How Residential Reentry Centers Operate and When to Impose
RRCs are transitional housing that provide safe, structured, and supervised environments for residents and offer various programs and services. RRCs can help residents develop tools they need to better themselves and rebuild their ties to the community. In addition, RRCs can assist the probation and pretrial services officer (“officer”) with monitoring the activities of a person under supervision in an effort to ensure compliance with release conditions and reduce violations. Research shows that RRCs may be most appropriate for higher risk individuals.1
Alternative to Pretrial Detention
Placement in a RRC/halfway house is one alternative to pretrial detention for individuals whose appearance cannot be reasonably assured and/or who may pose a danger to the community under less restrictive conditions. Placement in a halfway house as an alternative to detention is most effective in conjunction with pretrial services supervision. Officers can help assess the individual’s needs and make referrals for placement. Officers can also monitor the individual’s progress through effective supervision practices and inform the court if the situation improves and a less restrictive alternative is appropriate.
Under Judicial Conference policy,2 the court may wish to consider the following when determining if halfway house placement is the most appropriate alternative to detention:
- Halfway houses may cost less than detention.
- Halfway houses may require payment by defendants to reduce the expense to the district.
- Placement in a halfway house reduces jail overcrowding.
- Halfway houses are not usually secured facilities.
- Bed space may be limited.
- Halfway house staff assist the probation and pretrial services officer with monitoring the defendant’s activities in an effort to ensure compliance with release conditions and reduce violations.
- The defendant may be able to be self-supporting through continued employment.
- Halfway house placement may not be appropriate for all defendants (e.g., defendants with prior poor adjustment to residential settings or certain sexual offenses).
Alternative to Incarceration/Probation
Community confinement within a RRC is an alternative sentencing option for individuals sentenced in Zones A and B of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Where the applicable guideline range is in Zone A of the Sentencing Table, a condition requiring a period of community confinement may be imposed but is not required. Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual, for an individual whose sentence range falls in Zone B and is sentenced to a term of probation, the court must impose a condition requiring a period of community confinement, home detention, or intermittent confinement sufficient to satisfy the minimum term of imprisonment specified in the guideline range. USSG §5B1.1, §5C1.1.
Before imposing a sentence to a RRC, the court may wish to consider the purpose of the placement and whether a less restrictive program, such as home confinement or location monitoring, might be a better alternative sentence, especially for lower risk individuals.3 Officers can help verify the necessary services and recommend a level of confinement most appropriate and available in the geographic region.
Once the court imposes a condition requiring RRC placement, the officer submits a referral packet (including the court’s order of RRC placement, judgment form, and presentence report) to the BOP so that it can designate the probationer to the appropriate facility. When the probationer is designated to a facility, the officer works with the probationer and RRC to achieve the purposes of the RRC placement.
Prerelease Custody
The BOP has the authority to place an inmate in a RRC while serving the remainder of the sentence. The goal of placing an inmate in a RRC is to provide the individual with reentry programming to help the person successfully transition back into society. Reentry programming can include work, education, vocational training, drug and mental health treatment, and release preparation. The success of an inmate in a RRC depends on the quality of programming provided by the RRC. Under Judicial Conference policy, officers should become involved as early as possible in planning the transition from BOP custody to supervision in order to support the person’s reintegration into the community, promote continuity of services, and initiate a collaborative plan to safely manage and reduce the risk of reoffending or violating a condition of supervision.4
Under the Second Chance Act of 2007, federal inmates may be eligible for prerelease RRC placement. Prerelease placement to a RRC and length of stay are dependent upon the BOP’s assessment of the inmate’s need for transitional services, the risk the inmate might pose to the community, and risk for recidivism. Inmates placed in a RRC may be there for up to 12 months.
Under the First Step Act, eligible prisoners who have earned time credit under the BOP’s risk and needs assessment system may also be placed in prerelease custody, including release to a RRC. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(g)(2)(B). A prisoner who earns time credit under the risk and needs assessment system may be placed in prerelease custody if, under the system, the prisoner has been determined to be a minimum or low risk to recidivate for the past two reassessments. Alternatively, a prisoner who earns time credit under the risk and needs assessment may be placed in prerelease custody if the prisoner petitioned to be transferred to prerelease custody and the warden approved the petition after determining that the prisoner would not be a danger to society, has made a good faith effort to lower the recidivism risk through participation in recidivism reduction programs, and is unlikely to recidivate. Id. at § 3624(g)(1)(D). If released and placed in a RRC, the prisoner is subject to conditions imposed by the BOP. Id. at § 3624(g)(2)(B). The United States Probation System must, to the greatest extent practicable, offer assistance to a prisoner in prerelease custody under § 3624(g). Id. at § 3624(g)(8).
