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Substance use is a pervasive problem within correctional populations. This presentation uses data from the Urban Institute's Returning Home study to describe how substance abuse affects the transition from prison to community. The analysis reports on the experiences of 740 men who were released from state prisons in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas. We surveyed them once in the month before prison release and gathered information on their postrelease experiences through two subsequent interviews during the first year out. The presentation will first describe patterns of substance use and abuse, as well as the extent to which respondents utilized substance abuse treatment services during prison and after release. We will then discuss the role of substance abuse in shaping intermediate reentry outcomes, demonstrating the ways in which substance abusers had substantially different experiences with regard to postrelease housing, employment, and family relationships. Finally, we describe risk factors for postrelease substance use relapse and criminal recidivism, and offer recommendations for improving reentry outcomes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2001, the Urban Institute has been conducting Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, a multi-state, longitudinal study of the process by which individuals are released from prison and reintegrate into society. The data for this study were gathered through a series of interviews with returning prisoners, once before and up to three times after their release from prison. Previous findings from the Returning Home study have shown that returning prisoners with histories of substance abuse and mental illness have distinctly different and often worse reentry experiences compared to those without such conditions. Men with mental illness, for example, experienced more challenges with housing and family support and reported poorer employment and recidivism outcomes within the first two postrelease months. This paper builds on previous analyses by pooling data across all three Returning Home study sites (n=1,238) and examining reentry outcomes at the final study interview, one year after prison release. We will provide an overview of the ways in which men with substance abuse histories, mental illness, and co-occurring disorders have differential reentry pathways. We will then examine the extent to which men received treatment for these conditions, both in prison and postrelease, and gauge the extent to which treatment may improve a range of reentry outcomes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing that individuals' transitions from prison to the community are best understood in a longitudinal framework, we use four waves of survey data coupled with official recidivism records to plot the reentry pathways of 400 former Chicago prisoners. Through a path analysis of respondents' circumstances before, during, and up to three points after incarceration, we identify the factors contributing to ex-prisoners' ability to become gainfully employed, abstain from substance use, enjoy positive health, and avoid recidivism more than one year after release. We also examine the extent to which respondents with pre-existing substance use and mental health conditions follow different reentry trajectories. We use structural equation modeling to show the interrelationships among key constructs and control variables, and multiple imputation to account for sample attrition and missing data. Data come from the Chicago, Illinois, portion of the Urban Institute's longitudinal study entitled Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]