTS TO HAVE RELATIVELY UNSTABLE FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, POOR EMPLOYMENT HISTORY, LOW EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT, SOMEWHAT HIGH DRUG USAGE, AND SOME CRIMINAL BACKGROUND. DATA ON NEW OFFENSES DURING THE COMMITMENT PERIOD REVEAL THAT THE COMMUNITY IS NOT ENDANGERED AS A RESULT OF THIS PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM APPEARS TO BE SOCIALLY EFFECTIVE, WITH SIGNIFICANT PROPORTIONAL INCREASES IN POST-RELEASE EMPLOYMENT, FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE, AND EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT. HOWEVER, ITS CORRECTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS IN TERMS OF REDUCING RECIDIVISM CANNOT BE ACCURATELY DETERMINED WITHOUT PROPER COMPARATIVE RECIDIVISM DATA. ON A COST-PER-CLIENT BASIS THE PROGRAM HAS PROVEN TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY COST EFFECTIVE.