From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Michelle Cordero, and this is Heritage Explains.

Currently, there are 2.2 million people in our nation's prisons and jails.

That's a 500% increase over the last 40 years.

And did you know that today, nearly half of all federal inmates return to prison after they're released?

This spring, the House passed a bipartisan bill called the First Step Act of 2018

that aimed to help ex-offenders become productive and law-abiding members of society.

The bill would assess the individual needs of the inmate and factor in recidivism risk,

or the likelihood of returning to criminal behavior,

in order to match him or her

with programs that set them up for success in the future.

Nobody wins when former prisoners fail to adjust to life outside

or worse end up back behind bars.

We want former inmates to find a path to success so they can support their families

and support their communities. Conservative-run states have already proven the importance of

productive activities in prison, from faith-based mentorships to toastmasters classes, and from

earning a GED to addiction counseling.

Federal prisons also offer several recidivism reduction programs,

including substance abuse treatment and education programs.

Today, Paul Larkin, a senior legal research fellow in Heritage's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies

is going to help explain a lesser-known program that could be helping recidivism rates

and why our nation fell away from rehabilitation programs for inmates in the first place.

There are several possible justifications that have been advanced historically for the punishment of criminals.

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