For funders & researchers
Fund the first test of savings built behind the walls
Evidence shows cash after release improves outcomes. No study has yet tested matched savings built during incarceration. CRP is designed to be that evaluation.
Why this is fundable
Self-funding base
Rebates are funded by replacing facility commissions, so philanthropic dollars go to the match, not to operations.
Measurable by design
Every credit is in an auditable ledger. Balances at release, time to housing and re-incarceration can be tracked with agency partners.
Policy leverage
Results inform procurement: agencies can score bids on value returned to incarcerated people.
Proposed evaluation
- Design: randomized or stepped-wedge assignment of a matched-savings arm across housing units or facilities.
- Arms: rebate only; rebate plus 1:1 philanthropic match; status quo gate money.
- Outcomes: balance at release, housing within 90 days, employment, supervision violations and re-incarceration at 12 and 24 months.
- Design rule: release balances never shrink because of employment, a lesson from the 1970s TARP study.
Ways to partner
Match pool
Fund a per-person match on release savings in pilot facilities.
Evaluation grant
Support an independent research partner to run the study.
Pilot support
Underwrite counsel and set-up costs for a first county or state partner.