USF’s Bryanna Fox screened hundreds of people as they were booked into the Pasco County jail and completed in-depth follow-up interviews with more than 100 of them.. She found that the inmates had high rates of childhood trauma, substance abuse, and mental health problems. According to Fox, these risk factors “almost guarantee re-incarceration.”
Fox says a lack of treatment and support for inmates and former inmates contributes to over 40 percent of inmates returning to jail. High re-incarceration rates are problematic not only in Pasco County but across the country. “We’re willing to spend money every year to keep people in jail, but… [not] to help with recidivism.”
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