Researching Resiliency in Stressful Experiences (RISE) Program for Men Leaving Incarceration

The investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of Resiliency in Stressful Experiences (RISE) - a comprehensive trauma-based program for young men releasing from a southeastern state's prisons. The investigators are assessing whether treating trauma and providing other transitional supports - such as employment assistance - as young men return home will help to improve their community stability and enhance their psychological well-being, in turn, resulting in less likelihood that a person will become incarcerated in the future.

The five-year study is a two-armed, randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a comprehensive trauma-based reentry program for young men assessed as moderate to high risk for recidivism as they are released to the community. Four Hundred young males who were released from one of ten Florida prisons into our target counties were randomly assigned to receive a comprehensive trauma-based reentry program or treatment as usual. The effectiveness of the reentry program was evaluated on mechanisms of change (trauma symptoms, coping, impulsivity, and aggression), community stability (housing, employment), and recidivism. Research questions are: Does a comprehensive trauma-based research program improve key mechanisms of change for moderate to high-risk young males? Does a comprehensive trauma-based reentry program improve community stability for moderate to high-risk young males? Does a comprehensive trauma-based reentry program decrease rates of recidivism for moderate to high-risk young males? Research questions 1 and 2 were analyzed using ANCOVA, and Research Question 3 will be analyzed using survival analysis. We also used a Research-to-Practice Feedback Loop to catalyze rapid assessment of intervention and implementation refinement to increase participant responsivity.