An evaluation of Community Mediation Maryland's Reentry Mediation program and its effects on recidivism.
Community Mediation Maryland (CMM)’s Reentry Mediation program responds to the need for individuals returning from prison to have positive relationships in the community. Reentry Mediation supports inmates and their families or loved ones by enabling them to discuss their past experiences, build understanding, and jointly plan for reentry into the family structure and community before the inmate is released.
This report, funded by the Abell Foundation, evaluates the effect of reentry mediation on recidivism outcomes of arrest, conviction, incarceration, and returns to prison for violations of parole or probation. It finds that participation in reentry mediation has a significant impact on all recidivism outcomes – reducing the probability of arrest by 13%; conviction by 15%; incarceration by 10%; and returns to prison by 12%. Mediation is a short-term intervention with a long-term impact. In fact, the majority of the mediation participants had but one two-hour session.