Grand Junction is one of seven districts in the U.S. participating in the evidence-based program to reduce recidivism. Recidivism occurs when an individual repeats criminal acts.

“Studies have told us that punishing alone will not change the behavior of repeat offenders,” Grand Junction District Chief Judge David Bottger said. “We were interested in adopting the evidence-based program because studies in other parts of the country have shown a decrease in recidivism so far.”

The program is usually combined with criminal punishment, cognitive behavior therapy, motivational counseling and other forms of treatment. Not all offenders go through the same steps or treatments in the program because not all offenders have the same criminogenic needs. Criminogenic needs are characteristics of offenders, such as anti-social personality and substance abuse, which are shown to be connected to criminal conduct.

Low-risk offenders are not placed into the program. Probation officers and parole officers use an assessment test called the LSI-R to determine if an individual is a low-risk or high-risk offender. Offenders who are high-risk are considered to be more likely to re-offend and may also be more dangerous to the public.

“We want to get the low-risk offenders out of the system as soon as we can,” Bottger said. “We don’t want them to be around the bad crowd in jail. We don’t put all high-risk offenders in the program, either. We take everything case by case because not everyone will benefit from the program.”

The less people in jail, the more money America saves.

“Lower recidivism rates are beneficial, especially in tough economic times,” Grand Junction District Clerk of Courts Charlene Benton said. “Incarceration costs taxpayers, on average, $28,000 every year per prisoner. America has more incarcerations than any other country in the world.”

The evidence-based program started in Grand Junction last August. Because the program is so new in this district, there are currently no Grand Junction-specific statistics to show if recidivism rates have been reduced or not. Three-year recidivism rates have dropped by 9 percent for offenders who have gone through the evidence-based program in other parts of the country.

Bottger said that he will be glad if the evidence-based program stops just one crime from happening in Mesa County.

“If there’s one less crime committed, there is one less ruined life,” Bottger said.