July 2025
Traditionally, states have focused on using rates of recidivism (rearrest, reconviction, or reincarceration) to measure reentry success. But recidivism doesn’t tell the full story. It fails to capture housing, employment, and connections to treatment—factors that increase a person’s successful reintegration into the community after prison.
The new CSG Justice Center publication, Beyond Recidivism: Redefining Measures to Understand Reentry Success, highlights five critical reentry outcomes (and associated metrics) for states and localities to measure besides recidivism:
- Recidivism progression: The trajectory of a person’s repeated involvement in the justice system over time
- Employment stability: A person’s ability to find and keep employment
- Housing security: The stability, safety, and sustainability of a person’s housing after incarceration
- Health and wellbeing: Physical, mental, and behavioral wellbeing
- Social reintegration: The process of people reconnecting with their families, social circles, and communities after being in the justice system
Read the brief to learn what metrics states can use to track reentry success and how state and local leaders and reentry professionals can use the data they collect to improve public safety.