The 5-Key Model for Reentry
The 5-Key Model for Reentry™ translates the key ingredients of successful reentry into a flexible approach that can be implemented at different levels of intensity. Specialized enhancements are provided based on individual needs, which means resources are not wasted on a one-size-fits-all approach.
The 5-Key Model extends beyond simply helping people to find a job after prison, instead helping individuals address substance use and mental health challenges while building support and finding meaningful work in their communities.
The 5-Key Model can be implemented by a range of professionals working in a variety of settings, and is paired with modules of evidence-driven engagement and retention strategies to help those leaving prison show up, participate, and succeed. The 5-Key Model is based on an extensive research review of over 100,000 studies worldwide which found that, in general, there are five key ingredients to successful reentry. The 5-Key Model is a package of service approaches that addresses each of these ingredients as early as possible during an individual’s incarceration to help ease the transition and catalyze growth.
5-Key Model for Reentry Pilot Test
The 5-Key Model pilot was a longitudinal randomized controlled trial launched through the Institute for Justice Research & Development (founded by Dr. Carrie Pettus in 2018) at Florida State University
The study enrolled 2,384 incarcerated individuals from more than 100 correctional facilities into the 5-Key Model study – 1,192 of whom were randomly assigned to receive the 5-Key Model across 7 states with the other 50% as a comparison group who did not receive any 5-Key Model interventions (these individuals released from prison and received existing services while incarcerated and in then in their communities).
Pettus and her research team gathered baseline (pre-release) data on 1,563 participants in four study states (Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas). Data was also collected from participants immediately after release from incarceration, 4 months post-release, 8 months post-release, and 15 months post-release. We also have post-release qualitative data from participants on their experience of reentry and their perception of reentry service needs, availability, and what supports they have accessed since leaving incarceration.
Healthy Thinking Patterns
Adaptive mental actions or processes, the presence of empathy, and the acceptance of internalization of values and norms that promote pro-social behavior.
Positive
Relationships
Reliable, mutually beneficial relationships between two people that range from brief to enduring in duration within formal or informal social contexts.
Positive Social Engagement
Social experiences organized for beneficial social purposes that directly or indirectly involve others, engaged in during discretionary time, and experienced as enjoyable.
Meaningful Work Trajectories
Sustainable compatibility of an individual’s goals and abilities and the demands of that individual’s occupation (obligations/job paid or unpaid) is sustainable.
Effective Coping Strategies
Adaptive behavioral and psychological efforts taken to manage and reduce internal/external stressors in ways that are not harmful in the short or long-term.
5-KEY MODEL REPORTS
Study results published during this 5-year pilot may be accessed here:
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- RESEARCHING AND RESPONDING TO BARRIERS TO PRISONER REENTRY
- THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL OF REENTRY
- ACCELERATING SCIENCE USING THE RESEARCH-TO-PRACTICE FEEDBACK LOOP
- INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT STUDY OF THE FIVE-KEY MODEL FOR REENTRY:
AN EVIDENCE-DRIVEN PRISONER REENTRY INTERVENTION - VOICES OF 5-KEY MODEL PARTICIPANTS
- WHEN DEATH FOLLOWS RELEASE
- EMPLOYMENT AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH-5-KEY MODEL PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR POLICY STAKEHOLDERS
- EARLY LESSONS FROM THE MULTISTATE STUDY OF THE 5-KEY MODEL FOR REENTRY
- GOING BACK TO JAIL WITHOUT COMMITTING A CRIME
- TRAUMA AND LOSS DURING REENTRY
- THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN FLORIDA
- THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN TEXAS
- THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN PENNSYLVANIA
- THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN KENTUCKY
- THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG 5-KEY MODEL STUDY PARTICIPANTS
- COVID-19, INCARCERATION, AND REENTRY
- ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN WELL-BEING AND REINCARCERATION
- STORIES OF HOPE AND CHANGE
- BRIEF REPORT: COVID-19’S IMPACT ON REENTRY RESEARCH
- MEASURING WELL-BEING DURING REENTRY
- HOUSING STABILITY AFTER INCARCERATION
PODCASTS & INTERVIEWS
(CLICK SEE LINKED CONTENT)
Texas Standard
Formerly Incarcerated People Experience High Rates of Trauma After Leaving Prison
WFSU
Perspectives: Life After Lockup
Fluent in Floridian
Institute for Justice Research and Development Founder + Executive Director Dr. Carrie Pettus
YouTube
Dr. Carrie Pettus Presents Purpose & Goals of the 5-Key Model for Reentry.
