{"id":62536,"date":"2024-10-16T10:53:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T14:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=62536"},"modified":"2024-10-29T15:19:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T19:19:27","slug":"hamilton-county-and-utc-receive-844294-federal-grant-to-support-recidivism-reduction-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/hamilton-county-and-utc-receive-844294-federal-grant-to-support-recidivism-reduction-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton County and UTC receive $844,294 federal grant to support Recidivism Reduction Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The Recidivism Reduction Initiative principal investigators from UTC include (from left) Department of Criminal Justice faculty members Dr. Andrew Denney, Dr. Rick Dierenfeldt, Dr. Gale Iles and Dr. Sherah Basham.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamilton County Alternative Sentencing Programs, in partnership with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has been awarded an $844,294 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) as part of the Second Chance Act Smart Supervision Program.<\/p>\n

The three-year project, titled the Recidivism Reduction Initiative (RRI)<\/strong><\/a>, is designed to improve public safety by reducing recidivism rates among justice-involved individuals in Hamilton County\u2019s misdemeanor supervision programs. Hamilton County is the lead on the project, with UTC\u2019s Department of Criminal Justice providing research and data analysis to assess program effectiveness and measure outcomes. Click here for the Hamilton County announcement<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Recidivism is defined as the act of someone committing a crime again after having already been punished or gone through the justice system for a previous offense. It refers to how often people return to criminal behavior after being released from jail, prison or another form of correctional supervision.<\/p>\n

The RRI will be managed through Hamilton County\u2019s Alternative Sentencing Programs, with a focus on implementing evidence-based supervision strategies and providing essential services to participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis grant is going to allow us to implement risk\/needs assessments and a new incentive\/consequence matrix,\u201d said Dr. Rick Dierenfeldt, a UC Foundation associate professor and one of the project\u2019s principal investigators\u2014along with his criminal justice colleagues Dr. Andrew Denney, Dr. Gale Iles and Dr. Sherah Basham. \u201cThe initiative is really about evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies for dealing with offenders, many of whom have experienced substance abuse or early childhood traumas, known as adverse childhood experiences. By addressing these needs, we hope to reduce recidivism and improve community safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RRI will serve approximately 1,200 to 1,400 individuals annually in Hamilton County\u2019s misdemeanor supervision program. In 2023, the program saw about 600 petitions to revoke probation\u2014with roughly 300 due to new arrests, Dierenfeldt said\u2014underscoring the critical need for more effective intervention strategies. The RRI aims to improve outcomes for participants by providing resources such as cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-informed care and substance abuse treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting a federal grant like this is an incredible opportunity,\u201d said Denney, an assistant professor of criminal justice who joined the UTC faculty in 2023. \u201cThis particular grant was awarded to only eight projects nationwide, which shows just how unique this initiative is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hope is to reduce recidivism overall and\u2014of course\u2014to implement all these other different risk\/needs assessments and things of that nature. We\u2019re going to help Hamilton County construct a new database from the ground up, and we\u2019ll be assessing the program along the way to ensure that it\u2019s working as intended, using baseline data to measure the program\u2019s growth and impact on recidivism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five essential components of the initiative include:<\/p>\n