Statistics
Catholic New Creation, Inc. was specifically formed to address the underlying problems that are exemplified by the following statistics:
- There are approximately 15,000 homeless people in Houston.
- Approximately 60,000 Texas prisoners are released each year.
- The greatest numbers of Texas ex-offenders (26%, 15,600) are paroled to Harris County.
- Texas offender population has increased from 28,543 in 1980 to 160,000 in 2006.
- Texas offender recidivism within three (3) years of release is an intolerable 35% (57,750) in 2006.
- In the last 15 years, Texas spending on public safety and corrections increased 223% while expenditures on higher education rose only 44%.
- Approximately 90% of all offenders will be released back into society, and most will not have received any rehabilitation or treatment.
- From 1981 to 2006, the per capita rate of imprisonment in Texas rose 248%(from 199 to 693 prisoners per 100,000 residents)
- The State's prison inmate population has been steadily increasing and expected to exceed capacity by more than 11,000 beds by 2011.
- TDCJ does not have enough funding to meet rehabilitation and programming needs.
- Parole and probation revocations account for approximately 60% of annual prison admissions.
- Cost of Incarceration in Prison is $40 per inmate per day compared to costs of supervising an offender on parole, which is $3.15 per day.
- The state of Texas spends $5.1 billion on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice each year.
- Texas has the largest prison population in the United states.
- Between 1980 and 2002, the State increased the Texas Department of Correction's total capacity by 127,000 beds at a cost of $2.3 billion.
Within Houston, releasees are most heavily concentrated in five (5) of the city's 185 zip codes spanning seven (7) neighborhoods: Alief, East Houston, East Little York/Homestead, Kashmere Gardens, Trinity/Houston Gardens, Third Ward and McGregor. Each of these neighborhoods receive more than 200 supervised releasees a year, more than returned to some entire Texas counties.
Catholic New Creation, Inc. is committed to providing the necessary emotional, financial and spiritual support to the returning offender so he or she may not recidivate. Public safety and care for our in-need friends are of equal concern to us and we cannot accomplish our mission without you. We ask that you please get involved and partner with us in this urgent, necessary and important mission. God Bless You!
The crime statistics of Houston by zip code, type of crime and other demographics may be found at http://houstoncrimemaps.com.