Passionate Pioneers with Mike Biselli
Reducing Reliance on the Criminal Justice System
Public News Service
Life After Prison a Challenge in KY Communities
PUBLICATIONS
Early lessons from the multistate study of the 5-key model for reentry.
Pettus-Davis, C., & Kennedy, S. (2020). Perspectives: The Journal of the American Probation and Parole Association, Vol 44, 19-31 https://www.appanet.org/eweb/docs/APPA/pubs/Perspectives/Perspectives_V44_N1/index.html#page=18
Intervention development study of the 5-Key Model for Reentry: An evidence driven prisoner reentry intervention.
Pettus-Davis, C., Renn, T., Veeh, C., & Eikenberry, J.* (2019). Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 58, 614-643. doi:10.1080/10509674.2019.1635242
“I feel like I have ‘prison’ tattooed on my forehead”: Women’s trajectories after release from incarceration.
Tripodi, S. J., Kennedy, S. C., Miller, F., Renn, T., Veeh, C., Pettus, C., & Schelbe, L. (2023). Women & Criminal Justice. DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2023.2297019
Validation for Multidimensional Measure of Reentry Well-Being Among Individuals Who Are Incarcerated.
Veeh, C. A., Renn, T., Pettus, C., & Petscher, Y. (2023). Research on Social Work Practice, 10497315231151238.
The well-being development model: A theoretical model to improve outcomes among criminal justice system–involved individuals.
Pettus, C., Veeh, C., Renn, T., & Kennedy, S. (2021). Social Service Review, 95, 413-468. doi:10.1086/715852
Incarcerated individuals’ experiences of COVID-19 in the United States.
Pettus-Davis C, Kennedy S. C, & Veeh, C. A. (2021).International Journal of Prisoner Health. doi: 10.1108/IJPH-11- 2020-0094. PMID: 33760428.
Promoting reentry well-being: A novel assessment tool for individualized service assignment in prisoner reentry programs.
Veeh, C., Renn, T., & Pettus-Davis, C. (2018). Social Work, 63, 91-96, doi:10.1093/sw/swx050
STUDY PROJECTS
Long-term Evaluation of the 5-Key Model for Reentry
Multisite Filter RCT
RTI International is conducting a research study funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice to understand the impact of services following release from prison, identify participant outcomes, and determine the costs and benefits of service for reentering citizens. Participants in this project are being asked to take part in the long-term evaluation because they previously participated in the Multi-site Randomized Controlled Trial of the 5 Key Model for Reentry with FSU/WEI. The services evaluated in the follow-up are those provided by the project program.
Artificial Intelligence Enabled Community Supervision
for Criminal Justice Services
This project is on the development and evaluation of an application called Gaining Occupational and Life Skills (GOALS) for individuals under correctional supervision. This population experiences high rates of recidivism and poor well-being outcomes, and there are insufficient tools to effectively support them. The GOALS app has the potential to augment human support services, improve utilization of supportive interventions, overcome barriers to help, and improve community corrections client outcomes. The intervention is paired with a smartwatch and smartphone and guides participants through an adapted version of the 5-Key Model for Reentry, a model that was developed for individuals releasing from incarceration and tested in a multistate; multisite randomized control trial. The early data from the trial supports the efficacy of the intervention. If the GOALS app is feasible, acceptable, appropriate, and associated with improved outcomes, it will identify new directions of research and innovations for the use of mobile applications supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning to promote well- being and community stability of justice-involved individuals.
Infusing Well-being and Peer Support into
Nebraska Reentry Innovations
The project is a collaboration between the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) and the Wellbeing & Equity Innovations (WEI). The project activities will take place in Nebraska correctional facilities and centers. The WEI team members on the project live and work in Nebraska. The NDCS mission is to keep people safe. WEI’s mission is to use science to improve lives, communities, and institutions by developing and researching innovations that reduce unnecessary reliance on the criminal justice system and by offering solutions that produce equity and prosperity across race, socioeconomic class, and behavioral health status. This project is currently being rolled out into 9 facilities throughout the state of Nebraska.