Larimer County Looking To Cut Recidivism

Larimer County --County officials will implement a new program at the Larimer County Detention Center in an effort to slim the number of re-offenders, one of the first steps in a county and statewide initiative to reduce recidivism.

Recidivism, or the act of relapsing back into criminal behavior, has, in part, contributed to almost doubling Colorado's prison population in the past 10 years, according to a 2008 report by the Division of Criminal Justice.

"There is this problem of people cycling back through the jail again and again," said Richard Guest, senior management analyst for the county's health and human services department. "It was worthwhile to develop a program to address these issues and disrupt that cycle that keeps people coming back over and over again."

Larimer County's one-year recidivism rate is approximately 34.5 percent, said Gary Darling, criminal justice planning manager for the county. That means 34.5 people in 100 who go through the Larimer County Detention Center will end up back in the system within one year. The three-year recidivism rate is 56 percent.

The Coloradoan