Corrections_Today_September_October_2021_Vol.83_No.5

nEWS&vIEWS

NIJ Update

Using data and science to understand the impact of COVID–19 on corrections By Marie Garcia, D. Michael Applegarth, Eric Martin, Benjamin Adams and Matt Durose

Authors’ Note: Findings and conclu- sions reported in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. T he global COVID–19 pan- demic has significantly altered our way of life while cutting short hundreds of thou- sands of American lives. Roughly 15 months into the pandemic, the United States had reported more than 32 million cases of the deadly virus and 600,000 COVID–19 deaths. 1 Since March 2020, the pandemic has impacted the entire criminal jus- tice system, especially corrections. Between March and June 2020, more than 11% of the 215,360 COVID–19 tests conducted in local jails were positive. 2 As the world changed, the justice system remained obligated both to protect public safety by providing secure environments for incarcerated individuals and to main- tain the safety and security of staff and those in custody. Although always a critical mis- sion, protecting physical health and safety took on a different meaning during this time. The spread of CO- VID–19 led to significant changes

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in corrections operations, including reductions in institutional admis- sions, increases in early releases to the community, the modification or suspension of certain programming due to physical safety guidelines and shifts to virtual visitation in facilities and virtual meetings for individuals on probation and parole. During the last year, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the U.S.

Department of Justice’s research, development, and evaluation agency, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the country’s primary source of criminal justice statistics, worked to understand and document the impact of COVID–19 on corrections systems and offer recommendations to institutional and community cor- rections agencies on best practices going forward.

12 — September/October 2021 Corrections Today