Effects of the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) on Recidivism in the State of California

Despite increasing focus on and funding designated to rehabilitation programs for convicted offenders in California and across the U.S., there is little evidence regarding the effects of such programs. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) is one such program that was launched in 2015 with the intent to provide rehabilitation services to incarcerated men and reduce their likelihood of reoffending. The program relocates incarcerated men from remote institutions to a community-based program location, where they serve the remainder of their sentences. MCRP participants have access to a variety of social services, education, and communal housing through the program.

This study leverages MCRP’s screening process for program eligibility and enrollment to produce a causal analysis of the effect of MCRP on recidivism (i.e., being rearrested, reconvicted, or returning to prison). More specifically, MCRP’s specific program assignment procedures enable us to estimate, within reason, 1) the causal effect of participating in MCRP versus being released directly from prison and 2) the causal effect of various amounts of participation in MCRP. We find that, for offenders who participate in MCRP for at least seven months, MCRP decreases the likelihood of rearrest by eight percentage points, and for offenders who participate in MCRP for at least nine months, MCRP decreases the likelihood of rearrest by 13 percentage points and reconviction by 11 percentage points.