Each year, about 32,00 men and women are released from the Philadelphia prison sytem. Within three years, more than 60 percent will be re-incarcerated, either for committing new crimes, or failing to conform to parole or probation standards.

Philadelphia's returning offender population is younger htan the national average, with the largeest group in the city prison sytem being between the ages of 21-24. Most have committed nonviolent crimes, for which they will serve less than one year, but this is ample time for lives -- disorganized to begin with -- to unravel even more. Returning to weary families, hostile communities and few prospects for employment, many turn to all-too-familiar patterns of antisocial and illegal behavior.