Savings From Early Release of Prisoners A Budget Folly Without Some Planning

We are soon to have a number of states release county and state prisoners early—in order to reduce corrections budgets. While I’m all for ending our practice of incarcerating Americans for lack of available metnal health and addiction treatment, I think the current wave of early releases may actually end up costing us more without some planning.
The ‘Exhibit A’ for my conclusion is a recent report in Psychiatric Services on Bazelon Center's Blueprint for Community Reentry.

The piece has some grim statistics—approximately 16% of all prison and jail inmates have a serious mental illness, and more than half have a clinical diagnosis, a treatment history, or symptoms of mental illness. Within 18 months of release, 64% of those with mental illnesses are rearrested—more than twice the rate of those without mental illnesses. Entitlements such as Medicaid and Medicare, veterans benefits, and Social Security income support enable individuals to obtain mental health care, housing, and other services. Without assistance, released inmates often wait months for benefits—a major factor in their high recidivism rate. However, only a third of inmates receive benefits restoration planning that is essential to preventing reincarceration.