By Michelle S. Manno, Ann Bickerton, Bret Barden, Niko Leiva, Megan Schwartz

Evidence for coordinated reentry—or the coordination of services from multiple community provid­ers—shows that it is a promising approach to supporting people with mental health needs or substance use disorders who are released from correctional facilities. One such program is the Reentry Intensive Case Management Services (RICMS) program. Through a network of 29 community-based providers located across Los Angeles County, the RICMS program links individuals with prior criminal legal system involvement to community health workers—most of whom have lived experience with the criminal legal system, housing instability, or mental health issues. For about one year, the community health workers provide care coordination and help clients navigate the many services and other forms of support available to them.

This report presents findings from the RICMS evaluation, which is part of the Los Angeles County Reentry Integrated Services Project (LA CRISP), a multiyear, multistudy evaluation of services offered by the Los Angeles County Reentry Division that is led by MDRC. The RICMS evaluation includes a process study and outcomes study of the RICMS program that are based on analyses of administrative records and management information system data for people who enrolled in the program between April 2018 and March 2021; a survey of program staff members and man­agers from April 2022; and semistructured interviews with program managers, staff members, and participants that were conducted between June 2019 and August 2022. The study used a nonexperimental approach to compare the health and criminal legal system outcomes of individuals who enrolled and participated in the RICMS program with those of individuals in a matched comparison group who enrolled but did not participate in the program. In the absence of a random­ized controlled trial, this exploratory quasi-experimental analysis provides some initial information about the differences in outcomes that could be due to participation in the program.

Overall, the results suggest that the RICMS approach to coordinated, community-based reentry is promising and could improve the life experiences of program participants, especially by reducing their future contact with the criminal legal system.

New York: MDRC, 2023. 103p.

By Niko Leiva, Osvaldo Avila

As an alternative to incarceration, in 2018 Los Angeles County launched the Reentry Intensive Case Management Services (RICMS) program. The RICMS program coordinates the services of multiple community-based service providers throughout LA County. It links people who have been involved with the criminal legal system to commu­nity health workers, many of whom have personal experience with incarceration, sub­stance use disorders and addiction, and other issues RICMS clients face. These commu­nity health workers provide case management services and mentorship, and help clients navigate the many services and other forms of support available to them.

MDRC evaluated the implementation of the RICMS program and found that the program is a promising approach to improving the lives of its clients, particu­larly by reducing their future contact with the criminal legal system. As part of the evaluation, in 2021 and 2022 an MDRC research team conducted semistructured interviews with RICMS community health workers and clients to learn more about how services are delivered and about the experiences of RICMS clients. This brief presents the stories and experiences they shared.

New York: MDRC, 2023. 10p.

By Gabriel Weinberger, Raul Armenta, and Elisa Nicolett

In the United States there are approximately 3.7 million people under community supervision—also known as probation or parole. People under community supervision often need supportive services, such as behavioral health (to deal with mental health and substance use disorders), education, employment, housing, and transportation services. Such services are usually provided by local governments or community-based organizations, which play a pivotal role in helping people under supervision to avoid contact with the criminal legal system. Probation officers typically provide referrals for services, though research suggests that a low percentage of people under community supervision end up receiving services. Studies have also shown that those affected by the criminal legal system, including those under community supervision, live in marginalized and under-funded communities, and lack adequate access to services. As a result, researchers, practitioners, and advocates have worked to develop programs that increase the supply of available services and lead to greater cooperation with social services providers in the community to connect people to services. Recent innovations within probation departments (about 80 percent of people under community supervision are on probation and they are the focus of this brief) have incorporated a “community hub” model where multiple service providers are located in the same places as probation offices to facilitate access to services for clients and to raise officers’ awareness of those services. This brief describes an MDRC study of a community hub model in Los Angeles (LA) County, the Developing Opportunities and Offering Reentry Solutions Community Reentry Center (better known as “DOORS”). DOORS was established inside a building where probation officers also work. The DOORS model is intended to provide probation officers with the opportunity to connect adults on probation to service providers located within the same building with the goal of reducing future involvement in the criminal legal system. However, within eight months of opening, the COVID-19 pandemic forced DOORS to shift to a hybrid model where services were provided both in person and virtually. Since study data collection ended, DOORS has expanded in LA County as a hybrid model that is not always co-located in a probation building.

New York: MDRC.2025. 20p.