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Community Corrections: An Overview for Elected Officials

NCJ Number
190380
Author(s)
Margot C. Lindsay; Mary K. Shilton
Date Published
November 2000
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report provides a brief overview and description of one component of the criminal justice system, community corrections--the supervision of offenders in the community.
Abstract
Community corrections, defined as all those facets of corrections concerned with individuals under supervision outside of jail or prison walls, typically includes probation and parole, halfway houses, day reporting centers, drug and alcohol treatment programs, home confinement with or without electronic monitoring, and other support services. Community corrections deals with individuals that may be awaiting trial or sentencing, serving a sentence on probation, newly released from prison or diverted from the criminal justice system adhering to conditions imposed by the court. This overview on community corrections was funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and designed to offer those interested in community corrections a sense of how community corrections was developed, how it works and for what target population, what is known of its effectiveness (specifically for substance abusers), what is the cost, and what is the public's opinion.