An inmate placed in a RRC is eligible to transition into home confinement if the inmate has a place to live and has demonstrated that he or she no longer requires the level of accountability and services RRCs provide. Transitioning suitable inmates to home confinement also helps address RRC capacity issues and ensures that more inmates are afforded RRC service. Therefore, inmates in RRCs are generally assessed by residential reentry staff for home confinement placement every two weeks. Under BOP policy, RRC staff should document an appropriate plan of action with target dates for home confinement placement.
Post-Conviction Supervision
The court may require an individual to serve a period of time in a RRC as a condition of supervised release. Before imposing a sentence to a RRC, the court may wish to consider the purpose of the placement and whether a less restrictive program, such as home confinement or location monitoring, might be a better alternative sentence, especially for lower risk individuals. Such considerations would be consistent with Judicial Conference policy that higher risk individuals receive the most intensive and extensive interventions.5 Officers can help verify the necessary services and recommend a level of confinement most appropriate and available in the geographic region.
Once someone enters the RRC, officers work with RRC staff to identify correctional strategies during a RRC placement, which may include assistance in securing an appropriate residence; assistance in seeking or preparing to seek employment, vocational training, or educational services; financial education or credit counseling; or therapeutic services to stabilize a mental health condition or manage a substance use relapse. Officers monitor the person under supervision’s progress toward the programming goals through regular communication with the person under supervision and RRC facility staff. Officers also monitor the person under supervision’s compliance with the rules and regulations and intervenes as necessary.
According to Judicial Conference policy, before an individual’s release from BOP custody, an officer should become involved as early as possible in planning the transition from BOP custody to supervision.6 Early involvement helps support the individual’s reintegration into the community, promote continuity of services, and initiate a collaborative plan to safely manage and reduce the risk of reoffending or violating a condition of supervision.
Intermediate Sanction
In response to noncompliance by a person under supervision, the court may require the individual to reside at a RRC and participate in the facility’s programming. Once the court imposes a condition requiring placement at a RRC, the officer submits a referral packet (including the court’s order, judgment form, and presentence report) to the BOP so that it can designate the individual to the appropriate facility. The individual is required to abide by the rules and regulations of the facility, and the facility staff may impose additional restrictions or sanctions on individuals who violate the rules and regulations. While the individual is at the RRC, the officer maintains regular communication with the BOP and/or facility staff to monitor the individual’s compliance with both the schedule of confinement and facility rules and regulations, and intervenes as necessary.
In some cases, imposing a community confinement condition as a sanction for a violation of a condition of supervision is a more effective way to address noncompliance than sending the individual back to prison. An order to a RRC as an intermediate sanction may prevent the individual from losing employment or it might help avoid the complete removal of the family provider or caretaker that would otherwise result from revocation and a traditional term of incarceration.
RRC Placement and Housing Under the Second Chance Act
While placement in a RRC is a versatile condition that can serve multiple purposes, it is not generally appropriate to provide housing for homeless persons on supervision. Instead, courts have the authority to provide transitional housing under the Second Chance Act of 2007, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3672 and modified by the Judicial Administration and Technical Amendments Act of 2008 (JATAA).
Last Updated: March 2020
Explore the other sections of the Residential Reentry Centers Reference Guide.
1 Accordingly, a less restrictive alternative to placement in a RRC may be appropriate for lower risk individuals. Alternative options for lower risk individuals may include home confinement or location monitoring.
2 Guide to Judiciary Policy, Volume 8, Part B, Chapter 3 §360.70.
3 Location Monitoring (LM) is a court-imposed condition or sentencing alternative that requires a person under pretrial or post-conviction supervision to be confined to a specific location (often a primary residence) and/or monitored in the community. Additional information about LM is available in the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Location Monitoring Reference Guide (March 2020).
4 See Guide to Judiciary Policy, Volume 8, Part E, Chapter 3 § 320.
5 See Guide to Judiciary Policy, Volume 8. Part E, Chapter 1 §160.
6 Guide to Judiciary Policy, Volume 8, Part E, Chapter 3 § 320.